Springtime In Connecticut

We finally reached our goal, Connecticut, and I must say it is spectacular.Of course being from out West there are way too many trees and we have almost gotten lost several times, but the spring flowers and blossoming tress are like a paradise.
Our nieces wedding is tomorrow and we have had a great time as its  a family reunion. Its the first time in twelve years that siblings have all been back together, too long. For now let me just post some pictures of the flowers in my brothers back yard.  Clear skies

Pink Dogwood

Blood root

Azaleas

Lily in The Valley

Bleeding Hearts?

Jack In the Pulpit

Gettysburg

In the Northeast corner of the Gettysburg Battlefield a flame burns bright against the clear blue Pennsylvania sky. Eastern blue birds sing and flit back and forth along a split rail fence claiming their territory, or at least their favorite perch. One of the sides of the monument reads, "An Enduring Light to Guide Us in Unity and Fellowship". If only every American could travel here and read the message carved in stone.
In our travels we have visited Vicksburg, Fort Sumter, Antietam, and now Gettysburg. They all tell of the same messages. We fought for states rights, we fought because free slaves would take our jobs, we fought to end slavery, or we fought to preserve the Union....

The Battlefield itself is covered with monuments, Little Round Top, the Peach Field, the Wheat field, Devils Den, Cemetery Ridge and the Copse of Trees. The monuments all tell of the sacrifice our ancestors paid. The Pennsylvania Monument dominates the battlefield, and rightly so, but there are so many others including the Louisiana Statue standing across the mile wide field memorialized by Pickets charge.

I  have always been interested in the history of our country and why we fought the Civil War and sadly it seems to me we fought because the end of slavery meant the loss of so much money to wealthy slave owners and the loss of their way of life.
The parallels today of what is happening in our country and the greed that seems to drive it all sickens me. I was raised a Catholic and the Bibles Beautitudes were hammered into me by sisters who dedicated their lives to teaching me what is really important in life, and so I became a teacher.  If only people could see what we have seen and traveled the roads we have traveled......Clear skies

Shenandoah National Park,A short Day on the Skyline Drive

Before we left Winchester we wanted to explore a little bit of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park. The parkway road travels through much of Virginia and North Carolina along the  top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is about 450 miles long. We hope to travel along it some future fall.
Friends had told us not to take our fifth wheel along the road but of course we wanted to see for ourselves if it would be possible to go this way,(We have traveled the Natchez Trace and strongly recommend it!).
It didn't look to good as we neared the parks North Entrance Station. A sign warned that the side of the arched overhang was only 12.2 feet but the arch looked higher and we are only 13 feet tall.  We showed our pass and started to climb, driving through a thick hardwood forest.

I had to pull off before we reached the first overlook as I had a line of cars behind me. I thought of the traffic jams in Yellowstone and why we avoid that place in mid summer. We reached the Shenoandoah Valley Overlook and saw Massanutten Mountain and Signal Knob in the distance. The South Fork of the Shenandoah River was far below and the sky was filled with a haze that prevented us from seeing  the sights clearly but it was still a beautiful panorama of hardwood forests.

We drove further and passed and stopped at other overlooks,  Marys Rock Tunnel approached and we drove through it and it looked like we would fit if there weren't any traffic going the other way....
Stopping we took some images of the tunnel from the Tunnel Overlook. A group of young men asked us to take their image and I had trouble with their camera but at last I got it.. They thanked us for rour kindness and I thought how nice young people can be.

Reaching the Pinnacles Overlook  we glassed Rag Top, a rocky peak far in the distance. I walked into the woods  and looked for morels but it was too early at this elevation and it was definitely to early for any berries. I didn't see any copperheads among the rocks, which would have been really cool as I have never seen one in the wild.

Returning we took Highway 211 and left the parkway passing under another low entrance station. Several cars were parked along the roadway as we headed down the mountain and I knew they were looking for mushrooms as the growth here looked further along.
It didn't take long for us to reach Winchester and our house, which is what we call our fifth wheel. We had checked some things off our list and had added to our knowledge of the east, it is time to head into Pennsylvania for a few days at Gettysburg and then to my nieces wedding in Connecticut. A long awaited family reunion. Clear skies

Antietam and Harpers Ferry, Hisory All around Us

 The Cornfield, Bloody Lane, Burnside Bridge, all names familiar to readers of history. The ranger who gave us our introductory talk told of how the Civil War could have ended in 1862 with Lees annihilation at Antietam and how Burnside was too slow developing his attack after taking the bridge. Could it be that simple?
We left the visitor center and walked to Dunken Church, a prominent sight during the battle of Antietam. From there we drove the auto tour reading of the courage and honor of men long dead, The stories and monuments of the cornfield, such sacred ground. The monument to Hood's Texans who suffered 82 percent causalities in their charge but stabilized the Confederates line.

