Gettysburg (again...)

    It’s been a wild ride on the East coast this last week! First there was a 5.9 earthquake epicentered near Richmond, VA. We were able to feel it in the RV Park in New Jersey! Then, if that wasn’t enough, the “Hurricane of the Century” (according to newscasters and the Weather Channel guys) put Atlantic City in its sights. Now what’s the point of having a home on wheels if you stay put?!? So the fantastic management at Shady Pines let us evacuate the area before the hurricane went through. We did a quick pack up then joined tens of thousands of our closest friends on the Atlantic City Expressway headed towards Philadelphia and points inland. We looked at all of the forecast maps and figured that Gettysburg would be far enough inland to escape the brunt of the storm’s effects, yet still allow us to easily return to Shady Pines after things settled down (and Brad wasn’t opposed to spending more time at Gettysburg). As it turns out, the damages to the Galloway Township area were not as severe as anticipated. We had planned on returning on Monday, but the mayor of Philly closed all of the major bridges to truck, bus, and RV traffic on the weekend (“...until further notice” read the proclamation), and we didn’t know if or when  they would be open. We tacked on another day to our stay to cover for any other unforeseen problems. In the meantime, we took the time to catch up on some household chores that had been neglected and to tour the battlefield again. This time we focused on things that we had missed the last visit and also to take the time to see the battlefield at dusk. Twice we sat on the rocks of Little Round Top and watched the sunset over the mountains to the west. 

    Misty even went with us and enjoyed herself immensely!

    Small bit of trivia for you folks from Wichita... Sedgwick county was named for General John Sedgwick who led a Corps of Union soldiers at Gettysburg. There is a statue memorial to him on the battlefield not far from Little Round Top. 

    Near the battlefield is the Sachs covered bridge (pictured above and as the lead in photo at the top of this blog). This bridge was built in 1852 and was used by both sides during the course of the battle. Flood damaged the bridge in 1996. In fact, the bridge was lifted off of its abutments and floated about 100 yards downstream. It was rebuilt using approx. 90% of the original materials. 

    We will return to New Jersey tomorrow and finish our commitment with Shady Pines. Then on Sept. 14th, we will pull up stakes and we plan on attending the big RV Show in Hershey, PA. From there it will be a bit of a drive on to Kansas to visit with friends and family until the end of November. We then will head down to the Gulf Shores Emerald Coast area and take up our new workamper positions with Bella Terra RV Resort for the winter.