Getting our Fill of Gettysburg

While driving around yesterday in Gettysburg we found a tour of all the monuments erected for the Battles of Gettysburg.   It's amazing how many there are.  

Here is a link to a website I found with them.  Honestly it is way too many to post.  We'll try to get a picture of some of them in the fields.  

http://www.gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/index.php

 Factoid: The battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-3 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg.  This is the location of  the largest number of casualties in the Civil War.  The Union suffered 3,155 and the Confederates suffered 4,708.  A Military Cemetery was created.  President Lincoln came here to dedicate the Cemetery which is when he gave the Gettysburg Address.  

Outside the National Military Cemetery. 

Location of the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address....

Gettysburg Address....

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.

Next Stop....New Jersey

4 States in One Day....

We left Virginia in the late afternoon.  Traveling North through rolling fields, farms and green pastures there were lingering cattle feasting on the lush landscape.  Working our way through small towns we found the Shenandoah River.  Located in West Virginia near Harper's Ferry, this river converges with the Potomac River to make a large flowing river with rafters enjoying  an easy ride.   Factoid:  The Shenandoah and the Nile River are the only two rivers which flow from South to North.  

This was a picture from the cliff above Harper's Ferry.  We did not take this picture because it was too much of a climb on foot.  I found this on the internet to show the area.  

Our drive was a short one this leg just 2 hours.  Going from Virginia to Pennsylvania we hit 4 states, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.  Landing in the historic town of Gettysburg.  Truly a place I have always wanted to visit since studying the civil war back in school.  

Tom found an RV park just outside of town where people can stay who are traveling with horses too.   This is the first park we found where Horses stay too, which I found to be really exciting.  

Venturing out to Gettysburg is the next post....

Morning Walks...

This morning we walked a trail near the campground.  Hearing the birds singing, the frogs croaking, and smelling the gardenia made this a most memorable walk. 

Sam and Coffee looking around to see if they can find some small animal to show who's boss.  They didn't find anyone on the path but they tried.   The sky opened up on us while we were walking also.  Sam tried to walk between the drops but she didn't quite succeed.

This was a beautiful trail with small patches of wet moss growing on the floor of the forest.  With the rain falling I felt like I was in the rain forest of South America.

Sam was very wet when we got back.  She proceed to go to sleep while drying.  

We came upon a swamp in the trees.  Really a beautiful place.  The frogs croaked even louder as we got closer.

Mornings like this make me grateful for my life.....

Williamsburg VA

Here's a few Pictures from a tour of Colonial Williamsburg.

Trellis made from branches.  I must do this when I have a garden again.  

Capital Building

Eaglets and Woodpeckers....

Two young Bald Eagles.  They don't have the trademark white head yet.  

 Time to Fly.....This is how the Eagles get their young to fly from the nest....

The.....EAGLET 

   Each time a parent came flying in to toward the nest he called for food eagerly; but over and over again, it came with empty feet, and the eaglet grew thinner. He pulled meat scraps from the old dry-up carcasses lying around the nest. he watched a sluggish carrion beetle, picked it up gingerly, and ate it. His first kill.

   Days passed, and as he lost body fat be became quicker in his movements and paddled ever more lightly when the wind blew, scarcely touching the nest edge; from time to time he was airborne for a moment or two.

   Parents often flew past and sometimes fed him. Beating his wings and teetering on the edge of the nest, he screamed for food whenever one flew by. And a parent often flew past just out of reach, carrying delectable meals: a half-grown jack rabbit or a plump rat raided from a dump. Although he was hungry almost all the time, he was becoming more playful as he lost his baby fat; sometimes, when no parent bird was in sight, he pounced ferociously on a scrap of prairie dog skin or on old bits of dried bone.

   The male eaglet stayed by himself for the most part. He was no longer brooded at night. Hunger and the cold mountain nights were having their effect, not only on his body but on his disposition. A late frost hit the valley, and a night wind ruffled his feathers and chilled his body. When the sunlight reached the eyrie's (the brood in a nest of a bird of prey) edge, he sought its warmth; and soon, again, he was bounding in the wind, now light and firm-muscled.

