Knightdale, NC (Home)

After a marathon drive from Gettysburg through work areas and traffic jams, we're home again - a month earlier than planned, but home we are. Get ready, Dr. Moore, I'll see you on Monday to hopefully fix my sciatica!

Gettysburg, PA - Day 3

Most of today was spent driving around the self-guiding auto tour of the Gettysfield Battlefield. While we covered a lot of it on our Segway tour yesterday, this time we saw the whole thing. We started at Oak Ridge where we walked to the top of a viewing tower, then on to the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. From there, we went to the North Carolina Memorial, McPherson Ridge, past Pitzer Woods down to Warfield Ridge, Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Plum Ridge, and many other historic battle sites. It never ceased to amaze us at how people were so willing to give their lives for what they believed in.









Our last stop of the day was back at the RV park where they have the country's largest diorama. This is a miniature display of the entire area showing every battle that occurred during those three days in history. There was a 35 minute long narrated light show using the diarama to document the major battles and their impact on the outcome of the war. Quite impressive for an RV park.

Gettysburg, PA - Day 2

We're doing it again - taking another Segway tour. We spent about 3 hours touring the old community of Gettysburg and most of the Gettysburg National Military Park by Segway instead of by automobile. What an amazing way to see the area! We were the only two on this tour, so we had our own personal guide for the whole 9+ mile trip. We saw many monuments - including one dedicated to the soldiers from North Carolina - and numerous cannons spread out over the enormous park. All along the way, we listened to a recorded explanation of the various battles and heroes of the battles that took place there.

After a late lunch, we walked through the Soldier's National Cemetery and got there just in time to become part of a tour guided by a Park Ranger. One of the things he pointed out was the actual site where Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 (which, at the time, was viewed as one of the worst speeches ever given). The Lincoln Address Memorial monument shown here is about 300 yards from the actual site.

Gettysburg, PA

We're staying at an nice RV park that is literally surrounded by the Gettysburg National Military Park. What a cool place! Once we got the RV settled in, we went over to the park headquarters and signed up for a tour of the Dwight D. Eisenhower farm and home here in Gettysburg. The brick structure on the right was the originl home with the larger white section added later. He and Mamie bought the farm in 1950 and lived in it during his two terms as President and they eventually retired here and enjoyed raising black angus cattle. While a rainstorm kept us from seeing the whole farm, we did tour the house itself that was packed with memorabilia and restored to look like it did when they lived here and saw some of the farm buildings.

Pottsville and Hershey, PA

We started today by driving to Pottsville, PA for a visit to the Yuengling & Son Brewing Company - founded in 1829 making it America's oldest brewing company. The town was so cool, lots of interesting buildings built within feet of the roadway and obviously a very old town. We just missed the 10:00 tour and the next tour wasn't until 1:30 so we opted to move on to our next destination. Oh yeah, no tasting available either...pooh!

Next we went to Hershey, PA where we visited Hershey's Chocolate World. This place is both enormous and very crowded (especially considering that this is a Monday). We took the tour in a carnival-like ride that showed the process of making chocolate without actually showing us the real factory. It was still interesting but seeing the real thing would have been better. There were areas there where you could see a 3D movie or make your own chocolate (for $$) and, of course, the largest chocolate gift shop in the state was all around you. Right next door was a gigantic amusement park but we didn't go there.

Our next stop was the AACA Museum (AACA is the Antique Automobile Club of America) which has one of the largest and nicest collection of antique cars we have ever seen. Out in front they had the Hershey Kissmobile on display. Inside, they had an awesome collection of antique cars, some unique racing cars and specialty cars plus there was a wide variety of old motorcycles and busses - all nicely restored. One of the busses was used in the movie "Forrest Gump." There were even some nice reproductions of an old service station (back when gas was 17 and 6/10 cents/gallon) and an 1950's soda shoppe. It was like stepping back in time. A very nice museum indeed.

Into Canada - Not!

Even before our trip began, I (John) had a nagging problem with my back - mainly with my sciatic nerve - often causing pain to shoot down my left leg when sitting, driving or lying down. I expected it to go away with time. It didn't. In fact, it got worse. Our destination today was going to be the beginning of our stay in Canada. When we found it difficult to get a campsite in Canada (mainly because of no cellphone service and limited WiFi), we agreed that it would be best to head home instead and seek treatment for this problem. We're still going to do some sightseeing on the way home but we'll be getting there a lot sooner than originally planned.

Vermont in a Day

Our first stop today was about two blocks outside of the campground in Whitehall, NY to see Lock C-12 on the Champlain Canal. It is a single lock that raises boats 15.5 feet in elevation from Lake Champlain to the beginning of the canal system.

Then we went to explore Vermont. Stop #1 was at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne, VT where we were treated to a guided tour of the operations where they make over 1,000 teddy bears per day. We even saw the Vermont Teddy Bear Hospital where owners may send their damaged bears to be repaired.







Stop #2 was at the Magic Hat Brewery in Burlington, VT where we did yet another beer factory tour and sampled their fine brews. Their bottling operation was going full speed and producing more beer per minute than I could drink in a day!

Stop #3 was at Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington, VT where we missed the factory tour by just a few minutes. We did spend time (and money) in their gift shop where we stocked up on some delicious chocolates to snack on.

Stop #4 was at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, VT. While they weren't making ice cream that day, we took the factory tour and, surprise, sampled some Imagine Whirled Peace ice cream (Susan's favorite). We also saw their Ice Cream Graveyard where headstones describe the various flavors that are no longer with us.