Pennsylvania

So I’m back! And I’m really glad everyone kept my blog going while I gone on family business. I am really busy right now–I just got back, but I have my final this Friday. It’s all great, but I thought today I’d simply share my trip with everyone :]

Pennsylvania Sunrise

My dad and I drove from Kansas to Pennsylvania–about a 17 hour drive–and this was the sunrise we were met with upon arrival.

Gettysburg

My dad and I decided to visit Gettysburg while we were there since I’ve never been there, and my dad hasn’t been there since he was young. Fun fact: it was the 150th anniversary.

Everyone knows how historical this battle was in U.S. History, especially in the Civil War, but I didn’t know just how large (or how perfectly preserved) it is. We took a two-hour bus tour and we still didn’t see the entire thing. I think the most interesting part was how the survivors actually returned and built all of the monuments exactly where important events happened, so the fields have these statues throughout the miles of history.

I think another story that really stood out to me was how many people died AFTER the battle simply because they’d walk across the fields and leftover ammunition would explode and/or injure someone. They also believe up to 1,000 bodies of Confederate soldiers are left in the fields. Crazily enough, they found one of these bodies partially unburied in the 1960’s–over one hundred years later.

National Soldier Cemetery

Another part of Gettysburg is where every Union soldier was buried. There are more memorials for certain groups, and this one was New York’s:

Hershey Park

I LOVE roller coasters, so two of my cousins, my uncle, my aunt, my dad, and I went to the amusement park that smells like chocolate! There were lots of roller coasters, but I think my favorite was Storm Runner or Sky Rush. Lots of fun. Lots of chocolate.

Finally

We headed home after a couple of days, and this was the sunset we were met on an Indiana highway.

Basically

I had a really good time visiting my family in the state I was born in. I regret to say that the reason for our trip was a death in the family. My grandmother, L. Noreen Thompson, passed away July 13, 2013. She was a wonderful woman, and I’m proud to be a part of her lineage. Below is the last family photo I was able to be a part of. You might recognize it from a previous post since I shared it November, 2012, but I wanted to share it again, because–although it doesn’t have the entire family in it–it was the last time I saw my grandmother, and the photo means a lot to me!