   A parent flew by, downwind, dangling a young marmot in its feet. The eaglet almost lost his balance in his eagerness for food. Then the parent swung by again, closer, upwind, and riding the updraft by the eyrie, as though daring him to fly. Lifted light by the wind, he was airborne, flying--or more gliding--for the first time in his life. He sailed across the valley to make a scrambling, almost tumbling landing on a bare knoll. As he turned to get his bearings the parent dropped the young marmot nearby. Half running, half flying he pounced on it, mantled, and ate his fill.

Nesting cycle - From the time the parents build the nest and the young are on their own, takes about 20 weeks. During the nesting cycle the parents remain within one to two miles of the nest.

It will take 5 years for an Eaglet to get it's white head and yellow beak. 

Red Headed woodpecker looking out for her young.  We think there was a nest in this hole in the tree.  She was very attentive  to it.  Beautiful bird...

Heading North

We are heading North today to Fredricksburg, VA.  We'll spend a couple of days there seeing the sights, going to Washington DC and Monticello.   I am really excited about Thomas Jefferson's house in Monticello.



Really happy to be getting out of this campground.  It's very small and in between a highway and railroad track.  The trains go by all hours of the day and night.  I feel like the I Love Lucy episode when they are in the hotel room and the train goes by and the bed moves across the room.  Thank goodness ours is attached.

Time to get this show on the road.....Later people.

Ticks are Ticking Me Off

Lone Star Tick.  This is the first tick that latched on to me in Georgia back in March.  So okay I was in the woods no pest spray...GASP...Listen I am not used to this woodsey stuff.  I grew up in Southern California.  The worst bug we have there is a bee or an ant.   After learning my lesson we got some bug stuff and come to find out I am ALLERGIC.  Gee shocker there.  Since I am allergic to most everything.  In our travels we found some natural stuff and that does a lot to make me smell good but probably attracts them to me even more. 

Then the ticks find me in North Carolina.  Only one though so I will commend that one for a job well done since I was pretty careful.  

We are now currently in Williamsburg, Virginia which I will affectionately call TICKVILLE.  It seems the tick populations here out number the human population.  The reason for my conclusions is that we pulled 11 ticks off of me.  Some as small as the head of a pin.  

See below....

The ones taken off last night seem to be deer ticks capable of transmitting Lyme Disease.

So all in all I am a rolling buffet for all bugs that bite, Mosquitoes, Ticks, and Deer Flies. 

My husband's theme song....Since we had the tick incident.

Brad Paisley's  TICK...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OctrGD4JW8U 

Yesterday we are visiting Jamestown, the site of the first settlers in the area.  We found this terrific path to see birds and wildlife.  Of course we broke out the cameras, lenses and were ready for action.  Another person in the area told us of a bald eagles nest, very excited we ventured into the "Pine Trees and woods" to get a better look.  The nest was across a small waterway and up in a tree.   These young bald eagles are just hanging out waiting for mom and dad to bring some food.  They are young eagles and have not transformed their heads into the white "Baseball" these birds are known for.  We watched them for quite a while and they were very cool.  I held the bug spray in my hand and sprayed myself, my clothes and yes even my hair.  

On the wooded path to the water way we came across this Red Headed Woodpecker.   I think there may have been babies in the hole there because it was checking the hole constantly and going in and out.  A beautiful bird that's for sure.

A little history on the Jametown Settlement:

In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America's first permanent English colony.

Today heading to Williamsburg to get some more history.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.....

Great Dismal Swamp Elizabeth City NC.

Don't let the name fool you.  This place is in the swamp, with that we get bugs...lots and lots of bugs.  When we arrived it had just rained and the little lake out our window was really beautiful with this fog on it.  

After the sun came out this was our view.  Which was very nice.  Not too many people here right now so the bugs are feasting on me.  I am a rolling buffet for all things that bite, crawl and fly.  The biting flies and mosquitoes swarm me and the ticks just seem to find a way on me then latch on.  Tom says I need Advantix like we put on the dogs.  I can't use sprays because I am allergic to them too so we are looking for cedar oil so I can smell like an expensive closet.   

Leaving here today if our mail arrives, it didn't come yesterday.  Thanks USPS.   If not one more night in the Dismal Swamp.  Then onto Virginia....

Fort Macon, Outer Banks North Carolina

This is Fort Macon.  On the Outer Banks of North Carolina near Atlantic Beach.

