Well a little bit has gone on since the last update. We went up to New Hampshire and parked. I had a buddy up there that was also an early retireee from American but I had never met him. We visited a bit and he took us up to Portsmouth for some jazz and a drink. Marilyn and I also made it all the way into Maine for some lobster. Maine is a lot like Washington state really. Green and raining most of the time. It would be good for fishing and hunting. We were parked at Hampton Beach State [View Full Entry]

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Here we are in New York City. It so happens that we had two of the nicest weather days possible. Even though it is mid July, the temperatures were in the low 80's with almost no humidity at all. We are parked up in Newburgh, NY and so we took the train into the city each day. Near here is the West Point Military School. It is one of those cities where public transportation is the way to go because it is so good and traffic is so bad, not to mention parking is a real "bend over special". Now, [View Full Entry]

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After leaving the D.C. area we went straight north to Gettysburg. This battlefield is always worth a visit for me and a guided tour by a ranger is worth a little extra money. Marilyn did it on horseback the first day and joined myself and John on the tour on the second day. What is it about women and horses? My mind is reeling with theories and I'm not sure I should talk about them here. There is a new visitors center too. This was a three day battle on July 1,2, and 3 of 1863. John, our tour guide was [View Full Entry]

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Today Marilyn stayed at the coach and so I had to go solo into D.C. Consequently, my pictures don't have a familiar face in them. I don't like that but not much choice when I am taking the pictures myself. I did my usual fast paced touring that many people would not like. I do keep up a pace and I like it that way because I'm just not the kind of guy that needs to stare at something for 20 minutes and I see a lot of stuff. I look at photo albums the same way. It drives me nuts [View Full Entry]

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A guy could spend a lot of time in Virginia. We moved over to the east yesterday to a different park. It is very nice. We are about 30 miles from Washington DC to the northeast near Annapolis. But yesterday I went solo down to Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville which are just to the north of Richmond. These were both pivotal battles during the Civil War. Fredericksburg was a devastating Union loss in December of 1862. Ambrose Burnside was in command and pretty much incompetent just like all of Lincolns generals until he found U.S. Grant. He sent his army across the [View Full Entry]

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It is very difficult to get through Virginia. There is so much history here as well as government stuff. Anyway, the RV park we are at right now is only a few miles from the Bull Run Battlefield. It was the first big battle of the Civil War fought in the summer of 1861. Everyone thought the war would be over in a month. Civilians from nearby towns even took carriage rides with blankets and picnic baskets to watch the battle thinking it might be kinda fun. It was a real wake up call to the whole nation. It would not [View Full Entry]

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Okay so the next day we went down to Mt. Vernon to see George Washington's house. We also saw Marilyns' brother Bob but he wasn't at Mt. Vernon, he was at his own house. If you haven't been here, it is a necessary visit. Georges', not Bobs' (sorry Bob). George had it right because he built right on a ridge that looks out on the Potomac River. What a view. It was an 8000 acre estate at one time and a working farm that was primarily wheat. The river allowed better commerce to and from and when it froze in the [View Full Entry]

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Today was a pretty bitchin' day for sure. We went out to see Monticello. It is a beautiful spot and house. It took 40 years to build because Jefferson kept changing his mind. Especially after trips to France which influenced both his architecture and favorite cuisine. Most everything is intact here as it has been spared battles and severe weather. He did die pretty deeply debt so the home was sold but was bought by people that wanted to keep it preserved. He also hated slavery but kept slaves, freeing only about 6 or 7 during his life or in his [View Full Entry]

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oops, it looks like I did my blog entries a little out of order. Before we went to Appomattox we went to the Yorktown battle field. This was significant because it was more or less the final battle of the Revolutionary Warand Cornwalis had to surrender to Washington. The earthworks here are still very well defined. In a nutshell Washington out maneuvered Cornwalis and Clinton but there were other factors that worked in his favor. One was the weather in that it got bad and kept Cornwalis from getting his men across the York River to escape and also the French [View Full Entry]

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Today we drove two and a half hours west bound to Appomattox Courthouse Virginia. This is where Lee surrendered to Grant to end the Civil War and reunite the country. I have always wanted to go there. It happened on April 9th of 1865. General Lee was down to about 25,000 men and they were tired and hungry and out of supplies. Grant kept after him and would not let up. He finally got an offer of surrender from Lee when no other alternative was available. It was cordial and lasted about 90 minutes after 4 years of war. It is [View Full Entry]

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