Girl's Night Out

(Front row L to R: Julie, Erin, Kara, Julie H. Back row L to R: Brooklyn, Julie F., Candi, and Amber. Not pictured: Jennifer. sorry :( )

I bet you're thinking "Yippee, not another post from vacation!!"

I had a wonderful night last night. My friend Erin (pictured in the pink paisley skirt) invited several ladies over to her new house for a girls night out. Her home is so beautiful!! You would love her kitchen. Sorry, I didn't even think to take pictures. She has such a nice husband and 3 wonderful small boys. They are so sweet and welcoming. It was such fun. I met two new ladies from our church and saw some others I had not seen in a while. It was great to sit back, relax, and catch up on every one's lives. We discussed babies, having babies, feeding babies, and so much more. I'm privileged to be included. These discussions allow me to learn a lot while I'm in the waiting stage.

We discussed what we might do each month when we get together. Suggestions, were Bridge, Bunco, Cranium, and other games. We also discussed food or no food. I say FOOD!!!

What do you and your girlfriends do when you get together?

Gettysburg

Joshua Chamberlain is known very much for his bravery during the Battle of Gettysburg. He led the 20th Maine. He and his men defended Little Round Top pictured below. He is known for fighting with their bayonets once their ammunition ran out. Bryan and I admire him and his leadership during the battle. We found a print of Chamberlain making the bayonet charge in a shop in Gettysburg and we plan to have it framed and put in our office. This monument below marks the spot where Chamberlain and his men defended the Confederate troops as they marched up the hill to battle.

The 20th Maine built this wall (now overgrown somewhat) as a defense on Little Round Top. Below are some other photos on top of Little Round Top. Looking down into Devil's Den.There was sniper fire back and forth between Devil's Den and Little Round Top. Bryan was sitting behind this rock trying to picture what it was like to be a sniper shooting down on Devil's Den. A lot of killing took place down in Devil's Den.This is a statue of Gen Warren. He was an engineer for the Union army who realized Little Round top was unprotected and later Chamberlain was sent to fight and protect it. Since he was an engineer and Bryan is an engineer I made Bryan pose next to the statue.I loved seeing all the re-enactors. It made the visit so real. Someone even had their little boy dressed up.The soldier in the middle is suppose to be Pickett. He is known for the last battle at Gettysburg, "Pickett's Charge". These next views are looking out from the spot General Robert E Lee watched Pickett's Charge and the last fighting of Gettysburg. As I walked along the path trying to visualize how the Confederate soldiers were spread out, I ran into this friend.

This is the main building of the Lutheran Seminary where several Generals watched the battle and studied the layout of the troops/divisions from the top of the tower.

We also ran across another officer with the same name as my maiden name. They also had a section of street named after him in Gettysburg.This was a HUGE observation tower Bryan and I climb to see across the fields. The view was amazing. But my right leg was hurting and I was nearly out of breath before we stopped at the top!!! You could also see President Eisenhower's home. After his presidency, he retired to his farm on Gettysburg.You could tour his home but we just didn't have time. When you take 7 hours for a 2.5 hour tour you ran a little short on time for other sights!!! :0

Here are some views from the High Water mark, which marks the end of the fighting on July 3.

This spot was over 1 mile from where General Lee watched the battle and you can see his spot with his statue in the background. This next picture marks the area (near the tree) where General Armistead's troops broke through part of the line.This is it for Gettysburg. I have a TON more pictures but I don't want to bore you and I have to quit at some point. I still have to cover July 4th in DC, Mt. Vernon, Annapolis, US Naval Academy!!! I'll get done sometime. Thanks for sticking it out with me.

Gettysburg -- Thursday July 3rd

Our best friend became the Magellan GPS that my boss, John & Judy sent with us on our trip. I almost didn't tell Bryan because I thought it was something complicated. It was a lifesaver and eliminated any "discussions" regarding driving directions for Bryan and I. Thanks John and Judy for lending us your GPS. It truly made the trip stress free. We had no problem navigating through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania!!!

The next picture is our "lovely" rental car we picked up before our trip to Gettysburg.

