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Our 49th Capitol!!

By on Jul 9, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 4 comments

Saturday, May 11 – Tuesday, May 14 We walked the block to the Montgomery capitol that morning right when it opened. But because it was the weekend, they only offered guided tours. The tour didn’t start for another hour so we went into the gift shop to buy a coffee mug and get our 49th stamp!  One of the security guards, Mr. Moss, noticed our motorcycle keys as we were going through security and started talking to us about riding. He also owns a bike and so we talked with him for awhile and swapped stories.  Since we had some time to kill before the tour started, we walked to get some breakfast and then back to the hotel to pack everything up so we could leave for home straight from the capitol.  We had the best tour guide, Mr. Irby.  Mr. Aroine Irby was on the march from Selma to Montgomery back in 1965. He recalled how the governor of Alabama, Mr. Wallace told his men to do...

Atlanta, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida

By on Jul 5, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 1 comment

Friday, May 10~ We woke up early and drove a couple hours to Atlanta. The capitol was gorgeous! We headed straight for the information desk where we got our stamp and a couple brochures for a self guided tour.  Quite a few school groups were on their field trips so kids were everywhere. We managed to filter through the groups and walk floor to floor.  We walked to a building across the street to buy my coffee mug then back to the bike and straight for Tallahassee, Florida. The sky became darker and darker the farther we drove.  Suddenly, it started pouring! We pulled under a gas pump roof and put on all of our rain gear. It rained most of the way to Tallahassee.  The rain subsided when we were close to Tallahassee but boy, it was so muggy!! My helmet visor kept fogging up and we were miserable in our gear. We parked across for the capitol and peeled our gear off.  We were walking...

Nashville, Tennessee

By on Jun 28, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 0 comments

Thursday, May 9~ It was a great 3 days spent on the lake and catching up with the family. We missed seeing and spending time with Ken and Whitney on the boat but, so is life.  We left early Thursday morning for Nashville. The traffic was light and the three hours went by fairly quickly and we were in Nashville in no time. It was muggy and starting to sprinkle as we parked and walked over to the capitol building.  (Side note: we knew this last leg of our trip was going to be brutal. There was a massive storm heading our way and there was nothing we could do to avoid it. It was getting muggier and the rain more intense. We had a very small window to hit the capitols because they weren’t open on the weekend and waiting till next week put us behind by a week or two with the way things worked out with driving, RJ’s work, meetings, etc.) We toured the capitol half by ourselves and half the...

Family Time and a Failed Attempt to Visit Nashville

By on Jun 27, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 1 comment

Monday, May 6 – Wednesday, May 8 We spent the next two days on the lake. Dad and RJ worked in the morning and then we would all pile in the boat and have a nice long surf session before docking the boat and going out for supper.  On Wednesday, RJ and I left very early in the morning for Nashville. Our plan was to stop for a meeting half way, drive to the capitol, then head back to the lake house and spend the afternoon on the lake with Dad, Mom, Jessie, and Ken and Whitney who were flying in around noon.  Of course, things didn’t happen according to plan! RJ’s meeting lasted longer than it was supposed to. We had an hour and a half to get to Nashville which was more than enough time- we were only 40 miles away. But, there was road construction on the freeway and traffic was down to one lane. But also, right when we left from RJ’s meeting, there was a crash on the freeway so they...

Columbia, South Carolina

By on Jun 25, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 0 comments

Saturday, May 4~ Like usual, we had our day planned out and knew exactly how things were supposed to go. But, the day had slightly different plans for us. I was packing up and RJ was taking the saddle bags out to the bike and saw that someone had tried to slash our back tire! They didn’t slash through but it was a pretty deep cut. RJ started calling bike shops to see if he could get the tire replaced. He finally found a shop in Columbia— 140 miles away. Let’s just say, there was a lot of praying happening on that drive to Columbia!! RJ was driving slow to be safe and we weren’t talking much. Semis were passing us.  After what seemed like hours, we were in Columbia. We stopped at the capitol to take a tour because it was on the way to the bike shop.  The capitol was having its Confederate State Memorial Day ceremony which was a bit intense. They had a massive flag laid out on the steps...

Raleigh, North Carolina

By on Jun 19, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 0 comments

Friday, May 3~ Walking into the Raleigh capitol, we were surrounded by a few groups of school kids on their field trip. We made our way through security and over to the information desk where we got our stamp.  We walked around and saw all the things there were to see. There was the cutest little State Library on one side of the building. And a geology room on the opposite side. This is the first capitol we’ve been to that has its own geology room. It contains all the different rock found in North Carolina. The capitol didn’t have a gift shop so we weren’t able to purchase a mug. We drove to a coffee shop where we worked for the rest of the afternoon.  Before heading to Columbia, we walked to a restaurant where we got chicken and waffles and a chicken sandwich.  We were going to camp but a storm was rolling in and it was so humid. It is beyond miserable trying to sleep in a tent when...

Richmond, Virginia

By on Jun 17, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 0 comments

Thursday, May 2- We left our Airbnb Thursday morning and drove to Richmond, Virginia. It was quite warm out by the time we arrived and we took off our riding gear as soon as we  found a parking spot near the capitol.  This medallion, at the front steps, lets light through to brighten underground and shines on this statue. This was an interesting capitol because we entered underground. We walked inside, through security and over to the information desk to stamp our booklet. Two older ladies greeted us and asked if we wanted to join the tour that had started a few minutes ago. We politely declined because we were trying to keep to somewhat of a schedule and get to our campsite before dark. And also, RJ had a couple meetings that afternoon. The lady stamping our book almost fell over, I think partly because she was quite old and partly because she was so astonished that we weren’t...

Arlington Cemetery, Dover Delaware, and the United States Capitol

By on Jun 6, 2019 in Adventure & Travel | 0 comments

Tuesday, April 30~ We didn’t do much this day. RJ worked most of the day and I blogged for awhile before walking to Arlington Cemetery.     I watched the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier several times and walked around the cemetery until RJ met me there to watch the Changing of the Guard. It is fascinating to watch the guards. Everything is timed to the second. They are never off. They walk 21 steps, turn and face the Tomb for 21 seconds, turn back to the mat and change their rifle to the outside shoulder and count 21 seconds, walk 21 steps to the other side of the mat, turn and face the Tomb again for 21 seconds, turn back to the mat and change their rifle to the outside shoulder and count 21 seconds, then repeat until the Changing of the Guard. A few fun facts about the Tomb, guards, and cemetery: The Tomb is guarded 365 days a year, 24 hours a day...