Visiting Carrie & the Nation’s Capital’s National Park

Thursday May 8 and Friday May 9, 2014
Greenbelt Park National Park, Greenbelt Maryland

 

 

THURSDAY

 

 

I wanted to find some way to visit Carrie who lives in the greater DC area.  So I started looking for campgrounds.  Cherry Hill Park Campground advertises that it is the closest RV park to Washington DC.  But at $63 a night even for full hook ups, that’s not happenin’.   Then I discovered that there is a National Park in Greenbelt Maryland.  REALLY?  Just off I-95?

I contacted them about whether 35’ Winnona and a tow dolly with Ruby would be able to camp there and they said sure.  So we made the 129 mile drive from Charlottesville and arrived to find that there are pull throughs that are really just wide spots in the park road and one site big enough for Winnona.  We grabbed it!   So if you are bigger than 35’, you might want to reconsider using this great spot from which to visit DC.   Or like us, to visit relatives in the area.

The campground has no hook ups but it does have hot water and one very large shower in each of the men’s and women’s side of the bath houses.  Not sure how this would be in The season which starts in late May and reservations are available then but it was fine now during walk in time.  Of the 4 loops, only loops B and D are open.  D is the only possible big rig spot and that’s not for a very big rig at that.  $16 a night or $8 if you are old enough. 

It was a grueling drive for me having to go on I-66 and I-495 and I-95 to get here.  I was exhausted and I wasn’t even driving.  But that didn’t spoil our trip to Carrie’s new place where she has been for almost a year now.  When we are back in Virginia she always comes to see us as she did this time but I really wanted to see where she is living and we did.

 

 

 

 

She came out to greet us and her kitties Sydney and Lila were in the windows checking us out. Carrie gave us “the tour” and her place looks just perfect for her.  She has a really nice deck overlooking Walker Creek.  It’s a beautiful place to sit outside.

 

 

 

 

 

Sydney followed us all around especially since I had a cat toy I was teasing her with but  Lila is seriously shy so she hid under the bed until Matthew, Carrie’s sweetheart, came home from playing soccer and coaxed her out so we could pet her.  Carrie says he’s a cat whisperer.

 

 

 

 

 

We chatted for a while but didn’t stay long since it was a work day tomorrow for them and we were tired from all the traffic.  But we’ll be back on Saturday and will spend Sunday, Mother’s Day together.

 

 

FRIDAY

 

I spent most of the day today resting up and going through the inevitable pile of papers that accumulate.  Bills, notices, travel information.  Where does all this stuff come from.

But I did take a walk around the trails of the 1000 acre park plopped here in the middle of a very busy metropolitan area.  You can nearly always hear the traffic from MD 201 though it is muffled.

A great thing in my mind about this park is that you can walk to the College Park Metro station and take the metro to DC.  No need to drive or pay for parking.  The walk is just over a mile and about half of it goes through the park where today the wild azalea, the jack in the pulpit and spring beauty are blooming.  So beautiful.

The jack in the pulpit was particularly profuse.

 

 

 

 

 

I walked the ”metro” trail, the Blueberry trail and part of the perimeter trail. The “metro trail” was really the nicest one. The others were very heavily covered with blow downs of large trees. A couple of white tailed deer crossed my path but bounded out of sight as soon as they saw me. But the jack in the pulpit was kind enough to stand still for pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It almost seemed as though they had a severe storm  here although the metro trail didn’t seem that way at all.   I wouldn’t call this a great hiking area but it’s perfect if you want to visit DC and be able to bring your RV (if it’s small enough) and not have to pay the big park price or pay to park.  

 

 

 

I saw Cherry Hill and it isn’t any closer to DC than the park but it does have a city bus that stops at the campground to take you to the same metro stop you can walk to from Greenbelt.  It’s a 1.4 mile walk from D Loop.  I like $32 for 4 nights rather than $63 for one.  But it’s also true that I don’t mind boondocking and don’t need FHU.  Your mileage may vary.