Back from Gettysburg

I am back from Gettysburg.  The trip was very productive.  I obtained about a zillion monument pictures, including the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry (hat tip to Eric for providing excellent directions) on Highland Avenue.  Did not get to Power’s Hill, but I have shots of many areas of the field.

I did not make Sharpsburg.  As much as I’d have liked to go down and tour the Sharpsburg field (and meet fellow blogger John Hoptak), it just did not work out.  Given the heat (it was in the middle 80s to upper 80s) and the fact I am through seven cycles of chemo, making the trip did not seem prudent.  I’m going back to Gettysburg in approximately a month, so there will be another chance for the trip to Maryland then.  I wasn’t sick at any point, but my energy flagged enough by the midafternoons that I needed the breaks in air conditioning to resteel myself to go back out.  Still, I can’t complain.  I could hike all over the place and go up the towers and all that.

The weather was great for shooting monument pics.  Also got some excellent sunsets to add to my collection.

The highlights of the trip were:

• We found the movie Gettysburg playing at the Majestic Theatre in downtown Gettysburg.  This old theatre has been beautifully renovated.  I never saw Gettysburg on the big screen; although always interested in history, it was Gettysburg that actually sparked my interest in the Civil War period.  So getting to see the movie with the booming cannons and all that was meaningful to me.
• The weather — though hotter than predicted — was gorgeous.  It did not rain at all the 4.5 days I was in Gettysburg.
• I particularly like the artillery branch, so getting the chance to observe an artillery demonstration by the Purcell Artillery (I believe) in front of the Longstreet Monument on Seminary Ridge on Saturday morning was most excellent.
• The sunsets were beautiful.
• My health mostly cooperated even though I ran every day and walked several miles on the battlefield in the heat.

Of course, given there is a pennant race going on right now and my beloved Indians (don’t choke!, don’t choke!) are right now in the lead in the central division, other good things that happened on this trip were getting to see the end of Paul Byrd’s second shut out of the year and C.C. pitching 8 innings of shut-out ball (Perez hung on in the 9th to complete the shut out). Also saw the last few innings of the no-hitter by the Boston rookie.

I’m happy to have only one cycle of chemo left.  Of course, with Hodgkin’s Disease, a cycle is actually two chemo treatments, not one.  ((So in the end I’ll have had 16 rounds of chemo.))  However, I am less than three weeks from completion now.   September 7 and 21 will be it.

Tags: Gettysburg, travel