Day 17- The End of the Journey

We went, We saw, We conquered...is all I can say about this experience! What a beautiful nation we live in! We met some really nice people along the way that shared their experiences of the road with us that helped to make this trip worthwhile. We are grateful to all who have given us support through prayers, comments, phone calls, or whatever you did to make this a memorable journey, we say "Thanks!" God is a good God and he allowed us to be able to view and take in all that he created for us and we thank you God for all of the natural beauties of this earth!

When I first started the planning of this trip, almost two years ago, I tossed some ideas around of how I would tackle this monumental journey. I asked several people about their cross-country endeavors and they offered me a wealth of advice. So I took what was given to me and generated a plan. Now I have plans to be in politics one day and wanted to take in as much as I could about the Presidents and their administrations, what there policy platforms were, how they dealt with opposition, etc. By knowing these types of things will only better me a statesman in formulating my agenda for a campaign. While deciding to tour these monumental sites, I decided that I should take in some of the historical and national sites along the routes planned. So I began to map out different sites and scenery that would be nice to visit via the motorcycle.

As the plan unfolded, Mike took and interest in the cross-country motorcycle ride. We conversed on different sites to see along the routes and I booked the hotels and campgrounds that were along the way. A great deal of planning and arranging took place for this tour to be successful and I was pleased to be able to complete it! Now, we didn't get to go to California as planned or Boston, due to time constraints and motor problems, but we did complete at least 90% of our tour as planned.

We rode through 28 states (GA, AL,MS,TN,AK,TX,NM,UT,AZ,NV,ID,MT,WY,SD,NE,KS,MO,IA,IL,IN,MI,NY,NJ,PA,MD/D.C,DE,VA,NC and 1 Canadian Province (Ontario)a total of 8802 miles in 17 days! I would not have traded this opportunity for anything as it meant that much to me! To end this journey touring Gettysburg and our nation's capital was just the icing on the cake!

To Mike, you are a great friend and a good motorcyclist and I would be honored to tour this great land or any other country with you again! You made this trip worthwhile and it was never a dull moment! Thanks for the memories man!

Thanks again to you all!

Day 16 pics are ready:
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Day 16- Gettysburg and Washington DC

Today Mike and I got up and made our journey towards Gettysburg. The traffic again was rather heavy but we made it through there ok! We rode in cloudy but fair conditions; as it was a cool day. We arrived at Gettysburg and immediately there was a feeling of honor and respect as we entered the park. Of all of the places that we have visited throughout this trip, Gettysburg was what I have been wanting to visit!

We parked our motors and walked into the visitors center to purchase our tickets for the cyclorama and the museum tour. As we waited for the cyclorama to begin, we walked around and viewed the artifacts that were on display. These artifacts were items that were found on the battlefield after the 3 day battle ended. We then went into the theater to see the presentation narrated by Morgan Freeman. This was an amazing presentation to watch. After the film was over, we went up a 4 story escalator to the Cyclorama, which is a painting of the battlefield as it was in 1863. The artist painted this scene around 1868 from photographs that were taken during the battle. The Cyclorama was 42 feet tall and more than 350 feet wide. It was noted that they wanted to have a painting of the scene in a panoramic view from on top of Seminary hill. This was a breathtaking piece of art; it too, was narrated and you could walk around the top deck in a circle to see the entire scene!

After we left the Cyclorama, we went into the museum and this museum was like no other! It started from the beginning of the Civil War to the very end, the new birth of freedom. We took lots of pictures of the museum artifacts and their descriptions. We even took some pictures of the the 75th Anniversary reunion. In this photo, there were two very old gents (one was a Union soldier, the other a Confederate soldier) laughing together! So it is my hope that you will read up on this war that changed the face of this country for ever!

