Washington DC, Colonial Williamsburg, and Stone Mountain

Hello!  I have not blogged in a while about our vacation because we have been so busy!  I'll try to sum up what we have been doing this week.
First, we went to Washington DC where we were able to tour the White House.  To me the coolest part of the visit was getting to see one of Obama's dogs!   However, the tour was very cool and we were excited to be there.  After that we walked around the mall in DC and went to one of the Smithsonian museums.  (the American History one).  Day 2 had us visiting the capital and more Smithsonian's.  (American Indian and Natural History).  Day 3 we had to take Colin to the airport because he was flying home to go to church camp.  After we dropped him off David and I met up with some friends from Pennsylvania for dinner.  It was so great to see them and the crab cakes were delicious!  Caty and Garrett went back to DC for more museums.  Day 4 we went to the Smithsonian zoo and saw the panda's!  That was high on my bucket list for sure.  DC was amazing but VERY hot!  I thought we were all going to have heat stroke by the end of it. 

Next, we went to Colonial Williamsburg.  I was super impressed and if you have not ever been before you should go!  I knew the actors would be dressed up and be in character but I had no idea that you become part of the scene and part of the action.  Very cool!  Again we almost had heat stroke but the day was amazing and I wish we had had a second day to really see it all.  I have learned so much American history on this trip.

Finally, we went to Stone Mountain, GA.  For my Texas friends it is like Enchanted Rock on steroids.  Beautiful scenery and lake, quaint little theme park, and lots of history.  We had two good friends from the area meet us for dinner and a campfire!  David grilled out for us and we had a fun time!

Today we made it to Perdido Key and will spend the next few days chillin' at the beach!! 

Montecello and the Blue Ridge Parkway

We went to Ashville so that we could see the Biltmore Estate.  It is supposed to be beautiful and is/was (?) owned by the Vandervilt's.  Well, we discovered that for the 5 of us to get in to tour it would cost $295 and we decided that it wasn't worth the money to see a big house.  So, after a bad experience at a campground (Caitlin will describe later) we left Ashville a day early and decided to drive part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This is a road that was built during the depression to connect Smoky Mountian NP to the Shenandoah NP.  The road is a national park that is just meant as a scenic drive.  It was beautiful!  However, we had quite a few very close encounters with other vehicles and trees on a very small, VERY curvy road.  After we got off we saw a sign that said "RV's and campers not recommended".  Wish we knew that earlier! But we made it and saw beautiful scenery, amazing views and hiked to Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina which is the highest point east of the Mississippi.  That night we boondocked (camping without hookups, etc) in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.  If you didn't know most Walmart's and Cracker Barrel's will allow you to boondock!

The next day we drove to a beautiful campground near Charlottesville, Va  and toured Montecello, Jefferson's home.  It was very interesting and though Colin made a 2 on his AP English test he made a 4 on the US History test (thank you Ms. George!) and we planned the entire  trip around American history because of his and Caitlin's interest.  Funny though that Jefferson is Colin's least favorite president so he wasn't completely thrilled with the visit and kept informing us of all of Jefferson's faults! Lol. After Montecello we went back to the campsite, ate dinner, and did much needed laundry.

Today we are off to DC with lots of things planned!  I'll fill you in as we go!

Courtney

 
                                                              Blue Ridge Parkway

                                                        Top of Mt. Mitchell

Colin and David at the mountain

                                                       Where Jefferson is buried

                                                                     Monticello

                                                      David decided Jefferson needed glasses!

North Carolina........just say no

I want to first start by saying that I am sorry blogging community, I have failed you. I was enjoying my vacation too much and my selfishness got the best of me. I have not updated you on any campgrounds since we were in Arkansas. I know each and everyone of y’all waits anxiously to see my next post; some stay up all night staring at their computers without blinking, constantly refreshing the page. But, to no avail, because I’ve been holding out on you. I’m going to try and make it up to y’all. Please give me one more chance, I promise this post will not fail you. If anything, it will pass you, into a journey of unfathomable glory. Prepare yourself.

