Frank's Place | Don't Tread on Me Tour

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Starting Location:	Capitol Heights, Maryland	Ending Location:	Harrison, Pennsylvania
Weather There:	Clear and cold, 48°F	Weather Here:	Clear, 63°F
Starting Time:	8:29am Eastern Time	Ending Time:	8:32pm Eastern Time
Starting Mileage:	27,151	Ending Mileage:	27,406
Total Drive Time:	5 hours, 33 minutes	Graves at Arlington:	260,000 and counting
National Capitals Seen:	1	High-speed car chases:	0

Today was unlike most days of my trips -- it was mostly walking. The morning and early afternoon were spent in Washington DC and Arlington (there at the National Cemetery), before a stop for lunch and then into Pennsylvania. And unlike General Lee and his troops, we weren't turned away at Gettysburg with any sort of blood or gore.

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7:00am	The alarm went off, but much to my overwhelming okay-ness, Tubby went and turned it off.
8:02am	Tubby nudged me awake (by holding a pillow over my head, again).
8:21am	With all of our luggage lugged to the car, the only thing left was to drop off the key to the Motel 6 office. Of course, given Tubby is weird about making a fuss about anything, ever, he didn't mention and of our colorful experiences whilst in room 240: Upon arrival, we were greeted with a fan or air conditioner that made an annoying, and loud, mechanical knocking noise. Curiously, too, was that with the air conditioning running, it was still hotter in the room than it was outside. Tubby investigated #1 and found that the thermostat cover is missing, exposing the mechanics of it (but not electronics -- it wasn't that modern). Robin noted the absolutely filthy air filter in the room, which was more a sheet of dust and grime versus a permeable filter substance. Wandering into the bathroom, I discover the toilet doesn't seem to flush. Investigating, it seems the water doesn't fill the tank since the flapper doesn't completely close. The flow of water is constant. Tubby noticed the drain cover in the shower is not attached to the floor in any way. He further noticed the temperature of the water seemed to dip down the longer it was on... but then it would shoot back up, even higher than before. (Robin had the same observation.) We all noticed the shower door randomly falling open whilst in the shower. Robin noted the mildew on the shower knob/faucet thingy The towel rack was separating from the wall (apparently not properly installed into a stud or similar attachment). The TV had obvious burn marks in the plastic case, as though either something was set on fire on top of the TV, or the TV was pulled from a burnt room. The nightstand's pressboard origins were exposed from the laminate (cosmetic, but in the greater scheme of things, worth noting, just for fun.) This, of course, replaces our previous Worst Motel 6 Experience, which had, until tonight, been in Sharonville, Ohio on Day 10 of the Central America Tour (Monday, 14 October 2002)
8:29am	We popped by the mini-mart for a Diet Pepsi for Tubby, given his apparent need for caffeine.
8:34am	And from there, we hopped onto Interstate 95 north to Highway 50, and the opportunity to sit in commute traffic into the Capital.
9:18am	We touched down in the capitol, and continued to navigate around a bit to find a parking spot. Of course, knowing this was going to be a big morning, we needed to seek out a close place, within reason.
9:33am	We found a spot on New York between 17th and 18th Streets, but discovered the meter was out of order. Not knowing the protocol for this, the plan was to leave and hope for the best.
9:36am	Robin suggested we just move the car to an empty spot forty feet away, which had a working meter. Tubby looked confused, but I agreed, and grabbed the keys and did the car-moving deed.
9:46am	It's really just the lights -- no living person is this seemingly pale.
9:48am	They've been holding a vigil since 1981? Impressive. Tubby dated someone born in 1981. But not relevant here...
9:50am	We begin taking our various Washington DC photos. I won't narrate them all, because honestly, no one really wants to read that much, and I... am very lazy.
11:08am	Heading back to the car, we found this sign on a Jeep Liberty to be somewhat fitting.
11:12am	Truth in advertising. Even in Washington DC.
11:15am	We got back to the car and hit the road again. We wandered around a bit to see this and that.
12:01pm	Crossing the Potomac River into Virginia, we found ourselves pulling up at the Arlington National Cemetery. And there's a number of graves and monuments here, so we gave it a wander.
1:32pm	After paying the $1.25 for parking (it's $1.25 an hour, or a fraction thereof, so I can't explain why it wasn't a total of $2.50), we wandered around a bit more.
1:48pm	Back across the river into Washington DC, we began creeping along 16th Street north toward the interstate. Very slowly.
2:41pm	We find ourselves peckish, and pop into Bennigan's, on Greenbelt Road, in Greenbelt, Maryland, for a ~~greenbelt~~ bite to eat.
3:48pm	All done and having left Dean a FrankPen (one of the new ones I've not even posted to the FrankStuff pages yet), we were back in the car and on the interstate again.
5:06pm	We cross over into Pennsylvania. Hurrah! Soon after, Tubby comes to the realization he left his Eeyore sweatshirt in the rancid Motel 6 room. Rather than distress about having to talk to those folks ever again, I gently suggest we just to go Disneyland and get a new one. He liked this idea better than the one involving a phone call to the motel.
5:29pm	We wandered around York, first laid our in 1741, and its own county by 1749. A few this of historical note took place here relative to the forming of what is now the United States.
5:48pm	This was swinging itself along as it waits for the trash man. A bit sad, really, I thought.
5:58pm	Turning our attentions to the west, we both saw the sun quickly escaping behind the horizon, and in the same direction, Gettysburg. We proceed to cross those 30 or so miles at 45 MPH, give or take.
6:37pm	The trip was a bit longer than I'd expected or hoped, and a misleading sign had us going the completely opposite direction, which didn't help. As it was, the Visitors Center closed at 5pm, so we definitely missed that. (And a thanks to Sue for looking that up for us -- it's a bear being disconnected from the 'net at times.)
7:03pm	We found the right place, and took a few pictures of Gettysburg before the reality of low light kicked in. When it was too dark, a coin toss was made, discarded, and I decided we forge ahead.
8:32pm	Arriving in Gettysburg, we stop for a comfort break, and then delve into locating accommodations for the night.
8:38pm	After patiently waiting in the Motel 6 lobby for at least give minutes, Al informs us that the place is booked for the night. We thought, Motel 6, booked? Since when? Not a good sign.
8:42pm	We find room at the inn... Days Inn, room 215. James, the desk guy, informs us "why" rooms are scarce.. apparently the Hershey (something) car show is in town right now. And given we're right near Hershey, Pennsylvania, that all makes sense. But he cut Tubby a break on the room, so it wasn't too bad. (And, we don't have any of the 11 issues noted from Motel 6 to content with here, either.
8:53pm	Settled in (well, all the stuff is hauled upstairs), Tubby and I venture out in search for soda and petrol for the auto.
9:04pm	Petrol has been addressed, and with only a little driving today, the car took only 8 gallons. Yea! While I pumped gas, Tubby lightened the shopkeeper's load by the order of four 20-ounce Diet Pepsis. (Did I mention we have a fridge in the room?)
9:38pm	We get back to the room, and begin the task of updates, whilst keeping an eye on a handful of shows on TLC and the Discover Channel.
1:31am	Updates completed and random silliness done, things are going to start posting to the server whilst I bathe myself in the sink.
1:47am	Posting done, bathing done, all done. Nighty-night, kids!


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