Back to Gettysburg

July 16 -   It was a great but hot day!  We planned to be up earlier but managed to leave at about 9:30.  This would be our second trip to Gettysburg and places along the way.  Our last trip was on the 150^th anniversary of the first day of battle there and it was wall to wall people.  Today was much better.

 

We first stopped at the Catoctin Mountain Park but the Visitor Center is only open on the weekends.  We drove the loop through the park and it was beautiful.  Unfortunately the high points of the park were all hikes and we didn’t have time to venture that far from our goals of Gettysburg.

 

There was no need to go the Visitor Center at Gettysburg

Eternal Light Peace
Monument

since we had our “Auto Tour” map from our previous visit.  There were 16 stops and we did them all plus a couple that were not on the tour that we just wanted to go to.  I had packed a picnic lunch and we stopped along Seminary Ridge at McMillan Woods where Longstreet and Hill led the Confederate troops.  We sat on the tailgate of the truck and enjoyed our lunch.  We had a shady place with a bit of a breeze to stave off the 90 degree heat of the day.  Just down the road was the Virginia Memorial with Lee on Traveler looking over the field where Pickett’s Charge occurred on July 3.

 

We had the opportunity take photos today that we didn’t last

Devil's Den

time.  We climbed the rocks at Devil’s Den and took our time along the way.  We stopped at the building that was the headquarters of General Lee and visited the small museum there.  We learned that Lee was already treating for a heart condition and that is what he died of just a few years after the war ended.  I’m sure being the General of the Confederate States Army was pretty stressful.

 

Roddy's Rd Bridge

We stopped for a snack on the way out of town and then we

Loy's Station Bridge

side tracked to 2 covered bridges.  They were both over Owens Creek near Thurmont.  The first was Roddy Road and it was smaller and built in 1856.  The other was Loy’s Station and is a little taller at 12’ 2” but twice the length at 90 feet.  It was built in 1880 but rebuilt after an arson fire in the 1990’s.

 

Cunningham Falls

Last stop was Cunningham Falls State Park.  We drove back to the parking area to take the ½ mile hike to the falls.  Good thing it was after 5.  As it was still pretty warm out and it was not as easy as I thought it would be.  We needed the exercise so the mile round trip was a good thing, however, the falls were a disappointment.  Maybe in the spring the flow is better but it was a long falls but not a major amount of water coming down.  On the way back I picked a few raspberries to snack on.

 

We got home about 6:30 and we had a few campers in.  I made a quick dinner of roast beef with gravy and mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.  Bill was really happy, one of his favorite meals.  We were both kinda beat from being in the sun all day so turned on the All Star Game and chilled until time for our TV shows.