Tuesday 16 July
After a buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant this morning, we packed our bags while Ross and Tim went and picked up our hire car. Hertz was on the corner diagonally opposite our hotel so we thought they wouldn’t be long, but just like at Dallas the queue was about ten people deep because only one customer service rep was working. The process took about an hour!!
Once in the car our first stop was Lombard Street. The older three kids walked to the top from the bottom, where we picked them up and drove down the street. The kids thought that was great! The Bay Bridge then took us out of the city on our way to Yosemite National Park.
Our only stop on the way there was a Walmart along the way. As we were all still full from breakfast, I picked up my favourite Walmart product for lunch – a little plastic container of compartments full of celery, carrots, snow peas, and broccoli surrounding a little pot of ranch dressing. And that was lunch in the car on the way.
As we approached, we stopped at a Yosemite sign for a photo. Sam told us there he wasn’t feeling well, so we figured the stop in the fresh air was good after the windy roads that had taken us in there. Ummm, no…a few minutes down the road, Sam needed to vomit. Luckily I had a Walmart bag close by!! Needless to say, it is now littering a roadside in Yosemite…
We parked in the main car park and caught a shuttle bus over to the visitors centre, holding our breath the whole way because we had boarded in a hurry and not thought to bring other sick bags (Sam had vomited twice more already). By this time it was 5.20pm and the last shuttle bus back to the parking ran at 6pm, so we didn’t have long to explore the exhibits there. Ross had really good memories of our last visit there, and I had only ever been there in winter, so we were keen to see it in summer. We wouldn’t have included it on the itinerary if we had known what was going to happen though!
It was a three and a half hour trip from San Francisco, which we didn’t leave until midday. Next time we will have to be more serious about the day trip and leave earlier in the morning. Mind you, I wasn’t keen to spend a lot of time there because there is some contagious virus in the park area carried by rodents, which made news in Australia before we left. 35 percent of people in California who have had this virus have died. So this helicopter parent figures if I hadn’t been so focused on Sam being sick, I probably would have been rushing everyone through the park visit anyway to avoid rodents! We did see the waterfall and chapel we remembered, but to be honest they were both more magical in a winter setting. The scenery was still beautiful.
By this time Sam had been sick on six different occasions, so as we left Yosemite we decided to stop at a pharmacy wherever we could find one and fill the prescription for anti-nausea medication the doctor in Dallas gave us for Belle. I felt so sorry for ALL the kids – as poor Sam dry-retched, five other children would block their ears trying to block out his panicky cries. It was the first time I missed the RV where we would have had more space to deal with this rather than a car filled to the brim with people and luggage!
We found a Rite-Aid pharmacy but were told because we were not on file there and had no insurance card, we would have to fill out forms and wait half an hour for the medication. So we waited, and Sam threw up in their garden. The tablets, 10 in a pack, are a wonder drug. I have had them with kidney stone trouble before. They melt on your tongue and instantly stop the desire to vomit. We were kicking ourselves for not filling the prescription in Dallas even though Belle no longer needed it by the time it was given…until we saw the price. The 10 little tablets cost $105! And to add insult to injury, Ross gave one to Sam just as he went to be sick for the eighth time, sending $10.50 down the drain! The second tablet worked immediately though, and Sam was happy to sit quietly in the car after that.
Being 7.30pm by then, we thought it time to find accommodation and dinner. We had planned to head back out to the coast to Carmel-by-the-sea and Monterey as our travel agent had recommended this scenic route back to LA. We decided just to head south from Yosemite to LA, so picked Fresno to stop at as it was only 94 miles away and a larger town.
