Goin' Road Trippin'

From DC to Kentucky

We are on our last week of traveling and we are spent. We have adventured for long enough. Tonight we are staying at Kincaid Lake State Park, thankfully they have showers.

Straight across from the showers at site #70

For our 5 days in Maryland at Greenbelt state park, not only was there no electricity, but no showers. There’s nothing like day 4 of the same socks when they start to stand on their own.

The day we left, we stopped into DC one last time as I was able to get an appointment with the national archives to do some research on my great grandma who was listed on the Dawes Rolls, aka the final rolls of the Choctaw Tribe (I printed a copy but it is misplaced in Harvy at this time) but I did take some pictures I can share.

To my surprise I also saw a picture of both my great-great grandparents on my moms side as well. I’ve never seen pictures of them before, or knew their names.

I didn’t have a lot of time but the lady that was helping me said I was lucky to have found all that I did.

I met Mitch on the other side of the building at 10:30 am and we got to see the real Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and a lot of the things from when the United States became United. There was no photos allowed and honestly I can’t recall too much. But yeah, that kind of stuff.

The front of the building, people line up over on the west side of the building to get in

TMI- IBS-C

9/25/2022

So, as you can tell by the title, this story is not the usual post of our adventures. It’s all about my IBS-C, and for those of you who don’t know, that is irritable bowel syndrome- constipation. Years ago I had it in the “D” form. I had that problem in check, with making sure I didn’t eat certain things if I knew I had to work the next day, or not going places if things were popping, I mean poopin, so It was manageable.

About 8 years ago it decided to completely reverse on me, and so I became consistently constipated.

Yesterday morning I woke up with the worst stomach cramps, like beyond manageable. I would get surges of cramping, followed by severe hot flashes that would then turn into chills. I felt awful, I then proceeded to throw up the water and coffee I had drank that morning.

I knew it was because things haven’t been moving smoothly. I could barely move, if I stood up the cramping would return. Mitch and I had plans to go the museum of the Bible, but feeling the way I did he ended up going without me. I slept the whole morning and only woke when he called me as he was on his way back to see if I needed anything.

He brought me a whole arsenal of medicine, laxatives, mirlax, milk of magnesium, the other end laxatives. So I took a few things.. time went on and nothing worked. He then mentioned there was an at home enema he saw he could get me. Oh my gosh, has it really gotten so bad I’m gonna have to do that?! Yup.. it is that bad. He went back to the store and got it for me. If nothing happens, things could get worse.

I ended up doing to the enema.. and not much happened. I mean enough to relieve some pressure but I know things still aren’t right. I felt so sick, I threw up again and slept most of the day and night. I drank lots of water and didn’t eat but two crackers for the day. Today I had some progress but I’m still nauseous, feeling off and am certain things are jammed packed.

So yeah, that’s the story of the day… we traveled west through West Virginia and are staying at a loves truck stop in Kentucky for the night. I plan to be more consistent with making sure things clear out and hope that no more problems arise.

9/27-2022

Update..Elvis has left the building! Wahoo. Not that I’m back to a 100 percent but now I’m not worried about rupturing my colon or throwing up poo! No seriously, if it gets to bad that can happen. So from now on, I will do better. Take things to makes things happen. Hope this can help someone avoid what I experienced.

Washington DC Monuments

10/23/2022- When you see a picture of something, do you automatically assume it’ll be facing one way or another? I gotta say my brain assumes a direction, and my assumptions have been a hundred percent wrong! For some reason I always thought Lincoln was facing west, he actually faces the east and is straight across from the Washington monument and reflecting pool. We wanted to get to DC to see the sunrise and maybe even be there before anyone else, so we woke up at 5:30.

We found free all day parking! We mapped Harvy to 900 Ohio drive SW just to get to the area to park, but the whole street has free parking.

