History , Grandeur, and Luck

First, the History...

Since I last wrote, we left the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail and drove to a couple spots with Civil War History.

Antietam is a huge hilly area of farmer's fields where a series of battles were fought in the Civil War.  In the visitors center we watched a film with reenactments.   

The picture below is of a ranger talk.  It was good that we watched the movie and did the driving tour before we listened to him walk us through the battles.  One battle, 5,000 died, another battle 8,000 killed...

What struck us was that we know in the revolutionary war we had learned some battle techniques from the native Americans.   Hide behind a rock or tree and run closer to another rock or tree.  Get fortification in front of you.

But in these battles, instead they would line up soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, and March them toward the enemy guns.  Of course, the first line was mowed down, and then the second... and the third.  

Over 23,000 were killed, it was the largest single day battle in the Civil War. 

Lincoln was able to spin it as a victory because the Confederate troops were exhausted and hungry and retreated.   Lincoln used the victory to release an emancipation proclamation for the slaves held in Confederate states.   They were invited to join the Union fight.  That move allowed 300,000 former slaves to join the Union in the fight.  This increase in troops is one of the reasons the Union eventually won the war.

The picture below was of a battle site within days after the battle.  Notice the tree on this side of the bridge.

The same tree is still there.

Our friend, Jim Hinkle recommended we stop at Nutters Ice Cream near Antietam.  It did not disappoint. 

We had more history to discover.  We camped in Harper's Ferry and went on a tour there the next day.

The big event there centered around John Brown's efforts as an abolitionist. Remember the song, John Brown's body is dead and gone...or something like that.  I always supposed he was a freed slave.  But he was a Calvinist and Caucasian who thought if he could steal arms from the Union armory and give them to the slaves , the slaves could rise up and free themselves. 

But it didn't pan out, he was caught, there was a trial, he was hung.  His body shipped back north and is buried at his farm in upstate, NY.

This happened shortly before the battle of Antitam.  

I like this sign I saw at the Harpers Ferry Book Store.

I showed Steve the pedestrian bridge we crossed when Joan and I rode the C&O Canal Trail... in 2020??? Click the link to read that post.

We had to carry our bikes and gear up a very steep set of stairs to get to the bridge to get to Harpers Ferry and our campground.  Fortunately a nice family helped Joan and I.

Those stairs are gone now, they are replacing them with a ramp. They currently have temporary replacement stairs that don't look as steep. Thank you, National Park Service! 

The KOA campground where we stayed was also the site of a Civil War Battle.  

Grandeur and Luck

The Grandeur I mentioned in the title we encountered in DC.  Every building and monument seems grand on the Mall of DC.

While the camper was at the KOA in Harpers Ferry,  we drove an hour and a half closer to Washington, DC.  We parked the truck at a park with access to the C&O trail.  I called the visitor center to ask if it was OK to park there overnight while we ride the trail.  Sure, he said, no problem, he said. 

We rode the C&O Canal trail into DC.  Steve had never been.  We were going to stay in a VRBO for a couple nights.  Our first stop when we entered DC was the Lincoln Memorial.  Only we couldn't get in because Trump was going to have a press conference about his UFC fights he was hosting on the Whitehouse lawn for his 80th birthday. 

We were among many disappointed tourists that approached and were turned away.

We went to the spy museum.  

Each of us were assigned our own secret identity and secret code we needed to use to get into computers/kiosks as we made our way through the museum.

We saw cameras inside pens, places where the suicide poison pill was carried. 

Below is a picture of Putin on toilet paper.

Our VRBO was one block from a variety of restaurants.  We decided to support the Ukrainian one.

I got vegetarian stuffed cabbage.  It was very good.

Steve got some really yummy pasta dish.

The next morning we rode around the mall on our bicycles, zig zagging to see the Capital building, the Supreme Court, MLK monument, and Jefferson Monument.

In the Jefferson monument it talks about how the constitution should not be a stationary document but should change with civilization.  That's my condensed interpretation.  Here is a link to the text.

I thought, take that you originalists and Federalists!

In the heat of the day we went to the natural history museum.

I had never seen or heard of a pink fairy armadillo, have you?

Luck

While we were touring around, Steve learned on  his phone about the Trump Epstein Memorial Reading Room.  No way!  We got to see that!

We made a reservation for 4:20  It is free but you need tickets.

It has copies of all the files released by the DOJ in folders along the wall.  The place is only available to the public after 2 pm.  The earlier part of the day is for congressional staff and researchers.

It was small as far as displays go, but at the end we were invited to write Trump a birthday card.  I am embarrassed about what I wrote. And we were also invited to write on a blank card our feelings about the child molesters that seem to be getting away with it and able to continue to abuse our young people.

The picture below isn't my card, but one I saw on the wall.

There were candles lit for 1,400 known Epstein victims.  1,400!  This was artwork created by Epstein survivor Maria Farmer.

Before we left we saw that some event was about to happen.  We went and sat down in the chairs and I asked the woman next to me what was happening.  She said some of the victims were here and going to speak.

Wow!  How fortunate to be there in that moment.  