Well bigger isn’t always better! We exited at the convention centre area, thinking that would have some accommodation choices. There was only a Radisson hotel and a few homeless people on street corners, so we went into downtown Fresno to the Holiday Inn. The city didn’t look enticing based on the people around the streets, and when we arrived at the Holiday Inn we found it was next door to a casino. So despite it being 8.30pm, we decided to keep going. The next highway exit led us to a Best Western hotel in the town of Selma. Ross negotiated two rooms down from $97 to $75, and we went in search of dinner. A Chinese fast food restaurant called Panda Express next door closed as we arrived because it was 9.30pm by then, so we picked up two pizzas at Pizza Hut and returned to our room. Sam decided he had the “vomiting record” with eight times, and I realised we had a new dinner time record as the kids ate pizza at 10.40pm!!
Sam helped himself to two pieces before we realised it, so is feeling much better. Ross is refusing to stay on crutches so is limping around, but doing better. Belle still has worrying high temps – we have now been medicating her for six days constantly, alternating the Panadol and Nurofen. The Dallas doctor said that was the right thing to do, but I am concerned at how long this is going on without any sign of improvement, and am keen to get back home to our GP. (Hear that? I am finally ready and accepting of the fact it is time to go home!!) Saying that, when the meds are due, she is irritable (“everyone just needs to stop talking!”) and sad, but in between she is fine, happy, sleeps a bit but has a good appetite. Tim looked green tonight though and went to bed without dinner. The poor boy tried not to let on how he was feeling because he felt his parents had had enough to deal with today, but I could tell by looking at him. I will see how he is when we wakes, but if he needs to be sick, that is ok – I have a $10.50 wonder pill ready for him!! 😉

Monday 15 July
After another sleep in this morning, we finally succumbed to a request of the kids weeks ago and took them to Denny’s for breakfast. They had seen the breakfast menu when we ate there along the way, and were enticed by the picture of chocolate chip pancakes and softball pancakes!
We then returned to Fisherman’s Wharf to board a hop on hop off bus tour of the city – alas, no Alcatraz tickets available still, even when I requested 4 instead of 8, thinking I would just send Ross and the older 3. So it appears we need to return here at some point to tour Alcatraz! When Ross and I came here 17 years ago, we could not go to Alcatraz because stormy weather had destroyed the pier from where the boats leave, but I don’t remember having to book tickets so far in advance when I used to come with my parents.
The tour guide on the bus was an African-American lady who sounded just like Oprah, and we loved her humour. Belle fell asleep and Ross was happy to ride and rest his leg, so we took the whole trip in one go, rather than hop on and off. The trip took over two hours. It was good to have such an informative guide and to be able to see the city. The bus even did a loop over the Golden Gate Bridge. When it returned, we went to Applebee’s at Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch, then returned to our room for a rest. On the way back, we bought some weatherproof jackets similar to one we had bought Jarrod when we left the hotel this morning. He was so warm and we were so cold on the bus tour, it was easy to vote to shop again!
At 4pm we headed out again, in our new warm jackets, planning to walk Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. At Ghiradelli the lines waiting for cable cars were as long as yesterday, so we thought we would walk the five blocks to Lombard…until we saw the angle of the street! Ross knew he would not make it, so instead we hopped back on the tour bus and off at Union Square to explore that area.
Close to 6pm we caught another tour bus back to Fisherman’s Wharf. The kids have been begging us for McDonalds because the happy meal comes with a Despicable Me toy, so we fed them there and then I picked up some clam chowder in a bread bowl while Ross got frappucinos from Starbucks for us. We are not used to the cold weather, it is the middle of summer here after all! We retired to our room for the night, and are planning to return to Lombard St when we pick up our rental car tomorrow morning. It is amazing to realise but we only have three days to go!

Sunday 14 July
This has always been one of my favourite cities outside of Sydney, and I have told the kids for years I would one day bring them here. I have only ever been here in winter though. It is now mid-summer, and it is SO cold! Maximum in the high fifties today. Brr!
We enjoyed a buffet breakfast in the hotel, well perhaps it should be called brunch after the long sleep in everyone had. We have noticed every restaurant we have looked at or been to here is more expensive than we are used to – it compares with staying in New York more than elsewhere.
