Today the family took it slow. It was another scorcher of a day. They started the day eating Dad's frequently requested pumpkin pancakes filled with cream cheese filling -- can you say pumpkin roll for breakfast? I wish I could eat some too but the family never thinks to share with me. I am "just" a mascot to them.
After breakfast, they spent some time at the pool. They got Dad to join them in the water this time. Then they came back and had lunch before heading into town. Today they went to a ranger session on the life of a solider. (Interestingly, there was no rain on the docket for today but they had to move this session indoors due to the looming threat of weather -- which did in fact come down hard while they were in the session.) They got to feel reproduction articles of clothing. Mom and Dad were sure that they would have heat stroke from the layers and layers of wool and cotton blends. The ranger did say this was a big deal and many soldiers did in fact suffer from heat stroke. Mom was really impressed but the knit wool socks. She is thinking of knitting a pair just to get some idea of what the women at the time went through to help the soldiers out.
After that session they went through the museum. Jane, Riley and Aidan were not pleased at the number of plaques that were available for Dad to read. They started sitting on benches face in hands looking thoroughly bored. Mom took the kids to a different area to allow him to read and enjoy the items as his own pace.
When they were done with the museum, they went back and picked up the auto tour from where they left off. Today's portion had some amazing sights. Things you just read about and to be there it gives a whole to new perspective. They got to see Little Round Top, Devil's Den and the Bloody Wheatfield to name a few. There was a ceremony on Little Round Top that had people all dressed up and many in uniform. Mom wondered if it was a wedding but if it was, the bride was not in a white flowing dress. There were a lot of men in military garb so she wondered if they were giving an award.
After they did more of the tour, Mom wanted to go to the National Cemetery but it had more walking than she planned so they plan to go back tomorrow and try again. But, Mom had one more stop to make. She told the kids it was a surprise. They were hoping it was something fun. But, she just did not to tell them where they were going so they would not complain about it. She tried to warn them but they still held out hope for some special treat. What she really wanted to do was to go to the marker that indicates where the first shot was fired. She gave Dad directions on where to drive. As they approached she thought it would be a place to stop and see. The map had it marked as a green park service section. As they approached though, they passed right by it. Mom saw the marker on her right and made Dad turn around. They pulled off the road in a little gravelly area and approached the old house that had the marker by it. Despite the "No Trespassing" sign, Mom was determined to get a picture of the kids next to the marker. The marker is at the top of an approximately 8 foot steep grade that goes straight into the road. Mom got right up to the edge and took her pictures... amazingly she did not fall into the road! However, in their attempt to get off the property before getting in trouble she took the pictures hastily. Unfortunately, Jane's eyes are closed in all of them.
Once they had the picture, they returned to the campground for a relaxing evening of board games together. Exhausted again, they headed to bed ready for another adventure tomorrow.
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