New York, New York

We spent the night in East Rutherford, New Jersey near the new Meadowlands Stadium, where both the NY Jets and NY Giants now play football.

 This however is the view of the new Meadowlands Stadium from our room...

This morning, we got up early and took the hotel shuttle bus to the Secaucus Junction train station.  We rode a train to Penn Station in Manhattan. Then we got on a subway and rode it to the 81st Street and Central Park West exit.  When we got off the subway it was only a short walk to the basement entrance of the Museum of Natural History...

So without ever having seen the light of day, this is one of the first things we saw upon entering the museum!

After spending half a day wandering through countless corridors and exhibits, we finally emerge from the museum entrance on Central Park West...

Next, we walked across the street to Central Park, where we wandered along on a maze of trails.

We finally managed to find Belvedere Castle after asking for directions...

This is a view of Central Park from the top of Belvedere Castle...

We walked under this bridge in Central Park...

This is Sunnye and her brother Dennis standing in front of the Dakota, where John Lennon was killed.

This is the only view we got of the Empire State building, which we saw as we were making our way back to Penn Station.

Rather than bore everyone with countless photos of the exhibitions we saw at the Museum of Natural History, we made this brief video of our experience:  Click Here to view our video.  Enjoy!

Traveling up the coast

    Woke up this morning to the sun trying to shine. Had to get out on the boardwalk one more time.

    Went out to the boardwalk for breakfast. A lady sitting near us was feeding the birds. Sure did hate to leave. This is the first place that I have been to that I will want to come back.

We were traveling up the coast and when we came to the town of Seaside Heights, we pulled over at a beach access point.  That's where we took this video of the waves coming in.

Coming into the Staten Island area. The traffic was not too bad. Only missed a few of the turns but the Garmin got us back on the right route.

 WHAT A SITE! Even though we are looking from the back side, this is RJ's favorite side. At least it was not raining.

  A view of the New York shoreline. This guy sure does get around. Tomorrow we will tackle Central Park.

Greetings from Atlantic City

The sign says it all. He could be a beach bum very easily.

We went down the road to Popeye's for chicken for lunch. Brought it back and ate it on the Boardwalk. RJ seems to really be enjoying his meal. Must be the sea air.

Here I am enjoying my red beans and rice. As you can tell the wind is really blowing today but that is not unusual for us from Kansas. Here is one of the push carts that is on the Boardwalk in case you get too tired.

As you can see the waves are coming in. You can smell the difference in the air. It is very relaxing walking on the beach.

Here is RJ and I frolicking on the beach (in our dreams).

Jersey shores

After leaving Philadelphia yesterday, we headed for New Jersey over this bridge. The weather could have been nicer but it wasn't so hot. RJ liked it here but I didn't like the traffic. SURPRISE!

This is a view of the boardwalk from our room at the Trump Plaza on the 29th floor. Don't think we could get a room any closer than this. Today we are going to walk on the boardwalk. Catch you later.

Give me Liberty!

We have arrived in Philadelphia, also known as "The City of Brotherly Love".  That's right.  All you brothers know who you are...

It was already cracked!  We swear!

Benjamin Franklin did it!

Or maybe it was Thomas Jefferson?

Michael Vick being chased by dogs at Lincoln Financial Field...

Washington, DC

Isn't this what Washington DC is all about? Not bad for having a light drizzle all morning. Took the metro, first time for both of us, to get to this area from the hotel. Loved the metro. No traffic to scare me. As you will see, we took a lot of pictures.

On to the Washington monument. It was taller than I thought it would be. I had to get a picture of RJ in this so you would know that we really were here and not posting generic pictures. This is for you Dennis. It was too wet to take you picture with us.

Here is the reflection pool from the base of the Lincoln memorial in the rain.

We finally made it to the Lincoln memorial. Everything is bigger than I thought they would be. Quite impressive.

By now we were starting to get tired and had to rest whenever we found a spot. Must be a sign of getting older, but not old. This is RJ reflecting thoughts from the Jefferson Memorial. It was being worked on.

We made it to the Smithsonian to find out the there were more than one kind. We choose the Natural History. It was the one with the animals. LOVED IT. I am sure that we did not see all that was there but we saw enough.

This is a sample of the things that we saw there. It was GREAT. We saw all of this by 2:30 in the afternoon. Made it back to the hotel to rest and watch football. We both needed that. Now on to Liberty Bell tomorrow.

Reliving the Battle of Gettysburg

Here is Robert E Lee mounted on his horse "Traveller"...

Here, Sunnye is photographing Robert E Lee...

Sunnye strolling toward one of the many monuments to fallen soldiers...

Don't shoot 'til you see the whites of their eyes!

"Sergeant Wingert!  Get up there and scout that next ridge!"  "I've been hit, Lieutenant!  I can't feel my legs!"

How sweet it is...

When we started on the road this morning we did not know that we would get to go here. While looking at the tour book I happened to see Hershey, Pa. I looked to see where it was and found that it was not far off our route. Would you believe that going here and not buying any chocolate? It was difficult due to Halloween coming but since this is the start of our trip, I knew that it would not last. Just think of the calories that we saved. Now on to Gettysburg.

Gentlemen start your engines!

Dennis and I decided to run a few laps around the track...

We're in the lead!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!

While in Indianapolis, In., we got to go by the football stadium for Peyton Manning. Not that I am a fan of his. That was the highlight for my trip today. Would have liked to see a game but don't think I could stand the traffic.

On the road again

Sunnye and I arrived in Danville, Illinois after travelling 518 miles yesterday.  So far the only thing we seem to have forgotten is the car charger for my phone.  I have the wall charger so we’ll be alright until we run out of money and have to sleep in the car.  Today, we hope to make it to Gettysburg, PA - unless we get sidetracked of course...

RJ, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore.

We have crossed the line, no looking back now. We are living each day with no rules or directions. Do I need to worry? I doubt that.

We are now in Mark Twain country. Dennis, as you can see in this photo, we brought you along for the trip. Hope you are having a good time.

We are waiting on the shore for the Mark Twain riverboat to dock. We didn't even get our feet wet.

We were walking in downtown Springfield, Illinois when Sunnye decided to stop and make a phone call.  Don't tell her, but I think Abe was listening in on the conversation...

Loading up

We have started loading the car and will finish packing today. Hope to leave first thing in the morning, get a fresh start. Not sure which path we will take. RJ is driving and is keeping it a secret. Between map quest and the Garmin who knows where we will end up. This will be the start of a great adventure. Stay tuned to this channel and we will keep you updated.