We had a wonderfully restful night at the Hartys’ home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Such a beautiful home. Brett keeps telling me I too could have a beautiful home like theirs if we moved here.

We spent the previous four days at three different theme parks. So naturally it time for a rest day. Right?

Wrong. Today we went to Carowinds, a theme park that falls half in South Carolina and half in North Carolina.

I told Kathy and Ashley that I had two modest goals for the day: ride the iconic Fury 325 and have both meals from our meal plan.

We got to the park kind of late. I won’t point fingers, but it wasn’t me. It was Kathy and Ashley.

We walked straight to Fury 325, considered by many to be one of the top three roller coasters in the world.

After four days of visiting parks with no lines, we braced for the inevitable hour long wait.

Miraculously, the line was only 10 minutes.

The ride was so good. Huge drops, smooth as butter, and tons of buns off the seat air time. No bone crushing, blackout inducing, neck snapping maneuvers that can leave us sick or injured or worse. What a great coaster.

We gleefully hopped off and ran around for another ride.

The temperature today was around 80, with a soft breeze and low humidity. It felt so good.

We must be slowing down. Rather than running around the park trying to collect every coaster, we ended up hitting the highlights. We even watched a show.

We wrapped up the day appropriately with one final visit to the great Fury 325.

Within 30 minutes we were back at the Hartys house.

We were all exhausted from another fun day.

Five straight days at theme parks. And my feet don’t even hurt. Is it the shoes? It must be. My feet are usually trashed after two days.

These Fila hiking shoes my dad swears by have been incredible. I told him I’m a convert and he said he already got me another pair.

We are a couple of days from starting the trip back home. And we still haven’t decided which way that is. Any ideas? We’d appreciate it.

We studied the weather report before we went to bed. There was a 99% chance of rain for this morning.

We are obviously part of the 1%, because at 8 am there is no rain in sight.

We had one day remaining on our Busch Gardens tickets. And Brett texted me that they were going back to the park, too. Perfect! We are there.

Wait, did I mention that the temperature was seventy-five blissful degrees? Oh yes it was!

We rode Apollo’s Chariot twice.

As we were headed for Verbolten, who should we find but the Hartys.

Meg the coaster queen was looking for someone to ride with. Ashley and I happily accepted the assignment.

We entered Verbolten’s empty queue. Meg and Ashley took the first row and I took the second. We had a wonderful ride.

Upon returning to the station, we noticed no one in line. We requested a second ride which was granted.

This time, the three of us had the entire train all to ourselves. Clearly the park was even more empty today than it was yesterday.

Within 2 hours, we rode the major coasters a total of 9 times. I also rode the drop tower and we even took a ride on the train.

Before we departed the park around 1:30, Brett and Jeanne offered to let us stay in their beautiful home in Charlotte. We excitedly accepted. The only problem I see is that they may have trouble kicking us out!

We gassed up the van, ate a quick lunch, and we were back on the road around 3:00. Our goal was to make it to Charlotte within 5 hours.

The start of the drive coincided with the start of the rain. The rain was persistent but not really hard. We just took our time.

We eventually made it to the other side of the storm. But the drive took longer than we had hoped. We pulled into the Hartys driveway around 9:45.

We last visited the Hartys in 2007. I forgot what a beautiful home they have.

We were greeted by the door cat.

Ashley almost lost her mind. Now it’s going to even harder to get rid of us.

For the first time in over a month, we are staying in a home. And it is heavenly.

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Today Ashley and I visited our third different theme park in three days. Saturday, it was Six Flags America and King’s Dominion. Sunday, a full day of King’s Dominion. And today we toured Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

We selected a hotel that has our two favorite attributes: close to a theme park and cheap.

The free breakfast buffet was completely packed with people. Ashley declared she was not hungry and stormed back to the room.

Kathy found a super deal through AAA for 2 day tickets to Busch Gardens that are $20 cheaper than the 1 day ticket. The weather report for Tuesday was showing rain and thunderstorms all day. So our plan is to hit it hard on Monday in case Tuesday is a wash out.

Within 5 minutes of starting the van, we are standing at the front gate. Kathy and I last visited Busch Gardens in 1992. The place has changed a lot and we initially struggled to figure out where we are going and how to get there.

