Smithsonian Natural History Museum

 Getting there is half the fun is the saying.  We used the underground rail system to get downtown for the museums and National Mall from where we were staying, Cherry Hill RV Park.

 The big elephant greets everyone as you enter the front door to the Natural History Museum.  It is said that an upraised trunk in an elephant sculpture signifies good luck.  Personally if I had a bull elephant in the wild doing this to me I would run for it.

 Lots of bones of aquatic dinosaurs in very interesting exhibits.  You gotta come see it for yourself.

 I don't know why anyone would want to turn their back on a full size T-Rex.

 We had to see the mummies.

 The taxidermy in this hall was fantastic.  Quite well done.

Believe it or not they had security folks watching this display.  You had to keep moving too.

Our Week In Washington D.C.

 I went on a night tour bus of the National Monuments.  As we went by the Capitol building our driver said they must be working late.  It was just before the government shutdown.

 This is the White House and a view through an open window.  That's a huge chandelier in the lower window.  I put my camera on maximum zoom to get it as their is an iron fence that prevents you from going very close.

 Right across the street from the White House was this protestor.

 Pretty cool view from within the Washington monument.

 Great national inscriptions on the wall of the Washington monument.  I wondered if the politicians Ever visit here for inspiration.  Just saying.

 And of course NO protesting.

 I have always wanted to stand in front of the Lincoln memorial.  It is as impressive as I thought it would be.

 This famous memorial is huge.  Their canteens could hold 40 quarts of water.

 Standing in the middle of the National Mall I took a picture of first facing the Capitol building.

And then I turned around and took this picture of the other direction.  Far in the distance you can see the beginnings of large tents.  The presidents wife was sponsoring National Book Month celebration.

We Say Goodbye To Pennsylvania

 Besides the terrific motorcycling back roads, it's views like this we will miss.  This stream is across the street and a few steps down the roadway from Four Seasons RV Campground in Scotrun, PA

In our final days campground even sponsored a yard sale for everyone complete with balloons and advertising.  I sold some stuff I didn't want to drag around anymore.

Close to the campground is this leaded glass store.  We wanted this Art Nouveau  shell lamp really bad so I had to drive down and take this picture of it.  It's still there if you want to get us a present.

NASCAR Pocono Raceway

 Through the Mount Pocono Harley-Davidson dealership I got a chance to ride on the Pocono Racetrack.  It was a sponsored Cal Schock Sr Memorial Ride (the previous owner of this dealership) with all proceeds going to Camp Cadet Troupe N (kids that want to be in law enforcement).  250 riders pre-registered for this event on August 25, 2013.  All bikes were welcome on this ride too.

 Here we are filing in at the racers entrance.

 We had to wait for an hour and a half until others has completed their allotted practice runs.

 I'm thinking that these formula looking cars were for classes someone has?

 We finally got on the track.  And we got to drive around for four laps as fast as we wanted to got.  I can tell you that at a slow 104mph the banked parts of the track sure came up fast.

Here I am standing in the winners circle.  I wondered how many famous drivers had stood in this same place over the years.

Candle Shoppe of the Pocono's

We went to see this candle shop.  It is supposed to also be haunted!  This entrance is just for the "museum" basement section with the main entrance on an upper level around to the right.  They wanted $13 per person to see a laboratory and an "actual monkey cage".  We didn't go.  But we did see the candles.  They advertised a 31' (yes) carved candle that I had to see.  I've seen big candles before but not bigger than 3-4'.

 Dr. William Redwood Fisher built the home for his family in 1897.  The home was built over a cemetery.  He was trying to find a cure for Small Pox and Yellow Fever.  He performed many valuable experiments, using animals for testing, particularly spider monkeys in the very early 1900's.  It is said the" basement is full of restless spirits of monkeys".

 The candles occupied every room of the entire house.  Lots of colors, smells, shapes, styles and sizes that you can imagine.  Every room I kept looking for the carved candle.  Since I didn't see it I was going to ask someone where it was before we left.  Maybe in the haunted basement?  I forgot to ask by the time we left.

 I had to have my picture taken on this giant chair that's located at the front of the candle shop.

Driving by a few days later I found the so-called 30 foot carved candle in the front of main entrance to the Candle Shoppe of the Pocono's.  Can you see it?  Now, also check just to the upper right of the castle picture above.    

Martin Guitar Factory Tour

Martin Guitar, established 1833 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.  This tour was part of a ride I took during this years PA state Harley Owner Group Rally, July 2013.

Entrance to the historical museum inside the main entrance to Martin.

This is the 1 millionth Martin Guitar.  They have a master at pearl inlay who did the work.  It's Amazing!

I was surprised to see that Martin still has many hours of hand work into every Martin guitar made.  About 200 finished guitars are shipped every day.  But there are thousands in various processes at any one time.

We couldn't go down into this part of the factory.  There are 600 employees working here in basically only 1 shift.   Although non-union their turnover is very low due to the super benefits that everyone gets. 

There are 7 layers of spray coating that takes days to complete as there is a huge drying period in between each application.

Who knows who wrote these lyrics and where it is from?
The song:  The Joker by Steve Miller, Steve Miller Band  from the album The Joker released in 1973.  Back when I had an extensive collection of vinyl I owned all of his records.  Bought 'em when they first came out.

Buskill Falls, The "Niagara of Pennsylvania"

Charles E. Peters first opened Bushkill Falls to the public in 1904, with a single path and a swinging bridge over the head of the main falls. Bushkill Falls is still owned by the Peters family.  We paid senior rate of $11.50 each.

You buy your tickets and enter actually a different place.  This building houses a souvenir shop

There are three long walkways to the falls.  Some of which were posted for experienced and fit hikers. 

Cathy is enjoying the view of the falls at the base.

Here is the route we took.  It is rated the easiest.  As you can see there is an extensive system of wooden walkways to get you to the bottom of the falls.

However, what goes down, must climb up.  I think there were 4 million steps (not actually, just seemed like it)

Super green and and a great waterfall to see.

There is a smallish but none the less interesting Native American Museum to see.