Pennsylvania Countryside

I love Pennsylvania!!!  The rolling hills, the beautiful barns and old farmhouses, the changing leaves -- I can't seem to get enough of the scenery.

We've had a great week enjoying PA since leaving Gettysburg --

Outside of York we toured the Harley Davidson factory.

A day in Hershey sampling the treats -- this was the chocolate tasting "class" where we learned about the growing and harvesting of cocoa beans.

Getting ready to make our own chocolate bar, complete with a personalized label.  They are very serious about their hygiene; we're not sure why since we were nowhere near the chocolate, it was all behind glass.

The Hershey factory has gone upscale since Craig and I were here in 1992, though they still have the same ride which simulates a factory tour.  The only change, they've added singing cows.  I'm not sure it's an improvement.

Toured an old-fashioned pretzel "factory" in Lititz -- settled in the late 1700's by Moravians escaping religious persecution.  This shop produced hard baked pretzels -- which came about by accident.  As an apprentice, Mr. Sturgis often got too busy playing and forgot to take the pretzels out of the oven.  His master didn't think anyone would want crunchy pretzels, so years later, Sturgis built his own ovens at the back of the house where he was raised.

Houses in Lititz from the late 1700's.  I find them very charming, and luckily have seen similar ones throughout the area.

Amish country -- Garvin said we could stop telling him when a buggy was coming by, but I haven't  tired yet of hearing the clip clop of the hooves.

  This sign was outside the bank where we parked the RV last Saturday.

Our view from our parking spot.  In the space of about 15 minutes, all the spots were filled, and there was another buggy parked to the right.  We saw a much larger version of this horse port at the Wal-Mart!


Garvin, so happy to sample delicious jams and jellies.  We walked out of there with three jars of varying flavors.

Holding a chick at the farm where we also experienced the corn maze extravaganza.

Just before entering the maze.  We were not successful in solving it, and had to take the easy exit.  After an hour, we decided hot cider and a donut were more appealing.

And, because in the van Dernoot family we brake for weapon stores, and Renaissance festivals, we spent the day at Pennsylvania's festival.  Garvin had a blast, and thinks we all need period costumes.  Luckily Garvin brought his own bow and arrows, with quiver (all bought at a Renaissance festival during our travels in Mexico), Robin Hood hat, wrist and finger guards.  We had at least four people stop us and ask if the bows were being sold there.

Gettysburg, Day 4

Due to schedules, and intermittent internet access,  I'm just now posting what I started almost a week ago.

Our final day here -- we went to see the largest battlefield diorama in the U.S.  It has thousands of hand painted miniature soldiers, horses, cannons, the buildings of Gettysburg, . . . and gives a panorama of the battleground and the activity during the three days of battle.  It pulled together everything we've seen and heard these last few days since we could see the whole battleground at once and "watch" the events unfold.

The last activity, fittingly (and coincidentally), was the ranger walk through the memorial cemetery. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was written for the cemetery dedication on Nov. 19, 1863. Gettysburg was still struggling to properly care for all the bodies, and they wouldn't all be interred till months after the dedication.

The cemetery is on the high ground of the battlefield -- ground the Union held throughout the battle, in spite of many attempts by the Confederates to overtake the area.

Here, in case you haven't read it in awhile, or maybe never did, is Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. After walking around the battlefields, listening to the stories, and seeing some of the graves, it has a much deeper meaning than when I read it in school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.


Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.


But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. 


It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Gettysburg, Day 3

Yesterday we learned that a number of soldiers signed up because it was a way to get girls.  In the beginning, women were encouraging men to sign up.  The ranger told of a gal who sent her fiance a dress and a note, saying he'd better sign up or start wearing the dress.  As the war went on, women then encouraged their men to drop out.

On Sunday, the other enactment we saw was a group of volunteers showing infantry, sharpshooting, and artillery.  They fired their guns, and a cannon.  Garvin was thrilled.

The men below are standing shoulder to shoulder as they would have done to march and fire in battle.