The rope dropped at 10:30 and we were off like the Kentucky Derby.

We raced to Apollo’s Chariot in Italy, a highly rated coaster that typically has hour long waits. We hopped right on. It was great.

The park is situated in the woods and beside a river. This coaster soars above and through the trees before making a sweeping left at the river. This coaster was smooth and featured plenty of off the seat air time. We liked it so much, we rode it again. This was Kathy’s favorite ride in the park.

The next great coaster we experienced was found in Germany and called Verbolten.

The queue was full of lots of fun stuff to look at. But, unfortunately there was no line, so we just flew past.

The train leaves the station and speeds into a dark building with many turns and drops, like Space Mountain. Suddenly, the train stops and strange images appear overhead.

With our attention on the ceiling, the entire train suddenly plummets 20 or 30 feet.

The train accelerates out of the show building then drops down right next to the river before returning to the station. This was my favorite ride in the park.

We must have chosen the perfect summer to visit theme parks. Every one we have visited has been almost empty. Busch Gardens is certainly empty. I blame Star Wars Land.

The themeing here is beautiful and near Disney quality.We continued on our clock wise quest to ride every coaster.

We then stood before Griffon in the France area. One of the world’s greatest dive coasters. The one at Cedar Point was not operating when we were there which made Ashley sad. This 204 foot tall beast was open for business and it had, wait for it, no line.

The trains have only three rows. But each row has 10 seats.

The ride was exhilarating. Before the first drop, the train stops for an agonizing 4 seconds – but it feels like 20.

The rest of the ride has huge drops and inversions. It is incredibly smooth. This was Ashley’s favorite ride in the park.

Of course, we rode this one again. This time from the front row. It was worth the 5 minute wait.

We continued on to Ireland. There, we found a Virtual Reality attraction called Battle for Erie.

Before entering the theater, we were fitted with the appropriate head gear. This was Ashley’s favorite part.

The movie with the motion seats was great fun. But the best part was the air conditioning. There, I said it.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat. Ashley said she still wasn’t hungry and just sipped water.

We finished up our first lap around Busch Gardens by riding Loch Ness Monster in the Scotland region.

This coaster opened in 1978 and is the only ride still around from the last time we visited. When it opened, it was the tallest coaster in the world at an incredible 130 feet.

And if wasn’t enough, this coaster has two loops that loop within each other.

While this may be a classic and provides a nice bit of nostalgia, it was a pretty rough ride. It beat me up. One ride was enough for me.

With that, we completed our challenge of hitting every major ride and attraction. And we did it in under three hours. Now, we could take it easy for the rest of the day and let our bodies heal.

We found the Hartys and their friends in the France section.

Megan, it turns out, is a coaster freak, too. And she hadn’t experience Griffon yet. Ashley and I are like, my body can heal tomorrow. Heck yeah we will ride that with you.

We did the third row because there was no wait. Of course, she wanted to ride again in the front. By now, no line.

We raced to Ireland to catch up with everyone else.

Megan wanted to ride Loch Ness. I’m out (I may be crazy, but I’m not insane), but Ashley’s in.

Everyone wanted to end the day with the relaxing Rhine River Cruise and the train ride around the park.

But Meg is itching to hit some more coasters. Seriously, that girl is one of us. Brett insisted that she keep a close eye on me and he sent us on our way. Kathy and Ashley decided to help her supervise me.

We closed out the day with return visits to Verbolten and Apollo’s Chariot.

Meg insisted that we ride Escape from Pompeii, a themed water ride with a huge drenching drop at the end. Soggy but refreshed, we made it back to the train station before the rest of the party.

The Clydesdale horses are on display near the depot. The girls got their photo with one.

Four lovely smiles.

This horse really like Ashley.

Dark clouds moved in and the wind picked up. An announcement rang out that inclement weather was coming. That’s all we needed to hear. Besides, we are all starving.

We had diner at the nearby Hardee’s and we were back at the hotel before 8. Oh and the promised rain storm? It arrived at 2 am.

Our first stop of the day was the gas station. We paid $2.40 per gallon. I think it’s the lowest price we have found so far.