We then left the hotel and wandered through Fisherman’s Wharf to a visitors centre to buy tickets for a bus tour of the city, stopping to browse in souvenir shops along the way. I had seen on-line last night that tickets to Alcatraz sell out two weeks in advance, but hoped the bus tour companies that offer combination tickets would mean we could get to Alcatraz. Unfortunately they were all sold out! We moved on to Pier 39 to explore all the shops there, ending with the younger kids riding the two-storey carousel.
Ross then took them at his slow pace in search of lunch, while I went to Pier 33 to Alcatraz Landing to see if there was any chance of getting cancellation tickets down there. No luck. The earliest I could get tickets to Alcatraz was 12th August! The strangest thing about my walk down and back between the Piers was that I was all alone – no one accompanied me, and I realised it is the first time I have been alone in two months! We bought crab and shrimp rolls for lunch from a stall out the front of Alioto’s and headed back to the hotel for Ross and Belle to rest.
During the siesta, Abi worked out how many more friends she needed to buy a souvenir for, so we left the others in the room, got some laundry underway, and went shopping again. We also stopped at Luggage World on the opposite corner from our hotel and bought another suitcase. This had been our plan before we left home as we purchased things, it is not the result of too much shopping! The travel agent had told us the internal flights would charge us $25 for every bag we checked in, so we only brought five, intending to purchase another one before we headed home. Interestingly, the internal flights she booked for us with JetBlue did not charge us, only Virgin America – the only flight we booked ourselves because the travel agent couldn’t price match – did.
Once we returned, the others were ready to go again, so we went through Anchorage Square and The Cannery areas, towards Ghiradelli Square. We intended to catch a cable car from there up to Union Square, but – perhaps because it was a Sunday afternoon? – the lines of people waiting for cable cars was so long, it reminded us of theme park lines! Instead we consoled ourselves with samples at Ghiradelli, and introduced the kids to chocolate there.
We then returned to our hotel for dinner at Denny’s in the lobby area. We met there an Australian couple at the next table, and he was a recently retired firefighter from Queensland. I have heard more Australian accents here than anywhere else we have been – maybe they are acclimatising us to get us ready to go home, but they do sound a little strange after being here so long. Ross and Abi weren’t hungry, so while the rest of us ate a small meal, they went shopping AGAIN. We had bought Jarrod a waterproof jacket this morning that Ross liked, so he wanted one for himself. The rest of us returned to the room where I began repacking using our new suitcase. By 9pm I was starting to feel like Belle, so went to bed before anyone else in the hope I could sleep it off. We have enough sick and injured here without me going out in sympathy with them!

Saturday 13 July
Last night was another bad night with Belle 😦 we just do not seem to be able to get her high temps down for very long 😦
We had breakfast in the hotel lobby again, and spent the morning packing bags and readying ourselves for the flight from Dallas Fort Worth to San Francisco. I had received an email to say there may be delays because a runway is still closed due to last week’s tragedy there, but our flight was exactly on time. Seeing as Ross cannot carry bags and walk using crutches, he dropped us at the departure area and went with Tim to return the rental car. Meanwhile, the other kids and I transported all the bags up to check in. I did this in stages because I was too tight to pay for a trolley for the bags at $5. Sam told me if I hadn’t left a tip for the cleaners, I could have afforded a trolley!! From the mouths of babes…
The flight was smooth and uneventful, except for Belle’s distress. We remembered to take her medicine in our carry-on this time, so were able to give her some during the flight. In the periods when that takes effect and she is feeling a bit better, she tends to sing the “Girl On Fire”song, but changes the words to be “my brain is on fire”.
We needed two taxis to take us to our hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf as their maxi taxis take a maximum of 6. By the time we had checked in, Belle was feeling better, so we wandered down to Fisherman’s Wharf for an early dinner (it was 5pm by then, and since the late breakfast we had only had fruit and snacks at the airport). We took the kids to Alioto’s so they could try clam chowder – I think I have eaten at the restaurant for a first meal every single time I have been to San Fran! I loved continuing such a tradition!
