The Last Two Days

The title will enable me to get up to date and it is in a sense the last two days. We are far from home, but tomorrow we begin the journey back to Lake Stevens and because we are visiting along the way, it is somewhat scheduled. It has been a great adventure and we are glad that we chose to do this. At the same time, we are ready to return to our real lives.
Now to the adventures of the last two days. Yesterday we drove through the Shenandoah Valley then went to the top of the ridge and drove through the National Park. Great views--fall color was in many places gone. We stopped at Luray Caverns and had an amazing walk through the caves.
Today we drove north to Harper's Ferry. Harper's Ferry is at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomoc Rivers. We knew about John Brown, but much more happened there. During the Civil War, it changed hands 7 times. It was hard to keep track of who was in charge. Meriwether Lewis built a boat and gathered all the supplies for the expedition in Harper's Ferry. When they were all assembled, they were transported to Pittsburg to the Ohio River. I always assumed that he assembled the supplies in St. Louis, but that was not the case.
A little further north is Antietam which we missed on the way south. We and a quite large group met with a ranger and we did a driving tour of the battle field. We looked like a funeral procession. We got a very good sense of the battle as it unfolded through the day in September, 1862. I felt like I was in an intense history class. Again the toll of human life is staggering. The photo is the Burnside bridge. Imagine 700 Union soldiers trying to get over the bridge with the Confederates at the top of the hill shooting at them. Several hours later, they did get across and drive the Conferates off of the knoll.
All three battlefields that we visited look pretty much like they did when the battles were fought. The park service has done extensive research to make them authentic down to the placement of the cannons. Speaking of cannons, we learned today that they had quite a long range.
If anyone reading this thinks they might like to visit Civil War history, we have quite a supply of literature to share. Next year marks 150 years since the beginning of the war and all the states involved are planning special events to honor this time in history.