This morning started at the God-awful time of 5:00am because we had to be showered, dressed and ready to board the bus by 7:45 in order to get to Gettysburg.
Our tour guide for Gettysburg was named Charlie and he had a great sense of humor.
He had us all in tears from laughing so hard but his knowledge of the battlefield was impressive. We didn’t get to see very many of the monuments because of the time constraints but we saw enough to get the general idea of the dire situations both sides faced on those three bloody days and the carnage caused by this horrible war. We did get to walk around Little Round Top where Chamberlain made his stand with the soldiers from the 20th Maine. It was very moving standing there and I couldn’t help but weep for the brave men who died because they believed in their cause. It was very fresh on my mind because I had watched both Gettysburg and God's and Generals before we left home and to be standing in that place made it all seem so real. After returning to the bus we drove to a small diner where ate a buffet lunch and bought a few postcards. Then it was back on the bus and we headed out for the Shenandoah Mountains.
We passed and crossed over the Potomac River and drove by Harper’s Ferry. On the way we saw a lot of Virginia’s beautiful countryside. Eric and I fell in love with the verdant rolling hills and sprawling green lawns.
Our tour guide for Gettysburg was named Charlie and he had a great sense of humor.
He had us all in tears from laughing so hard but his knowledge of the battlefield was impressive. We didn’t get to see very many of the monuments because of the time constraints but we saw enough to get the general idea of the dire situations both sides faced on those three bloody days and the carnage caused by this horrible war. We did get to walk around Little Round Top where Chamberlain made his stand with the soldiers from the 20th Maine. It was very moving standing there and I couldn’t help but weep for the brave men who died because they believed in their cause. It was very fresh on my mind because I had watched both Gettysburg and God's and Generals before we left home and to be standing in that place made it all seem so real. After returning to the bus we drove to a small diner where ate a buffet lunch and bought a few postcards. Then it was back on the bus and we headed out for the Shenandoah Mountains.
We passed and crossed over the Potomac River and drove by Harper’s Ferry. On the way we saw a lot of Virginia’s beautiful countryside. Eric and I fell in love with the verdant rolling hills and sprawling green lawns. 
As we drove up the mountain what I noticed about these woods is that they were literally covered with lichen. Complete stands of trees were pulled up by the roots like some bomb had gone off overhead blowing them over like tooth picks. There was an abundance of dead wood lying on the ground everywhere you looked. Virginia creeper covered the ground and at the lower elevations elm, poplar, white birch, walnut, maples, apple trees, Eastern redbuds, chestnut wild blackberry bushes, and dogwood trees were there in abundance, but very few pines or cedars. The area very much resembles the view we have from our living room windows in California. 
We arrived at the Big Meadow Lodge or around 5:00pm. It was very windy and cold. Our rooms were cozy and very rustic. We ate in the dining room that had a beautiful view of the valley far below us. For dinner I had some delicious Virginia ham over fettuccini with green peas. Eric had prime rib and turkey. Our dessert was blackberry ice-cream. I bought some postcards and a backpack in the gift shop. It was 33° tonight and we were thankful for our nice warm bed.
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