Flight 93 Memorial & Pike 2 Bike

Sunday, June 30, 2019 - Washington DC

Tony, Miranda, Mike and I were up early this morning to get on the road.  We had a couple of stops to make before staying the night in Washington DC tonight.  Our first stop was the Flight 93 Memorial.  Mike and I have driven by it numerous times on our way to and from Jess's, this time we stopped.  It is a beautiful memorial and definitely one that will bring a tear to your eyes.  They did a very nice timeline in the visitor center.

After we went through the visitor center we walked down to the crash site.  They don't allow you to walk on the site, it is the burial site of all of the passengers of Flight 93.  The hole the plane made has been filled in.

After walking around down by the crash site we went to the tower of voices.  This structure is not complete yet.  They are still trying to determine the best type of instrument to use.

When it is completed it will have 40 chimes, one for each passenger and crew on board Flight 93.

Once we were done touring the Flight 93 Memorial we hopped back in the car and headed for Breezewood, PA to hike part of the old Interstate.  Tony found out about at sometime and has been wanting to walk through one of the 2 tunnels.  We parked below one of the old over passes, then hiked up to the road and went on our way.

 Before getting up on the old road I had to take a picture of the graffiti on the over pass wall.  "Road Trip 2019"

This is just an old turnpike and it is starting to be over grown.  The turnpike was abandoned in 1968 because of the 1 lane tunnels.  We walked to the Rays Hill Tunnel, which is the shorter of the 2 tunnels on the abandoned turnpike.

You only have good light for the first few hundred yards, then it starts getting dark.

You can see the light at the other end of the tunnel, but it does not offer much light.

Once we got to the other end we went up top and took a couple of pictures of the air handlers in the building above the tunnel.

Of course we had to take a selfie.  :)

And this is what the road looked like at this end of the tunnel.

We did not walk very far down the road since we needed to start heading back.  On our way back through the tunnel we saw this unusual creature.

The trip back through the tunnel looked the same as before.  :)

We eventually made it back to the car and back on the road.  We arrived in DC around 9pm.

It was another wonderful day!

Aunt Evelyn's Funeral

Saturday, June 22, 2019 - Grovertown, IN

Earlier this week Mike's Aunt Evelyn passed away and the funeral service is today.  Last night we drove down to just south of Dayton.  We had about an hour drive this morning.  They had a very nice service.  While we were at the cemetery Bruce took us around pointing out head stones of people he thought we related.  Then while at the reception after the services Dayle had some pictures to show us.

 Bob & Erma (Brown) Brumfiel

 Dean and Vivian (Brown) Fisher

 L>R:  Vivian, Roger, Erma, Dana

 Dana & Roger

Dayle, David, Roger, Mike

 Holly

 Dayle & Mike

Front: Mike, Dave, Doug, Bruce, Dayle, Rachel

Back:  Nancy, Steve, Jerry

Names to previous picture

Grandmother Blanche, Grandfather Wylie, Roger, Vivian, Dana, Erma

Dave, Doug, & Mike

It was good to catch up with family.  By mid-afternoon everyone started leaving, we said our "Good-byes" and headed back to Tony's.

It was another wonderful day!

Arrive in Grovertown

Saturday, June 15, 2019 - Grovertown, IN

Jess asked if we could make it up to La Porte in time to take Avander to a birthday party at 1:00pm, so we were up early and on the move.  We were in a hurry and that is when things can go wrong...  While Mike was backing the truck underneath the trailer I was giving hand signals instead of using the radio.  He was waiting for me to say something on the radio and backed up too far.  The king pin scraped the bed and took some paint/lining off.  :(

We made it to La Porte in time and took Avander to his birthday party, but when we arrived the mother of the birthday boy invited Alex and Ami to join the festivities, too.  So we all ended up staying.  :)

I think all three of them had a great time.

While we were in La Porte I took a quick picture of the construction of the new hospital.  It sure is a lot smaller than the old one.

It was another wonderful day!


 

Good Week

Friday, June 14, 2019 - Indianapolis, IN

I finally took a picture of our campsite.  We will be leaving in the morning to head north.

We have had a really nice time visiting with my family this week.  We meet with them every night for dinner.  Tonight we went over to Tom and Karyn's house for dinner. 

It was another wonderful day!

Working

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - Indianapolis, IN

This weather outside was beautiful and there weren't a lot of people around, so I set up an umbrella and worked outside today.  :)  Gracie worked outside too. 

It was another wonderful day!
 

Travel to Indianapolis

Monday, June, 10, 2019 - Indianapolis, IN

This morning, we were back on the road and headed for Indianapolis.  While we were traveling down the road, Mike radioed back to me to let me know he was hearing a strange noise and was going to exit off the next exit to take a look.  After inspecting the truck and not finding anything we headed back, but as he was getting on the interstate I noticed smoke coming from the rear tires.  I radioed up to him to "Pull Over!".  Upon further inspection, we found that the rear leveling valve rod had broken and allowed the suspension to sag.  This allowed the bed to come in contact with the rear tires and start smoking.

The next truck stop was several miles down the road, so Mike crawled under and temporarily repaired the arm and bracket with electrical tape.  The suspension aired back up and we headed for the service center.  They were able to get us in right away and we were soon back on the road.  We finally made it to the Indianapolis KOA, albeit a couple hours later than planned.  We quickly set up and took Gracie for a short walk before heading out to meet my family for dinner.  As always we had a nice time.

It was another wonderful day!

Travel to Benton, IL

Sunday, June 9, 2019 - Benton, IL

While we were taking Gracie for a walk we noticed the road in the Tom Sawyer campground that was dry yesterday was starting to get water across it.

When we got here yesterday, the water was only as far as the barrels.  And when we left, there were several spots where the water was running across the road.

Soon we arrived at Benton KOA in Benton, IL.  Our site was right next to a little pond and Gracie was thrilled.  After arriving, she got out of the Suburban and went right in.

For dinner we drove up the road to Tequila's Mexican Restaurant.  I had a really good meal served in a pineapple.

It was another wonderful day!