From there we drove to Bloody Lane and walked the lane a bit before climbing the observation tower for a look at the battlefield. It was simply too much to take in trying to imagine the waves of Union troops attacking the position and then to walk among the ghosts of the dead confederates in the lane.

From there we finished our tour by walking down from the heights defended by Georgians, as Burnside threw attack after attack across the bridge that now bears his name. The bridge and the woods seemed so peaceful. A Baltimore oriole sang its song and gave us a good glimpse of his spring plumage. Looking at the Confederates positions across the bridge one wonders how anyone could have had the courage too attack them.
Our history lesson wasn't done as we asked the directions to Harpers Ferry and headed down narrow roads along the Potomac. Arriving at the park we showed our entrance pass, parked, and were quickly on the bus. The recorded history of the Harpers Ferry started its talk and I couldn't hear because the young people behind us were chatting. Using my sternest teachers voice I turned and said, Miss, we are trying to hear the recording would you please be quiet? The twenty something was pissed and snarled back at me but at least she shut up.
Getting off the bus one of her male companions made a comment as to my rudeness  as they passed and Renita remarked at how nicely I asked for them to be quiet. There is no way I could be a campground host as many of our friends do, I have simply used up my patience dealing with rude people.

We walked along the streets of Harpers Ferry. It was cool and the busy summer season hasn't started. There were no people reenacting the early life of the famous city. We stopped and gazed at a daughters of the confederates monument, and the read the verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, posted next to it,

Crossing the railroad bridge we took a look at the town and the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. Renta started to sing Oh Shenandoah and we both felt the history of the place. It was a fitting end to a long day of history lessons and we were both tired as we drove back to Winchester and our house. A day well spent. Clear skies

Heading North into a Giant Traffic Jam

We left Charleston and headed North through Columbia and then Charlotte, North Carolina. The traffic was ok and we turned off I 26 onto ! 77.  It picked up a bit as we crossed into North Carolina but we hit Charlotte at the right time and it wasn't heavy. About the only thing I remember was crossing the Pee Pee River.
Entering Virginia we stated to climb the Blue Ridge Mountains and the truck traffic became heavy as the rigth lane was full of slow moving trucks and the second lane had trucks that were trying to pass. Our Chevy climbed the hill with ease and we passed vehicle after vehicle climbing to the gap,(Out west we call these passes but here they are called gaps, hence the term water gap?).
It was a beautiful drive and then we saw the sign, I 81 was closed ahead due to a sinkhole collapse. We were ready to stop anyway as we had driven over 340 miles,a a long day for us, and so we took exit 101 on I 81 for Claytor State Park.
The park was virtually empty and we had our choice of campsites. Campground D had a bunch of pull throughs and even though the online site said that the maximum was 35 feet we didn;t have to unhook our truck as we stayed attached and just slid.
Going to the kiosk I discovered that while camping cost just 26.25 we had to pay 5.25 in a pet fee for our dog! 5.25 for a shi-tsu! I talked with another camper and he said that you only had to pay 15 dollars for a week, how kind of Virginia, I thought as I decided to spend as little as possible in a state that charges for dogs.
It was pretty there and we did have a nice walk to the lake. We saw cardinals and titmouse and lots of eastern towhees and it was cold so cold! The temperature dropped to forty degrees that night and it frosted in the area but not where we were at. We left the next morning having no idea of the mess we were heading into.
The news had reported on the sink hole and the first sign we saw said a detour had been made so we thought no big deal right. The sign read that the detour was from exit 195 and then back on I 81 on mile marker 200. It didn't sound bad until I had to stand on my brakes as the truck in front of me suddenly stopped at mile marker 187, oh no a seven mile traffic jam!
A Virgina DOT pickup backed past us with its sign telling people to slow down, and I realized that the Virginia people didn't have a clue. It took us an hour to go two miles. As the next hour passed we reached an exit for I-64,(mile marker 191 and still four miles from the detour), and using the GPS and truckers atlas Renita found a route so we headed west and then north on  US 11(At that point we wer still four miles from the detour exit).
It turned out to be a great decision as we only had to stop for a few minutes as we crossed under I 81 and we found the spot where the traffic was exiting the jam and merging onto 11. We made it past the jam! We did have to stop a few places but after 20 miles of detour we reentered 1-81 and sped back up!

