Texas Country Oaks Dance Hall, Edna, TX, New Years 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

September 27, 2012

September 26, 2012

Arrived here at the Artillery Ridge Campground, in Gettysburg, PA on Sunday.  The ride on I-70 (the PA Turnpike) wasn't nearly as bumpy as we have been told.  They've been doing a lot of work on the highway the past few years.

On Monday we took a tour of the Gettysburg National Battlefield with Erick Hay, a licensed guide.  That cost us $65 for two hours and believe me, it was worth every penny.  Erick brought the three days of July 1, 2 and 3, 1863 to life with his extensive knowledge of the battle.

Some of the highlights of the tour were:
The area where the battle first started on the morning of July 1st.  Erick outlined where the Northern and Southern Army's were located and how they were used on that first morning.  He also told us that all the battle monuments in the Battlefield are places so that the fronts face the enemy.
The Battle of Gettysburg began here on July 1, 1863

- The Eternal Peace Memorial.  This is the only memorial in the park that is dedicated to peace.





- The North Carolina Memorial.  From this area General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia ordered the attack on July 3rd against the Union forces commanded by Army of the Potomac General George Meade and which became known as Pickett's Charge.



- The Virginia Memorial.  Here you will find the famous statue of Gen. Lee mounted on this favorite horse, Traveller.  A mile straight across the battlefield and inline with Gen. Lee stands the statue of Gen. Meade.


- After driving through The Peach Orchard and The Wheatfield, we made our way up the hill passing Big Round Top to Little Round Top.  This is where Union Brigadier General Gouverneur Warren, Meade's chief engineer alerted Union officers to the Confederate threat and brought Federal reinforcements to defend this position.
Looking down from Little Round Top.  Devil's Den is the rocky area.  Straight across from that, in the mountains in the far distance is where Camp David is located.
The shorter memorial is dedicated to Colonel Patrick O'Rouke.
 Rubbing Patty's nose is said to bring you good luck.  We did!

- The Pennsylvania Memorial.
 View of High Water Mark from the top of the monument.

- High Water Mark.  From here Meade's army defended against Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863.  This was the climatic moment of the battle.  On July 4th, Lee's army began retreating.
General Meade's Monument



We also saw the Battlefield Museum and experienced the Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 359 foot, 27 foot high painting by French artist Paul Phillippoteaux and his team.  This beautiful work was done in 1882 and opened in Chicago, IL in 1883.

Our next stop was at the The Soldiers National Cemetery.  This is where President Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address during the dedication of the cemetery on November 9, 1863.





This poem titled "Bivouac of the Dead" was written by Theodore O'Hara.











On Tuesday we toured General and President Dwight David and Mamie Doud Eisenhower's home.  This beautiful home that the couple ever owned during their marriage, having lived in military housing all the years prior to the General being elected to the Presidency.




 The small building was the Secret Service office.

 The painting is a reproduction of the one Ike was working on when he died.
 Guest book.  Of the General's West Point Class of 134, 59 made general officer.
 Mamie loved pink.
 The farm foreman's home.  Now the historical site headquarters.



 When Ike was President, the American Flag and the President's Flag flew here.  When he left the Presidency, his 5-star flag was flown and still is today.




If you are planning a trip to Gettysburg, and you should, make sure you stay for at least a week.  The two days we were there wasn't nearly enough time to see and do everything in the area.  But, that gives us a good excuse to go back there again.

09/27/2012

Yesterday morning we hooked up our home and headed up PA 15 to connect with the PA Turnpike.  Earlier I said that the turnpike wasn't as bad a road as we had anticipated, having had a lot of work done on it in the past couple of years.  Well, throw all of that out the window.  The stretch from the Harrisburg area to the NJ state line, although not as bad as the highways in CA, is pretty rough in places.  A couple of times we got down to 50 MPH to help soften the bounces.

After crossing into NJ and hooking up with the NJ Turnpike the road smoothed out somewhat but there is a lot of construction going on.  It appears that the state is going to widen I-95 sometime in the next 10 years.  To finish all of the construction that's being done, it's going to take at least that long.

We finally pulled into Earle RV Park on the Naval Weapons Station just south of Colts Neck, NJ.  This is a very small base with no commissary and only a small exchange.  The RV park is also small and is in what I think used to be the mobile home park given where the hookups are located.  We do have a nice long back-in site where we can get satellite reception and cell service.

We don't have something specific to do here except get the oil and fuel filter changed on the truck.  I found out that the Auto Hobby Shop will do all the work for around twenty bucks if I bring in my own oil and filters.  That my friends, is a good deal!

More later!

Barry & Joyce