The next place we stayed after our Arkansas Experience was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I am sure you already read everyone else’s post—the rest of the people on this blog are less selfish and more motivated in their posting—but nonetheless, I’ll elaborate. The campground was basically an RV resort in the Smokies. Every inch surrounding the campground was covered in green trees. There was an adorable little gift shop where we invested in some much-needed bug spray and I became known as the “girl who rang herself up.” I went to the store and they have an iPad hooked up to a Square reader in place of a cash register. It’s pretty self-explanatory and the lady working and I were talking about it. Later that day, Garrett wanted a soda and all the workers were busy setting up for a 4^th of July event so I checked the Coke Zero out on their machine and the lady saw me and thanked me… Later on, I was praised by other workers. Apparently I’m a go-getter in the Gatlinburg community. I’m expecting an award ceremony and building dedicated in my honor soon—I’ll keep y’all updated on my success.

The Gatlinburg campground was just perfect and I will give it 5 out of 5 RV’s.

Next came the campsite that will forever be held in our heart’s as the “crappy customer service campground.”  We pull up around dinner time and Cracky and David get out and start doing their normal set-up routine. It usually involves a lot of yelling and the imminent threat of death for David, but this usually only lasts several minutes and we’re all set up. An hour later, Garrett, Colin and I are all wondering if the rapture had taken place and we somehow got left because there was no sign of parental units and we were 45 minutes over normal time. Garrett and I decide we’ll go take a look around the campsite so we start walking. 10 minutes into our tour, Colin comes running saying, “run to the RV as fast as you can, we’re in a hurry and we’re leaving.” All I can think is that someone has killed someone and we have to burry a body and get the heck out of there. So Garrett and I start running like Usain Bolt, the Jamaican Olympian, towards Bertha. We get there to find out, something has gone down, everyone still has a pulse, but there are feelings of hostility and we’re relocating. I know my parents are nomadic in sense, but come on, we’ve only been here for an hour. At this point, I’m thinking David has lost his mind, and his nomadic instincts have taken over and we’re relocating to a different campground for new scenery. I, thankfully, was wrong. David is still semi-sane and there was a disagreement between them and the campground staff.

Basically, I want you to imagine an extremely fat person fitting into tight spandex pants. (If you sport that outfit, please stop.) Now with that image in your head, try to imagine Bertha as the fat person and this campground as the spandex—it just wasn’t working. They had placed us into a way-too-small campsite and Bertha just wasn’t having it. Mind you, before Bertha, we had the beloved Dolly, she was a smaller RV who would’ve fit in this campsite. When the original reservations were made, they were made with Dolly in mind but Cracky had gone and changed all the reservations but somehow, either by Cracky’s error or their’s, our reservation at this particular campground had not been changed. Well, normally that wouldn’t be a problem but these people were not the problem-solving type of people. They obviously received their education outside of Texas A&M and lacked common sense and courtesy. (Let’s be honest, they probably went to T.U.) These grown adults could not come up with any kind of solution for how to fit Bertha into a different campsite. This would explain the rapture scare earlier, Cracky and David had been in the office trying to reason with these common sense-challenged humans, which obviously took time. Finally, everyone came to the conclusion that they would give us a full refund and they referred us to a different campground in the area that did have a spot big enough for Bertha.

So, all would be fine and dandy if it hadn’t been for the following events. Cracky made a phone call to the campground to ensure that our refund would be processed, that night, and the lady once again reassured her we would get the full refund. But, the next morning the same lady called back and now said we were not getting our refund. Cracky was not a happy camper- literally. I thought that these people were about to be on the next CNN headline for an attack by the Mayer clan and their fighting poodles. I started suiting up in armor and I was ready to go, and I’m pretty sure Cracky would’ve let me but we got a call back. Now she was saying that we could get our money back for the 2^nd night but that we still had to pay for the first night. Cracky responded, “that’s fine, but please let your boss know that you’re the one who said we would receive a full refund—“ which then the lady responded, “FINE! I’M TIRED OF THIS, I’M GIVING YOU ALL THE MONEY BACK EXCEPT THE DEPOSIT. GOD!” Well then, I guess someone didn’t wake up on the right side of the camper van. Let it be known, however, that we have still not received that refund and I am in next in line on the who-gets-to-call-angry-pants—and I’m definitely more feisty than Cracky. So if you’re reading this, angry pants, beware. Obviously, this campsite got a 0 out of 5 RV’s.