A little History from Wikipedia....

Five-sided Fort Macon is constructed of brick and stone. Twenty-six vaulted rooms (also called casements) are enclosed by outer walls that are 4.5 feet  thick.

Blackbeard and other infamous pirates were known to have passed through Beaufort Inlet at will, while successive wars with Spain, France and Great Britain during the Colonial Period provided a constant threat of coastal raids by enemy warships. Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge "QAR" is thought to have been discovered in shallow water right off the park in the Atlantic Ocean and is being recovered. Beaufort was captured and plundered by the Spanish in 1747 and again by the British in 1782.

The War of 1812 demonstrated the weakness of existing coastal defenses of the United States and prompted the US government into beginning construction on an improved chain of coastal fortifications for national defense. The present fort, Fort Macon, was a part of this chain. Fort Macon's purpose was to guard Beaufort Inlet and Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina's only major deepwater ocean port.

Named after U.S. Senator from the State of North Carolina, Nathaniel Macon, who procured the funds to build the facility, Fort Macon was designed by Brig. Gen. Simon Bernard and built by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Construction began in 1826 and lasted eight years. The fort was completed in December, 1834, and it was improved with further modification during 1841-46. The total cost of the fort was $463,790. In the 1840s, a system of erosion control was initially engineered by Robert E. Lee, who later became general of the Confederate Army. At the beginning of the Civil War, North Carolina seized the fort from Union forces. The fort was later attacked in 1862, and it fell back into Union hands. For the duration of the war, the fort was a coaling station for navy ships. Often an ordnance sergeant acting as a caretaker was the only person stationed at the fort.

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, and only two days elapsed before local North Carolina militia forces from Beaufort arrived to seize the fort for the state of North Carolina and the Confederacy. North Carolina Confederate forces occupied the fort for a year, preparing it for battle and arming it with 54 heavy cannons.

A holding cell for prisoners or a room soldiers stayed in while stationed at the Fort.   There were several of these rooms.

One of the canons left in place.  There were 54  around the fort just like this.  Some were gone.  Amazing.  

The inside of the fort.  You can see some of the canons around the top

The mote area that enemies wouldn't see until it was too late and they fell in if climbing the hill around the Fort.  From a distance it looked like just a hill sitting there, until you got closer.

Garden Pictures

These pictures go with the next post.  They are ones I took from my phone.

Garden Paths

Labyrinth I walked while Tom took picture. 

Brookgreen Gardens South Carolina

South of Myrtle Beach South Carolina

The following link is a Slide show of photos Tom and I took at a place called Brookgreen Garden.  I referenced this location before.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100518153875957627148/May12012#slideshow/5737548316209673698

The history of the garden is a husband and wife (Archer Huntington and Anna Hyatt Huntington), philanthropist and sculptor bought 3 dilapidated plantations in the 1930's and made a garden, sculpture garden and zoo for injured animals and birds.  The animals were injured and rehabilitated but could not return to the wild.  The garden was to display his wife's work but has grown to display many other wonderful artists.  Here is a link to the website:http://www.brookgreen.org/horticulture.cfm

Some of the sculptures we saw are shown below.  The gardens were spectacular.  Not bustling with color flowers per say but large oak trees and natural woodlands gave way to small patches of color with sculpture being the focal point.  After 3 days in the gardens this is a snip it of what we saw.

In addition there was a butterfly garden inside this huge net where we were able to find butterflies in their natural habitat.   Between the two of us we took over 300 pictures I believe.

Here is the link to the butterfly slide show.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100518153875957627148/Butterflies#slideshow/5737891468690932946

Here are a few of Tom's flower life pictures.

Our time in Myrtle Beach came to an end Tuesday and we traveled North back to North Carolina and are currently in New Bern.  In our search for a campground this time around we came across a place which is literally in someone's backyard.   There are about 30 sites and most have long term people staying in them.  We drove up to the owners front door and they waved us back.  They got busy I guess and we didn't pay until the next day.  Gotta love people in North Carolina.  Everyone has been super friendly.  We'll be exploring the Outer Banks for a few days.  Already we have seen there is a lot of civil war history here.  Which we both find fascinating.  Then heading north to Kitty Hawk.

Hope you are enjoying your day as much as we are.