Gettysburg

We left for Gettysburg early Tuesday afternoon after a morning of struggling to get ready. The drive was faster than expected. It took maybe an hour and a half to get there. We made it there before Buddy so we drove around town a bit and stopped at the Gettysburg visitor center. We met Buddy at the hotel later but he had work to do. I took the kids to a grocery store to get some stuff for dinner. They were so hungry they ate in the car on the way back to the hotel. We went for a walk afterwards even though it was dark. There is a miniature golf course and go cart track next to the hotel but they weren't open. There was also a housing development which was unlike anything we had ever seen. It was a no maintenance property of small connected dwellings in a castle theme. They also threw in some ancient Roman ruins into the mix. Every house facade was different. It was certainly a strange site.

Buddy had to do some more work after that so I put the kids into the bathtub after cleaning out the copious amounts of hair. Housekeeping was a tad lax. The bathtub drain didn't work so I had to put my hand over the hole so the water would accumulate. After getting ready for bed, I turned out the lights so Nyla and Bohdin could go to sleep and Nyla freaked out. She started crying and clawing at me like I was her last chance for survival. It didn't turn out the way I thought it would. There was a bit of hallway noise and we could hear some people in the room next to us.

The bed was uncomfortable and the next morning I woke up to the sound of a cricket. I was sleeping on a terrible bed in a dirty room. Bugs were the last straw. It took me a minute to realize the chirping sound was very regular and was actually Buddy's alarm. The kids slept another hour. After awaking we had some breakfast and then went out. We stopped for donuts and then went to the site of the first day of battle. I've been to a few Civil War sites previously and I don't really care for them. Gettysburg was no different. The countryside was pretty though.

Bohdin watching the train. Soldiers tried to get across this railroad track during the war. Some troops were stationed on the other side. There were also troops in the treeline in the back at some point.
 

We went back to the room for Nyla's nap. The hotel had unbelievably slow and unreliable internet access. I expected more from a conference center. Bohdin ended up waking Nyla early from her nap. The whole situation wasn't working for me so I decided to leave. On the way home we stopped at Cunningham Falls state park in Maryland. We hiked to the waterfall on the easier .5 mile trail. On the way back, Bohdin wanted to do the steeper and longer trail. He did a really good job. The area was really pretty. We'll have to go back again sometime. There was some highway noise which was unfortunate but there were very few people around.
 

There is also a lake and a playground at the park so we stopped there. They had nicer sand there than the crap beach in Annapolis. The water is probably much less polluted also. Nyla loves slides.
 

I just like this picture of Bohdin.
 

Because of our stop and the fact that I took the wrong road for a while, it took us almost 5 hours to get back. I've never been so happy to be back home after a trip. It felt like I had been gone forever instead of just overnight. Me and the kids practically by ourselves on a trip is not that fun. I think and hope NYC next week will be better. At least I won't have to apologize to the kids for strapping them into their carseats yet again. I think I would have enjoyed the area better if I could have done a guided tour. Neither of the kids was up for a 3 hour car tour though. They'll be gone soon enough and then I can go back.