The place where we ended up staying that fateful night was alright and did the trick but we decided we were not spending a second night in Asheville and that we were going to head towards Charlottesville a day early. Good riddance! (2 out of 5 RV’s.)

You will read more details about our adventures through the Blue Ridge Parkway from other’s posts so I’ll skip ahead to our glorious campsite we stayed in the next night.

The Mayer’s are what you might call classy people. We only expect the best and we refuse to settle for anything less than 5 stars. So, we stayed the night in a Cracker Barrel Parking lot. The next morning, like any good ags, we woke up at literally the crack of dawn to eat some country fixin’s at the Cracker Barrel. You will unfortunately not hear about this meal from Colin, because he was channeling his inner-sloth and slept through this event. All in all, I give this campsite a disqualification for the lack of campsite qualities.

So far, our camping experience had been a struggle since we had been in North Carolina, and therefore we marched onward to Virginia. Haha, who are we kidding, we didn’t march, we cruised. Virginia, like Tennessee, was beautiful. We obviously hold a lot clout in the camping community, because when we arrived, we were directed towards the “owner’s spot.” This campsite had a built-in deck with table and chairs and backed up to a small river. It was picturesque, however I don’t think of us actually took pictures, sorry, we’re failures. In Virginia, we saw Monticello, the thing on the back of the nickel, and that took a lot out of us. Garrett, Colin and I fell asleep at 7 pm and woke up at 9 am. I know, we’re inspirational. I give this campsite 4 out of 5 RV’s. (There were too many flies.)

Well, next time I update, I’ll hopefully be raving over the RV park in Maryland that we are staying at for D.C., but anything can happen when it comes to us. Alas, stay safe and use sunscreen, I ain’t got time for cancer.

Peace & Blessings, Caitlin.

Food blog 4: electric boogaloo

Hello. How have you been? I've been good, thanks for asking. I haven't been very good at taking pictures of our meal so I'll just replace those with selfies if myself

Hello ladies. I'm sideways because you spin me round right baby round

So our first meal of this entry was a small family owned little secret called Chick-fil-a. Since y'all have all probably eaten at Chick-fil-a I won't bother describing their food. Instead I will describe the staff. Our cashier was a no-nonsense black lady who could not put up with Caty's questions about acting like a cow, for free chicken. The lady taking orders from the drive through was a tall pimply brunette who obviously had a crush on the boy who's only job seemed to be taking refills and running food. He had the voice of a radio announcer but the physicalitys of an awkward child who didn't know what to do with his hands. Wherever they are now I hope those two find love. Three out of five Colins

Children and animals love me

 Next we had home cooked pork loin with green beans and potatoes. The pork was juicy and delicious. The green beans had a perfect crunch to them  and we're salted to perfection. The potatoes were the coup de grâce of the meal though. The way they were cooked was not what made them special, but the way they were cut to perfection. Whoever weld the knife that cut these potatoes has a hand that must have been blessed by an angel. These potatoes were cut so perfectly that people came over from neighboring campsites just to see their beauty. Tears of joy were shed at the sight of these perfectly cut potatoes. I'm just going to come out and say it. I was the one who cut the potatoes. Five out of five Colins

I can also cut a rug

The most recent meal we had was at a Thai food place named Terra Thai. As usual I asked the waiter what to eat. He suggested a seafood noodle plate. I waited patiently for it and when it came I realized I recognized the smell. It had the distinct odor of someone I love and hold dear to my heart. The plate smelled straight up like my dog Rudder. I stomached two or three bites before I pushed the plate away. I could not bring myself to eat it, because images of rudder kept creeping up in my head as I 

ate. I swear they served me dog. I rate this restaurant one out of five Colins.

