Gettysburg

June 26 - June 28, 2012

Rick and I have visited Gettysburg many times, both together and before we met. We each have a keen interest in civil war history, and Gettysburg is a short drive from Baltimore, our previous hometown. So when we found ourselves with a couple of unplanned nights until we were due in Baltimore, we decided to go to Gettysburg.

We like a campground in Gettysburg called Artillery Ridge. Like much of Gettysburg, it is on the actual battlefield. It has stables, and allows campers to bring their horses with them. It offers guided battlefield tours, on horseback, directly from the campground. We didn't do this on this trip, but we have done it in the past, and highly recommend it.

The campground also has a pretty amazing diorama of the battle with thousands of handpainted toy soldiers, and an excellent depiction of the town and countryside in 1863. During our last visit, the diorama was actually located in a buliding at the campground. Since then, it has been moved to an in-town location which gives it much more exposure. Campground guests receive free tickets.

Picket's Charge

The town on the first day of the battle

After spectacular victories for the South at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, many Northerners were tiring of the war's cost in blood and treasure. There was much talk about treaties and letting the South go. Robert E. Lee decided to capitalize on this, and attack the North on Northern soil. He hoped that this would further demoralize the North. He also wanted a crack at Pennsylvania's fertile fields. The North had done a good job of cutting off the supply lines for the South, and the Confederate troops were hungry.

Lee spent the early summer moving his army into Pennsylvania. They successfully hid behind the Blue Ridge, and the Federals had no idea where they were or what they were up to. When they finally found Lee's army, it was already in Pennsylvania. Federal troops were quickly moved up from Washington to engage them, and from July 1st through 3rd of 1863, the tiny town of Gettysburg became, by chance, the site of what was probably the decisive battle of the civil war.

The first two days saw victories for the South, though they were never able to gain control of the high ground. But on the third day, Lee took a huge gamble. He decided to attack the center of the union line in order to divide the Federal forces. Named for the Confederate general that led the charge, Picket's charge was a colossal failure for Lee, costing many lives and causing Lee's army to beat feet back to Virginia. And with the fall of Vicksburg the next day, the tide had turned for the Yankees. Although the war wasn't over for another two years, Gettysburg was the highwater mark for the Confederacy.

If you haven't visited Gettysburg since 2008, you really need to go back. The old visitor center which was smack in the middle of seminary ridge has been torn down, and a beautiful new visitor center has been built to replace it. The new museum was built completely with private funds which were raised by the Gettysburg Foundation. The Foundation is running the visitor's center for several more years, when it will, hopefully, have recouped its expenses in building the museum. At that time it will be turned over to the National Park Service.

One of the highlights of the new visitor's center (and there are many) is the cyclorama. Visitors to the old museum may remember the cyclorama which, while interesting, had been badly damaged with age and mistreatment. The Gettysburg Foundation spent five years and $17 million (!) to restore this beautiful and historic painting.

Before the age of motion pictures, cycloramas were all the rage. A huge battle or other scene would be painted "in the round" with the audience in the middle. Three dimensional objects would then be placed between the audience and the painting, making it seem to "come alive." A light show and narrated script then went along with it. They fell out of favor once movies began to be made, but it's an interesting genre.

The cyclorama at Gettysburg was originally displayed in Boston. The painting was cut up and moved several times, and damaged by water and fire. The Gettysburg Foundation had its work cut out for it, but they have done an amazing job. It's worth a trip to Gettysburg just to see this amazing painting.

Flash photography wasn't allowed in the Cyclorama, so I stole this from the Foundation's website. Note how the wagon wheel and greenery are 3-D, seeming to move seamlessly out of the painting.

(Oh, and PS, I forgot to metion that Artillery Ridge is a nice quiet campground...except for the nearby train! In fairness, the train was pretty far away and didn't disturb our sleep.)

Turning South

June 25 - June 26, 2012

We had 6 people and two dogs for breakfast in the RV before we left NH. It was a bit tight!

We're heading south now. Still have about a month on the road before we get back to Florida, but, from now on, we'll be slowly making our way home. It feels good.

Spent the night in another Cracker Barrel in Fishkill, NY. We thought we had found the perfect place to spend the night...until the septic guy arrived at 5:30am to empty the tank located right next to the RV. We woke to really loud sucking noises and some lovely smells. We sleepily made our way into the restaurant for an early breakfast. While we were eating, the septic guy came out of the kitchen(!), came over to our table, and apologized for waking us. Yuck! That was the last person that I wanted to see at my table first thing in the am with the same shoes on he had had while sucking the septic!

We've paid many different prices for gas during this trip. The highest was $3.99 in Chicago. Yesterday we paid $3.29 in New Hampshire. This morning we paid $3.73 in Fishkill, NY. And this afternoon we paid $3.15 in Pennsylvania. A 58 cent drop in one day? What's up with that?

