07-11 Day 2 (Gettysburg)

Let’s explore the National Military Park

Today’s ride

We left Charlottesville at 7:00 AM, with the anticipation that we’d hit rain along the way. The 190 mile trip was moving along perfectly, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, the GPS warned me that our route was compromised, and there would be a 77 minute delay. But, my little friendly GPS also suggested an alternate route, which would only add about 2 miles, and so I accepted, and made a quick exit onto I-81.

At about the 75 mile mark, we needed to take a quick break, and fill up the X3 with gas. So, we stopped at a gas station, and while there, I started talking to a guy who was filling up his BMW M3 with gas. We started talking, and quickly realized that we had a lot in common. His name is Robin, and he was kind enough to take a photo of Ralph and I, and send it to me.

Robin was also kind enough to allow me to immortalize him, so I’ve got a selfie of Robin and his M3 in front of the Sierra Nevada brewery.

We arrived in Chambersburg by 10:30, and there were no rooms available at the hotel, so we parked the bike, in a very prominent spot at the front of the hotel, I changed clothes, and we headed to Gettysburg, a quick 26 mile trip.

Getting the evil eye along the way

Along the way, we came upon another vehicle, and I was quite sure that all of the passengers were looking at me with their beady eyes, giving me the evil eye. Now, I know that most of you wouldn’t believe me, so I took a quick video. Enjoy.

The Gettysburg Visitor Center

The National Park at Gettysburg is broken into two separate ways of interacting. The first method is to visit the Visitor Center, and enjoy the museum, the intro film, and numerous presentations by docents and rangers. There is a great deal of interesting information to listen to, and I rather enjoyed it.

One of the presentations is called Battlefield in a Box. The concept is like this… The battle at Gettysburg, is complex, and much of what happened is disputed, or at least it differs, depending on who’s telling the story. So, Battlefield in a Box is a way for a ranter to build a map on the floor, and then to lay out the various groups of soldiers, along with their commanders. This approach is simpler, and because it relies on visual clues, it’s a bit easier to understand. I took a 2 minute video, to simply demonstrate how it worked.

Tomorrow?

More of the same. We plan on a full-frontal assault on Gettysburg, taking in far more than any history buff should even attempt to take in. But, just watch us.