We had planned on driving to a rv park at the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway but Renita consulted the Woodalls and found out it was rated a two, which is real bad! It was priced at 38-68 bucks a night and as I was tired I had almost resigned myself to finding a walmart when She found another park at Winchester, Virignia.

It was far enough north for us to visit Antietam and Harpers Ferry but still close enough for us to Check out Shenandoah National Park, so we grimaced a bit and paid for four mights at forty six dollars a night! At least it was a nice quiet place outside the city limits. Time to rest a bit and become tourists as we sight see some history. Clear skies.

Charleston, Walking Around the Downtown.

We left Fort Sumter and headed for the visitor center. Now Renita had already discovered that Charleston had a free trolley system and so we left the truck parked on the street and took the trolley to the visitor center.
After watching a lady making beautiful sweet grass woven baskets we determined that the parking spots were too small for our truck and so we got back on the trolley to spend a little time at the City Market. As we got off the trolley the City Market reminded me of the market in Boston but as we entered I didn't see any food stalls and I realized I was in for it, a day shopping in Charleston.
It seemed to me that every other stall was another basket weaver and while they were really beautiful we wondered how they would survive the low humidity of Wyoming. We decided not to purchase one but they were pretty neat.

Strolling down the City Market we really didn't see art of the quality of Savannah. We got back on the trolley and rode some more and there were named shops that Renita recognized but they meant nothing to me. We did find some local stores that sold some quality one of a kind jewelry but again we were somewhat disappointed.
The next day Renita wanted to return so we drove to Charleston and found a parking spot that we actually fit in It cost eight bucks but it was for all day and we don't often pay for parking, welcome to city life! We passed several sea food cafes and decided we would have sea food for lunch as it would be our last day on the coast.
Walking past construction we found more shops and even found a local artist who made blown glass art. He was even selling pieces which his parents made and then wrapped in silver wire, similar to our work. It was fun to talk with another person who understood and appreciated our work as he admired Renitas sodalite silver wrapped pendant.

Deciding to find a place to eat we noticed a sea food place called Hyman's  Seafood and it had a lot of people in it so in we went. It urned out to be a lucky find as we had one of the finest sea food meals we have ever had! I had the scored and fried flounder and Renita had grilled Mahi Mahi. While eating the owner sent us free calamari and green fried tomatoes and he even showed up after the meal to talk about the restaurant and welcome us to their restaurant.
Now I don't usually give a place a plug in my blog but if you ever find yourself in Charleston and love seafood you must eat at Hyman's. Seafood. Its that good! Oh I almost forgot to mention we were given free ice cream in a cup and of course I had the peach!

Walking and shopping we passed Calhouns monument and grave, Charleston College, and scores of sun worshipers spread out on the lawn!. I told Renita I felt sorry for the students as many couldn't afford much in the way of clothing and she gave me the look I know too well.
All in all we have enjoyed our time here, there is a lot more to see as we have barely scratched the surface and its a place we will come back to someday. The food was excellent but we both enjoyed the old town center of Savannah more than the downtown shopping in Charleston. It is simply too big for us. Clear skies

The Flags of Fort Sumter, Charleston South Carolina

I do not celebrate the death of any man, but I do celebrate justice so often denied or delayed. Our middle east wars still bring me so many memories of students who have sat in my class room and served and even died. Manuel Davila was the first who gave his life in the first Iraq War and I still remember his smile. He died from friendly fire but he still died while serving.
At one time I had thirty four former students serving during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and while I understood the necessity I said a prayer for all of them and for all who have served. As the towers fell down I cried for the firemen and policemen who gave their lives as I thought of my son who serves as a state trooper.

So I don't celebrate the death of any man only the cost of freedom as I post the pictures from our visit to Fort Sumter. The first picture is the actual battle flag that flew during the bombardment and was lowered at the surrender by Major Anderson. The second flag is the Palmetto Flag of South Carolina that flew after the Confederates captured and manned the fort.
Such honor and courage and such a price we pay for freedom. Clear skies