But I rate you ten out of 5 Colins

Cades Cove: the longest 11 miles of my life!

Hangry - adj. anger that is brought on by extreme hunger. May result in extreme measures, sometimes violent.

This definition alone can sum up the 11 mile drive at Cades Cove that we all experienced 2 days ago. Let me start by saying that the trip in it's entirety was 5 hours, 5 hours that I wish could have gone down a little differently.

It started out like any other drive, 3 of us crammed into the back seat of a jeep that seats 2, but besides just being crammed into seats, we also just made the worst mistake of the day by not eating lunch before we started. Within an hour of the drive, we were all at each other's throats with various insults such as everyone questioning each other on weather or not they took their "happy pills" that morning which progressed into threatening the people driving the cars in front of us to hurry up or they were going to be hurt and ended in Mr. Mayer flipping off a white-tailed deer for being one of the many causes of our delay. After a very stressful 4 hours though, we reached a general store at the end and we all got something to eat which put us in better moods making the last hour a fairly peaceful drive to the Smoky Mountain Brewery where we gorged ourselves and watched the rest of the Costa Rica vs. Netherlands World Cup match!

I blame Wyndi

I got a two on my English ap test so now I will write in a way that reflects that score. Place called Calhouns. Food good. Yummy pretzels with beer cheese. Pickles bad. Ale steak okay. Funny waiter bring out  liter of coke for me because I drink so fast. 3 out of 5 Colins. Next place we went on long hike. Make very hungry. Ate at three Jimmy's. Good burgers. David won food challenge got free dessert. Had Swiss and mushroom burger. Yum yum. 4 out of 5 Colins. Then we have Smoky Moutain brewery. Had same food as Calhouns. 3 out of 5 Colins. Then David cooked steaks. Very yummy. Had bruschetta and salad with it. Also beans and potato salad. Good. 4 out of 5 Colins

Smoky Mountains

We had a wonderful time in the Smoky Mountains!  The scenery was beautiful in the park and the town of Gatlinburg is pretty adorable!  We first arrived and met some friends, the Burgin's,  for dinner that live in the area. It was great to see them.  Afterwards the adults went down the block to do a moonshine tasting while the kids shopped.  The moonshine is in all varieties of flavors from "white lightening" to peach, to blackberry, etc.  It was interesting to say the least!  The next day we woke up to go on a 4 mile hike to "chimney tops".  It was beautiful but straight uphill and we are all still very sore!  I made it almost to the very top but my fear of heights stopped me from the last few meters because it was a climb up a pretty shear cliff to see the top.  David and the 3 kids made it the rest of the way while I sat and tried to stop shaking!  Apparently, the view from the top was gorgeous!

Day 3 had us on a driving tour of Cades Cove.  It was an interesting historical drive with a guide book you bought for $1 and read at various points along the way.  Had it been a normal drive it would have been great... however, 5 hours later due to a one-way road that moved at about 1 mile an hour because anytime a bear, a white-tailed deer, or who knows what else was seen traffic came to a complete stop.  We did get pictures of a couple of black bears which was cool but we were all so hungry we really couldn't enjoy the trip.  We assumed the drive would be 30 minutes and we would go into town and have lunch or we would have packed a lunch!   I thought the kids were about to start walking to the front of the line of cars and begin killing people!  Lol!

All in all we had a really great time in the Smoky Mountains!

                                                    Beautiful waterfall and bridge

                                                                  The hike to Chimney Tops- very steep!

                                                           Caty and Garrett

                                                Courtney (or as the kids say Cracky) and Colin

                                                      David and Colin

                                     The steep cliff to the very top.  Seen from my spot where I quit!

                                                       Entrance to the park

                                       One of the cabins in Cades Cove that is over 150 years old

                                            Baptist church and graveyard.  Graves from the 1800's

                                                    The black bear that stops traffic for hours!

