We spent this Friday with Kate’s aunt and uncle, exploring Dover. We had a few people ask us about all of us being in RED, so we got to share the story with them.

We had a great time seeing the Dover Green , the Old State House, and the John Dickinson Plantation and learning about what makes Delaware special in the founding of our great nation!

We spent part of the afternoon at the Dickinson plantation learning about life in the colonial period. John Dickinson is known as “the Penman of the American Revolution”, having penned or contributed to several notable documents written during the American Revolution.

Day 2 in Washington DC: we attempted to see a few things that one or both of us had on our bucket list. First, Kate collects Hard Rock Café pins, so we stopped to have lunch at HRC in DC on our way to Ford’s Theater.

A bit disappointing, but Ford’s Theater was closed and there was nothing on the NPS app about the closure. While we did not get to see inside the theater (Kate has been there several times), one of the docents was outside telling people the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. She was even great enough to bring out the cancellation stamp for Steve’s passport book!

Day 1 in Washington DC we decided to walk the National Mall . The view of DC from the hill where the Washington Monument stands is one of Kate’s favorites! Today we walked a circuit of the National Mall and Tidal Basin.

We spent some time at each of the following:\

• Washington Monument\
• WWII Memorial\
• Lincoln Memorial\
• West Potomac Park (this encompasses the path/park around the tidal basin - from Lincoln to Jefferson Memorials)\
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial\
• Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial

We walked over 15,000 steps today, so we’re pretty exhausted!

Appomattox Court House National Historic Park is located on such a beautiful piece of land - light breeze, rolling hills, and a major roadway within earshot… Even with the noise from vehicles passing, Kate found a rocking chair and took a few minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet of the grounds! Do you ever just take time to enjoy the little things like the breeze and the sunshine?

We drove southeast from Natural Bridge through the mountains to Appomattox Court House . This once bustling little village is now maintained by the federal government as a National Historical Park.

This is the place where in 1865, Robert E. Lee formally surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant bringing an end to the American Civil War . The surrender happened at the McLean House, the home of a Virginia Grocer who made a small fortune selling sugar to the Confederate Army during the war. Wimer McLean moved to Appomattox Court House in 1863 after fighting broke out at the first battle of Bull Run (which was practically in his back yard at his farm in Northern Virginia). He moved to Appomattox Court House to keep his wife and children safe and away from the war. Little did he know that in two years’ time the parlor in his home would be at the center point of the battle which led to surrender.

The New River Gorge National Park encompasses over 70,000 acres of land. That’s the equivalent of ~109 square miles or more than 53,000 football fields. It’s HUGE.

It was a bit rainy the day we visited, so we elected to drive down to Grandview, the Sandstone Visitors center, and the Sandstone Falls overlook after our stop at Canyon Rim.

Grandview definitely lives up to its name! After winding through residential and farmland, seeing all the amazing Catawba rhododendrons in bloom, we arrived at a large park, complete with an amphitheater, picnic areas, and open fields to play. Just a short walk to an overlook, and we were rewarded with incredible views of the gorge, forest, and river, which was more than 1400 feet below us.

We visited New River Gorge National Park during our stay in West Virginia. The main visitors center at Canyon Rim offers sweeping views of the gorge and river below. It’s located just southeast of the famous New River Gorge Bridge, so the overlooks here give you a sense of scale when comparing the bridge and the gorge.

The bridge is the longest steel single-span arch bridge in the western hemisphere and the 3rd highest bridge in the US. It was completed in 1977, bringing a much needed connection between the eastern and western sides of the New River. Every year during October, more than 80,000 people gather to commemorate the opening of the bridge on Bridge Day. During this celebration, you can watch hundreds of base jumpers dive off the bridge, one of the few exceptions to the ban on base jumping in National Parks. I bet that is a sight to see!

Continuing the story of the Sinagua people in the Verde Valley, we visited Montezuma Castle National Monument . This place is incredible. Montezuma Castle is not a castle at all. It’s a five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling built into a limestone cliff 800 years ago. It looks like something out of a fantasy novel, but it was once home to real families who farmed, hunted, and lived in harmony with the land.

We visited one of the lesser known parks while we were in Sedona - Tuzigoot National Monument . Wow- what a window into the past! This site preserves a 110-room pueblo built by the Sinagua people , who lived here between 1000 and 1400 AD.