Barnwell Mountain

January 18-20, 2019

Our first Jeep trip in 2019.  With lots of trips planned this year, we were excited to make our first one with our Jeep Club, Bayou City Jeep Club to Barnwell Mountain located right outside of Gilmer, Texas.

On Friday afternoon we dropped the kids off at the church and they loaded busses to head to their annual middle school/high school winter camp.  Sorry no pics as they were too excited to get on the buses!

The we headed north. With a solid four hour drive to get there and a quick trip to wall-mart, dinner and a gas fill up in Gilmer once we got there it was close to 11:30pm before we checked-in.

We rented a cabin that is right on the property and it works out perfectly to be centrally located to all of the trails.  With a Queen size bed and two bunk beds, a full bath, sink and refrigerator, it is perfect to take care of all the necessities.  And, especially for this weekend with the wind, rain, and temps dipping into the 20's on Saturday night, it has a heater!

We arrived ahead of the cold front and while the weather was not too bad to unload, it soon became very windy with rain, thunder and lightning and a plunge in the temperatures to a brisk 32 degrees over night.  The cabin was great and with the tin roof we got to sleep to the sound of rain.

Saturday morning arrived with cold temperatures and lots of wind.  An abundance of mud puddles and some very squishy spots give the trails an added technical aspect for even some of the lower level trails that wouldn't normally exist with dry conditions.

But not of that put a damper on the perfect day of wheeling it turned out to be.

Our Lineup for the day! Thanks for the picture Towns family

 Chris planned out the trail list ahead of time with the goal of hitting many of the level 1 and 2 trails, knowing that that rain may cause some of the high level trail to be a bit too difficult.

 Starting with Omega first off.  I love pictures of Jeeps in a row.  We had 8 rigs with us for this trip.

 Just one of the many waterfalls we saw throughout the day.

 And one of the many mud puddles.

 Just a baby puddle to get the morning started.

 Thanks Emily for videoing us!  When we lead sometimes we work through obstacles before we realize we should have been filming!

 And next was this one.  So we went through it first and realized as the back end came off the drop-off that it was a little deeper than we anticipated.  But with lockers engaged we pulled right through it and we were tall enough that it didn't reach the doors.

 Next jeep couldn't pull out so he got to use his wench.    Getting it hooked up now.  The rest of the jeeps took the bypass.

 We didn't fare to bad, but you can see the passenger side dipped first and deeper.

 Lunch!  We went for burgers but ended up eating beef tips and rice with homemade mashed potatoes and corn nuggets.  A hot meal was perfect after the cold morning we had!

A view from the dash!

We rode all the trails we had on the list today plus added a few extra.  About 5:30 as it started to get dark, half the group split off to head back to the cabins and start dinner and we went to run a couple more trail as dusk settled in.

Dinner was chili by the Towns, and chicken and dumplings from the Thornhills, Hot dogs, smores and hot chocolate by the fire finished out our evening and we were snuggled under the covers warming up from the day by 9pm.

We woke to a beautiful, yet cold morning in the 20's but after a short breakfast at Whataburger and our first trail about 9:15 the temps were rising and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

We ran Any Sunday again and the headed to Politician trail which has a couple of technical spots before loading up the jeep and turning the key to our cabin.

We met the Trail Lizards on the trails on Saturday as they were there to do trail maintenance for the park and hooked up with them this morning to run one more trail called Desi' Way.

It was a level 2 but it had one pretty technical obstical that Chris was glad he tried.  Line was perfect. Three jeeps did it and the rest took the much safer bypass. 

With tires aired up, sway bars reconnected and shocks adjusted, we hit the local car wash to get some of the mud off and headed back towards Houston.   It was a great weekend, and a perfect getaway.  With the rest of January booked and a of February we will be ready to hit the road again in March and begin planning some camping trips to try our new roof top tent!

Christmas overview

New Orleans, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Washington DC.  12 days.  Over 3000 miles traveled.  8 states and the District of Columbia.

Overall, we considered the trip a full success.  We didn't get to see and do everything that we would have liked and could easily have spent a few more days in Washington DC, but we hit all the highlights that were on our list.  It will most likely be on our list to go back someday for Chris and I  in our future Jeep travels.  

The kids did really good.  They were not adequately impressed with all that Washington DC represents and significance of our history but I think that it is something that comes with age and even more maturity.  I am very grateful that we could begin to show them and set that little foundation for them that I hope will grow in the future and I am confident they will look back with very good memories of this trip.  

With all the crazy things that are going on in our country today and the sometimes many bad choices that people make, I felt a huge sense of American pride in the number of people visiting our nations capital and learning about and visiting all the places that have defined and make up what our country was founded on and how it shapes our world today.  We stood in line outside in 40 degree weather in the pouring rain with hundreds of others waiting to get into the capitol and bundled up walking thousands of steps everyday to visit and see in person all the memorials that make sure we never forget the sacrifices that so many thousands of people before us sacrificed for what we have today.  Everyone was kind, and everyone was respectful and patient as so many people tried to get in to see all that is available in the DC area. 

It is a short 20 hour drive to get back home.  Our Jeep has been good to us on yet another wonderful trip.  Ready to begin a New Year as 2019 begins and see where our travels take us this year!

