DC, at Last!

Tonight, we're in DC.  Well, close to DC.  Just across the Potomac, in Virginia.  We got a terrific hotel suite that is bigger than the first house I bought. It's very nice.  There's even a walk-in closet. I kid you not. There is a laundry on our floor, and the hotel has a gym and a pool.  So I plan to hit the gym early in the morning!  And do some laundry as we're getting kinda stinky after 5 days in the car. 

Putting the "fun" in "funicular"...Altoona style

I'm SO glad we're in a place to stay put for a few nights. We'll travel around during the day to see our nation's Capitol and all the historic places here we want to take in. But we won't have to be hauling our bags around for almost a week, and that's a blessing. 

Earlier today, Lee and the kids walked through a railroad museum in Altoona.  At one time, the Pennsylvania Railroad built its engines there and employed about 18,000 people who lived there.  Amazing.  We also went up to Horseshoe Curve, a route over the Allegheny Mountains - the first worthwhile route for railroad over those mountains.  It was also heavily forested, but we did see two trains go up and around the curve.  They have a funicular train that would take you up the side of the mountain a distance.  I didn't know what that was, either, until we saw this today. For folks who don't want to or can't hike the steep trail up, it's a great way to get up there. 

We hit our first real snag in traffic today as we got closer to DC. But considering we got here just as the rush hour started, it really wasn't too bad.  And I'm so grateful we've had easy traffic and no car issues on this trip so far.  Our trusty Grand Caravan turned over 200,000 miles yesterday! Can you believe it? That car has taken us to Washington State, to California, to Oklahoma, to New Mexico, and to South Dakota several times, and now nearly 2,000 miles to DC. WOW!  Good American car.  We're very blessed.

Since our hotel has a kitchen and dining room (yes!), we made our dinner tonight - nachos and a nice salad. It's so good to have some fresh veggies.