Day 20 – A Short Travel Day & A Goodbye Party

After our night in The Big Apple, we were ready for a good night’s sleep….but mother nature had a different idea.

The wind started blowing something fierce after midnight, literally rocking the trailer back and forth.  Every once in awhile, we could hear a loud BANG that sounded like something landing hard on the roof.

This morning, we were sure we would find the TV antenna destroyed or some other kind of damage done from all that wind, but to our surprise, everything looked fine.

Everyone was dragging this morning (except Dick who said he didn’t hear a thing!). Even the dogs were exhausted!

We hit the road around 10:30 for the relatively short ride to Reston, VA.  Steve has a plane to catch tomorrow morning, so we wanted to find an RV park close to Dulles Airport and Reston is only a 30 minute drive away, depending on traffic of course.

As we left the New York area, Steve pointed out The Statue of Liberty in the distance. Next time I would really like to go to Ellis Island to see her up close.  My dad was 9 years old when he immigrated to America through Ellis Island in 1928 with my grandmother.

The drive from New York to Virginia was uneventful.  We enjoyed a nice pit stop near Cooch’s Bridge in Delaware – the site of the only significant military action that occurred on Delaware soil during the revolutionary war( it’s always fun to include a bit of trivia here and there).

There wasn’t too much traffic until we got to the area around Washington DC….and then there was plenty.

We got into Reston around 4:30 pm and immediately fell in love with the campground we’re staying at called Lake Fairfax.

The park is very large with an abundance of tall trees, open meadows and an 18 acre lake.  There is also a skate park, a carousel ride and a huge water park.  The campground itself sits way in the back of the park.

Ken enjoying a break after getting the trailer backed in and set up

Saying Goodbye To Steve

Since Steve is going home tomorrow (he sure will be missed!) we wanted to find a fun place to have a “going away” party.

I checked Trip Advisor for possible recommendations and “Jimmie’s Old Time Tavern” in Herndon, VA stood out.  All of the reviews were positive and it is obviously a favorite place among locals – always a good sign (like our Chinese restaurant “Charlies” in Oroville).

When we got to “jimmies” we felt right at home. The walls are adorned with patriotic pictures and recognitions to the owner for his generous donations in support of law enforcement, firefighters and military clubs.

The restaurant was having a trivia contest when we got there, so after placing our order, we took a shot at playing the game……and we played lousy.  The questions were all about television shows from the 1990’s….we only got 6 out of 20 questions right.  Personally, I took it as a positive sign that maybe we don’t watch as much television as I thought we did….or maybe we just have a bad memory.

The food was great….basic comfort style, and this time my salad was delicious….Dick said he was ready to share his food again if my salad wasn’t good….lol.

Steve has been just a pleasure to have with us the last 10 days.  We wish he didn’t have to go home so soon! I love that he is always so helpful and keeps me calm when I think there’s a problem with something.  His love of history and his interest in learning have added to everyone’s enjoyment as we have visited various places.

We gave Steve a toast and wished him a safe journey home.

We finished the night up by competing in another trivia contest….this one was right up Ken’s alley…..food shows!

We played under the name of Patriot Guard and guess what? WE WON!…..but so did alot of other teams.  We decided not to stay for the playoffs, but on the way out, we met a real fellow Patriot Guard member from Virginia.

We’re all hunkered down, hoping tonight Mother Nature will keep things nice and quiet.