Washington or Bust...What is That Smell...Uh Oh...

We were up early Tuesday morning to get things rolling as we had to feed dogs, walk dogs and stow gear before leaving to drive Libby back into Morgantown to get her tire fixed. Once we found the tire place we discovered not only did we need one tire we needed 4 tires, as all of them were showing the space bars saying it's not safe to drive. Ugh! About an hour later and $690.00 lighter in the wallet we left to go find someplace to eat as both Christie and I were starved.

Christie looked up a "clean food" restaurant on Foursquare and plugged in the address on her phone. Off we went, up one hill, down another, tight squeeze, up another hill, sharp corner, down steep hill only to discover the place is out of business. Now what? We back tracked, then the light bulb went off...duh...there was an IHOP in the shopping center where we were last night. Knowing this could have saved us a lot of trouble and gas...oh well...life is suppose to be an adventure, so we might as well enjoy the ride. Besides we got to see more of Morgantown. It really is a place you need to visit, it has a charm that will steal your heart. 

Back to breakfast...It was good...smelled good, tasted good, can you tell we were hungry?

Can you tell I was hungry?

Ate every last morsel. Paid the bill and was on our way back to the campground to get Izzy, settle our bill, dump the tanks and leave.

We decided not to hook up Libby until we were out of the state park as we needed to run her a bit more to charge up her battery.  We found a service station down the road aways that was easy to get in and out of. There we topped off both vehicles tanks, hooked up Libby to Izzy and were on our way to Washington DC.  I figured that we would be getting there during the 5:00 p.m. rush...I know, but sometimes you just can't help those things. 

The trip into Washington was uneventful until we got into the outskirts starting at Germantown. Traffic coming out of Washington was a nightmare, but the closer we got to DC it started getting thicker.  The trouble with driving an RV with a toad in 5 p.m. traffic is, no one wants to give you an inch. Then when you're trying to get on to a main artery some idiot will try to pass you on the left side where there is no room to pass next to a retaining wall and hope you won't run him into the wall all the while rudely blaring his horn at you, while you are playing dodge car on the right hand side.  Driving in rush hour

Rush hour traffic, this is mild...

traffic is not for sissy's. Besides I'm bigger than you! At one point I had to pull off at a weigh station to be weighed. Guess I passed the weight test, the little man didn't come out and wave his little red flag at me. 

Starting at Kensington both Christie and I noticed an odd smell. We wondered if it was coming from the cars in front of us. It kept getting worse as we progressed through traffic. At one point Hetty our Garmin took us off the beaten path for about 3 miles then got us back on the path, don't know what that was all about. We finally found our turn to get to the road where we would turn into the Greenbelt National Campground.  I had waited 15 years to camp at this campground and I was here at last!

Here at last!

Finally we had arrived...well almost...we followed the road and as I started to step on the brakes going down a hill and around a corner, they went all the way to the floor! OH S%*T! I started pumping them and got some brake power back but not much. Thank goodness that didn't happen while we were driving in traffic! I had pre-paid with a reservation, so I didn't have to stop at the guard station and get the payment envelope, that could wait.  We followed the road around looking at all the different sites to see if we would fit. At one point I told Christie to unhook Libby and I would park Izzy and we would look at sites again and this time take our time. Christie is unhooking Libby and I hear her yelling HELP!  I ran to the back of the rig and there she is, trying to keep the car from rolling into the RV, she had forgot to put the car in park.  I ran around and put the car in park and set the brake as she finished getting everything undone with a sheepish grin on her face. "Sorry Mom" Me...I'm shaking my head. 

We drove through the loop again and found a fairly level site close to the bathrooms. We jockeyed Izzy in place, got her level, slides out, dogs walked, fed and watched a beautiful sunset when we realized we were exhausted and hungry.  

The end of the day

We drove back to the main thoroughfare and across the street was a TGI Fridays.  Dinner never tasted so good.  It felt so good just to sit down and relax. I even had a drink. Our waiter was wonderful and a delight to talk to. I wish I could have bottled his humor and brought it back home. 

We got back to Izzy sometime before 11:00 p.m., walked the dogs again and collapsed into bed after checking all the switches and knobs and locking the doors. 

I said a prayer of Thanks for getting us there safely and was glad to have my daughter there with me to share the experience.

Stay safe until we meet again!