Pittsburgh to Mount Veron - Day 5
04/29/2003 15:20:12 by AdministratorFrom: Harpers Ferry, MD
To: Mount Vernon
Mileage: 60

Kate and Mary found a parking space under the overpass where we joined her. Very proud of their navigation skills in the city. Perhaps their overconfidence led to a major misdirection as we began heading south out of the city, and accidentially got on route 110 south. Totally missing the sign that said "six wheeled vehicles prohibited". This is a restricted area, where only cars are allowed. Vehicles with 6 wheels are not allowed to drive passed the entrance to the Pentagon. There are no signs, and we had no idea. We were trying to get near Mount Vernon to camp for the night at Pohick Bay Regional Park. We were stopped and pulled over by a Virginia State Police Trooper near the entrance of the Pentagon's main entrance. He asked for my license and registration and told me that we were not allowed on Route 110 (we thought we were on 395 to boot) with 6 wheels. I was asked a number of questions, photographed, and then had to wait (while Mary counted the other 6 wheeled vehilces passing us, 3 buses and a dump truck?) until 2 other State troopers came with a bomb sniffing dog. We were asked to step out of the camper while the dog went to work. Sammie was a little miffed so the trooper had to move us a little further away while the sniffer dog did his thing. We must have passed the test (Proof that Dustin's Stinky socks are not a bio hazard) because we were escorted past the Pentagon by our not so friendly State Trooper to route 395. After that excitement, it took us about 2 hours to travel about 15 miles. We were caught in the exciting D.C. traffic, and encircled the campground because BOTH camping books gave false directions which was a good thing as the directorys put the campground right outside of the Lorton Reformatory which Katelyn was not too thrilled about.. At one point, I was within 2 miles of it, without even knowing. It's a GREAT campground. We will be here 2 nights at a total of $40 for both nights. The showers are hot, and there is plenty of spacious wooded sites with many open spaces.