Well after we viewed the museum, we got on our motors and toured the battlefields. What an amazing feeling that comes over you as you walk on grounds where nearly 17000 men lost their lives or livelihood over a course of 3 days! It was an emotional moment for me because I have studied this war and its meaning; my interpretation maybe entirely different from yours, but that's it, it's my interpretation! To experience Gettysburg is...well I can't say enough about it! I am definitely making a trip back there where I can spend a few days! I would encourage you to have a Gettysburg experience as well, if you are able. They have battlefield shuttle buses that will take you on a tour. We met some bikers on the battlefield that were from Pennsylvania and they were just as deeply moved by Gettysburg as I.

Mike enjoyed reading about the details of the Gettysburg; as he is a history buff! He was a little concerned that they didn't have any information on Abbeville SC or the Burke Stark Mansion or the fact that when SC succeeded from the Union, it happened in Abbeville. It did note however, that SC was the first southern state to succeed from the Union, then the others followed. We left Gettysburg with a deep sense of respect and honor as we rode past the battlefields on our way out of town. Thanks to all who fought and died in this war, for this country would not be what it is today without the sacrifices that were made.

We then made our way to Washington,D.C., the capital of this nation! This was Mike's first time in the nation's capital, so I felt like a tour guide, so-to-speak! We entered Washington on Wisconsin Ave where we stopped and took pictures of the National Cathedral. This place was beautifully constructed, it took two centuries to complete the construction. (started in 1792, completed in 1990) We continued on Wisconsin Ave to Pennsylvania Ave then turned onto Constitution Ave. Once on Constitution, we were parked our motors and walked to the Capitol building, the Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress. These magnificent structures were all illuminated, as night was falling, and we took several pictures of the these structures that have been apart of Washington since its inception. We then moved on down constitution and was able to take pictures of the back of the White House, and no, The Obamas were not there, I checked! They have stopped traffic from going in front of the White House during the evenings now, down Pennsylvania Avenue. We then took pictures of the Washington Monument and spent some time at the Lincoln Memorial. These sites were beautiful at night because you could really see the massive boldness of these monuments!

What a magnificent way to end The American Ride Corss-Country Tour than in Washington DC! We left DC and headed for NC, where we will stay tonight. Then it's back to South Carolina! I will post the pictures from Day 16 once I am home! Thank you all for traveling with us and posting comments on our blog site as we traveled this country over the last 16 days! Your prayers helped us to make the journey safely!

Pictures from Day 11-15, updated!

I finally got all of the pictures uploaded this evening! So you can now be caught up with us and see where we have been! The links are listed below, enjoy!

Day 11:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=391066618114%3A1375844354&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee


Day 12:
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Day 13:
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Day 14:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=419110718114%3A645204149&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee


Day 15:
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Day 15- Independence National Park and St. John Neumann

Well today was a full day of site seeing the birthplace of America, Philadelphia! After riding across the Benjamin Frankin Bridge into Philadelphia, we rode into the city and found a place to park right near Independence Hall National Park Service. We toured The New Hall- which was the location of the War department offices from 1791-92;during that time, this was the Pentagon of today. We toured Carpenter's Hall where the First Continental Congress met in 1774 to decide a course of action for their grievances against Great Britain was being ignored. To walk through this hall was just an amazing feeling. We took some pictures of the two halls and even some of the construction was exposed to be able to see how it was built in the 1700's.

Then we walked down the colonial street and saw The Philadelphia Bank, the first bank in Philadelphia. Then We toured the Second Bank of Philadelphia which is now an art gallery with paintings from the late 1700's to early 1800's. It became the Old Custom House of Philadelphia after President Jackson prevented the recharter of the bank in 1836. We walked pass the Signer Statue and the Old City hall which the Supreme Court met in from 1791- 1800. We then walked into the gates of Independence Hall; this building was built between 1732 and 1756 as the State House of the Colony of Pennsylvania. Here is where the Declaration of Independence was developed and signed On July 4, 1776 and the Constitution, in 1787. This was another amazing site to visit; to actually be in the very same building where the framers of the Declaration and the Constitution stood over 230 years ago!

After we left Independence Hall we walked next door into the Congress Hall Capitol United States. In this building sat the first Senate and House of Representatives and is where George Washington was inaugurated as President in 1793 and John Adams in 1797. There was alot of history in these buildings and you could sense a feeling of pride as an American when you walked through these buildings!