Within minutes, we were back at King’s Dominion.

We had originally planned to take advantage of early entry to avoid long lines, but the allure of free breakfast and air conditioning was just too strong.

We arrived close to noon. It was again hot and humid, but we feel like we are getting acclimated to the weather. We are making sure to always walk where shade is available. Our soda refills have become water refills. And we have learned that the best air conditioning can be found in the restrooms of all places.

We suspect the park’s newest coaster will have the longest queue, so we head straight for Twisted Timbers.

We walked the entirety of the very lengthy queue without seeing another soul. Finally, we made it to the load station. There is but one other person waiting to board the train.

After Twisted Timbers, we decided to loop around the park to enjoy the entire collection of coasters. Apple Zapple, Grizzly, Dominator, Woodstock Express, Avalanche, Anaconda, Backlot Stunt Coaster, and Racer 75. All fun coasters. All walk ons. Not a single line to be found.

We decided to try a non coaster. Windseeker is a swing ride that takes riders up 300 feet. Of course, there is no line.

The ride operator informed us that the attraction requires 8 riders to balance it out. We would need to wait for five more guests. Our only wait of the day is because there are not enough people in the queue.

Kathy walked into the midway to convince others to ride.

We were strapped into the seat and the sun was beating down. Hard. The temperature was spiking upward. And the lightest of breezes we had been enjoying had evaporated.

It was clearly time to leave. We raced to the van, quickly aired it out, and continued southeast to Williamsburg.

We had dinner with Brett, Jeanne, Megan, and Griffin at a BBQ restaurant. They are traveling with another family who joined us as well.

It was a great dinner. Brett is the funniest, most generous, most down to earth guy I have ever known. The kids share their parents’ great sense of humor.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel and collapsed. Hopefully, this hot streak will end soon.

Laundry day.

The only thing worse than laundry day is checking out of the wonderful Doubletree Hotel and forgetting to get some cookies for the road.

Ashley and I were cookieless and a little pouty as we headed for the laundromat.

Google directed us to the finest laundromat we have ever visited. Beautiful machines, free Wi-Fi, and the most ideal air conditioning ever.

A Six Flags park was a few minutes away. Kathy granted permission to Ashley and me to enjoy the park while she did the laundry. You don’t have to ask us twice.

The weather continued to be unbearable. It was more like a sauna than weather.

Ashley and I hopped out of the van and were immediately besieged by the oppressive heat and crushing humidity.

I’m sorry I complained about heat and humidity early in the trip. I now know that was just mild weather. We would pay good money to have it back.

Ashley and I tredged into Six Flags.

Not surprising, the park was empty even though it is Saturday. Our goals were straight forward. Ride a few coasters and don’t die from heat stroke.

In 90 minutes, we rode a 1917 woodie, a new floorless coaster, a Superman coaster, a twisted crazy coaster, and a wild mouse coaster.

The floorless coaster, Fire Bird, received significant media attention two days ago as it left riders stuck on the lift hill for three hours in this blazing heat. We were shocked to see it operating. Many would say we are crazy for going to an amusement park today so of course we had to ride it.

We easily conquered the first four coasters. I wanted to close out our brief visit with the wild mouse. The bonus here is that the car spins while traversing the track. Ashley wasn’t so sure. I begged until she agreed.

We boarded the Ragin’ Cajun.

We headed up the lift hill and the car followed the track without spinning. I was feeling ripped off.

As the car entered the second half of the ride, we were rotated violently. Like the spin cycle Kathy was enjoying back in the air conditioned laundromat.

We were being flung around like a sock and a pair of underwear. My neck snapped back. Ashley’s head smashed into the headrest.

I tried in vain to comfort her, but the spinning was so horribly fast I was helpless myself.

Mercilessly, the ride on this wicked attraction ended. We have mastered every coaster imaginable during the past four weeks. But with the Ragin’ Cajun, we finally met our match.

Ashley rubbed the lump on the back of her head and said she would not recommend this ride to mom.

We trudged out of the park beaten and bruised. But we held our heads high as we were survivors.

At lunch we got a text from the lucky member of our family who spent the afternoon drenched in air conditioning. She was done.