We then walked from there down to Pier 39. We had told the kids all about the seals there, but arrived to discover they move south to breed in the summer months and will not return to those posts until July 20. We have just missed them! We then explored Pier 39 a little further and bought some souvenirs from the NFL shop and Mrs Fields cookies for dessert. Ross felt he had done enough hobbling on crutches by then, so we decided to return to the hotel, just a couple of blocks away. By this time, the wind was quite cold. The taxi driver did tell me today the weather was nice and hot at 67 degrees, following some cold days – I told him we had just arrived from Texas where Dallas was 100 degrees today!!
Our hotel has a Denny’s restaurant down on the ground floor, so Abi and I went and ordered some hot chocolates to go for everyone’s supper in the room. Our travel agent requested adjoining rooms when she booked this for us months ago, which is much appreciated now. Everyone is now sleeping peacefully except for Belle, who has been vomiting again late tonight and has high temps again 😦 I am not sure whether I will need to catch up on sleep when I get home because of jet lag or because of all these late nights this week filled with medicine dispensing and cold compresses! I will assess overnight whether I need to find another doctor for her. I hope not for her sake. And San Fran is one of my favourite cities in the world, and the kids are looking forward to exploring it tomorrow. After so many healthy and happy weeks, it is sad to be limping (Ross literally limping…) towards the finish line!

I was counting the good things, I promise!

Friday 12 July
The Texans have a saying “bigger than Texas”. They have street art around the city of a capital B and G, so that tourists can themselves be the “I” in the middle, photo opportunity being that I am bigger than Texas. The little boys think that is “sick”. I just think we are sicker, literally!
Belle had another bad night, vomiting this morning every time we tried to give her medication for her fever (including vomiting once in the hotel lobby on the way to breakfast – yuk), and while Ross is feeling better than yesterday, he is still limping with some pain. So our first tourist destination for today is a doctors’ clinic 😦
I was up doing laundry until 1am – the dryer here is free, but there is only one so it is hard to access. While waiting for it to finish, I googled urgent care clinics in Dallas and found an ER room with paediatric care. So off we went to get both Ross and Belle seen to. It was very nice, and all staff were lovely. The reception area looked like that of the laser surgery centres in Sydney, so I knew it would be pricey!! The kids had access to a variety of snacks and a bar fridge full of water, juice and soft drinks, and hot chocolate. Once we were admitted and had paid the fee, I told them to eat, drink and be merry in the waiting room…and get my money’s worth! 😉
The doctor confirmed that Ross had torn his calf muscle, but does not believe he has any clots or DVT. He humoured the cybercondriac in me though by sharing the symptoms of DVT to watch for, which made Ross roll his eyes but will be applied by me on the flight home. Ross is allowed to fly tomorrow only if his pain does not get any worse. (My concern knowing Ross is he won’t admit to it if it does…) The doctor also showed me ways to check for appendicitis in children as he confirmed Belle has a virus. Her temperature was 102 degrees F, which I could tell by the nurse’s face was high and knew by touching her myself, but I have no idea what that translates to in degrees Celcius. They gave her nausea medication so we could give her Panadol and Nurofen and she would keep it down, but the bad news is her virus is contagious. Interestingly, they had not heard of Panadol or Nurofen, but luckily I had packed them to give her so could show them. Now it is my turn to feel ill – the visit there cost me $700!!!!!!!!!
While out and about we decided to do something for the sake of the other kids, so drove out to Arlington to see the Rangers Baseball Stadium and Cowboys Stadium. We had intended to tour the latter as it gave you on-field access, but access to the field was not possible today, so at a cost of $17.50 each and with two miles of walking involved, we decided to give it a miss. We left Ross and the girls in the car while the boys and I visited the entrance area and pro shop.
