Flight 93, Lincoln, Gettysburg, & more

We've tried to see as much as we can while here in MD. However, you could spend every day seeing historical sites around here. The east coast is rich in history, especially with the Civil War.

I had wanted to see the Flight 93 Memorial in PA for some time. We decided to go on 9/12, one day after the large tributes of 9/11. The memorial is designed to commemorate the flight path the plane took before crashing, while also paying homage to the passengers and crew of that flight who gave their lives to save others. It is a fitting memorial while reminding us of the horror of that day and how it changed lives forever. 

Son Sam & I outside the Visitor's Center

After that we went on to Gettysburg for the first of two stops there. In downtown Gettysburg we found the David Wills House. This is the house that President Lincoln is believed to have stayed in the night before giving his Gettysburg Address. 

History abounds here, with plaques everywhere. This sign indicates that this church was used as a hospital during the Civil War.

Putting history aside for a while, we traveled to the Hershey Park RV Show, the largest RV show in the US. After all, we were only a couple of hours away, so why not go? 

Just a few people and RV's at the show 

On the way back from Hershey, we stopped at Gettysburg again. This time we went to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. We viewed the show the History Channel did on the Gettysburg Battle, then went up to the Cyclorama, where there is a 377 foot painting (by a french artist) of Pickett's Charge, which was completed in 1844 and has been restored. There is a story narrated while lights highlight certain aspects of the painting and the battle. I wish that every student of US History could visit this museum-it brings "alive" the battle of Gettysburg and the lives it cost. This is much better than just reading a textbook. The museum also has numerous artifacts from the war. 

You can take a self guided auto tour. After doing part of it, we decided that if we came back we would spend the time and money to take the 2 hour bus tour with a guide. The whole park is nearly 30,000 acres and includes the Soldiers National Cemetery. 

Tomorrow we leave to head towards the Freightliner Factory in Gaffney, SC and then back to the Tiffin Factory in Red Bay, AL for maintenance. We will miss everyone, but especially these two guys-

Jacob sleeping with Vince behind him 

Bicycles and Air Conditioners

It doesn't matter whether you're sitting in one place, or traveling. The RV life continues to have challenges.

It started with a trip to a bike shop to repair a cable on my bike. While there, we started talking with the employees about alternatives for bike racks, since the one we had was not optimal. It turns out that the bike rack we had is fine for the car, but was not rated at all to be on the back of the motorhome. (The company would not pay for any damages caused by it coming loose.) The vibrations caused by the motorhome as we drive on the road are too much for a "regular" bike rack. So we began the search for a new, heavier duty one. After having one shipped to us we had to test drive it.

Why, you ask? Well, the bike rack sits behind the motorhome and in front of the car. We had to make sure that the bike rack did not rub against the car when we make either a hard right or a hard left turn. (Although we try not to do those, sometimes we don't have any choice.) This meant we had to unhook everything and pull the slides in. We headed towards a large vacant parking lot so we could do the testing. With a bit of adjustments, we got the rack to work.

New Bike Rack (folded up) 

After returning, we had to level again , get hooked up, and let the slides out. We had postponed dinner until all this was done. I was waiting for the AC to kick in (a very hot day) when it came on for a second and then quit. This is on Sunday, with Monday being Labor Day. We can't even call customer service until Tuesday morning.

Luckily it cooled down that night so we were able to sleep without any problem. We called early on Tuesday. Following the instructions of the tech, we did various tests to determine the source of the problem. It turns out we blew out the Precision Circuits Control Module. After disabling that, the AC works perfectly (a new module is on its way here). That is a BIG relief as temps this week are over 90 every day with the heat index being close to 100 some days. There's never a dull moment in an RV'ers life!

Middletown,MD and surrounding area

While we haven't been traveling, we have been exploring the area. Here are some pictures, in no particular order. 

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This sign is outside of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ACT), which is approximately the half way point of the Appalachian Trail.

War Correspondent's Memorial, Burkittsville, MD

Time for Football! We've been enjoying grandsons Vince and Jacob's games.

We've seen some amazing sunsets and sky views while here.

Here's another pretty sky view.

Martina McBride concert, thanks Allison and Vince! 

Hagerstown, MD Roundhouse (RR) Museum.

Old railroad cars outside of the museum.

Part of the model railroad tracks inside the museum.

Orange sky at night with the steeple of Zion Lutheran Church.

Grandson Jacob eating ice cream at More's, our new favorite ice cream place. 