With the van loaded with clean clothes, we said goodbye to our nation’s capital and headed south into Virginia.

Kathy found a Catholic Church right off the highway. It was the sixth weekend in a row worshipping in a different state.

I know you thought going to an amusement park in this weather was insane. What would you think if we went to two amusement parks?

We continued south until we reached King’s Dominion Park.

Ashley and I wanted to ride at least one coaster so that we could say we rode a coaster at two different parks in the same day. We ended up riding two.

First, we feasted on a taco salad and a plate of nachos.

While dining, I got a call from my buddy Brett who is vacationing with his family in nearby Williamsburg. We are making plans to hang out next week.

We rode an indoor coaster followed by the 305 foot tall metal beast called Intimidator 305. What a day!

The time was 9:30. The temperature was 85. The humidity was 80. The park was empty and the sun was down but it was so hard to breathe. We left for the hotel.

We talked to Trevor on the drive to the hotel. And I talked to grandpa at the hotel.

We had survived another excessive heat warning day. How many more do we have to endure? Hopefully, not many.

Another day, another excessive heat warning. We didn’t rush to get out of the room. We just took it slow and set our expectations low.

The one thing I wanted to do today was to visit the National Archives to witness the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

The standby line can exceed an hour. Tickets can be purchased online for just $1 each, which cuts the wait to under 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the tickets were sold out. Only walk up tickets remained. We decided we would give it a shot anyways.

Before we left the hotel, we got our obligatory free oven fresh warm chocolate chip cookies.

It’s the best way to start any day.

Before I go on, I believe I neglected to introduce the newest member of the family. Ashley wanted to visit Target on her birthday to find herself a present. My instructions: buy anything you want so long as it is small.

She found a small plush. It looked like a cat but it also looked like a dog. Either way, she was in love.

Because he looks part kitten part puppy, Ashley named him Kuppy.

Donkers promptly lost his position as most favored plush to Kuppy. Frankly, he has been a little whiny about it, which has caused some problems. But he will get over it.

We took the Metro to the Archives stop and found what we were looking for across the street.

We entered the Archives to find the place completely empty. Maybe the heat was keeping people away. I don’t know. But we were each able to stand before these important documents without standing in any line at all. It was great.

Next, we walked briskly across the mall to the Air and Space Museum. And here we found the crowds.

This museum is always popular. But the fact that we are in the middle of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission meant the place was packed.

We checked out some exhibits. The Wright Brothers collection is our favorite. There we found the actual plane that Wilbur and Orville flew on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk.

The museum had on display Neil Armstong’s Apollo 11 space suit. The line to stand before it was out of this world and moving slowly. We took a peek at the suit and kept moving.

The crowds got the best of us and we moved back outside to the mall.

An Apollo 11 festival was taking place.

We even got our photo with a (Lego) spaceman.

Pretty much the same thing as the one at the museum without the wait.

And we got to see a moon rock.

Next, I wanted to visit the Capitol rotunda. Ashley wanted to visit a soft serve ice cream.

That thing was heaven and it only cost $5. There is an ice cream truck on every corner. The competition must keep the prices down because they could easily sell these for $20. Capitalism is a great thing.

We approached the Capitol.

But it closed at 4:30.

We found a shady bench and relaxed while Kathy exchanged texts with her brother Wayne.

Wayne lives and works just outside of DC. They decided to meet at Union Station. Wayne took the Red Line Metro and we took our feet.

Union Station is beautiful and huge. It houses dozens of restaurants and stores. We ate dinner there.

Of course, all we wanted to talk about is the trip. But being an avid subscriber to this very blog, Wayne knew more about the trip than we did.

After dinner, Wayne gave Ashley a very generous birthday gift which will allow her to fill the van with more Kuppys, if that’s what she wants. Personally, I’m hoping for more ice creams.

Before parting, Wayne had a photo taken which he promptly posted on the Facebooks. Cassie sent us the screen shot.

We found this shocking and even appalling. Look at that! Battery is down to 37%? C’mon Cassie. This is not how we raised you. If you understood the great pains and sacrifices that we have been going through just to keep our phones charged you would not be showing us that.