From there we drove on to Fort Worth, where the boys saw and requested Five Guys Burgers and Fries for lunch. I had just finished telling Belle she could not have McDonalds for lunch because it wasn’t healthy for her, so was caught in an inconsistent parenting moment! I have offered her Maccas when she is feeling better… We then moved on to the Fort Worth Stockyards which looked like a good place to explore (and they do cattle drives down the street at 11am and 4pm each day), but it was only 2pm and Belle was sick again, so we thought we should just call it a day! My only other plan for today had been to take the kids out to a ghost town I had read about, but it didn’t exist on the car navigation system and was over 80 miles away, so it will have to wait for another holiday.
While Ross and the little kids rested, the older kids and I watched The Biggest Loser Australia finale from last May, and now they are all in the pool while Ross and Belle rest in the room.
Our blessings have been super easy to count here – everyone we have come across has been lovely and helpful, from the hotel staff to the parking lady who saved us $10 last night, to the reassurance of the doctor today. He didn’t even roll his eyes at me for cyber diagnosing first which I suspect our normal GP does… 😉 We were moved from the third floor to ground floor before we needed it, and moved to a suite so we could be together which makes looking after the sick and healthy so much easier!! I am also thankful this didn’t happen while we had the RV, so I didn’t have to drive it! And it probably doesn’t hurt to slow down the pace we have been keeping. Ross also has another week off work when we get home, so should be able to recover properly before he has to get back into the swing of things. And my diary is up to date as at 6pm rather than the following 1am 😉

Photos include the boys at Cowboys Stadium; my five guys at Five Guys for lunch; and the freebies Ross made sure he picked up at the doctors clinic 😉

Friday 12 July
After a quick daylight inspection of this hotel and facilities, we decided we were happy enough with it to book our two rooms for the next two nights as well. Our plan had been to travel to San Antonio today and back to Dallas tomorrow, but we have decided just to base ourselves in Dallas as San Antonio is over 4 hours away and such a trip would be more difficult in the car than an RV. So now San Antonio is added to the must-do list for next time, but the decision proved to be the right one.
We were so tired after arriving so late last night, we only just made it in time for the included breakfast which finished at 9.30am. I extended our booking, but Ross decided to ask them for adjoining rooms rather than across the hallway. He returned to level 3 looking like a Cheshire Cat – he not only managed to get us all into one room, he organised for us to have the Executive Suite on the ground floor, with two bedrooms and a living area, that opened out onto the pool…AND saved us $80 per night!!!!!!!
We drove into downtown Dallas to jump straight on a city bus tour. A 75 minute trolley bus showed us all the sights and gave us a lot of history, and the tour guide’s obvious passion for the city was infectious. My favourite part of the tour was Thanksgiving Square, a little park in the middle of downtown that celebrated not only the American Thanksgiving but also that we all should be grateful all year round all the world. It all expressed my motto for this year brilliantly.
Dallas is very hot at this time of year, with temperatures well above 100 degrees F (mid 40s to us?). We notice the main question we are asked is why we are here at this time of year! We ducked into restaurant chain for lunch called T.G.I.Fridays, and enjoyed their delicious food and air conditioning. We then walked down to the Sixth Floor Museum at the Texas School Book Depository to explore the JFK Museum, stopping first at Dealey Plaza and the “grassy knoll”. We were at the Museum for two hours before we realised it, so engrossed in the tour and information. I did not expect it to keep us involved for that long. We were able to stand at the window and see the same view Lee Harvey Oswald had. The trolley bus tour had stopped on the road in exactly the same spot where JFK was shot, and it was interesting to look down on that. I must admit, I was a doubter of the official conclusion but being there made it seem more likely to me that Lee Harvey Oswald had committed the assassination.