It was a mint green kind of. We lovingly called it the Green Machine! It was just a color of green we were not used to. I'm certainly not complaining. We were very thankful we were able to get a rental. It allowed us to see so much more and we didn't have to depend on anyone else. We love our little car!!!! :0. Thanks to the National Rifle Association membership, Bryan also got a discount!!

I've tried to tell my family, friends, and John & Judy what it was like to be at Gettysburg and do the auto tour. Believe it or not, I'm almost speechless. :) I cannot describe how it felt to be on those grounds. I cannot come up with the right words. It was amazing! It was humbling. It was sorrowful to think of the thousands of men who died. At the same time, I was honored to stand where many great men and leaders stood. You must go there some day! There is a HUGE museum in the visitors center that Bryan and I spent 2 hours looking at and left off 1/3 of it just due to time!! Since Bryan loves guns he especially enjoyed looking this exhibit over. These were guns used during the Civil War times. Since our trip Bryan has decided he will begin collecting Civil War officer buttons from their uniforms and he wouldn't mind a gun from that time period. However it may be a while before he gets the gun. We saw one in a Civil War Relic museum that cost more than our entire trip!!!! We did buy some true pins from a soldier's uniform while in Gettysburg. Those were less expensive!!!

Pictured below is Robert E. Lee on the right. Since we were there during the 145th anniversary we saw a lot of re-enactors which made the experience even more real.
We ate lunch in the Visitors center and Bryan was excited they had hardtack. It was the type of food some of the soldiers ate during the war. He was excited to try it. I looked like unleavened bread to me!!
Bryan and I bought the auto tour. They said it should take about 2 - 2.5 hours. We started at 2:00 p.m. and finished at 9:00 p.m!!! We took a long time!! We really wanted to take our time and let each stop sink in and tried to picture the soldiers and each event. I will try not to narrate after each picture simply due to space and trying to shorten my posts. There are over 1,000 monuments/memorial throughout Gettysburg.

General Reynolds was the highest ranking officer killed in the battle. This spot marks the area where he was shot and killed.
Can you imagine hundreds of soldiers marching across the open fields in the background?

There were authentic cannons all over the battlefield that were used during the Battle of Gettysburg. You can't see it very well but I thought it would be appropriate I wear my NRA t-shirt to Gettysburg!! :) More to come on Gettysburg! There is so much to tell and so many photos to search through. I intended to go to bed a long time ago.

Vacation Recap-- Part 1 of Who Knows How Many !!

I was not joking when I said I plan to do nothing but lay around tonight and catch up on blogging and organizing my digital photos. Right now I am set up in my room doing this.....

I am so thankful for my sequential pump. It acts like a massage and helps my circulation. I truly do thank God for it. It is through HIS provision I have this piece of equipment. Thank You Lord!!!

I have absolutely no complaints or regrets on any part of our trip including the airports. Everything went very smoothly for us. One really neat thing happened while we were waiting to board our flight in OKC. We ran into the wife of our former music minister. He left Emmaus a few years ago to pastor a church in our area and now they are moving to the Seattle area to pastor a new mission there. They have adopted 3 children from Korea. Our friends, Jeron & Kristine, and us wanted to meet with the McCains before they moved away to discuss and hear their adoption journey but time ran out. I thought it absolutely God that we ran into his wife at the airport and they were on our flight to DFW. God is an great God!!!

Our first full day of "vacation" was spent in Washington DC on July 2nd. Our mode of transportation on this day was....

We loved riding the Marlyland train (MARC) and the Washington subway (Metro). It was a neat experience and not too terribly scary. I thought the flag outside of Union Station in DC were pretty and patriotic.

Our agenda for this day was to see the capital building and the National Archives. Due to the no flash rule in the National Archives, my pictures did not turn out too good. It was a little sad viewing the Declaration of Independence. Due to the lack of preservation when it was initially written, the Declaration has faded tremendously over the years. We could barely read some of the signatures.

We had someone take our picture in front of the capital building but I'm not sure you can even see us very clearly. It was a little funny. The gentleman who took our picture kept insisting he take another and another until we finally said "Thank you, that's enough!"