It was getting close to cookie time. We made the short walk to the Metro Station and within a half hour, we were sinking our teeth into a warm, soft, fresh, delicious chocolate chip cookie. It’s the best way to end any day.

As we were about to jump in bed, high drama ensued. Kuppy was missing. He was here a few minutes ago. All eyes turned to obvious suspect, Donkers. “Don’t look at me. I got nothin’ to do with it.”

After an extensive search and rescue effort, I’m happy to report Kuppy was found hiding quietly in the sheets of the bed. Even Donkers was relieved.

We were all exhausted and happy to get to sleep. Even Kuppy as he snuggled tightly with Donkers.

We all got a restful night sleeping in the nicest hotel room we have occupied during Big Trip 4. The complimentary breakfast was filling and yummy.

The weather report was not good. There was an excessive heat warning due to the skyrocketing humidity combined with the high temperature. Al Roker said to expect the temperature to feel like 110. I must admit, I was concerned about our health as we planned our day in Washington, D.C.

We packed our lunch and made sure to bring a lot of water.

We drove south for about an hour. Our destination was the Metro station in New Carrollton, Maryland.

We arrived at the station to find a parking garage we couldn’t fit in thanks to the large shell perched upon our roof. There was also a surface lot, but it was full.

Luckily, we located another lot nearby that was half empty.

Our stop was at the end of the line and a train was waiting for us when we arrived. Best of all, it was air conditioned.

The train dropped us off one short block away from Ford’s Theater, the place where President Lincoln was shot.

Timed tickets are required to visit the the theater. And there is a long line of people sweltering outside the building waiting to be let in.

We entered the gloriously air conditioned lobby at 12:29 and got our free tickets for 12:30. It seems our timing on this day was impeccable. The huge line entered the building and started down the stairs to the basement museum. Without having to step back into the miserable heat, we simply followed the crowd.

Our plan was to spend an hour here and return later for a 2:45 ranger talk in the theater.

The basement to Ford’s Theater houses exhibits about Lincoln’s life in Washington, from the time he was sworn in as our 16th president his tragic assassination.

Armed with her Jr. Ranger booklet, Ashley went to work.

Generally, the booklets require kids to complete a certain number of sections based upon their age. This one was the same but with an added bonus of a patch for completing additional sections.

The museum followed the story of Lincoln’s presidential years chronologically using video and boards.

Most fascinating were the events leading to his assassination and the conspiracy plot to take down the heads of the government. The hope was to reinvigorate the Confederates who had conceded defeat just days earlier.

As we rounded a corner, we stood before the very pistol the John Wilkes Booth used to murder the president.

We headed up the stairs which led to the actual theater.

We sat in the theater seats, soaking up more air conditioning. We were actually getting cold. Ashley continued to complete her booklet until she finished the last challenge.

When we took our seats, Ford’s Theater was basically empty. We noticed it was now filling up. A check of the phone revealed it was time for the 2:45 ranger talk. We had spent over two hours here. Ashley said it didn’t feel like it. It just felt cold.

The ranger stepped on the stage dressed as a union soldier. He performed a one man show playing the part of the man who shot and killed Booth. It was riviting.

During the 25 minute performance, the play covered the murder of Lincoln, the manhunt for Booth, and the sad life of Boston Corbett, the heroic Union soldier that ended Booth’s life.

We have enjoyed many great ranger talks on this trip. None could top this one.

We finally emerged from the theater back into the lobby where Ashley received her badge, number eight, and the coveted patch.

The brutal heat felt good against our freezing skin as we made our way across the street to the Petersen house. The place where Lincoln died.

Earlier, the line to get in was pretty long. Now we just walked right in.

We stood in the exact room where our greatest president passed away.

By now, we were starving. There is another wonderful museum that is connected to the Petersen house, but the pangs of hunger wouldn’t allow us to hang around.

Back on the sidewalk, we devoured our lunch and headed for the mall.

We arrived at the Smithsonian American History Museum around 4:30. We had one hour before closing. It was the perfect amount of time.

No trip to the Nation’s Capital is complete until you see the shoes.

Yes, those are Dorothy’s ruby slippers.

