What a perfect day to be in Gettysburg!

Despite the extra people around because of the holiday I had a great day. I spent the day in the center of the town of Gettysburg, exploring and walking all over. I plan on being here at least two more days and I am planning on getting out to more of the battlefield areas tomorrow. In the center of town is the National Cemetery and I spent a good portion of today there. I arrived mid morning and it really was very uncrowded. In 1863 a cemetery actually was already in place but due to it being on top of a hill the Armies of the North placed cannon batteries in place forcing the Confederate forces to fight uphill. After the battle it was decided to move remains of Union soldiers to the cemetery and so nearly four thousand bodies were moved into the cemetery. Nearly one thousand of these were never identified and thus buried as unknowns. President Lincoln gave his now famous speech from the spot in the picture above where the monument now stands. The town of Gettysburg had a parade that ended at the cemetery and a ceremony at the base of the monument. Due to the events and such there were a large number of individuals dressed as both Union and Confederate soldiers all around throughout the day. As I said earlier when I first arrived at the cemetery it was very quiet and still with really not to many people moving through it. I was walking and came to a spot with some shade so I stopped for a minute. As I stood there, about 150 yards away under another tree a man dressed as a Union soldier stood just looking across some markers. I knew he was just someone looking for some shade but in the stillness and quiet of the moment it was easy to imagine a soldier come back to visit with lost friends and comrades. I have to admit it was a very eerie moment. The ceremony after the parade was very nice. It ended with a 21 gun salute and Taps being played, so along with hundreds of veterans scattered throughout the crowd I stood at attention and saluted. Made me proud to be a veteran and an American.

...Moving on to lighter matters. I am settled in to a beautiful campground where I will be staying for a few days. I unloaded the camper, so I can go exploring more easily, and for my first time doing it by myself it went really easily. Had it off the truck all hooked up and the awnings up in 30 minutes! Those of you wanting to see bike damage photos check out the u shape where the back tire is. Hopefully tomorrow that is fixed. I found a bike shop today so it's just a matter of if they have the parts on hand or not. That's all for now but I will definitely get some pictures up from the next couple of days as I go exploring. Take care, Jim