                                               Another black bear the paparazzi love!

View from the very top. 

Beautiful river on the hike. 

The many cars that we waited behind...

Arkansas Campgrounds

Well, Arkansas was needless to say, interesting. We found ourselves in Hot Springs amongst an interesting crowd of people and the campground was just as unique. The campground itself was nice, nothing too exciting but nice... However, it was our neighbors that really make this worth writing about. We had a family next to us who insisted on walking around shirtless in sweatpants. I'm not one to judge, but these people were not exactly the type of people I want to see shirtless. Now, what really made them stand out was their staring. They stared at us the entire time we were there. It started when Cracky was parking the RV, the man just stared at her the entire time, and continued on until we were pulling away. I know we are a pretty hot family, but calm yourself and stop fan-girling. So, Hot Springs was an......interesting.. place, to say the least. But, I'll be lenient and give this 2 out of 5 RVs.

I had just about given up hope on Arkansas and what it could offer us until we pulled into our next campground. Tom Sawyer RV Park. It was the cutest little RV park along the Mississippi river, near Memphis. The people were incredibly nice and gave us complimentary dog treats for our poodles and a Tom Sawyer RV Park pencil. When we first arrived a huge double rainbow arced across the Mississippi and that solidified in our minds that this place was perfect. Rudder had fun running with Garrett along the river and we enjoyed our short stay. The only negative was the amount of Godzilla sized mosquitos that insisted on entering our home. I give this campground a 5 out of 5 RVs.

Day two & three dinner

The Mayers are nothing if not creatures of habit. So when we found ourselves in the strange and foreing land of Arkansas or as I like to call it R-Kansas, we went to what was most familiar to us. Yes, we went to a Mexican food diner. Viña Morita is a small mom and pop resturant where the husband manned the bar and the wife was our server. The entire time their two year old daughter was running around the resturant causing a cute ruckus at every table. The service was quick and our waitress made sure that Cracky and David got their homemade margaritas in a timely fashion. We started with a salsa and chip plate. The appetizer came with two salsas. Both were rich with flavor and had a bite to them that made you want more. We ordered the house special; a fajita plate with beef, chicken, shrimp, lobster, and sausage.

The beef was tender and juicy, the chicken was beautifully done, and the veggies were perfectly caramelized. After the main course we had their homemade take on sopaipillas which were soaked in honey, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The desert was divine. All together the meal was a perfect 5 Colins out of 5.

The next day we found ourselves in Memphis, Tennessee. After setting up camp we went into town to eat at Rendezvous, a famous rib place. When you walk down the stairs into the resturant, it reminds you of a Hollywood diner. Pictures of celebrities, presidents, and guest are plastered on the wall, every server is wearing a collard shirt with a bow ties, and a bar sits in the center as an HQ for the building. We sat in the back, and much to David delight, next to a display of old fashion guns.. The service was quick and friendly. I ordered the lamb ribs which came with a homemade barbecue sauce. The  ribs were tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The sause was smokey and rich. The meal was delicious and I would rate this 4 out of 5 Colins. Afterwords we went to the Peabody hotel to harass some ducks. 

Memphis Blues!

• Tonight we had a delicious meal that Colin will post about and afterwards we went to Beale street to listen to the blues.  It was wonderful!  I will try to post some pictures once I get a better wifi signal.  We found an outside patio area with a wonderful blues band.   The signer was awesome and he even had Caty get up and sing with him!  On the way we also saw a beautiful rainbow!  What a wonderful city and a wonderful day! 

Rendezvous Barbecue! 

Colin and David at dinner.

Garrett and Caitlin at dinner

We visited the Peabody Hotel. They are famous for their ducks that march through the lobby and reside in the penthouse of the hotel, very cool! 

Beale Street.

Blues singers on Beale Street.

Caty got to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" with the blue's singer. 

The kids standing in front of Beale Street.

Statue of Elvis! 