Our time here has been incredibly interesting, sobering, and humbling.  

We went to the Cyclorama painting display yesterday where a 360 degree painting (done after the war by a Frenchman) is lit and narrated to show the progression on the last day of the battle.  Then, in the museum, one of the final exhibits is a quiet room with a recording of the Gettysburg address.  Both events were so moving and gave a meaning to Lincoln's inspired speech and all the battles fought here which I appreciate much more fully now.

Last night we signed up for one of the numerous ghost tours in town.  It focuses on telling stories of various encounters people have had over the years and took us into the house of Jenny Wade, the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg.  She had moved to her sister's house at the edge of town thinking she'd be safer since Confederates surrounded her house in town, and then even changed her position in the house while kneading dough to be away from a window.  Bullets struck all over the brick house, and then one came in and passed through two wooden doors before hitting her.  Much to Garvin's dismay, there were no ghostly appearances during the tour, though he was sure he heard footsteps. 

Gettysburg, Day 2

Back in our little home after a day of battle stories.  The wind is still blowing -- it's been windy since we left Colorado over a week ago.  We had a brief reprieve today during a ranger talk about Pickett's Charge. It took place on the third day and ended the battle of Gettysburg.  Lee insisted on charging toward the Union soldiers, against the advice of one of his generals.  General Meade and his Union soldiers had interviewed all the captured soldiers and anticipated from where the attack would come and the result was 5,000 casualties for the Confederate army in the hour long battle.

There was a camp set up by volunteers for the US Sanitary Commission.  When I saw the name I wondered what the heck the connection was.  The Sanitary Commission was begun by concerned women in the north who wanted to improve life for soldiers.  They helped them, or their families, collect pensions.  They also worked to improve life in the field, encouraging the army to avoid setting up camp in boggy areas (malaria) and to allow the commission to provide fruits and vegetables for the men -- just a few of the ways they helped.  The camp was a replica of ones set up for traveling soldiers who might need medical care, food, or a night's sleep.

Supplies on hand to share with soldiers.  Below is on of the volunteers showing us a block of tea they would give to the men.  It has raised artwork on it, and a wealthy family would have an entire illustrated tea square on display in their home.  These blocks traveled well; when tea was needed, they scraped some off with a knife.

This table below shows some of the other items provided for the soldiers.  In the lower left-hand corner is a basket with packets of hot chocolate mix, coffee, and lemonade, which they encouraged to avoid scurvy. The tea block is next to the basket.  Above the packets is a basket of sponges for wounds and washing.  To the right are ginger cookies (they traveled well) wrapped in wax paper, which could be later used to start a fire, and then wrapped in material scraps which could be used to patch clothes.  The little basket in the upper right corner has sewing kits.  They were called 'housewives' and soldiers left home with ones made by their wives, daughters . . . and usually out of cloth from a special dress. Volunteer women made new ones to replace those lost during battle.  Behind that is a yoke for carrying water buckets at the camp.   The basket in front on the right has bandage rolls, and a bandage roller is to the right of the basket.  In the center is an example of a letter which might have accompanied some of the supplies.  

I'm having technical difficulties downloading the photos of volunteers in soldier garb, so I'll save that for later.  The talks we heard today were excellent, and sobering.  As Craig said, it's just sad.  So many lives lost.  And in the case of the Confederate side, many were lost due to poor communication, misinformation, bad decisions, and faulty weaponry.

Gettysburg, Day 1

After a winding drive through the mountains, and lots of impressive fall foliage, we arrived in Gettysburg today.  I was glad Craig did the driving on the two lane roads.  We're settled in at a campsite, and were able to go on the ranger guided Battle Walk, which takes visitors to different parts of the park to learn about specific battles.  Our talk was at McPherson Ridge -- site of hard fought battles with high casualties on the first day of fighting, July 1, 1863.  Our ranger had so many interesting anecdotes about comments by soldiers, decisions the generals made, for good and ill, results of the fighting. . .  It's hard to imagine the chaos, noise, smoke, and terror in what are now peaceful fields and woods.

