Morning

The day started with a buffet breakfast here at the Marriott Residence Inn Capital View.

After breakfast, we heard from Felipe at Alexandria VW… He told me that Juju Jr. started up fine and was ready to continue the road trip. This was exciting news, even though we’ve been enjoying the hotel, because it’s time to keep going.

Thanksgiving Dinner?

We had a decision to make: Pick up Juju Jr. and leave or accept Charles’ Thanksgiving dinner invitation. We decided to accept the invitation and experience our first US Thanksgiving with good friends, rather than drive with all the people on the freeway heading somewhere for the holiday. We’re all excited to see Charles and his family again and enjoy a nice dinner.

Chilling out

Ethan spent the rest of the day working on his new websites. He’s been using Wix to build the sites and has been learning a lot about design, layout and publishing a website.

Dong Eun spent the day resting and catching up on movies she hasn’t had a chance to see. And I worked on this blog, work projects and caught some movies, too. All in all, it was a great day to relax for all of us.

Before we had the coil issue with Juju Jr., Ethan had made a DIY hand warmer out of a plastic cup. He cut slits in the cup for vents. You hold the cup over your mouth and gently blow while your hands cover the vents. It’s also a frisbee if you compress it, like in the first photo below.

Tomorrow, we check out and will try to visit the Museum of Natural History again before going to Charles and Dena’s for Thanksgiving. Can’t wait!

The post Road Trip Journal November 22, 2017 – Chilling Out in DC appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.

Morning

We all loved staying at the hotel. It was probably the right time to take a break from the road after 9 weeks. Ethan and I liked the free wifi and Ethan was up early working on creating a Wix website to teach people tips on how to use a computer.(theres a link in the ‘about’ section)

Buffet Breakfast

The hotel had a make-your-own-waffle station so this was a fun way for Ethan to get his breakfast. The rest of the food was quite good, with the usual assortment of eggs, sausages, fresh fruit, cereal, and bread. Overall, we were very satisfied with the food.

Marriott needs to address this

What we were not impressed by at all was the use of paper plates, bowls and cups and plastic utensils. There were non-paper and non-plastic options, but there weren’t as many. For example, I had to use a paper cup for my coffee and the cereal bowls were all gone. There were no glasses for juice, only paper cups. The Marriott needs to seriously reconsider how much trash they are creating on a daily basis. At least there were separate bins for compost/organics and plastics.

Hotel Fun

Ethan found the foosball table and enjoyed a game with another kid staying at the hotel.

The rest of the day was spent working on his website, me catching up on blog posts and work, and waiting for Alexandria VW to let us know what’s happening with Juju. Jr. I was getting a bit worried when we didn’t hear from Felipe until nearly 2 pm.

Juju Jr.’s diagnosis

I decided to go to Alexandria VW because I had to get some food and clothing from Juju Jr. We already decided to stay an extra night at the hotel because we weren’t sure what was happening with Juju Jr. Alexandria VW has a free shuttle service, which was very cool.

When I arrived at Alexandria VW,Felipe had some good news… They got Juju Jr. started again and it was just the coil. The coil transmits power from the battery to the spark plugs, as far as I understand, and if faulty, can cause hesitation during driving (which happened) and even stalling for no reason (which happened).

Juju Jr. is a 1994 Westfalia camper van, so it wasn’t too surprising that parts start to go. But I’m pretty sure the coil was replaced about 3 or 4 months ago back home, but perhaps it was a lower quality coil that was put in. Or the fact that we’ve driven over 8,000kms since leaving Vancouver could explain the coil failure. Anyway,Felipe ensured me that the new coil would be up to VW quality standards, so I’m confident this will last longer.

Felipe told me he could get a new coil by either today or tomorrow morning, and fortunately, he had it in on the same day. I was really impressed by not onlyFelipe, but every person I dealt with at Alexandria VW… Ashley, Makayla, Megan, the sales staff who were there the first night… sorry if I forgot anyone, but you all rocked.

Felipe suggested keeping Juju Jr. overnight to ensure the coil was working properly and that we wouldn’t have any other issues. I appreciated his thoughtfulness and thoroughness, and since we already booked another night at the hotel, it was fine to leave Juju Jr. at Alexandria VW.

I also liked that the initial diagnosis would be included in the price of the coil replacement. So we wouldn’t have to pay extra for the work that needed to be done. Awesome!

Evening

The rest of the day was spent chilling out at the hotel and getting laundry done. The hotel has a guest laundry room where it costs $3 for washing and has free drying. Very cool and perfect timing for us.

Tomorrow, we’ll see how Juju Jr. is doing and figure out our next step. It’s getting close to US Thanksgiving, and Charles had invited us to spend it with his family, so… we’ll see what happens.

If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.

The post Road Trip Journal November 21, 2017 – Hotel Day & Juju Jr.’s Diagnosis appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.

Morning

Each morning, we’re grateful to be on this journey together. And it’s always heartwarming, and fun, to see Ethan connecting with Dong Eun.

We made a stop at Trader Joe’s because our plan was to see the White House, visit the Museum of Natural History and then, leave DC. Ethan found “Billy” at Trader Joe’s and got some free treats. He then had to hide Billy for another kid to find.

Outside, we had a nice chat with a local about our trip and her travels, too. Always nice to meet people and have a way to connect with them. It’s probably a good experience for Ethan to chat with new people, too.

Ethan made a flower for Dong Eun out of a paper cup and we had some lunch before heading to the White House.

It was a little chilly so we got some coffee and hot chocolate. Ethan wanted to show how he could make a bubble come out from the cup lid. We like that he finds something fun or interesting everywhere he is.

The White House

Basically, we saw it. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but it was cool to at least see it in person.

Museum of Natural History

Dong Eun and Ethan went in while I waited to find a parking spot. The museum was pretty awesome and well worth a longer visit. This visit was cut short, though…

Juju Jr.’s Surprise

Shortly before 4 pm, I had to find a parking spot because there was no street parking from 4 to 6:30 pm. My plan was to drive to the free parking area we’ve been using and walk back to the museum. But Juju Jr. had something to say about that.

As I drove through the 9th Street Tunnel, Juju Jr. started sputtering and stalled…twice. I luckily managed to get him through the tunnel, but since it was 4 pm, rush hour had begun. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t start again.

The bigger issue was that Ethan and Dong Eun were at the museum, but luckily, they were able to catch a free bus and walk to where the van was.

It took AAA a few hours, but eventually, Tyrone showed up with his tow truck to take Juju Jr. to Alexandria VW. It’s great how my BCAA membership works all across the US, so the towing was free.

The folks at Alexandria VW were awesome and let us know that since the dealership was open until 9 pm, we could go there and get ourselves sorted out. Ethan and Dong Eun took an Uber, while I rode in the tow truck.

Once we were all at Alexandria VW, we found a hotel nearby and settled in for the night. The hotel has a full kitchen so we were able to cook dinner there and get some rest.

Juju Jr. will be looked at in the morning, and I’m sure he’s in capable hands with Philippé and his service team.

If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.

The post Road Trip Journal November 20, 2017 – The White House, Natural History & Juju Jr.’s Surprise appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.