Belle’s temperature had returned by then, so we thought we had done enough for the day and drove back to the hotel for a cooling swim in the pool. I decided to then get a jump on my laundry, so went to start it while Ross bathed the little kids. He decided to do the kind and gentlemanly thing and went to open the balcony door for me to re-enter the room the quick way. I was unaware of this, and when I returned to the room found him looking deathly pale on the floor clutching his leg. In his attempt to open the door for me, he had stepped awkwardly over a suitcase and did some damage to his calf muscle 😦 As he has torn his calf muscle before, he was pretty sure that’s what it was. He went to lie down while I got him ice and google-diagnosed him.
As no doctors were available at night, the front desk gave me the address of the nearest ER. We all piled into the car and drove there, and parked by mistake in the Children’s’ Hospital parking (which meant the walk for a limping and in pain Ross was longer). The queues were SO long at the ER, they said he would be waiting for hours, and we were told we would have to wait for Ross on another floor. So we left without him being seen, and drove around to find a pharmacy to get him some crutches (as Dr Nicole discovered you should not put pressure on that leg). Our parking at the hospital should have cost is $10, but the kind lady on the gate told us our accent was so sexy, she let us out for free! The older kids went next door to Starbucks and bought us all frappucinos for dinner while we purchased crutches ($45!!!!), and then Ross proved to me he was delirious by asking could we drive downtown to see Dallas by night.
Now Ross does not like city driving, and is not fond of cities! But, we did notice today that Dallas was not crowded, because they all apparently prefer to use the airconditioned skywalks or tunnels under the city to get around. Parking in downtown is also a maximum of $5 per day! So we toured downtown again and admired all the lights and buildings, and then took our injured Dad and sick baby home to rest. Remember that comment we made about how no one had been sick while we were away?…

Photos are of the Sixth Floor Museum, Thanksgiving Square, and Ross being brave and posing at the ER (you will notice he isn’t straightening his leg, but was willing to pose there so we could record the memory he is making here!) 😉

Wednesday 10 July
Ross decided we should set off early this morning, as we have to have the motorhome back by 11am. I am exhausted! He woke me at 7am, and we had left the KOA by 7.30am. Despite Belle not being well and our lack of sleep, the day went incredibly smoothly. There was no cereal, bread or yoghurt left, so everyone had a piece of fruit for breakfast as we drove. Our trip to Linden went smoothly, with no traffic delays. I folded blankets and sheets as Ross drove, and we were there with a clean RV full of “gas” (petrol) before 10am.
The inspection showed up a miniature crack in the windscreen for which we were charged $50, but we were not charged for other problems we had found along the way and rang in about (like a broken blind, hole in a cupboard due to another cupboard with no working latch bashing into it as we drove, rip in an awning on the outside). We were transported to Newark Airport at 11am, in plenty of time for our 2pm flight.
I had purchased at JR’s a metal star painted with the American flag across it, keen to hang it on a wall at home as a souvenir. We discovered late last night it would not fit in the bag we purchased at Kmart, or any of our other pieces of luggage for that matter. When we were checking in at Newark, I asked the lady behind the counter (called Desiree) if there was any way I could get it on the plane as Ross was telling me to leave it behind. Desiree went and found me boxes big enough to package it up so the sharp metal corners of the star wouldn’t be a problem, but then informed me as it was an extra piece of luggage to be checked through (we are entitled to one bag each), I would have to pay $40. The star cost me $12. So I told her my husband wouldn’t let me take it, and the kind woman offered to post it to me later. Instead, I gave it to her. She was so thankful! She thanked me three times for blessing her with it, and of her desire to travel to Australia one day (everyone except for one lady in NY has said that to us in conversation). So while I was a little devastated to not be able to take my souvenir home, I feel it will be well looked after in Desiree’s home!
We sat in the arrivals, not departures, lounge to eat and drink leftovers from the RV – we learnt going to NY from LA that as soon as you go through security screening they make you throw out liquids. So we had an early lunch of cookies, chips, Coke cans and water bottles. Ross bought me an awesome wooden puzzle of the states that I had seen near the restroom, to make me feel better about giving up my star.
