DC monuments by night tour

We did an evening guided tour of Washington DC from the Cherry Hill Park campground.

Selfie in the bus:

Selfie in bus

US Capitol:

US Capitol

US Capitol

US Capitol

Washington Monument:

Washington Monument

Back to our bus; there were lots of food trucks like this lining the roads in DC:

Bus and food truck

Treasury building:

Treasury building

Treasury building

The White House:

The White House

The White House

The White House

Guide talking about the White House:

Guide talking about the White House

Washington Monument:

Washington Monument:

Thomas Jefferson Memorial:

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Thomas Jefferson Monument

Sunset:

Sunset

Lots of tour buses:

Lots of tour buses

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial:

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial:

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Washington Monument and the Capitol beyond the reflecting pond:

Washington Monument:

Washington Monument:

Lincoln Memorial:

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

World War II Memorial:

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial:

World War II Memorial

Baseball: Baltimore Orioles vs Atlanta Braves

While staying in the DC area, we attended a couple of baseball games. The first was the Atlanta Braves playing at the Baltimore Orioles stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The entrance to Oriole Park:

Oriole Park

Team store:

Team store

Statue

Food vendors:

Hot dogs vendor

We like to try regional specialties when exploring ballparks; we started with the crab mac hot dog:

Crab mac dog

Crab mac dog

“The ballpark that forever changed baseball”:

The ballpark that forever changed baseball

The view from our seats:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Lineups:

Lineups

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Lots of navy folks for Fleet Week:

Baseball

Selfie:

Selfie

Former Mariner Jarred Kelenic:

Kelenic

Crab shuffle game:

Which one?

Time to try more food:

Vendor

Chicken bacon ranch fries:

Chicken bacon ranch fries

And crab chips:

Crab chips

Hot dog race:

Hot dog race

Baseball

Home run markers on the ground:

Home run markers on ground

I looked for Mariners ones, including Ken Griffey, Jr on April 24, 1994:

Ken Griffey, Jr, April 24, 1994

Sam Haggerty on April 13, 2021:

Sam Haggerty, April 13, 2021

Cal Raleigh on June 25, 2023:

Cal Raleigh, June 25, 2023

Mascot:

Mascot

Dippin’ Dots for dessert:

Dippin' Dots

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Final scores:

Final scores

Oriole Park at Camden Yards:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Cherry Hill Park

We stayed at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very nice resort, convenient to the DC area.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-06-09
  • Check out: 2024-06-23
  • 14 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy
  • High temps 76-96°F, lows 57-69°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 18 MPH

Noise:

  • Some freeway noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise during the week; lots of noise during the weekends

Site:

  • #39, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • A little unlevel site; high on driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 45 feet long by 14 feet wide
  • About 12 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees behind site
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 50 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (less than a 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 25-45 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 43 ms ping
  • AT&T: 500 Mbps down, 60 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: 20 Mpbs down, 20 Mbps up, 8 ms ping
  • Verizon: 15 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Pools
  • Onsite cafe and food delivery to site
  • Package delivery to office
  • Bus to DC mall
  • Tour buses

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Location, location, location!

If you want to visit the DC area with your motorhome, trailer, fifth-wheel, tent, or what-have-you, this is THE place to do it. It’s convenient to the Beltway and close to a Metro stop for all your sightseeing needs. They also offer tours from the campground, which is just the cherry on top. The campground is top-notch and well-kept, with all the amenities you could want (including food delivery right to your site), which is a plus on a travel day. We were in site 39, in the far corner of the park, backing onto trees. The site was a little unlevel side-to-side, but nothing our levelers couldn’t cope with. It was also plenty long enough for our 40′ motorhome with space to park our tow vehicle in front. There was some freeway noise, but it was mostly a distant hum. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. We have already booked our next stay when we swing through the area next year. We camped at Cherry Hill Park – Washington, D.C. In a Motorhome.

A handy campground map for getting to our site:

Map

And on the other site, a map of campground features:

Map

Tours:

Tours

Cafe, bus, etc:

Cafe, bus, etc

Wristbands:

Wristbands

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Our site

Backed into the foliage:

Backed into the foliage

Our site at night; we don’t usually turn on our undercarriage accent lights and door light, but I did on this occasion, as Jenn was arriving back after spending a few days with her girlfriends:

Our site at night

We appreciated an onsite cafe with food delivery to the site on arrival day (and probably would have partaken on other evenings if we weren’t busy with exploring etc):

Food delivery

Park history:

History

Camp store:

Camp store

We appreciated and took much advantage of package delivery to the office:

Packages

Bus depot, where tour buses and commuter buses depart:

Bus depot

Bus depot

Pond:

Pond

Playground:

Playground

Event pavilion:

Event pavilion

Ballroom:

Ballroom

Cafe, pools, clubhouse:

Cafe, pools, clubhouse

Pools

Pools

Another playground:

Playground

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Mini golf

Splash pad:

Splash pad

Game court:

Game court

Pond:

Pond

Tent area, each with hammocks and gazebos:

Tent area, each with hammocks and gazebos

Yurt:

Yurt

Cabins:

Cabins

Cabins

Cabin

Other RV sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Pull-through sites:

Other sites

A large gathering next to us for a couple of days:

Large gathering next to us

Prevost departing:

Prevost departing

Gazebo and trash (the squirrels enjoyed investigating the trash):

Gazebo and trash

This place is so huge, they have a shuttle that roams around:

Shuttle

The evening tractor pull rides were popular:

Tractor pull ride

A very nice place. We have already booked another stay here for next year.

