Charles Robinson

The roadtrip for summer 2011 has begun! I set off from Fort Worth at noon and headed to Hot Springs to spend the night. The drive was very pleasant, especially once I got out of the metroplex. I took Arkansas scenic Highway 7 to get to Hot Springs and the views were very rewarding! After arriving at the Gulpha Gorge Campground in Hot Springs National Park, I reserved my campsite, set up my tent, and set off on a hike for about 2 hours. I hiked two different trails: the Gulpha Gorge Trail (which leads from the campground to the top of the mountain) and the Goat Rock Trail. The Goat Rock Trail begins at the bottom of a rock that is in the shape of a goat's hoof! There were two overlooks on this trail ... read more

Boston is the place to be if you are visiting New England! It is also held very high in respect by everybody at camp, so I knew I had to visit! Jerome and I arrived Wednesday night and have been staying with Michael and Jennifer, a very nice couple who live in Watertown. On Thursday, I slept very late and got up to finally start some laundry. It had been more than two weeks and I was completely out of clean clothes! After that was done, I went into Boston and walked the 3-plus mile Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail starts at Boston Common and ends at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Along the way, there are many historic sites and buildings, such as the Park Street Church, Old South Meeting House, the Old North ... read more

Today, Jerome and I left Washington D.C. early (about 10:45) en route to New York City. We took I-95 all the way. On the way I decided to stop in Philadelphia and spend the afternoon. It was a good choice. I walked around the historic neighborhoods downtown, seeing the Liberty Bell, Carpenter's Hall, and Independence Hall. Next to Independence Hall was the building where our first Congress met from 1790-1800, before Washington became the capitol. In there, I saw the old House room and the Old Senate room, which was on the second floor. I took a tour of Independence Hall and saw the room where they signed the Declaration of Independence and where the Constitutional Convention met. (By the way, all of these historic visits were nothing like National Treasure.) We then a cheesesteak at ... read more

Today, I set off for our nation's capitol! I was by myself the whole day while Jerome did some other things. I took the metrorail from the house we were staying to a stop close to the capitol building. The capitol building, housing Congress, has a nice new visitor's center which I stopped at first. From there I stood in line and got a tour of the building. The guide was very knowledgable and took us to the rotunda, old House meeting room, and a few other rooms. The rotunda area was very beautiful, with several paintings all around that tell of our nation's history. The old House meeting room had several statues from the different states, including Sam Houston, and plaques that marked the desk locatons of famous representatives, including Abraham Lincoln. After the tour, ... read more

Today, the weather was very cold and rainy. We are glad we did not camp out last night! After a very late morning sleeping in at Days Inn, we departed for Hershey, where we would be staying with Jerome's friend, Mitch. The drive, though raining a lot, was very beautiful. Mountains began to appear and I discovered a new perspective of them- they are very beautiful surrounded by mist and fog. One downturn of the drive was that it was a tollway. Once we got to Hershey, we visited Hershey's Chocolate World. This is the visitor center for Hershey corporation. We took a free tour that showed the chocolate-making process. We then took a trolley ride through Hershey, learning about and seeing the places and history of the town and of Milton Hershey. It was very ... read more