DC Philly and Connors Graduation

The past week has absolutely flown by! We got to DC last Thursday and have been on the go since we arrived. We were able to see most of the Monuments, several of the Smithsonian Museums, the Archives, and most importantly got to spend some time with old friends and see Godson Connor Graduate. We left from their house last night and were able to get to Philadelphia and spent the day  seeing the sights here. What an amazing part of the Country!    

We took the time to visit the monuments at night. It was really nice to see them with out a hundred thousand other people and I felt like they were even more awe inspiring at night. 

Washington Monument

Einstein Memorial

This was the view from one of the overlooks at Arlington National Cemetery.  

Mark and Alex on the Supreme Court Steps

Vietnam Memorial

The boys enjoying a little down time at the campground. I believe this was after one of our really long days of walking in DC and it was probably easier to sit there and play than walk another step! 

Boys in front of the Capitol Bldg.

Air Force Memorial

Started our day out in Philly with a tour of the Mint.  This has been on the boys bucket list and has never worked out. So ~ Check!

Liberty Bell 

Independence Hall ~ The actual room where the Documents were debated, changed and then signed. Even the original chair that George Washington sat in. After seeing the Documents last week, this was a great addition. I couldn't help but think about how our current governments could take a lesson in working together to actually get something done! 

First Family Selfie ~ Real Philly sandwiches while here!

This whole trip centered around us being here to see our Godson Connor Graduate from High School. This kid is going to go places and we were so excited to get to be here with him and his family to celebrate! The time with friends is never enough but every minute spent together is a treasure!

South Carolina to Virginia Beach ~ From Cottonmouth to Boogie Boards

The next stop on this journey took us to Congaree National Park where we spent a couple of hours on a canoe tour. It was an old hardwood forest with lots of Cypress trees but this area was saved as it was pretty hard to get the wood out of the area. The tour also provided us with some unusual wildlife as seen in the following photos. 

I had such a great canoe partner!

This was the little alligator that we saw. It is about 3-4 feet in length and is unusual for the area. 

Cotton Mouth or Water Moccasin Snake. This guy was laying on this stump that over hung the creek ~ 

Brown Water Snake is what I think this one was called. He looked alot scarrier than the Cotton Mouth but was actually the harmless one of the two. I am kind of hopeful that this will be it for reptile encounters on this trip!

First night on the beach ~ Top Sail, North Carolina  Our campground was right on the beach so the rest of the day and the next day were spent in the sand!

We have had to ferry a couple of times ~ once to Ocracoke Island for 2.25 hours and then to Cape Hatteras, which was much shorter. 

We stayed on a gorgeous beach in Ocracoke and to do it over again, we would have added a few nights there. We stayed right on the beach and the beaches were amazing. Very quiet island and very fun place to be. We rode our bikes into town and checked out there light house. Fun artistic little community. We then moved up to Cape Hatteras. All of these areas have been experiencing record rainfalls. I believe one lady told me they got 8 inches in 24 hours a few days before we came.  This shot is from the top of the dune by the beach headed back into our campsite.(I rode my bike through it and the boys walked so it didn't close anything, It just flooded everything!)  The second night we were going to stay here Tropical Storm Colin was suppose to hit. We decided to move a bit North as the road sometimes floods here and we didn't want to be stuck down there. So we moved further North up the Outer Banks. 

Alex bought a new kite as it seems like "the thing" to do here. The boys spent the evening flying the kite and at the beach waiting for the storm to hit. It started raining about 8 PM and was done in the early morning. There was alot of rain but it wasn't bad. Tropical Storm Colin could learn a thing or two from Orman Dam, that is for sure! We headed to the Cape Hatteras Light House and up the coast where the days have been spent mostly enjoying the beach. 

We climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Light House. 

We toured the Wright Brothers Museum. Photo credit to Adam :) 

 Virginia Beach 

We took a tour of the Norfolk Naval base. There are so many planes flying over and Navy ships going by here it is kind of amazing to see. Very busy base that is for sure.  

Great Smoky Mountains ~ Bears Fireflies and Hikes

We arrived in The Great Smoky Mountains after shopping most of the day and found out that we had arrived during the  height of the Synchronous Firefly Season. Mark, Alex and I spent quite a bit of time out in the forest beside our camper that night watching the fireflies. Adam had read the informational signs at the Visitors Center and learned about all of the different types of snakes that live here, so he chose to stay in the motor home ~ randomly signaling us with his flashlight to make sure we were still alive.

The next morning, we woke up to people gathered around this contraption that was about half a block from our campsite, and about 20 feet from where we had been watching the fireflies. A Black bear was in it that had been roaming the campground in the night and had pulled a grill out from under a camper to lick the grates. We found out later on the hike with the rangers that it had been a really big bear for the area ~ 398 pounds. 

After watching them haul the bear trap away, we spent the morning riding our bikes on Cades Cove loop. They close it off for bikers and so we took advantage of that. Mark did a couple loops and was lucky enough to see another bear from the road. Adam and I saw turkeys and did a water crossing but no bears. We then headed out on a hike to Abrahms Falls. 

Saw this little guy hanging out of a tree ~
Adams hand never left his knife handle but he did very well ~ as did his Mom. 

As we neared the falls area, a few people we met told us there was a bear by the Falls. When we got there though, the bear was actually on the path. It had gotten into a backpack and had eaten a sandwich. It was busy looking for more food. It wandered around within feet of people and grabbed peoples bags and dug through them. It was small, the rangers eventually told us they thought it was about 45 pounds, but it was still scary to see people that close to it and even little kids. We stayed back quite a ways ~ Mark said "this is probably going to turn into a you tube hit" as people were trying to get selfies with the bear and were within feet of it. We decided we should leave and as we turned around two rangers came. They decided they needed to tranquilize it as it was eating a Gatorade bottle when they arrived and people were so close to it. We watched them do that and then as they got it ready for transport we headed to the falls. The falls were neat but no where near as exciting as watching the bear. We started heading back and caught up to the rangers who had to actually pack the bear out as the transport team wasn't close. We got to hike out with the Rangers and the bear. We learned a ton about bears and what was happening on that hike out. The bear started waking up twice and they had to give it a booster shot to keep it asleep. When we were about 3/4 of the way, the transport came. They strapped her onto a gurney and wheeled her out. At the end of the trail, they put her in the water to cool her down, took DNA samples, temp, tagged her ear and were going to tattoo her lip and pull one of her teeth for ID purposes, but they ended up not pulling the tooth or doing the tattoo as her temp was too hot. They gave her a shot to wake her up and took off with her in another cage. The whole thing so exciting to see but also sad. They said she was a 'first time offender" and would be relocated but my guess is she probably got enough positive out of the eating that it may be a problem and she may have to be put down. We hope not, but it was amazing to be apart of that. 

This was her right after they tranquilized her. The bears eyes stay open and still send some signal to their brains so they like to reduce all the stimulation. They put goop in them so they dont dry out and then cover them.

The Rangers had to switch back and forth with the bear as they had about an hour before she woke up. It made for a very fast hike out. Adam stayed right with them and even shared his water bottle with the Ranger. They were impressive in their strength to say the least. 

Meeting  up with the transport team on the trail

~ Some sights along the journey today as we made our way out of the park ~

We did a short but steep mile hike up to the lookout at Clingmans Dome. Beautiful views from up there and you can see Mark and Alex on the way down from the platform.

Glad this guy was on the road and not on the trail! Yuck