Here are some pictures inside the capital. We loved the tour and the intern for the OK representative was great. He went to school at OU and lived in Norman. In this next picture I am standing on what was originally the center of Washington DC under the capital building. The star marked the spot.

Looking up into the dome of the capital. This next picture is zooming in on the painting of George Washington on the capital dome.Seeing the dome was absolutely amazing and fascinating! The painting in the background of the next picture is one of my favorites. However, John Adams felt the picture was untrue and did not accurately portray the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He said at the time of the signing not everyone was there at the same time. I still like it nonetheless!!This next photo was taken on part of a balcony/flower garden area on the capital prior to entering a spot to tour the House Chamber.

Our guide took this picture of Bryan and I on the backside of the capital.

Alive But Exhausted !!!!!!

I'm alive!!!! But exhausted. We went from sun up to sun down on our trip and had very little time to blog. I'm terribly sorry now because that makes for a lot of work for me because I want you to see all that we did!!!!! I took a ton of pictures!! At one point, Bryan said "Julie, you don't have to have a picture of everything!" We got home around 12:30 last night and we both went to work today. I'm going straight home and doing nothing!!!! I plan to lay around, wear my leg pump, and blog. Bryan is bringing dinner home. Yippee!!! I'll try not to bombard you with horribly long posts. I'll try to do them in segments over the next few days!!

More to come.......................

Baltimore, Maryland

My leg pump and I made it through security!! Praise the Lord!! I had called TSA yesterday so they knew I was coming. When I got to security I told them my name and that I had medical equipment in my bag. The lady turned around and said outloud "Here's one of our ladies." They had my name on a list! They took me out of the line and around into a room. Then they took me back in front of the security area and gave me a pat down. My backside was facing the crowd and the lady told me she had to pat my buttocks and did I mind or did I want her to take me back into a private room. I have no idea why but I said, "Na you can pat me down here." Then I realized about 75 people were watching my backside being patted down!! I tried to act calm and collective as if I've had my buttocks patted down before!!! :) I am very thankful for the employees who worked the security area. They were very respectful and kind to me.

We left the house a little late and I didn't get to go to Waffle House so we didn't eat until we had our layover in DFW. But no fear! McD's had sweet tea!! Can I get a big HALLELUJAH!!! We met wonderful people on our flights and it was tons of fun just to people watch!!

We were able to see the mighty Mississippi River on our flight from DFW to BWI.

We had thought we were going to have to take a shuttle to our hotel in Baltimore but my cousin Eric who is stationed in Maryland right now picked us up. We had not seen him since April and it was so nice to see him standing at the end of the terminal!! Once his wife and step-daughter arrived at the airport we drove into Baltimore and ate at a fabulous seafood buffet in the Inner Harbor. Bryan and I are going back to the Inner Harbor hopefully before we have to go home. We were fascinated!! We definitely looked like tourists!!!!

The ship in the background is the U S S Constitution. Bryan read that it was the last floating vessel from the Civil War area! We so hope we can go back and see more of it. We were kind of short on time this evening and we were all tired from flying!!!

I love having our laptop with us! It has been so convenient. I took a little nap this evening before dinner and Bryan did tons of research on restaurants and driving directions. Plus I can blog!!!!!!!! We also have a Magellan GPS system compliments of my boss! It is the BEST!!! I love the sweet lady inside the system that tells us where to go. She has relieved a lot of driving stress. I highly recommend a GPS. I had no idea they were so nice to have! Thanks to the Gortons!!!

Got to get into the shower...tomorrow the capital building, National Cathedral (hopefully) and Library of Congress!!!

DC BOUND !!!!!!

We are packed and ready to go!!!! Would you believe we got all of our clothes and necessities into these carry-ons including my pump for my leg!!! We do not have to check any luggage!!HALLELUJAH!!!!!! I've gone over and over to make sure I am not forgetting anything. Thank goodness there are Wal-Marts all over the US in case I did forget something. I forgot to have Bryan's backpack pose for the picture!!! :(

It is 5:24 a.m. and I'm waiting for Bryan to finish his shower. I have to make the bed and then we are headed to Waffle House and onto the airport!!!

I'll try to post some pictures during the week. Our first day in DC will be tomorrow.

Have a Happy 4th of July !!!!!!