Our flight was delayed due to bad weather in Boston. This flight is in two parts – Newark to Boston at 2pm, then Boston to Dallas at 6.30pm. And there is the kicker: the one city I was devastated about missing out on was Boston, and now I get to sit in Boston Airport for a few hours!! Our 2pm flight finally left just after 3pm. Once landed, we strolled leisurely to our next gate, stopping at Johnny Rocket’s for burgers and fries for lunch. I let the kids choose my meal for me, and ended up with a burger containing a meat patty, bacon, cheese, and onion rings…never again…
That flight was also delayed due to weather, giving the kids some time to play in a little airplane-themed playground. We boarded just before 7pm, but then had to wait for another half hour on the tarmac before we were allowed to fly. The flights were both incredibly smooth and quicker than the stated length of time. About an hour before we landed, Belle was burning up and crying because her “brain was hot”. We had kept the medicine up until we boarded, but packed it in the suitcase thinking we weren’t allowed to take it in cabin luggage. I had already stripped her to cool her down and was just sitting watching her breathing, but as she was upset I went to see if the flight attendants had anything I could give her. They had no liquid medicine, but crushed up half a Tylenol tablet for her in juice. She only had a little of it, but then slept a little better on my lap until we landed. Ross and I were both feeling guilty for expressing out loud the other night our wonderment at no one being ill!!!!
We landed in Dallas after 11pm, and after collecting our baggage took a few minutes to discover where the car rental place was. They have a shuttle bus to take car renters to another building 7 minutes away. There was such a queue for Hertz and only one customer service rep, so it took a while to claim our pre-booked vehicle. The kids were hungry as after our 4.30pm airport lunch, they had only had snacks on the plane, so I gave them more chips and cookies to finish off…at 11.30pm… This does not sit well with me and would never happen at home!! Our routine has been out the window while here, and we have subjected the kids to some strange meal times!
The time it took to get the SUV gave me time to ring around and find a hotel for the night. One I rang was expensive, 4 others didn’t answer the phone, one was booked out, so ‘Country Inn and Suites’ was the winner. It was 11 miles from the airport. I booked two rooms and we arrived and dropped into our beds at 1.30am!!

Tuesday 9 July
Our campfire last night was lots of fun, and Sam was hilarious. The poor little boy was desperate to like toasted marshmallows – so desperate that after he spat out the first one, he went back twice more trying to toast them a different way and make himself like them. He was devastated to have to face the fact that he just does not like marshmallows! After the kids went inside to do their diaries and go to bed, Ross and I sat and watched the fire die and reflected on the holiday and the fact we go home soon 😦 We counted our blessings and favourite experiences, and Ross mentioned how amazing it was that no one had been sick…I joked about the medicine cabinet I had brought in a suitcase unnecessarily… This is important information considering what happened over the next three days…
We left Washington DC at 8am and travelled straight to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell. It was quite hot there, but easy to find parking. We wandered a few blocks and joined a long queue of people waiting in line for their turn to see the bell up close, which the boys were not impressed about. After a 20 minute wait, we toured through an exhibition of information and pictures, with the last stop being the Bell itself. As we took a photo of the kids in front of it, Tim noticed and quickly pointed out the glass wall behind it meant we could have skipped the queue and taken a photo from the outside of the building. Needless to say, I was more impressed than anyone else with the exhibition…
We then looked at Independence Hall from the outside, as the next tour was not for another two hours. We decided to move on, and on the way back to the RV, saw another tour you could pay for – called “Once Upon A Nation”, it was people sitting in a park while an actor in normal street clothes acted out scenes presumably relating to the Bell or dragging of the constitution etc. it was fun to watch from the sidewalk, especially the embarrassed glances of the two teenage kids sitting through the performance with their parents. I did tell the boys I could have signed them up for that rather than line up to see the bell.