Beautiful double rainbow arcing over the Mississippi River by our campground!

Beale Street, lit up at night

Hot Springs National Park

Today we visited our first "attraction" of the trip, Hot Springs National Park.  If you have not been here before it is the most unusual national park we have ever been to.  First, it is in the middle if the city and consists of bath houses from the early 1900's.  We learned all about the "golden age of bathing."  (Not sure what age of bathing we are considered in today!). So we went to the visitor center where one of the bath houses is set up like a museum.  We learned that a lot of people went there to cure syphilis, which made me want to start the "a golden age of Purell bathing" when we got back to Bertha.  In a nutshell Hot Springs NP was pretty weird and not at all what we were expecting, and we will probably not be back anytime soon.  We did have a delicious meal last night which Colin will blog about soon!  Stayed tuned for our visit to Memphis where we will eat yummy BBQ and listen to some blues on Beale Street!

Day one dinner and day two lunch

I'm writing this a day late because I am lazy and last night I went to bed right after I ate. Let's begin this story with the fact that I am lactose intolerant. My family is usually very accommodating to this fact but there is one exception. Pizza. Pizza, also known as mana, or the food God delivered to the Jewish people during there Exodus, is nothing without cheese. Cheese is what completes pizza. It's what makes it whole. So when I was delivered a pizza with nothing but marinara sauce and half cooked topping, I was a bit disappointed. But my stomach growled with such ferocity that I had no choice but to eat. I bit into the pizza and suddenly felt searing hot pain. The pizza was about  5,800 degrees kelvin and the roof of my mouth erupted into flames. Taste was no longer the question, but how much pain this pizza caused me. So I would rate this pizza 1 out of 5 Colins. After it cooled down it was quite enjoyable though. I then ate Miss.Vickie's salt and vinegar chips which were excellent and are rated 5 out of 5 Colins.
Today we skipped breakfast and went straight to lunch like so many late sleepers do. Lunch consisted of a delicious tuna fish sandwhich which I must rate 4 out of 5 Colins.

Campground Review

Originally we were going to boondock, (park Bertha in a parking lot without any hookups (water, electricity, sewage, etc.)) but Cracky (our mom) found a state park last week that was near by and looked prettier than a Walmart parking lot, which isn't saying much but I digress.

 So Atlanta State Park was our first destination. We were not sure what to expect as we pulled up after a VERY LONG drive, but large pines towered over us and we felt like Cracky hadn't done us dirty. The park was beautiful! Trees everywhere, fresh air, and overall beauty surrounded us. 

The park was surprisingly empty of any others except one other quiet family. We felt very secluded in this large Forrest. We set up camp, hung up our ENO parachute-material hammocks and hooked up to electricity and water. We then took a half mile hike to Lake Wright Patman, a beautiful lake that sits in the park. Unfortunately there was about 100% humidity and mosquitoes everywhere but other than that, the hike was enjoyable. 

We got back and cooled off inside the RV with the air conditioning on full blast, we were hot!  

Overall the campground exceeded our expectations and we would love to visit again, maybe in the fall for cooler weather and less humidity. The cell service could've been better and it would've been nice to hook up to sewage. We ended up taking showers in the public restrooms, which were surprisingly clean and quite nice. Therefore, I give this campground 4 out of 5 RV's. 

-Caitlin Our hammock set-up

The road was surrounded by huge trees.Lake Wright Patman at dusk was beautiful!

The Adventure begins!

6:00 AM rolled around and while others were nestled in their beds sleeping soundly, I was awoken by the sound of scurrying throughout the house and people going in and out doors. It was time to finish loading up and hit the road, the 3-week adventure was about to begin! The most memorable part of the first day ride would have to be watching Pitch Perfect with everyone while the Warden (Mr. Mayer) drove. As each song in the movie came on, all of us watching sang the songs in perfect harmony so that they could be heard throughout Bertha since the TV couldn't be heard that well even with the volume turned all the way up. All in all it was a very pleasant ride the first day and I can't wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store for us!

-Garrett