July 18, 2005 - Auburn, NH

After the 4th of July parade we went into Wilmington for the fireworks.  Didn't know what to expect, but was hoping it wouldn't rain on us.

Great community band, and wonderful patriotic music.

Lots more people than we'd expected, and the people next to us were real friendly too.  Best part of the whole show (before the fireworks) was watching the kids, and their parents too, now that I think about it.

This is called a "Church Purse" and is suppose to give the little girls something to occupy themselves with during church.  When little girls went to church.  So you know its an old idea.  Anyway, Barb found it at one of the 1000Trails craft shows, and fell in love with it immediately.  A granddaughter was having a birthday in a few months, and we both thought it would be fun for her.

And it was immediately obvious to us that Lexi is indeed having fun with it.  The hat cracked us up big time, but the tiny baby is well loved indeed.  She's the daughter of son Rick and his wife Lynn.

And in the meantime son Doug was having some fun of his own with some bigger toys.  He's doing a good bit of promotional work now in addition to the hotrod work, and this is obviously for Tonka--they wanted a big truck exactly like the toy truck.  In the side view, the toy truck is sitting on the rear tire.  I told Doug I wanted to do a test ride but, alas, the customer will be getting it long before we'll be in St. Louis again.

Well, this old Harley-Davidson fan finally got to the factory for a tour.  Barb and I made it a point to get to the factory shortly after we landed in Hershey, PA, but drat the luck, it was model-change time, and the actual assembly line was off-limits.  We did get to see lots of the fabrication and the goodie store was in full swing, and there were plenty of 2005 models on display, so we didn't go away broken hearted.  Quite.  Cameras weren't allowed, so I simply left mine at home, and Barb didn't think to bring hers, so there's no record other than these "official tour buttons" to show we ever went there.  sighhhhhhhhh.

But we did take the time to tour Wolfgang's Chocolate Candy Factory, since the H-D tour was kinda luke warm, what without the assembly line being available to us.  And yeah, I was only a little grouchy after a good infusion of chocolate.  Barb, on the other hand, was just her cheerful self.  The picture of us and our sanitation nets needed for touring the factory was taken later in our motor coach (Dave was the only one with the beard net).  Remember, we didn't bring a camera!

The next day it was off to Gettysburg.  Bad planning.  Rather than one day, it should have been for one week.  Never saw so many battlefield memorials in my life!  This picture is of the "Electric Map."  What's on the floor is a replica of the battlefield around Gettysburg where in July 1,2,&3, 1863, the Confederates almost defeated the Union.  Various colored lights would shine as the narration of those horrible three days unfolded.  It was essentially the pivotal point in the Civil War.  I could go on and on with statistics, but the only one that really matters is that 55,000 of our fellow countrymen were either killed, injured, or captured in those three days.  What a terribly sad time in our history.

The Cyclorama was a popular entertainment feature before movies, etc., were available.  There were four of them produced depicting the Battle of Gettysburg, and specifically Pickett's Charge.  It's a painting of oil on canvas that circles 360 degrees.  It was first displayed (not in this location) in 1884.  Leaning up against the tree just left of center, is the artist's self portrait.  There is a narration here too, giving the eerie feeling that you're in the middle of the battle.  For more information, click here.

The attention to detail is outstanding.  The artist took photos of the battlefield, interviewed veterans of the battle, and made many sketches before actually painting the pictures.  As I recall, it took 11 months to complete.

In the photo on the left are two men carrying a third to the makeshift aid center which is to the right of the photo.  The man being carried is in the likeness of Abraham Lincoln (see close-up below left).  As far as the artist was concerned, his death was the result of the civil war, even though he was not involved personally in the battle.

A close-up of  "Lincoln"" and one of several layouts of the area where the battle took place.

One of many great paintings, and as this "period" actor walked in the door Barb was holding for him, I shot him.  Told him I had, and he said, "Sure better than with a bullet!"

Naw, that's not a horse in the tree, silly, it's a monument on the other side of the tree!  There are monuments all over this 27,000 acre place.  Those buildings down there were where General Mead (Union) had his headquarters.

Like I said, there are monuments all over the place.  And the second picture is of the field that the Confederates had to cross to get to the Union up here on this ridge we're on.  Pretty much exposed, once they left those woods down there.

Part of me says that somebody should polish that canon, and part of me says that letting it go is OK because it's not at war any more.  The last surviving veteran of the war has his own monument.  He fought for the Union as part of the Grand Army of the Republic, or GAR, as it's noted on several monuments.

These really aren't out of order.  The entrance to the cemetery is across the street from the main visitor center.  We both thought it strange that the Park Service didn't have any "official" sign for the visitor center.  Park rangers were active inside the center, and I had to get my camera bag/backpack inspected and tagged before I could carry it around inside the buildings.  More next page........