Baltimore, NYC, and FRIENDS!!!

This really is a sunrise.. and Deb was the one who got up and took the pictures!!

We've been "radio silent" because we've been having too much fun and have come home too tired to write!!

Sunday we spent the day in Baltimore at the Aquarium and at the American Visionary Arts Museum.  We definitely agreed we liked the Art Museum the most.  The Georgia Aquarium just has us jaded!!  While it was extremely well done, we kept waiting for the "wow" and it just didn't come.  That said, we took some pictures:

The American Visionary Arts Museum definitely didn't disappoint us!  It is a craft museum and a little quirky so it was definitely right up Deb's alley!!  Unfortunately we could only take pictures outside and none of the "yard art" there would fit in our back patio... lol...Google it... but the web site really doesn't do it justice.

At the campsite, we finally got some pictures (and DEB DID THEM!!) of a sunrise.  We also woke up to baby ducks and herons.

Then it was on to NYC.   We settled into our parking lot...errr campsite.  What it lacks in "amenities", it makes up for in proximity to NYC.  We are in Jersey City at Liberty Park.  The Statue of Liberty is in view of our site, and we are just a short walk from a train that is 2 stops from the World Trade Center Site.  Monday night we did the "tourist thing" as many of you have seen on Facebook, going down to Time Square and having wine at Rockefeller Center.  Deb shopped at a few of her favorite shops and (surprise!) didn't buy but a few stocking stuffers!  The buy of the night was made at a street vendor (of course!) where she found beach hats for Emily and Tracy and herself for our August beach trip!!  She decided to model them in the subway on the way home!!

Tuesday was spent with good friends, Jessica and Issac Fromme with whom we shared our trip to Macchu Pichu and Galapagos earlier this year.  They live in NJ, near here and their daughter lives within walking distance of our campsite.  We met them at the 9-11 Memorial Museum and spent the morning there.  It is very powerful and going through it with someone who had lived through it  so closely only enhanced the experience.  If I have any criticism of it, it would be that it is perhaps too much to take in at once.  We spent about 3 hours there and somewhere about 2 1/2  hours in, I was on sensory and emotional overload.  And we did not stop and  read even 20% of the artifacts and exhibits!  It is extremely well done and worth the rather hefty ($25) entrance fee.

After the museum we enjoyed a 3 hour lunch at a French Restaurant.  We had a great time renewing and strengthening our friendship. After lunch, the Fromme's walked us back to our train and we discovered that our train was not running due to power failure.  Instead of going to Plan B and taking multiple trains to reach our destination, they drove us home.  That is true friendship, to drive someone around NYC in rush hour traffic!  We howled when Issac and Jessica started fussing with "Myrtle", their GPS.  We decided that it must be universal!  But I will say Issac is a man after my own heart... While we were walking around, David and Jessica are fiddling with their phones, trying to figure out the best route... Issac just approaches a policeman and ASKS DIRECTIONS!!  A man who asks directions!!  How refreshing!!  (But like most men he only followed  them partially!!)  After our "home tour"  which took at least 3 minutes, we broke out the Segways and both of them became riders within 10 minutes!!  Though Segways are not allowed in NYC, New Jersey (at least Jersey City) has no such restrictions.  So after Jessica and Issac left, Dave and I rode all around the harbor and really enjoyed some spectacular views of the city.

As I finish this, the only  question left is,  can the Spurs hang on and beat the Heat at home?  You will know before you read this..... On to Boston for the wedding and more good friends!!  We are definitely lucky people... and who knows, Bessy may even get a mechanical overhaul!!  Dave has an appointment Thursday with an "RV Doctor" in Boston.  Quick update:  The gearshift now has a reading... but its one gear off!!  But Dave is quick to point out that "Bert", our little towed truck is straight drive, and survives just fine with no gear shift indicator!! MEN!!! LOL!