The Great DC Adventure: Heading Home AKA The End

Leaving DC our intent was to return home via Philadelphia. But after dealing with the coastal traffic and tolls the day before, we decided another plan was in order. And this unexpected change in our journey was some of the most fun!

First stop: National Harbor!

We were here the other night for the "Awakening" Virtual, but it was mad! It reminded me of the Vegas strip, throngs of overdressed, undersober tourists blocking the roads in front of overpriced restaurants and shops. Today? We parked at the top of the stairs leading down to the beach.

Cool beach and AWESOME Virtual!

Titanic Memorial

Located across the National Harbor, we decided to make one last stop before heading out of town. We saw its counterpart while touring the other Memorials in town a few days earlier. 

Burke Lake Park

Yes, an oldie - December 2000! We've completed our JASMERs, but how can you pass up a granddaddy cache? LOVELY park, beautiful lake, and lots and lots of logs to hide things under! We were lucky twice - free park entry and the appearance of Rsoxfan8 and 2bjPN. Tricky hide - so glad we had so many eyes looking for it!

scrapcat, 2bjPN, TaGeez and Rsoxfan8

Antietam National Battlefield and Cemetery

Day is passing and this time we're really heading to home. We pulled off the highway in Maryland for an amazing gadget cache and found ourselves passing Antietam (after driving over a very big mountain - EEK!). Admittedly, we never considered thisAntietam as a stop on our adventure, but, now that we are here... Moving. Beautiful. Again, sounds like a cliche, but geocaching takes you to some wondrous places.

After Antietam, we turned to home. We spent most of the ride signing classics (like The Man Song, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Scotsman, King of the Road) while weaving in and out of the Appalachians and Allegheny Mountains. 

Another amazing adventure in the books. I'm just so glad I have TaGeez to share in these experiences. 

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SOME NUMBER FUN

1,615 miles  and $90 in tolls from Detroit and back
4 new state souvenirs: Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, and New Jersey
65 caches total and 19 benchmarks

• 34 Virtuals, 27 Traditionals, 2 Puzzles/Challenges, and 2 Webcams. 
• The oldest cache was hidden in December 2000!
• Combined, as of this posting, these geocaches have the sum total of 13,908 Favorite Points!
• Find counts: DC (26), Maryland (12), Virginia (8), West Virginia (6), Delaware (6), New Jersey (6), and Pennsylvania (1).

6 days of incredible memories

• Wednesday - Detroit to Maryland to Martinsburg, WV for the WVTim caches
• Thursday - WVTim caches, Arlington National Cemetery, Congressional Cemetery, Old Town Alexandria for a Civil War tunnel & dinner, and ice cream along the riverwalk
• Friday - Metro to the Smithsonian Museums, walking tour around Capital Hill, and dinner at Martin's Tavern in Georgetown
• Saturday - Metro to the White House, tour around the Memorials on the Mall, and our first trip to the National Harbor
• Sunday - Scott Circle webcam, the National Zoo, the National Cathedral, Delaware, New Jersey, Baltimore (Poe's Grave and dinner at G&M Crab Cakes)
• Monday - Mount Vernon drive-by, National Harbor, Titanic Memorial, Burke Lake Park, Antietam National Battlefield & Cemetery, and then home to Detroit