All of the museums close at 5:30, so we were left to the elements. It seemed the humidity just continued to climb. Thankfully, we had plenty of water to drink. But the weather was very brutal. It felt like a beat down.

We visited many of the monuments on west side of the mall.

Ashley almost stabbed herself with the Washington Monument.

Enough talking. Let’s look at some pictures.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is always sobering. The Wall of black granite is highly reflective and radiates heat. There are more than 58,000 names on it. We saw many people here searching for the name of a friend, or family member, or loved one. Very sad.

It was starting to get late and it was a long walk to the Metro station.

As we descended down the escalator, our train pulled up and whisked us away.

We arrived back at the van around 9, had a quick meal at Wendy’s, checked into the hotel, crashed, and finally burned.

The best part of the day? The fresh baked chocolate chip cookie the Doubletree Hotel give their hotel guests at check-in.

I think we may have this blog thing all wrong. This should be Ashley’s blog and maybe she could let me write it sometimes.

As we began our day, Peaches the cat made another appearance. Again, Ashley made a plea to catnap him. But Peaches is an outdoor cat, most happy when he is keeping the mouse population under control at the campground. So we left him to prowl.

We were about an hour outside Philadelphia. It would be fun to visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. We thought we could just park near the sites and have a great time.

Alas, Philly was beyond crowded. The traffic was rediculous and the parking was worse. We were not getting that loving feeling and we were ready to bid the whole state of Pennsylvania a fond farewell.

We continued down the freeway and made a stop in beautiful Wilmington, Delaware. A quick check of the weather revealed that the temperature was 91 degrees. But the 80% humidity made it feel like 106!

We found a sign for soft serve ice cream and ran toward it. Ashley ordered a birthday cake flavored swirl in a waffle cone. She had to eat it quick because it was melting.

We took a walk along the riverfront but the heat was a beatdown and the only air conditioning was found in the restrooms and in the van.

We continued south into Maryland. We stopped for lunch at a service plaza.

We had a family meeting to decide what to do next. Kathy wanted to go to Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Ashley and I were sick of the boiling heat and thought the idea of kicking back in a hotel room had a nice ring to it.

We parked at Fort McHenry at 3:30. The heat was starting to decline slightly, but we spent the first hour and a half in the visitors center looking at exhibits, working on the Jr. Ranger packet and watching a terrific movie about the War of 1812 and how Francis Scott Key came to write the Star Spangled Banner.

As the film ends, a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem fills the auditorium and the screen rises revealing the fort and the massive American flag that flies above it. It’s an awesome moment.

At 5:00, we left the comfort of the visitors center to see the flag lowering ceremony.

As the flag was lowered, the ranger invited all in attendance to help gather and fold the flag. The wind was blowing hard so this was no small task.

Kathy had the honor of the final fold.

With the task completed, we were allowed to hold the flag for a photo op.

While in the fort, Ashley finished up her booklet. We scampered back to the visitors center for badge number 8.

The wind continued to howl and now dark clouds were overhead. Just like yesterday, a thunderstorm was brewing.

Thankfully, it did not start raining super hard until we got to the hotel. We still got drenched even though we parked near the front door.

Within an hour, the rain and accompanying lightening and thunder dissapated. Little frightened Ashley calmed down.

We cranked up the air and settled in for the evening.

Hello, I am taking over this blog for the day. I’m Ashley, the youngest daughter of Steven Paul Smith. I will write about today because someone got lazy.

I started off the day by getting ready and finding that some of the fireflies still haven’t left the water bottle that I put them in last night. At least the weird one was gone so I was happy.

Then, we immediately raced off to Dorney Park. Heading up on the ride Steel Force, I was starting to feel a little uneasy. But after riding it, I was complaining that it needed to be faster. Then, we rode it again.

As my dad said, Cedar Point did spoil me with the fast coasters. We ran toward a little woody coaster called Tunder Hawk. It was superbly small, but fast. We did a test ride without my mom, to see if it wasn’t too clunky. However, after evaluation, we decided that Mom couldn’t handle this slightly clunky coaster.

After that, we went to the coaster Possessed. Possessed is a coaster where you go forwards a bit and then you go backwards. And then you put this forwards backwards motion, and you got yourself, my friend, Possessed. It’s alright.