After the nearly 2 1/2 hour talk with some walking, we came back and hooked up to our first campsite.  All the previous nights on the road have been pulling into truck stops, rest stops, or one Wal-Mart parking lot at midnight or later.  This evening Craig hooked up our electrical cord and the hose.  He backed the rv into the space (with some direction from our new rv friend Wayne who was parked in our space when we came back).  We had a nice chat with him and his wife Jackie.  They gave us their maps from Amish country which is where we'll head from here, and recommended various spots.  

In the meantime, Garvin pulled out his wooden gun cutouts and ran to the playground which was full of kids.  Most of them had toy weapons as well.  I guess we are at Gettysburg after all.  At one point Craig commented that Garvin was giving one boy information on the finer points of shrapnel.  Hmmmm.  

I used the stove for the first time and heated up leftovers (thanks for the soup Mom!) before we headed over to the campground's haunted hayride.  There was a haunted house and lots of decorations, as well as a party with treats afterwards.  We felt they did a great job.  Plenty of ghoulish people jumping out when you least expect it.

Our first quiet night -- though the Wal-Mart parking lot rated pretty high on that score.  There was a harvest moon rising a few minutes ago, and the hooting from the hayride has ended, so I'll bid you goodnight!

We're on the road!

We did not leave Tuesday, or Wednesday, or even Thursday.  Leaving Colorado included a few hiccups.  Some of the highlights -- the title had to go back to Utah due to errors in the way it was signed.  The check engine light came on again; the oxygen sensors needed to be replaced.  Craig discovered a leak in the window over the bed above the driver's area.  The temperature dropped and it started snowing, our dog had an open wound on her head.  Every day I was sure we'd leave the next.  Finally I stopped giving any estimates altogether.  We pulled out of our driveway a week ago today around 7 pm.

The orderly packing system I began with early in the week had completely deteriorated by Friday.  We were piling things on the beds and stowing things in the bathroom just to get going.  In preparation for the trip I've thought about how I don't need to stock up because we can stop at any time to get whatever supplies we need.  At some point, I forgot this wise idea.  Either that, or I'm the only person totally prepared for the paper napkin and lotion shortage which must be about to sweep the eastern seaboard.  I have a two foot long package of napkins, and three bottle of body lotion.  What was I thinking?  Even if it was as dry in Colorado, I wouldn't go through that much lotion in 2 months.

So, off we went, on a freezing, damp evening.  We had to be at a mattress store 45 minutes away, before they closed at 8:00.  We arrived at 7:45 and then realized the mattress did not fold and compress as much as we expected, and needed in order to get in into the bunk over the driver's area.  It was very cold, we were very hungry, and I was standing underneath my end of the queen mattress holding it up to the ceiling so Craig could maneuver it up to the bunk.  I didn't know how much longer I could hold up my end, and was thinking we were going to have to tell the saleslady this just wasn't going to work when Craig said, "Is it even right side up?"  It wasn't.  The saleslady says from outside the rv, "I saw that you had it upside down and tried to tell you, but you didn't hear me."  Not helpful.

A few minutes later, with the mattress right-side up, and us struggling to get it past the cabinets, I notice a man standing next to the saleslady while she gave a running commentary on our progress as we struggled with the mattress.  Next thing I know, the man hops into the rv to help!  The extra boost got the bed into the bunk.

Our first night sleeping in the rv was rainy and very windy, shaking the rv a bit, but the window didn't leak, and we were warm and dry.  Kansas is very flat.  There is a Wizard of Oz museum, but we went by it at night, so I have nothing to report on whether it's worth visiting.

We're headed to Gettysburg after a few days tinkering on the rv and visiting my grandparents.  More to come from Pennsylvania.

We made it!

A quick update to let you know the drive back to Colorado was uneventful.  Garvin and I had a great time and the drive was easy.

Today was devoted to cleaning the RV inside and out.  Tomorrow we start packing it up, and hope to get on the road either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.  As we've all seen, departure times are a moving target.

More to come!