Leesburg Animal Park, Virginia

This zoo park in Virginia has a wide variety of animals including zebras, camels and sloths.  Then the more expected inhabitants of donkeys, goats, bunnies, and ducks.  Owen and my mom went in to one section you could feed the goats.

New York City, New York

August 19-22

We went for a weekend up to New York City. We took the train up through Union Station and went up to Penn Station. Our hotel was a short walk from the train station and a good location to get to all of my NPS sites. I was able to get the remaining stamps that I didn’t get when Damon and I went years ago. We visited the African Burial Ground, Federal Hall, General Grant Memorial, Governors Island, Hamilton Grange, Lower East Side Tenement Museum and the Stonewall Monument. Most important for Owen was that we stopped at almost all of the playgrounds throughout the city. It was rather hot, so it was nice to be able to stretch out a bit as well. A highlight of the trip was the total solar eclipse. We were on the ferry from Governors Island during the totality and a lady was nice enough to lend us her glasses to see it on our own. I enjoyed seeing all the people out in on the sidewalks with their various solar eclipse viewing devices. The General Grant memorial was almost identical to the tomb of Napoleon in Paris. A small detail I found funny was that the visitor was underneath and kinda around the corner in a building that was formerly a bathroom. The outside of the door was still labeled as a bathroom and the interior very bathroom like tiles were still there. We were also able to visit the 9/11 Memorial that was very moving. When Damon and I had gone before the construction was just barely beginning.

C&O Canal - Hancock, Maryland

The Hancock visitor center is adjacent to Lock 51 and the Tonoloway Aqueduct at milepost 123. The full canal length is 184 miles, so this is getting towards the beginning of the full canal. The visitor center has only been open since 2010. It is within the historic Bowles House that dates to the 1780s. The land was first documented as property of Lord Baltimore of England and transferred to the Yates family around 1775. William Yates built the original one-story home in 1785. The Yates family lived in that home during the canal construction that passed through Hancock in 1839. In 1875, the canal was at its highest operations and was purchased by the Bowles family who added to the original house structure. In 1905 the home was purchased by the Little family who lived in the home until the land was purchased by the National Park Service in the 1960s. The Tonoloway Aqueduct was constructed between 1835 and 1839 of nearby limestone in order for the canal boats to cross the Tonoloway Creek which is a tributary of the Potomac River. We walked along the canal for a bit at a lower lock and came upon the ruins of Charles Mill. This mill was first built around 1790 and was typical of the area to serve local farmers to mill grain and flour. Proximity to the river made it easy to transfer materials from boat. The mill closed in 1924 after a flood that destroyed it to the point of ceasing commercial viability.

August 2017

August was our final stretch before Owen starts back at school at the beginning of September. Damon went on a training course thing in California the last week in August so I was flying solo.  Not my idea of a grand time, but we had fun and nobody was severely injured. Our big trip of the month was going to New York City. It was a fun, but very hot trip.

Owen was able to attend one week of a summer camp at the school where my aunt Nancy works just 20 minutes north of Bethesda. Owen got to see new things and hang out with kids and in general had a lot of fun. It was a big group and we won't be attending that camp again next summer. We were offered a spot at the CDC on base but then at the very end of the orientation found out that in order for Owen to be full time I need to have a part time job or be in school. Uh...no thank you.  I already did all that... Thankfully Ayrlawn didn't fill Owen's spot so we were able to get back in.  And then we found out that Owen has the same teachers and lunch and morning snack are now included! Major win.

Milton's biggest accomplishment is that he has his first little tooth.  He doesn't seem too thrilled, and neither am I.  Toothless babies are ideal for nursing. He is still rolling up a storm and does pretty well sleeping.  He still will get up once in the night for a snack.  He wakes up happy which is so much fun to see in the morning. He is turning out to be more mellow than we were first guessing with all that screaming. Milton's favorite entertainment is watching Owen.  I'm sure that will keep him occupied for many years.