New York City, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Well, we finally have come to a campground with wifi. Last Tuesday we drove to Newburgh just north of New York City. We completely rely on Betsy now....all the highways are so confusing and I won't even get into the traffic. We are starting to enjoy traveling on Sunday because the traffic is lighter. Needless to say we weren't going to venture into New York City! We did what is best for tourists, go on a tour. The tour was great but also long and tiring. We made the right decision....traffic was horrendous. In NYC traffic laws are suggestions. NO ONE waits till they can get through an intersection before entering it so you have traffic sitting in the middle of the interestection when you have a green light. Oh, and don't honk...$350 fine for honking! It was total gridlock and madness but it was fun because we weren't driving!

We started our day in NYC at the Statue of Liberty and then on to Ellis Island....USA's equivalent to Pier 21. After a lunch stop it was on to the Empire State Building. We saw nothing but buildings and although our tour guide said visibility was so good we would be able to see home we couldn't locate Victoria. A stop at Rockefeller Centre and Time Square and a DBW (drive by and wave mom) to Central Park and we were on our way home. All along the way we were entertained by stories about New York and learning to talk like a New Yorker. Our bus driver was from da Bronx and our guide was from Brooklyn. They hate New Joisey because they stole the rights for the Statue of Liberty (technically on New Joisey soil). If you want to talk you say "Yo, Steve!" (our tour guides name).

It is amazing how much like home the trailer feels. We left our campground the next day because they kept charging us $5 a day per kid. They didn't even have a pool open or any activities for them.....burns me up! We drove next to Lancaster in Pennsylvania. We got one of the few remaining campsites (big weekend in Lancaster) right on the road. The only good thing about that is that we could watch the Amish buggies drive right past our trailer. The kids met some nice girls from New Joisey....hi Valerie and Wendy. We spent Saturday at our first Anhauser Busch park called Sesame Street. It was mainly geared for Matthew's age and younger but since it was the first big theme park the girls had ever been to they loved it too. I think they went on the roller coaster about 20 times. They were kept busy with the rides and the scavenger hunt. The next big park we hit is in Williamsburg VA. Unfortunately the water park is closed so we will have to wait for Florida for a good waterpark.

After a church service on the campground on Sunday we headed down to Washington DC. So here we are. We had a little bit of trouble in Baltimore because we needed to change highways so as not to go through tunnels. We aren't allowed to take propane in the tunnels. Today was a school and laundry day, tomorrow we head downtown to the Smithsonian. All the museums are free in Washington. I love that price!!