We then went to see the Liberty Bell and as we walked into the center we stopped to see where the President's house once stood. It looked like they are going to reconstruct the home, as there was a lot of construction going on there. We then walked into the center and read up about the Liberty Bell and we took pictures of the bell and went to get lunch. Now we were told that while we were in Philadelphia, we needed to eat a real Philly Cheese Steak! So we found a vendor (Mama's Cheese Steaks) and it was GOOD!!!!

We went back to our motors and went to our next stop, St. Peter The Apostle Church, where the Shrine of St.John Neumann is located. The shrine, are you ready for this...is St. John Neumann's body lay in state at the alter of the church. Neumann was the Bishop of Philadelphia who died in 1863 of a heart attack at the age of 48 and he was buried and later was sainted for his good works in building schools and churches for the people during his life. Most catholic churches have relics of Saints; relics are a body parts of saints. St. Peter Apostle Church has the entire body of St. Neumann! We took some pictures and toured the mini museum in the church before the mass started at 5:30pm. The church is still very active and holds mass there. Mike asked me if the body was real and I told him yes. Me being a licensed mortician, I know that they did some touch up work on the Saint's face to make him presentable for public viewing for eternity. He was exhumed in 1964 and his body was in remarkable condition. So they decided to place his body in the church as an alter for all to come and pray. This was an interesting site to visit; how many people would have known this was in Philadelphia?

We left Philadelphia to head toward Gettysburg; and we are staying in Gaithersburg, Maryland. We will depart Gaithersburg and ride to Gettysburg and then to Washington DC, our nation's capital!

Pictures From Day 4- 10

These are the links for you to copy and paste into your search box to view the pics from the days that we have uploaded so far. I will get days 11- 14 done for sure this evening when we stop. Thanks again for your prays and comments and We hope you enjoy the pictures!


Day 4:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=612921618114%3A1908790496&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Day 5:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=512921618114%3A1732547438&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Day 6 & 7:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=909201618114%3A1951908786&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Day 8:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=219201618114%3A1233903253&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Day 9 & 10:
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Day 14- FDR Museum and the Vanderbilt Mansion

Today Mike and I went from Albany NY to Hyde Park NY to tour Franklin Delano Roosevelt's museum. FDR was the 32nd President of the United States and the only President ever elected to a 4th term of office. As we traveled down the hwys to Hyde Park, we got caught in the awful traffic in New York...early in the morning! It was an overcast all day while we rode but very comfortable. We went through a town called Rhinebeck NY that houses the America's Oldest operating Hotel and tavern, The Beekman Inn. It opened as a tavern in 1766 and it has never closed its doors since! It was a beautiful piece of American history that we just happened to ride up on, so we stopped and took some pictures and got some information about the Beekman. Then we continued on for about another 12 miles and entered Hyde Park, NY. On our way into Hyde Park, we passed the Vanderbilt Mansion and decided that we would go and visit it after we left FDR's site.

As we arrived at the Roosevelt Estates, we were amazed by the beauty of this historic place! The National Parks Service owns the Roosevelt Estates now and they have a welcome center, the President's Library and Museum, the Roosevelt home, the final resting place and several hundred acres of beautiful farm land. We parked our motors and went into the welcome center and purchased our tour tickets. The tour of the Roosevelt Home was a guided tour and the remainder was self-guided. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide who was a park ranger named Cooper Leatherwood. He was rather comical in appearance and recitation of information about FDR. He took a group of us on a tour to the home which was about a quarter of a mile away from the welcome center. The home was just as it was when FDR passed away in 1945. His wife and 5th cousin, once-removed, Eleanor deeded the home and land to the National Park Services exactly a year to the date of death of the late President, April 1946. She gave the first guided tour of the home on that April day in 1946 to some 5000 people! FDR noted in his will that he was leaving the home to the NPS so that all came come and enjoy Springwood, which is the what his dad called the 1520 acre farm. His father purchased the land and a little farm house there in 1866 for $40K and 3 major updates took place between then and 1916. So the last major renovation was done in 1916, by FDR's mother, Sara, upon his advice.