Our next stop was the Temple Baptist Church, Uni and Hospital in Philadelphia, the site of the 57 cents story. This being a true story, it is just amazing what has happened and been built there. Sadly, we were only able to drive around the area, as there were so many detours for hospital renovations and roadworks, there was nowhere to park the RV. We tried the streets on the opposite side of the main highway, but it would have been a long walk back and the people in the streets there didn’t give us confidence that the neighbourhood looked too good. We moved on, stopping at an Applebee’s just off the highway for lunch.
Parking was plentiful at Pottstown, our next stop, which was an impulse detour off the highway as we saw a sign for another Outlet Centre. The boys were not happy to be shopping again, but Ross has been in search of sunglasses, and we felt this was our last opportunity to shop.
We picked the closest KOA to where we have to return the RV at Linden, New Jersey tomorrow. It was in Allentown, PA, 90 miles from the RV rental place. We didn’t have a chance though to enjoy its facilities as we had to find a Kmart/Walmart to buy another suitcase to carry all the purchases we have made while on this RV leg. An hour and $100 later, we returned to the KOA for a late “finish off what’s in the pantry” dinner – only $20 was spent on a duffle type bag as none of the suitcases were big enough, but the kids all got involved in the purchasing…hence why I try to shop without them at home…
Ross washed the outside of the RV (if we don’t return it clean, there is a $75 cleaning fee) while I showered the kids. I didn’t get them to bed until 10.30pm! And the older three were up later than that packing their bags. After everyone called it a night, I still had to bags left to pack. I finally turned in at 1.30am, and just as I was dozing, Belle appeared in our bed at 2am with a very high temperature. We had trouble getting it down, even with cold compresses and Panadol and Nurofen, and we sat up for the next hour or so just watching her sleep between us because of her fast breathing and high temps. I finally had to open some of the medicines I have been carrying around! 😦

Monday 8 July
We returned on the shuttle bus to DC today, and joined a trolley bus tour at Union Station to take us down the mall with informative commentary. It enabled us to hop on and off at different stops, so we alighted at the Jefferson Memorial, and walked from there to the FDR and Martin Luther King Jr memorials. This country has had some impressive orators and leaders.
We then walked past the Korean War memorial towards the Lincoln Memorial to catch a bus out to Arlington Cemetery. I had hoped to show the kids the changing of the guard and JFK’s burial site, but to tour the cemetery was an extra cost, and as it was 12.30pm by then I didn’t think they would be keen!
The bus took us around to the White House stop, and as we wandered down the street towards it, it started to pour. We ducked into McDonalds for lunch, which meant I could finally access wifi to check emails and upload several days’ diary entries – yay! However, it also meant I saw the latest news, like the plane crash at San Francisco …
After that we walked down and finally showed Sam Obama’s house. Not satisfied with that, he wants to go inside! We hopped back on the trolley bus there which took us to Union Station. That had been recommended to us as a good location for food and souvenirs. Unfortunately, we had seen better souvenirs at a shop near McDonalds, and decided not to purchase there because of the recommendation about Union Station. So sadly we have come away without any mementos, but Ross is cheering at the money saved 😉
We had some time before our shuttle bus returned to explore the visitors centre at Capitol Hill although we did just miss the last tour of the day. The airconditioned KOA bus with free bottles of water was a welcome sight just before 5pm, and we returned for another swim in the pool before a “scratch around” dinner to finish off our pantry supplies before we return the RV the day after tomorrow. As I sit by the pool writing this while the kids swim (Ross is in the RV reading a novel – shock, horror, he finally gets to rest and read six weeks in!!), the weirdest thing has happened. The lifeguard blew a whistle and ordered everyone out of the pool for a ten minute break! In some states they have had a rope across the middle of their pool, and when someone has stepped on it or pushed it under water, we have all been warned the pool will have to close if the rope falls down!?!
Tonight’s plan is a campfire (our first one!) amongst the fireflies. Tomorrow is Pennsylvania and packing to say goodbye to motorhome life!… 😦 … 😉