Maryland and Virgina: Talk about true hospitality

We left New Jersey and headed south through Delaware (our most expensive toll day, as Matt wrote about) and then into Maryland.  We only stayed one night in a quiet park there before heading west into Virginia. 

The Robot slide in Maryland

Catching up with Miss E

 In Virginia, we found a goldmine of a park using our Passport America site.  It is in the beautiful hills near Shenandoah National Park.  It has a saline pool that hasn't been closed for the season, but our kids are the only ones to dare enter it.  It's COLD!  I just tell everyone that they are tough Idaho kids.  We planned to only stay two days, but it's so great that we are planning to stay a week.  Our neighbor is one of the most generous and thoughtful people I've ever met.  Her dog wandered into our camp and sparked a conversation.  She soon asked if we blogged.  I replied yes, and she said, "I thought so.  I've read your blog!!"  Since then, she has figured out our ancestry line way back to the Civil War time era, and has even found some relatives that fought in Gettysburg!  All on ancestry.com.  She is retired Navy, having worked for the Pentagon on 9/11.  She has convinced us that we need to see Gettysburg, which is in Pennsylvania about 2 hours from our camp.  She is renting a suburban for all of us to travel together, so that she can be our tour guide for the trip and show us the real deal.  She says she loves history and is happy to do it.  We just can't turn that offer down and will head out to do that tomorrow. 

Skyline Resort, cool pool in all aspects

Alex in his element

We have our White House tour booked through our Idaho Congressman, Mike Simpson, on Oct. 4th.  With the recent security breech, we are wondering how it'll affect that tour.  Hopefully, not too much, as we've planned our whole DC stay around that date now.  By the way, Debbie, our neighbor and possible living angel, says she will help us tour DC as well, if we'd like as she's lived in DC for the past decade.  She reminds me, once again, to be overly generous and thoughtful to others.  Living out the idea that serving others is what we are supposed to do.