Washington or Bust...We Walked Hallowed Ground...

Christie and I woke up to the dogs giving us heck for not getting up at the crack of dawn to let them out. It was a crisp 38 degrees. I just wanted to snug down some more but knew that we needed to get up and do some chores around the campsite.  

First order of the day COFFEE!  I started Izzy up to turn on the Genny (generator) so we could get the coffeemaker and the electric heaters going, to get it warm inside the coach and a cuppa Joe in hand.  I made some scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. All of a sudden the propane detector started going off! What the....!

We reset the button, off it went again. I popped my head out the door and noticed not a breeze was felt anywhere.  No movement of leaves, Nada! Off went the generator. Darn!  You have to have some kind of a breeze to move the exhaust fumes away from the coach so they don't build up underneath and get you. Had I been thinking I would have set my box fan under the coach to blow the fumes away from the area. It's always the afterthought that gets you thinking...wish I had thought of that earlier.  

Christie and I looked at each other and shook our heads still in disbelief that we had made it here to Washington D.C. all in one piece.  Me: "So what are we going to do today?" C: "How about Gettysburg?" Me: "How far is it from here?" C: "About 60 miles." Me: Is that all?" C: Yep!"  We gave the dogs food and water and secured them in their area. Locked up Izzy and away we went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

One of the sites we saw on our way out of town was the Latter Day Saints Temple in Washington D.C., you come up over the rise and it smacks you in the face so to speak.

Washington DC Latter Day Saints Temple

Once again we saw beautiful farmland and farms on our way to Gettysburg. On our left as we traveled north was the Blue Ridge Mountain range. 

Gettysburg Visitor's Center

We finally arrived at the visitor's center and went inside to buy the boys gifts for Christmas. One of the items we bought was a driving tour of Gettysburg, a 5 CD set telling the story of the battle. Christie and I decided to do that instead of

going through the museum. We will have to make a trip back to take in the museum and do the driving tour again due to the fact it is so darn fascinating.

While on the way to the car we met President Abraham Lincoln, sitting in pensive thought.  Was he thinking of the words he was about to say at such a terrible time in our history to try and heal a broken nation? We will never know.  

We put the first CD into the player and started off. Part of the way through it quit working so we had to take it back to the Visitor's center. While Christie ran it in, I started looking at the map and discovered that we had started in the wrong spot and had left out half of the tour. 

We started again, this time we started at the beginning of the tour instead of the middle.  There are over 1500 statues and monuments. The 3 hour driving tour takes longer than 3 hours if you really want to absorb what you are seeing and feeling. 

Listening to the stories tears at your heart. It's hard to think that over 7,000 men and women lost their lives fighting at Gettysburg.

This small structure was a field hospital.

Over 5,000 horses and mules had been killed. Over 33,000 men and women had been wounded in the 4 day battle. It was discovered that women were disguising themselves as men in order to fight. 

There's a story of a little dog named Sallie who faithfully stood by her troops during battle until she was killed. We finally found her small memorial.

This young soldier keeps a steady
watch to the west over
 the shadows of fallen soldiers
and little Sallie's monument.

It's all so heartbreaking, yet so solemn.  We continued on with our journey to Big Round Top and Little Round Top. At one

The Battle for Little Round Top

point you could almost hear the soldiers off in the distance softly singing songs of home in the empty stillness of the moonlit night. Yes, we were traveling in the dark under the light of a full moon. 

This Photo was shot is complete darkness.
The silence of Gettysburg is eerie...You
could almost hear the clip clop of the
horse's hooves as the General wandered
among his troops to encourage them for
the next days battle.

You have to go to Gettysburg to understand the enormity of it all. It is so overwhelming and weighs so heavy on the soul. It changes you when you travel the roads and walk upon the battlefields, knowing it is hallowed ground. You listen to the stories, see the monuments and only then, just begin to get a sense of what truly happened here. 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife Mamie lived at Gettysburg. Their farm is located on the battlefield.  He gave it to the National Park Service upon his and Mamie's deaths with the understanding that the public could not drive up to it, but had to be driven to it by other means of transportation. This was to keep the beauty and serenity of the surrounding area and the National Historic Site preserved. 

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Finally the tour ended 5 hours later and we decided that we needed to eat. We found a wonderful pizza parlor by the name of Tommy's Pizza.  Once again the crust was wonderful, very much like the one we had in Charleston West Virginia, tender and buttery. Not heavy at all. We had a Greek Pizza with Chicken. 

We made the drive back home to the campground, fed the dogs, let them out, walked them and discovered we had neighbors. 

One final thought for today and I will let President Lincoln give it. 

Lest we forget, pray we do not.

Stay safe...Until we meet again...