Three victims spoke, not about their original trauma, but about their work to bring justice and maintain their regular lives outside of all the media attention.

I took notes:

• Virginia law removing statute of limitations on sex crimes against children.  They encourage other states to do the same.
• 
  
• Contact Senators to say no to confirming Todd Blanche to lead DOJ. Todd Blanche's record shows he does not pursue the law, support carrying out the law.
• 
  
• When there is human trafficking arrests, the customers are just told to walk away.  There are no consequences for the perpetrators.  They would like to see that changed.

I asked them, "How can we support them financially?"  They named two organizations. 

Worldwithoutexploitation.org

TheSurvivorsinc.org

And a few days later I learned that the whole Trump Epstein Reading Library was only there for six days.  What luck that we were there in that moment!

They are hoping to take it to red states.  Prosecution of pedophiles is something that we can all agree on.  It is a topic that can bring political sides together.

 https://trumpsonian.us/rr

Samantha Bee (comedian) did an interview about her tour of the library and it is on Youtube.

The last day, as we were leaving, we got to go to a great farmers' market.

And as we were going by the Lincoln Memorial we saw it was open to the public again.  Workers were busy taking down the displays and lights from Trump's press conference.  So we got to go in.  I hugged a pillar and said, "I claim this monument back to we the people!"

I noticed small groups of people in orange shirts.  It turned out they were veterans on an honor flight and their volunteer escorts.  "Thank you for your service, " I said.  Many of the vets served in the Vietnam war, which was a very unpopular war, and one that many vets felt forced into.  I am glad to see that they are being honored with a flight to DC to see the Vietnam memorial and other DC landmarks.  

We got close enough to the reflecting pond to see it was very green with pond scum.  It has been an ongoing problem and ongoing expense for many administrations.  Obama added a filtration system. 

On our way riding out of town, we swung past the front of the Kennedy Center to see for ourselves that Trump's name is off the center.  Yes, but the judge didn't require the administration to take the tarps down after the removal. 

Steve went up next to the building to peek and confirmed the Trump name is gone.

We got back to the truck and discovered a warning ticket on our windshield for parking there overnight.  So much for getting advice from the visitors center.  Lucky for us it wasn't a ticket.  And lucky for us the good timing we had in DC with the Epstein exhibit and witnessing the removal of the Trump name from The Kennedy Center.

We arrived in NY to Steve's house just south of the huge Adirondack Park. The house and yard look good, considering it sat empty over a very cold winter.  

The first full day back we went and picked strawberries.  It has become a tradition if we arrive in  season.

We miss visiting his Mom.  When we got together with Steve's kids and niece we enjoyed reminiscing about the funny things she said these past few years.

We watched Erin complete a seven mile run/Race.

It's good to see his kids.  

Before we arrived I got in touch with Steve's in-laws that have been very accepting of me and set up a time to get together.  I also set a date with his NY neighbors.  I am a social person.

Though it is good to have time by myself too. Today, I drove down to the Catskills for a couple days on my own.  It has been raining most the day.  

I stopped along my drive and walked the Rip Van Winkle pedestrian bridge.  There I got to watch two Peregrine Falcons!

The weather App promises to rain again tomorrow.  I have boots and rain gear, so I will go on a hike to some waterfalls and avoid the trails with vistas...  maybe.

In the meantime, I found a gym to visit.  And I am enjoying some quiet time to write to you.

I have an assignment for you if you are feeling stressed.  Create a list of all the things you are grateful for.  I find it quite beneficial.i remebered the benefits of this exercise while texting my friend Margaret.  Her life has been turned upside down and she is struggling to remain positive.  She has lost her health and abilities, her spouce's health and ability is going down after he turned 90.  She had to move away from the life and people she loved.  So let's all help her count blessings.  She reads this blog.  Add your blessing in the comments.

Is she still able to play piano?

I will start:

I have thumbs that work ( I am writing this on my phone... my thumbs are awesome and are front and center.)

I can smile and people smile back.

I have an awesome hat that keeps the rain off my glasses most the time.

I have glasses!  I can see!

I somehow got together with Steve, a very nice guy that makes me feel appreciated and desired and loved.  

I have some great friends to bike with and I love them.  I am grateful for those who keep in touch long after they no longer bike, (Beth, Debra, Connie, Margaret).  

I am even grateful for my heart that hurts after losing friends to distance or death. Yes, I do have a heart, I do know love.

I am grateful for my sister, who is my buddy.  I am grateful we can talk on the phone and text. We can still go on long walks in nature like we did with our mother when we were kids.

I am grateful for loving and caring parents!

I am grateful to be pain free most of the time.  And I am grateful for Ibuprofen,, physical therapy and heating pads.

I am grateful for my phone and access to maps and information and connections.

Well, I could go on and on, and maybe I will.  But I won't keep you waiting for me to finish.  

Let's help Margaret and others who are being hit by unwanted changes and overwhelmed with grief and loss. Add a thing you are grateful for in the comments below. (You may need a google account to do it.)

I will leave you with this picture my sister took on the evening of the Summer Solstice.