Graduations

June 22 - June 25, 2012

My sister Emily and my brother Denny both live in New Hampshire. Emily lives in Cornish Flat and Denny lives in Conway. Both had sons graduate from high school this month. Many family members gathered at both locations last weekend to celebrate this milestone for these two remakable young men.

We spent the first two nights at my sister's place wedged between her clothes line and a wonderful babbling brook which lulled us to sleep each night. She threw an amazing party at the town hall with live music and delicious food.

My nephew, Carlos, the graduate, will be studying engineering at Univ of NH next fall. Don't worry, it's a root beer.


Carlos' brother, Moe, turned 16 the day of the party


Carlos' father, Mark Woodcock, my brother Denny, & sister Emily


Rick & my brother Bob

Rick, my brother Pete, and SiSi


My beautiful daughter, Emmy, came in from NYC & met SiSi for the first time.

Emmy brought her dog, Ellie, whom we met for the first time.

On Sunday we all drove across the mountains to my brother's place in Conway where we enjoyed another party at his lot on a pretty little lake in Madison, NH. The Liberty was parked on the same lot, where we enjoyed a lovely view of the lake.

I stole this pic from Emmy's facebook page!


My nephew, Duncan, with his brother, Zack, the other graduate. Zack will be attending college in Colorado where he will be studying to become a wind turbine tech.

Acadia National Park and Mt Desert Island

June 18 - 22, 2012

We spent a wonderfully relaxing week in Maine. Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park are located on Mt Desert Island. It's pronounced like the sweet you have after dinner, not the place where cactus grows, but its pronunciation ought to be Day-zairt since its from the french word, desert.

Our weather has been good, but weird. The first five days saw highs that never got out of the sixties, but the last two days were in the eighties. We never saw seventies! But the cooler temperatures made it lovely for hiking, which we have done almost every day.

This is our third visit to the area, so we have done most of the big touristy "must do's" before. This left us free to try some new things. We enjoyed several hikes that we hadn't tried before. Bar Harbor and Acadia are very dog friendly, so SiSi was welcome almost everywhere.



We drove to the top of Cadillac Mt. Maybe someday I'll be in good enough shape to hike it!


This is a view of "sand beach," unique since most of Maine's "beaches" are rocky.

On Wednesday, we took the mail boat to a little island called Islesford, aka Little Cranberry Island. The Island has only about 100 permanent residents, but that number increases in the summer with the arrival of the seasonal residents who keep "cottages" on the island. This was our hottest day, so it was a good day for a boat ride, but not such a great day for a hike, which was about all there was to do on the island.

This hike was very boggy, so we had to walk on boards.


Rick and SiSi on a more typical Maine "beach."


We had lunch twice at a restaurant in Acadia called Jordan Pond House. Dogs were welcome at their seats on the lawn, and they provided SiSi with a bowl of water. Jordan Pond House is famous for its afternoon tea and popovers. It was chilly on our first visit, so we enjoyed the popovers with some delicious seafood chowder.



At a nearby table we saw a father with his two daughters. When they were seated, the 5 year old was already sulking and crying. She had wanted to sit inside where it was warmer. Dad was threatening to spank her, and the situation was escalating. I just knew that SiSi could help! Rick told me to mind my own business, but I couldn't help myself. I told our waitress that the kids were welcome to come over and visit with SiSi, and she passed the message to them. The kids came over, and SiSi worked her magic.


I had to include this picture. When we opened the trunk to the Hyundai, SiSi jumped right in and made herself comfortable!

Bar Harbor, ME

June 16 - 17, 2012

We're in Bar Harbor, Maine for 6 or 7 nights. This is our third straight summer with a trip to Maine. We really do like it here. Folks often ask us why we keep coming back to Bar Harbor, since Bar Harbor is very crowded and there's lots more of Maine to see and like. On our first trip to Maine we stayed at some other places which were also nice, but Bar Harbor is our favorite. While there are plenty of other fun and picturesque coastal towns in Maine, none of the others have Acadia National Park.

This is our second year in a campground called Narrows Too. We like it pretty well. No trains, but this one has planes. We're next door to the Bar Harbor airport. Granted, most of the air traffic is private planes and there are no planes at night, but it's still a bit of an annoyance.

The campground overlooks the water and it's fun to watch the tidal changes. We got a really good deal for this campground with our Passport America discount, but we were restricted to the "standard" rather than "premium" sites. Here's the view from our campsite. So far nobody is in the campsite in front of us. The view will disappear when someone arrives.




There's a small island off the coast of Bar Harbor called Bar Island. At low tide, it's possible to "walk on the ocean floor" across to Bar Island. We walked over with SiSi who was fascinated with the smells on the "ocean floor."


The lupin was in bloom. I wonder if this deer walked across the ocean floor too.


After a short hike to the island's summit, we enjoyed this beautiful view of Bar Harbor across the water.