After Possessed, we went to The Whip. The Whip is like Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at Disneyland, just in a circle.

Man, I’m making good use of these pictures.

Lunch. We simply just got a burrito and a burrito bowl.

Going over to Talon, I was feeling good because this coaster seemed like it had some fight in it. My expectations were thrown up and came back down. It was a good coaster, there didn’t seem to be any other coasters in the park better than it. However, it didn’t quite fill my expectations and I was still having a need for speed.

Then we rode the ever slow Hydra. This slow ride did not exactly quench my thirst for speed.

My need for speed was going to be filled, as we jumped on the Zephyr. The Zephyr is a little train ride that is pretty much an oven on wheels. The conductor was nice and talked while the train was moving. The only problem was that you couldn’t hear him over the noise of the loudly obnoxious train.

The end of our day was closing on us as we rode the Flyers.

We rode Steel Force again, and then we walked over to a little Autopia ride.

With the end of the coaster day looming at our feet, we got a little bite to eat at the Tidal Wave Cafe.

We came upon our camp. I had spotted a cat and I was happy beyond belief.

His name was Peaches and I was thinking of stealing him, but my parents would be paying attention more to him and less to me.

Dad and I decided to take a walk to evaluate the bathroom situation. Then, we started to feel drizzels which soon became rain. I ran to the car and my dad ran into the tent.

I, being the frightened child I am, was feeling very frightened. My mom was in the car with me, and she ridiculed my “ridiculous” behavior. Eventually, my mom and I had to get ready for bed. And so, we headed to the bathrooms. They are disgusting.

Coming back, there was no rain, so we jumped into the tent with Dad and slept as soundly as you could sleep after a rain storm.

I guess that my blog here is over. It was nice taking over my dad’s beloved blog and I might do it again if someone becomes lazy again. Have a good ol’ jolly day, reader, and don’t forget to stay uploaded for my comeback. Good-bye!

We got up around 8, consumed our delicious free hotel breakfast, and headed back to the Gettysburg visitors center.

We had decided to attend a ranger led hike called “Three Days in Ninety Minutes”. It started at 10:30, before the heat and humidity of the day hit.

The ranger, who was great at telling stories about the war, walked us to Cemetery Ridge. Here, the Union troops held the high ground and maintained a defensive stance against the Confederates.

Ultimately, the South, who had taken the opposite position on Seminary Ridge, began a campaign of cannon bombardment. The North returned artillery fire.

After an hour, the Rebels, led by Robert E. Lee and feeling confident, started their ground attack by sending thousands of troops across an open field. In the end, the Confederates were slaughtered. Even though the Civil War continued for two more years, this battle marked the beginning of the end for the South.

As we listened to the talk, it was easy to imagine the bloody skirmishes that took place more than 150 years ago at this place.

As we hiked back to the visitors center, Ashley squeaked that she wanted to earn a Jr. Ranger badge. So she got a booklet and got down to work.

One of the tasks was to attend a ranger led talk. Because she did two, she was almost done before she started.

With badge number 7 in the bag, we had a quick lunch in the van. We got the full Gettysburg experience we were hoping for.

Our next stop was Hershey World in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We had been here in 2005 with Cassie and Trevor. As we approached the front door I remembered a photo that the kids posed for 14 years ago. And here it is.

We shot the same photo with Ashley.

Fun fact: Cassie and Ashley are almost the same age in these two photos.

We took the chocolate tour – a dark ride that is sort of lame. But at the end, we were each handed a mini Hershey bar and then dumped into the gift shop.

We purchased some chocolate candy (not pictured above) which we had to eat – we didn’t want it to melt.

Next, we were off to Allentown for a pop in to Dorney Park to just, you know, check it out.

We had dinner and rode one roller coaster. It was a huge floorless coaster. I enjoyed it, but Ashley complained it was too slow.

We raced off to Quakertown so that we could get to the campground before the sun set.

After the tent was up for the first time in a week, Ashley spent the remaining dusk catching fireflies. She discovered one that had a large body and long legs. It freaked her out but she still stuck it in the bottle.

As we settled into the tent, the night was still and warm. I was looking forward to sleeping in the fresh air.