We were actually able to walk through the home (no pictures policy,unfortunately)and see how he lived in the home from the time he was born to his death. We saw some pictures of his family from the 17th and 18th centuries; and the furniture in the home, you can tell, was dated back to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. It was very humbling to see this historic American home.

We then exited the home to go the Roosevelt Garden where the late President and First Lady now eternally rest. It was a beautiful garden and well manicured. We then toured the museum: seeing his 1936 Ford Car with all hand controls that allowed him to drive even though he was paralyzed in his legs from Polio Myelitis. We saw his replicated oval office and his presidential study. This was something interesting that many people don't know, but FDR was the only sitting President to have a library built and actually utilized by him while serving in the White House.

FDR was a great American President, as it was proven by him serving a 4th term in office, although he never completed his presidency. From WWII to The New Deal to Social Security, FDR accomplished a great deal during his administration that is very prevalent today!

After we left FDR's Site, we went to the Vanderbilt Mansion to take some photos. We didn't tour the home but we took some really nice pictures of the motors with the mansion in the background! Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856-1938) built "Hyde Park" in Hyde Park, New York. Designed by McKim, Mead and White and built in 1896-99, it is now the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. It was raining on us a little but not a torrential storm, just misting, as we left Hyde Park. We decided to go ahead and make our way toward Philadelphia since we spend a good bit of the day with the Roosevelts! JFK...we will have to catch you on the rebound!

AS we traveled on the the interstate, the traffic was just horrible! We had to sit at the New Jersey Turnpike in traffic for at least an hour! But once we got through the garble, we rocked the throttles and arrived in Philadephia, the birthplace of America! Tomorrow we will tour the Independence National Historical Park and partake in eating a traditionally famous Philly Cheese Steak sandwich!

Day 13- Niagara Falls Canada

Mike and I got started around noon today to go see the Niagara Falls. We started late because we knew it was a short riding day for us, so we got some extra "shut-eye". We arrived in downtown Niagara Falls, ON Canada and rode around for about an hour to find a parking place. There were people all over the place; again, we heard many different accents. It was like a melting pot with so many people from different areas of the world there!

We got our motors parked and began to tour Niagara Falls. The cool thing about the Falls, you can see the American and Canadian side of the falls while standing in Canada! The American Falls were nice but the Canadian Falls formed a horseshoe shape and it was much bigger. I'm not sure if you ever saw Jim Carey's Movie, "Bruce Almighty", where he played a news reporter and he was out at Niagara Falls aboard a ship known as the Maid of the Mist. We got some pictures of the Maid of the Mist as she took her passengers close to the Canadian Falls and back by the American Falls.

After we viewed the Falls, we walked up the main tourist attraction strip with everything kind of store, restaurant, video arcade, museum, etc. you could think of. It was much like Myrtle Beach or any big tourist city. The weather was nice and beautiful and the people were nice as well!

Canada is a beautiful country with alot of similarities to the US. I especially liked driving on their interstate hwys because they measure distance in Kilometers and fuel in Liters. So it took about an hour for me to get my conversions together! Mike said he enjoyed Canada and definitely wouldn't mind going back for a nice long vacation!

We boarded our motors and headed for the Rainbow Bridge back into the US. We sat in traffic for what seemed like an hour but it was only 30mins. As we approached Customs, we issued them our passports and driver's license and we were asked our purpose in Canada. We told them we were there to see the Falls and just passing through heading home now. The Customs agent gave us our documents back and told us to have a safe trip. We then headed into Buffalo NY and made our way across the top half of NY. Our destination for the evening was Albany, we made it to Albany and bedded down for the night. Tomorrow we see FDR's museum and Kennedy's museum then off to Philadelphia.

P.S.
There are more pics (Day 5) uploaded on the Kodak Site late last night. Use the same link to the site that I gave you to see the previous pics. If you don't remember it, it is listed below. We have another short day and I will try to get the rest of the pics on this evening, I'm trying!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=260859108114%3A1308184753&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee