Our Nation's Capital - Washington, D.C.

April 11 – 25, 2006


We had been looking forward to our visit to Washington for a long time.

Both of us had been there before, but it had been a long time and things have changed quite a bit.

We camped at Cherry Hill RV Park, the closest park to D.C. and the only one that had a metro bus stop right in the park. We had no need to use our car at all. We took the bus to the train which took us right into D.C. They even allowed bicycles on both the bus and train, so we used our bikes to get around also. The bike trails around the D.C. area are great!


One of the highlights of our sightseeing adventures was a visit to the Capital where we had a private guided tour with an intern from Michael Burgess’s office. Michael Burgess is our congressman from Texas.
We stopped by his office and were told we could have a staff tour through the Capital building. We were disappointed that congress was not in session and that Congressman Burgess was back in his Texas office, but we still enjoyed every minute of our tour. Steven Gonzales (pictured with us in front of Michael Burgress's office) was our guide. He is in graduate school at Texas Tech in Lubbock and took an internship for a semester in Washington. Can you guess what sport he played? He played basketball at Tech, and is 6'8". Delton look so short next to him! Steven wanted to intern in the White House, but that didn’t come through for him, so he was assigned to Congressman Burgess.


We walked from the Congressman’s office to the Capital Building through a tunnel which connected the buildings. It is the same tunnel the congressman and senators use to travel from building to building.


We were disappointed that we were not able to see inside the White House. Security has gotten very strict since 911. You must apply 2-3 months ahead of time to visit the White House. It takes a week just to get a security check. All the streets around the White House are blocked off, even to walkers, so you can’t get very close at all.


Arlington Cemetery was impressive.
We saw John and Jackie Kennedy’s graves with the eternal flame on their plot. Beside John and Jackie's stones were the grave sites of two of their children which were miscarried.

We were able to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It was a very moving ceremony. We also got to visit the grave site of Joni’s Uncle Joe. We have written a separate story about Uncle Joe.


The monuments and memorials were all over the area. We decided that would be a good day to ride our bikes around town. We added 26 miles to our odometers that day.


Were rode our bikes to Supreme Court Building, but were not allowed to go inside. That's Joni sitting on the steps.
We were allowed to go inside the OLD Supreme Court though. It hasn't been used for a few years.


We went to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall where Delton thought he might find the name of an old college football team mate, Charlie Warren. But his name wasn't on the wall.


While riding our bikes we also went to the Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool where Forrest Gump found his Jenny running through the water during his war speech

The Smithsonian is a group of museums, so we decided to visit only the ones we thought were most interesting. We went to the American History Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Air and Space Museum (both downtown and at Dulles Airport). Delton enjoyed the airplanes the most, where we were able to see the Concord and Space Shuttles.
Joni enjoyed the American History museum best where we were able to view the First Ladies Gowns (shown is Laura Bush’s gown from the inaugural)
and the Hope Diamond among many other interesting things.


Tom and Connie Marich were our camping neighbors, who are also full timing in their motor home. They have about every gadget a motorhomer can have. Delton was very impressed with the pressure washer that Tom used to wash his motor home. It was fast and easy, so Delton had to have one. Our motor home should be a lot cleaner now that we have a pressure washer. Tom had a career in law enforcement and now is a republican party delegate and political consultant. He had some interesting stories to tell. We enjoyed getting to know them and spending time together.

We packed a lot of sightseeing into 2 weeks and have learned a lot about our history and our government. We are proud to be Americans.

Joni's Uncle Joe

Arlington National Cemetery


While visiting Washington, D.C. and Arlington Cemetery, we visited Joni’s Uncle Joe, who is interred there.
Joe Passiatore is Joni’s Mom’s twin brother. He passed away in 2004.

It was a beautiful spring day and the flowers were in bloom and the grass was green and plush. Uncle Joe is in a beautiful place among many national heroes. Since he was cremated, his remains are entombed in the wall with a memorial plaque on display.

Joni called her Mom while we were there.
We took pictures to send to her because she had not seen where he was laid to rest. Joni had not seen Uncle Joe for many years before his death, so she was glad to be able to be there.

Beaches! At Myrtle Beach SC

March 27 – April 10, 2006

We’ve started our way up the east coast, but there was just one more beach we had to visit – for Joni - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!


Lakewood Campground and OceanLakes Resort were the two places where we camped. Both were very nice and both were right on the oceanfront.
Lakewood was our 1st spot, but after seeing Oceanlakes, we decided to move because it was even nicer.

The parks were huge. OceanLakes had over 3500 spots with the majority of them being summer homes and the remaining 900 being RV sites. More amenities were: indoor heated pool, outdoor pool, beach volley ball, basketball, snack bar, grocery store, small lakes, laundry area, and much more. Since off peak season rates were still in effect we got a great spot for less than half the summer rates.


We had a spot which was one site off the ocean, and another which was 2 spots off the ocean, and both with beautiful views of the ocean.

Pictured is a vew from our spot.


Joni just loved it there. The weather was up and down, cool and warm, mostly in the low 70’s during the day. As enticing as the ocean was, it was a little too cool to go swimming, but we did a lot of beach walking, bike riding and picking shells along the shore. Delton enjoyed his bike ride along the beach.


Both campgrounds had fish fries on Friday evening. Pictured is the Lakewood Fish Fry at an oceanfront picnic table with some camper friends.


Delton had continued to enjoy playing tennis with a lot of determination. Pictured is Delton after a hard tough game.
While playing some singles one afternoon, we met Marion and her son, Richard, who were vacationing in the area, so we asked them if they would like to play doubles with us. Richard was in high school and on the tennis team, so he was good! We tried hard to give them a good game. I think they had fun!!!! It wasn’t too lop sided.

Myrtle Beach is known for its’ many beautiful golf courses, so Delton played a few times and enjoyed every minute of it. Delton played all of his rounds at the Wild Wing Plantation which has four top quality golf courses. He misses his games with brothers Ron and Steve and nephew-in-law Jay in Lake Kiowa.


While taking a walk one evening, we stopped to talk with Brenda and Rob Wells, who were camping at OceanLakes also. We spent one evening with them, mostly talking about motor homes and full timing.
They have a special pet they bring with them wherever they go, a parrot named Duff. Duff was quite talkative and had a pretty large vocabulary. He was fun and fascinating! Joni was thrilled when he sat on her arm!


Both campgrounds had Sunday Services and Bible Studies. OceanLakes has three crosses on the beach where Easter Sun Rise Services are held every year. We were disappointed that we would be leaving before Easter, so we couldn’t attend. How much better could it be – sunrise services on the beach!

As usual, Joni had trouble leaving. The beach is her favorite place to be and we probably wouldn’t be near a beach for a while. But, we are on to more exciting things to do. Next is Washington, D.C.!