Saturday June 11 DC day Day 8 Today went to the National Gallery of Art on the Mall. It is massive and has 2 large buildings connected by an underground moving sidewalk. The West Wing houses European and American Art from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The east Wing Houses 20th century art. I invested almost the entire day there and it was exhausting. After visiting the Museum I walked over to a pizza place noted in my guidebook to be one of the best in DC. It was called Ella's Wood Fired Pizza on 9th Street NW. Instead of ordering a pizza of the kind I was used to I made the mistake of taking a servers recommendation and ordered one of their "gourmet" pizza's. It was dismal with some kind of leafy vegetable ... read more

Thursday June 9 Morning: Here it is Thursday already. I've been here since Saturday. There have been many remarkable things to see. Once you get the Metro figured out getting around is pretty easy as long as you avoid the rush hours. I have no problem with that as I usually don't get to the station before 10:30 and have gotten in the habit of finding a cool museum or court for reading my guidebooks during the hottest part of the day, and then go home a bit after 7PM. I have found the food court at Union Station to be a good place although a bit noisy. An excellent place is the courtyard at The American Museum of Art and Portrait Gallery right at the Metro Exit for Gallery Place/China Town. It has free wireless ... read more

June 6 Monday. Washington , DC Morning: I'm camped out in the Prince William Forest Park in the Oak Ridge Campground for $15 a night, about 20 miles from the Franconia-Springfield train station in Franconia. The station is for The Blue Line which is the best for me since the Blue line will take me to the Mall and Smithsonian without having to transfer. And the Prince William Forest Park is the closest to Washington DC that has a campground that I have found so far. There are Private campgrounds but they want too much for a tent site. $45 a night at the one I checked out. And this place is super quiet and has the look, feel and smell of a forest. I can stay here a maximum of 14 days which should be ... read more

June 1st Wednesday Appomattox Court House to Fredericksburg. Virginia Morning: Up early this morning according to plan. I will head over to the MacDonald's and then out to the Surrender site outside of town. I need to get out there and tour it before it gets too hot. It is ran by the National Park service and has a walking tour. There is a parking lot and pedestrian traffic only allowed in the park. From the parking lot to the visitor center is about 150 yards. From the McLean house , where the surrender document was signed, to the surrender triangle where the Confederates actually laid down their arms and surrendered is about 3 football fields distance which in cool weather is fine but may be a different matter at 92 degrees and 94% humidity and ... read more

Monday May 30 - Charlotte Morning entry: Happy Memorial Day to all. I've been up since about 8 Eastern Time repacking and putting stuff in my truck. I'll try and have only my suitcase and ice chest to load up tomorrow. I'm planning on heading North to Danville, Virginia tomorrow. It is about 150 miles from Charlotte. Danville was where the Confederacy set up a temporary capital after abandoning Richmond. I'll probably get there tomorrow and check it out and the next day go to Appomattox Court House and then to Richmond where hopefully there is room at the Intown Suites. If I can get a room at Intown Suites I will rent it for the week. If not then I'll have to adjust to the greater expense of staying elsewhere, or maybe camp some to ... read more