Oct 5th to 8th - WV to PA

Oct 5th - Sun - to Weston, WV
So we made it to West Virginia today, barely a 3 hour drive. We are staying at the park we were heading for yesterday (Broken Wheel CG) as it has wifi which seems to be rare in this area. Nice setting in the trees and we got a lovely long site so had lots of room for the truck in front.
I thought the park also had a laundry but it didn’t so we had some lunch and headed into town with the dirty clothes and some driving instructions. Terry dropped me off and went for diesel & propane. He had to get back on the freeway and go about 8 miles to find an open station with diesel. Propane is not available in the area on Sunday except to exchange 20 lb tanks. Luckily the laundromat was not busy as there were more “out of order” machines than working ones. Plenty for me to get the job done.
We spent quite a bit of time in the office using the wifi - updating the blog, posting pictures and searching for campgrounds. Then we got some firewood and enjoyed some more of the lovely day with a fire. We were boiling ribs for dinner and I suggested to Terry that we go for a walk and see if the only other overnighters were outside and invite them to come over. They were inside so we continued to the end of the road and then came back by their rig. I decided to just knock on the door and ask if they wanted to join us a bit later at our fire. This is not usual behavior for me but it turned out great as they (Mike & Leslie) came by about 8 and we gabbed until after 11. Very nice evening. They are full-timers from California so they spend the winter there which is different from most other full-timers that we have met.

Oct 6th - Mon - to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
We are not doing well with our planning. Thought we were going to stay in Maryland but we couldn’t find a park on our route with reasonable rates. Next decided to stay at the Keystone RV campground just across the border in PA and look through 5th wheels. Turned out to be a smaller dealership than the advertising would have you believe so we carried on to Gettysburg. We are staying at a PA park (Artillery Ridge) with wifi at our site and is close to town.
Set up, had a late lunch and headed for town to check things out. When we got in the truck we saw that there was bird poop all over it. There are some trees with berries that have branches hanging over the site - lovely! Looked for a car wash on the way back but Wanda led us astray so Terry washed the truck (against park rules!) when we returned. We can barely fit the truck behind the 5th wheel where there are no trees so that is where we are parking.

Oct 7th - Tues - Gettysburg, PA
Beautiful sunny day, just right for sightseeing. We started out by viewing a diorama that is in the RV park and is free to people staying here. There is a huge “table” with the whole Gettysburg area where the famous 3 day battle of the Civil War in 1863 took place. It includes models of houses, fields, trees, fences, roads and thousands of soldiers. There are also paintings, artifacts and mini-dioramas around the edge of the room. There are three rows of bleacher seating from which you view the narrated presentation. Lights turn on & off to highlight the area corresponding to the narrative. The 1863 fight was won by the “north” and was the start of the fall of General Lee and the “south”.
Next was a trip to the visitor center which is new - just opened last year. It is amazing. There is a museum, theatres, gift shop and an incredible display area consisting of many connected rooms branching off a curved corridor. The rooms have things such as letters from soldiers, a separate area for each of the 3 days of the battle, uniforms and living quarters (tents), the Gettysburg Address and many other items. I am not a history buff but I could enjoy this and appreciate how well it was done.
We thought about going on a bus tour or hiring a tour guide to drive with us but we decided that the information that we got from the diorama and from the visitor center was about all the history that we needed. So we drove around some of the battlefields (empty fields with statues), past the cemeteries & colleges and then hit a grocery store. Had an early dinner and then Terry cussed out the presidential candidates as they debated.

Oct 8th - Wed - Gettysburg, PA
Another nice day in the morning, getting cloudy in the afternoon. Today was for chores and relaxing. After trying to figure out the next few days’ itinerary, we went to town to find a post office and to pick up a couple of items at the ever-present WalMart. Then Terry used dry wash on the truck to remove the water spots from the quick wash on Monday. This got him going so he cleaned the bugs off the front of the 5th wheel and waxed it, swept the tree debris off the roof & slides, helped me make a new buddy burner and did other puttering around. I worked on the buddy burners and the computer and read for a while.