We had dinner at a "lobster pound" near the campground. Lobster pounds are very casual restaurants where you pick your own freshly caught lobster. They steam it over a wood fire outside (with corn if you want) and then they serve it to you in a metal pan. It was wonderful. I had a 1.75 pound lobster and Rick had a 2.5 pound lobster, drinks, and blueberry pie for $51. Such a deal!

On the Road

June 11 - June 14, 2012

We left Michigan on Monday morning before 9:30. We drove until 5:30, spending the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot near Elyria, OH. After enjoying a glass of Michigan wine in the RV, we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel. We had breakfast there again on Tuesday morning. We just pulled in and parked. There was no need to unhook the RV or hook up any utilities. Sure, there was some highway noise, but the price was right.

After breakfast, we drove to Mentor, OH and visited the James Garfield homestead and museum. Garfield, the 20th president, was a self made man who came from humble roots. His mother used her entire life savings to send him to Hiram College and Williams College and he became an excellent scholar. He served in the Union army during the civil war. He was elected to nine consecutive terms as a representative from Ohio before being elected to the US Senate, and, ultimately, the presidency. His presidency lasted a mere 200 days. He was shot by Charles Guiteau, an unbalanced man who had repeatedly sought employment in Garfield's administration and had been repeatedly turned down. He lingered for 2 months until his death on September 18, 1881.


After visiting the president's house, we drove to the finger lakes region of New York and spent the night in the parking lot of a Moose Lodge. On Wednesday morning we drove to the Lake George area of New York State and stayed in a nice train-free campground. We had dinner at a brewery in the lovely village of Lake George and caught up on laundry and bills.

Lake George

On Thursday morning we had a short visit to Fort Ticonderoga before making the really long drive to Bangor, ME.








We're spending the night in a campground outside of Bangor. It has full hookups, nice, wide "pull-through" campsites, cable TV, and fast wifi. There's a tasty, inexpensive restaurant on site, and no trains! And all of this for just $18 with my "Passport America" discount.

The Liberty is scheduled for an oil change and alignment tomorrow morning in Bangor, after which we will be in Bar Harbor for 6 nights.

Mackinac Island

June 10, 2012

There's an island off the coast of Michigan called Mackinac Island. It's not a typo. The island is spelled with a "c" and the city on the mainland is Mackinaw. They're pronounced the same. The difference comes from the fact that it's an Indian word which the French and the British interpreted and spelled differently.

We took the 30 minute ferry ride to Mackinac Island today. It's a beautiful little island that allows no motorized vehicles anywhere on the island. All transportation is by horse drawn carriage, horseback, boat, bicycle, or foot. Even the trash gets picked up by a horsedrawn truck. It's a biker's paradise. Many of our fellow ferry passengers brought their bikes with them and enjoyed a day of riding without traffic worries.


SiSi came with us and we found that she was welcome almost everywhere. Everyone loved her up all day. What an amazing dog she is! She's so good with people, especially children. She quietly sits and soaks up all the love that anyone wants to give her, and makes the giver feel like he's being loved back. I'm really considering having her trained as a therapy dog and taking her to hospitals to visit sick children. This photo was completely spontaneous with complete strangers.


We took an island tour by carriage. A highlight was Fort Mackinac which was the site of the first land battle of the war of 1812. We had lunch in their tea room which had spectacular views of the harbor.






We'll be sorry to leave the pretty view we have from this campsite tomorrow when we begin to head east. We'd like to spend a few days in Maine, but, other than that, our plans between now and my nephew's graduation party on 6/23 are vague.

View of Lake Huron from our campsite


Lake Huron at sunset from our camp

Upper Peninsula

June 9, 2012

Michigan is shaped like a mitten. When you meet people from Michigan and ask them where they're from, they hold up their hand for a map and point to the proper coordinates. But wait, there's more! There's the Upper Peninsula which, at first glance has no business being part of Michigan. It should be part of Wisconsin or Canada. But there was political wrangling when Michigan became a state over some territory around Toledo which Michigan felt should belong to them, not Ohio. Michigan lost the battle and was given the Upper Penninsula as a consolation prize. At the time it was considered a barren wasteland.

We are currently camped in Mackinaw City which is about where the pad of the middle finger would be. There is a suspension bridge called the Mackinac bridge which connects Mackinaw City with the Upper Peninsula. The bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac which joins Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

OK, so I didn't really take this picture, but it's a cool bridge.

The Upper Peninsula is called the "U-P" by locals and its inhabitants are called "Yoopies" or "Yoopers." We went there today to visit the Tahquamenon Falls. We had several short hikes to several beautiful waterfalls. One hike included Rick rowing a boat to a little island for a better view. I yelled "pull" while he rowed. SiSi sat next to me and looked nervous. The brown color of the water is caused by minerals from the surrounding trees.
.















We ended our day in the UP with a drive to Whitefish Point where we saw this pretty lighthouse and got our first glimpse of Lake Superior.



Lake Superior