We hopped on el scooters and road the 1.4 miles to the Lincoln Monument. It was a brisk morning and I wish I would’ve wore gloves. To our surprise, when we arrived there were quite a few people there already with the same idea.

I had a special outfit for the day, but it wasn’t conducive to the weather so I double layered until it was picture time.

Professional pregnancy photos being taken at sunrise at Washington Monument

Ok, that was fun! Back to our regularly scheduled program.

The American Flags circle the entire monument

Mitch in front of the Washington Monument

I Have a Dream
Martin Luther King Jr.
The march on Washington
for jobs and freedom
August 18 1963
etched into the stone at the top of the Lincoln Memorial steps

I was surprised at how close you can get to the White House. There’s secret service no mater the direction you look. It’s located in the city, faces north and across from a park.

Marty, a man with a message, doing what he can

This photo is from the back of the White House, facing south

The Statue of Andrew Jackson in the center of the park

We headed East towards the capital, along the way we stopped at a street vendor to get a couple souvenirs. While we were looking at items a man came up to talk to us about our scooters. He said he used steal them, how he’d carry a cutting wheel to cut off the locks. He said cops would call him if they saw something like our scooters to buy off of him for their kids, all he had to do was steal them. So we thanked him for not stealing.

They continue to repair the damage caused by the January 6 riot

We went around to the other side and it was quite a bit bigger than we imagined

Quotes from some of his speeches are on the walls

The north side of the Jefferson memorial

Me getting a photo with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his dog Fala

Roosevelt’s words for future generations

We must keep the faith that good people will continue on the solid foundation we were give. That our world of the 21 century will not regress. To fight the good fight against oppression, ignorance,hate and greed

Sculpture depicting a quote from Roosevelt, the quote is in the middle

There is a small museum and gift shop near the Roosevelt Memorial

On the ground in the center of the floor is the medallion

The pillars that surround this fountain have each state engraved on each one

I finally named my scooter, her name is Nina the ninebot. so I thought it only fitting to get a picture of scooter McGavin and Nina in DC. We gave them some upgrades from Walmart. They each got cup carriers (especially since my experience in New York) and mirrors, and Nina got a basket, now to add sparkles and flowers!!

I tried to tell this bee it wasn’t a real flower, it took him a while to realize it for himself.

sunset looking at the Washington Monument

We wouldn’t have been able to see half of what we did if it wasn’t for our scooters. It made things so much simpler. I’m sure the subway system would’ve worked well for us too, but I’m glad we got to see it the way we did.

Arlington National Cemetery Washington DC

10/21/2022- Today we visited Arlington National Cemetery. We arrived around 11 am, and didn’t leave until 4:30pm. When we arrived they directed us to a parking area designed for oversized vehicles.

Once we arrived at the welcome center, we were directed to get into a security line check. After clearing security we went to information for a map.

Our first stop was the museum honoring women in the military.

She was granted 30 day of leave after being discharged from the Navy hospital

We headed up behind the women’s memorial towards John F. Kennedy’s gravesite.

JFK’s burial site, an eternal flame lit by his wife after his passing burns in the center. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Patrick Kennedy and their daughter are laid to rest with him.

They also have quotes from some of his speeches engraved in stone

We headed next to the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Changing of the guards in Arlington at the tomb of the unknown soldier

Every hour on the hour at this time of year is the changing of the guards

The view of the tomb of the unknown soldier from below

While there, a couple of schools presented wreaths to honor the fallen unknown soldiers

Inside the building is a museum, showing gifts from other countries, metals of valor and photos.

Gift from Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation

Behind the building is the memorial amphitheater

We decided to go towards the columbarium.

There are over 200,000 service members laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

While heading back towards the welcome center there was a service ending and we were able to watch them march back into formation.

The military honoring the loss of a service member

Arlington National Cemetery is 642 acres

There were more places in Arlington to visit, but we ran out of time. We decided to walk, but they do offer a troll car that would take you through the entire cemetery if you chose that route.