NYC is not for sissies!

After our whale watching excursion, it was time to head towards Maryland on Sunday. We drove through Rhode Island (another new state-yeah!), Connecticut and then New York. Our plan was to bypass New York City. Andy was joking that we should drive through Times Square with a 40 ft. long motorhome towing a car. I told him if he was going to do that, that I would just go back to the bedroom and hide while he drove all by himself.

Well, we came close. We had our Google maps set to bypass NYC on I-287. However, when we got there, it told us to take a turn so we did. That left us on I-95. (Damn GPS!) We ended up going through the South Bronx and over the George Washington Bridge to cross the Hudson River. We had some great views going through the city. Eventually we made our way to NJ and then PA before getting to our destination in MD. I must admit to holding my breath the entire time through New York. We joked about needing a defibrillator on board.

We're here to spend some time with our kids and grandkids before we head to the Freightliner Factory in South Carolina in September. We'll be able to take in some of the kids football games, and be here for their first day of school.

Another small world story-we headed to downtown Middletown so we could get some T-shirts to show our school spirit for the boys. This shop is right across the street from Zion Lutheran Church, where Pastor Kathy Hoffman is senior pastor. (She is a friend from when I lived in Fargo, ND.) I had planned on going to church on Sunday and surprising her. When we got out of the car there she was. She and her husband Mark were walking on the street and had stopped because they noticed our MN license plates. So we had an early reunion!! We plan on getting together for lunch while we are here.

Cape Cod

We finished off our time in Massachusetts with a trip to Cape Cod. Our highlight was taking a boat out of Provincetown to go whale watching. We were not disappointed! We saw many whales, sometimes 3 or 4 together. One whale was on his back just flapping his flipper back and forth, as if he was performing for us by "waving" to us. The marine biologist on board said he had not seen that behavior before.

They study the whales and have named them (they can identify them by their tails). These whales  go to the Caribbean for the winter and come back each summer. One whale, Salt, has fourteen children and is even a great grandma! It was thrilling to watch them and have them close to our boat.

We have video, which we will post as soon as we cut it down to a "watchable" time length.

Boston

We left the FMCA Rally on Sunday and headed east to Normandy Farms Campground in Foxboro, Massachusetts. This is a large campground that is full of campers, with lots of activities for adults and kids. A lot of the campgrounds we have stayed at this summer have been less than full, and quite frankly, we wonder how they are able to stay open. So we're glad to see one that is full and doing well. 

We are only a few miles from Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. You can see the stadium from the highway as you drive along north on Highway 1.

Yesterday Andy's cousin Peter offered to go with us to downtown Boston so we could see some of the historic sites. We took the commuter train downtown and then set out walking. It was a perfect day, low humidity, a nice breeze and not too hot.

These bricks are your path to the "Freedom Trail"

Faneuil Hall

Old State House




Balcony at Quincy Market, constructed during 1824-26

Street in Italian section of Boston, notice the crowns over the street




Plaque on the site of the church where Paul Revere did his famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal 

Thanks, Peter, for being our guide! We had a great time.

It's A Small World After All.....

Today we had an easy drive to get to the FMCA 94th Family Reunion in West Springfield, MA. fmca.com The only bad part was breaking camp in the rain. Andy had the worst part of it as he had to empty our holding tanks before we left.

Once here, we discovered wet fields in our parking area. We were told they weren't parking anyone until it dried out some. Turns out we only had to wait a little more than an hour to get parked. Once we were settled, Andy took our bikes off the rack and discovered that mine had a flat tire. We found a bike shop and left it there to get repaired.

After a few hours, they called to say it was done. We went outside to get in the car to retrieve it. Motorhomes were still coming in and one stopped in front of our coach. The driver saw our MN license plates and asked where we were from in MN. Turns out he is from Burnsville, MN (another suburb in the Twin Cities). Andy walks up, looks at him, and at the same time each one said each other's name. Andy-Peter! Peter is Andy's cousin! Now in order for this to happen, the planets had to align. 1) We were outside our coach at the time they were stopped in line in front of our coach. 2) They were in line in our row because someone had told them that was where they were parking, but it wasn't their final spot.3.) Peter struck up a conversation with me since he noticed our MN license plates. We could have gone this whole week without seeing them or seeing them and thinking that Peter looked familiar. What a pleasant surprise to see Peter and meet his wife Susan. It just goes to show you that you never know who you will run into!

Cousins Peter (l) and Andy (r)