Travel from Hanover, Pennsylvania to College Park, Maryland

We drove our coach just 65 miles, about 1.5 hours of driving, from Hanover, Pennsylvania to College Park, Maryland.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving the campground

Road outside the park:

Road outside park

Narrow curvy road:

Narrow curvy road

Barn:

Barn

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Manchester:

Manchester

Barn:

Barn

Roundabout:

Roundabout

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

I-95:

I-95

Maryland 212 West:

Maryland 212 West

Our destination, Cherry Hill Park:

Cherry Hill Park

Check-in lanes:

Check-in lanes

Entrance lanes

24-hours staffed entrance gate:

Entrance gate

Our site:

Our site

Backing in:

Backing in

NIRVC annual servicing

As previously mentioned, we went to NIRVC in DC for our annual servicing of the engine, generator, Aqua-Hot, etc.

They used synchronized jacks to raise up our coach:

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

They pointed out that the oil pan has a bit of a leak, but we decided to not doing anything about that this time; we’ll keep an eye on it:

Oil pan

They also indicated a leak in the radiator fan, which we did address by replacing it (a rather expensive operation):

Radiator fan

The bar between the front jacks was loose; the bolts on one side were broken, so they fixed that:

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

They also replaced the engine air filter, as we do every year:

Coach raised up

And serviced the Aqua-Hot:

Aqua-Hot

We usually get various branches of NIRVC to do the servicing, for consistency.

Gettysburg National Military Park: memorials and cemetery

The second post about Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, including the battlefield memorials and Gettysburg National Cemetery.

The interactive map again:

The battlefield has a bunch of roads, dotted with monuments from the various states and military divisions that participated in the battle:

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

GIF:

Battlefield monument

Building

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Gettysburg National Cemetery:

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Lincoln address memorial, where he gave his famous speech:

Lincoln address memorial

Lincoln address memorial

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Military Park: museum and visitor center

We visited Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, including a third-party museum and visitor center.

An interactive map:

Gettysburg National Military Park

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Visitor center

Visitor center

Gift store:

Visitor center

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war”:

Exhibits

Exhibits:

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Theater:

Theater

The Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 360° painting by the French artist Paul Philippoteaux depicting Pickett’s Charge, the climactic Confederate attack on the Union forces during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. It was painted in 1883, and measures 42 feet by 377 feet. The viewing of it started with a dramatization of the battle with light effects:

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

After the light show, it was shown without light effects. The foreground in front of the painting is a natural-looking landscape, blending into the painting:

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

An easter egg: a wounded President Lincoln is in this part, representing a wounded nation:

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Impressive stuff.

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

The Gettysburg address:

Exhibits

Exhibits

Tomorrow, the battlefield and cemetery.

Codorus State Park

We stayed at Codorus State Park in Hanover, Pennsylvania. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A last-minute booking, but not a great state park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-06-07
  • Check out: 2024-06-09
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy
  • High temps 78-79°F, lows 56-60°F
  • Negligible wind, gusts to 19 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #102, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Very unlevel site, high on driver side and back; unable to get completely level; used air leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • 30-90 feet to neighbor passenger side
  • Driveway on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 75 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Loose sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 4-8 Mbps down, 0.1 Mbps up, 50-100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 50 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • Verizon: 10-25 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Narrow, twisty roads and sloped sites

This park is not big rig-friendly. The roads are twisty and narrow, with many low trees. We were in site 102, which was incredibly sloped front-to-back, so we dealt with living on an angle for our two-night stay. You could place a marble at one end of the motorhome and it would have rolled to the front unaided, this is how bad it was. An interesting quirk of this park is that they have “pet-free” areas where you’re not allowed to camp with pets. I never did see any explanation of this policy and it didn’t make any sense to me since people were walking their dogs through the “pet-free” area anyway. So, if you’re camping with pets, be sure to double-check what the rule is for a site before you book it, because the ranger at check-in will call you out if they think they see a pet with you. We camped at Codorus State Park in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Atomic Dog Cidery near Gettysburg has good food and cider. Just be careful if you want to purchase some cans to take home, as the park has a strict “no alcohol” policy and your nosy neighbors will comment on it even if you’re not drinking it….

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

The site was very unlevel; we couldn’t get level with hydraulic jacks, and this was the best that our air leveling could manage:

Unlevel

Water tank behind our site:

Water tank

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

We won’t stay here again.