Zoo and Ice Skating

We ended up staying at Arlington a little longer than we expected so it was after 1pm when we headed back to the Metro for our next stop at the National Zoo. So there are two stops where you can get off an walk to the zoo. The one labeled zoo and the next one.  So the one first one is a uphill walk and the second one isn't, so of course we picked the second one and got off at Cleveland Park.  As we exited the subway, we found this very cute little area with lots of little restaurants and shops.  It was almost 2pm by now and we were all hungry.  

 As we are talking about where to eat, this older couple passes us and stops us and points to the blue and white awning and says that its is a great place to eat and since we like local, we headed that way. It was called Byblos Deli.

 Delicious it was!  The top right picture is just chicken.  When we were looking at the menu, he gave us a piece to try, a pice that was big enough to be its own portion!  The kids loved it and they just ordered the chicken and French fried.  Chris got a gyro and I got a cheeseburger and it was all sooo very good!  We sat and enjoyed lunch and watched the people walking around.

 A picture of the little street we ended up on.

 National Zoo.  Did I mention that it is free.  I love zoos! And the fact that there are no gates, you just walk right in, if I lived there I would be at the zoo all the time!

I have loved Pandas since I was little. I had an opportunity to see them in San Diego when I was a teenager and then again in Memphis about 15 years ago and I made the comment that if all I got to see the was Panda's today I would be good!

Well but the time we got there there was less than an hour before closing and we went straight to the Asia exhibit.  We were one of the last ones to enter before they closed the doors. I could have sat there for hours and watched them!

This one was the only one awake, the other two were sleeping

 How cute is this!

 We got to show the kids Pandas!

Just a little siesta! 

So our timing wasn't perfect for the zoo but since we saw the pandas I was good.  They closed at 4pm and you could hang around for 5pm and the zoo lights would start, yep these are free as well!  But the kids weren't interested in the zoo lights and Batman requested ice skating on the Potomac so we headed back to the Metro and then the wharf district. 

 Well we made one more stop. We saw this place while eating lunch.  It is called Firehook Bakery. Yes we must try it lol. They say the are local Washington DC bakery.

 Hot chocolate

Chocolate brownie and a 7 layer brownie.  Wow!  They were great. 

 Back at the wharf.  Batman and I were the only ones that skated.  Ladybug was not interested and Chris has waved off on any type of skating after breaking his leg last year.

 I skated for a bit then I had had enough and we let Batman skate till he closed it down.

One happy boy!

Arlington National Cemetery

Back to the Metro this morning, we headed across the Potomac River to visit Arlington National Cemetery and to see the changing of the guard.  

As with everywhere we have been, it was really busy.  I was surprised by the number of people visiting on a cold Sunday morning.  

 L'Enfant Plaza switching station.

 Just a short ride on the Metro and when you arrive, you are pretty much right there at the entrance to the cemetery.

 Simply a beautiful picture.

 As instructed when laying the wreaths earlier this month, when you arrive at a grave site you read the name on the tombstone and every name gets said as a wreath is laid and it a way for no name to go unsaid and therefore it will be remembered.  So as we walked we read the names on gravesite.  These larger ones were many higher ranked military members and many had a spouse with them.

 Robert Kennedy's grave.

 John F Kennedy's grave with the flame burning that his wife lit during his funeral.

 The Tomb of the Unknown Solider.  Guarded 24 hours a day 365 days a year.  It is so interesting to read the story of the guard, how you become a guard and your duties.

 The tomb he guards says "Here rests in Honored Glory An America Solider, known but to God. "

During the winter months they change guards once per hour at the top of the hour.  There is a ceremony as the guard changes.  During the summer they do it more frequently every half hour.

 The Commander of the Change comes out first and has everyone stand for the changing and say a few words.

 It is 21 steps each way

What an amazing opportunity to see this! The respect that is shown and the commitment that these guards make.  These are the things that should be celebrated and go viral everyday in our country.  

The Play that Goes Wrong

To finish up Saturday night, this was our little splurge.  We got to attend a performance at the Kennedy Center.

The Kennedy Center is huge and they have several theaters/productions all running at the same time.  

We decided on The Play That Goes Wrong because it was supposed to be funny and as a family, it would be the most enjoyable for all of us.  It didn't disappoint!

Tickets were all sold out when I started looking.  There was a message on the website to keep looking as it got closer to performance time as seats will sometimes open up.  I kept checking back frequently  for all of the evenings we would be here and 4 seats popped up, in the orchestra section no less in the center of the theater.  It was perfect and they end up being fantastic seats!

 We took the Metro.  It had a Kennedy Center stop that was a short walk.  The Kennedy Center also has a free shuttle right when you exit the Metro so that you don't have to walk and that was fabulous as we had just walked for hours and it was dipping down into the 30's and we were getting cold!

Hall of flags

Performance was perfect!  It is basically a comedy of errors and as Ladybug said, the worst nightmare for a tech person.  By the end of the show the entire stage had literally fallen apart and walls had fallen down, everything broke, actors were knocked out, lighting and sound forgot their cues, actors forgot their lines.  Very incredibly funny.

Back to the Metro for the ride back to our hotel stop and a short walk.  

Yet another good day!