10/29/17 to 10/31/17 Gettysburg Campground - Good Sam; Nice campground; best showers yet. Nice people. Sites nicely spaced apart. Can't believe we couldn't get in for Saturday night because full. Mostly empty when we got here and must be around 10 campers left by Tuesday. Campground holds 236 sites! Check-in time was 3PM, but we left Pine Grove Furnace early due to the heavy rain and wind coming. Got here at 1:15 PM and they let us in because site was empty. All sites are surrounded by trees but I was able to pull into empty site opposite us and backed in without problems just as the rain started. Ten minutes later in the trailer and saw a grill come right up to us. Guy was trying to back in to site opposite us and he was having trouble. I moved my truck to give him more space, but it still took him a while. He has a 30-35' trailer I'd guess.
Listened to the wind and rain all night which was fine considering the next morning was only windy for a couple hours, and by late morning sunny with periods of wind. Not bad seeing forecast was for 2-3 days of rain. I think our friends in Mass got it worse than us.
Visited Gettysburg National Military Park. They say give yourself 2 hours to go around the 20 mile loop, but we spent about 4 and didn't stop everywhere. I have to say this is just as much a "must see" as anywhere I've been including Washington DC. Please put on your bucket list.
Many things striking. First, the place is beautiful. Also much larger than I imagined. Some of the park roads cross other roads as the park surrounds the town on 3 sides. All road crossings were easy - light traffic. Within a short while you can really visualize the action during the three days of battle. Signs point out buildings, walls, and "copse of trees" and describe specific events and the people involved. Walk to where General Lee consoled his troops. Stand at a corner of two stone walls where hand to hand combat resulted in a grizzly scene. Stand next to a marker at the exact place where a general fell from his horse with a mortal wound. As you stand on some of the hills - Seminary Ridge, Little Round Top and The High Water Mark, you can see the fields and envision the battle so clearly that later as we sat in the trailer we both felt like we had actually seen the battle.
These are some photos from my phone. Have not downloaded the few hundred from my camera yet :)
Hard to read, but the rough stone marker is the Massachusetts dedicated memorial overlooking the High Water Mark.
The Pennsylvania memorial. Understandably the largest in the park. I walked up a set os spiral stairs inside one of the columns and took some photos from my camera from the roof top just under the dome.
Each State has a memorial. This is Alabama's.
This view is looking back up Little Round Top. The Union troops were up there while the Confederates charged in the Wheat field below.
Peace Memorial near Oak Ridge. The battle started on July 1st off Reynolds Ave in the distance.
The countryside surrounding the battlefield.
Buford Ave.
Each State has a memorial. This is Mississippi's.
Lunch at the Blue and Gray the day before. That's right! The girl got chili cheese fries. We were just loading up for the hike the next day!
