History and Culture Awaits

Officially retired as of July 1st, our plan is to leave town around mid July, whether the house has been sold or not. Hopefully, with the yard sales and carefully packed storage unit behind us, we will be headed off to Pennsylvania. On this leg, we are bringing two of our grandsons with an interest in history. We trust that spending a few weeks with Popsie and G-mom will build many lasting memories. I know that Pam and I have wonderful memories of our grandparents. Since its a two-day trip down, they will get to experience 'lot-docking' overnight in a Walmart parking lot.

We plan to spend a week in the Lancaster area to learn and observe the culture of the Amish. Their simple lifestyle, without modern technology, leaves much to be desired. We're especially interested in learning about their covered bridges and functional furniture designs. I suspect that a buggy ride is in order too. While in this area we hope to visit with a dear friend. She will really enjoy the two boys, as they will remind her of their mother, who was about that same age when we first met.

We will them move about an hour over to the Gettysburg area. I plan to brush up on my Civil War history, as it relates to Gettysburg. We hope that the boys will see first-hand and understand the enormity of the Civil War as a part of this country's history. A war that cost this country 2% of it's population. I know that we're looking forward to horseback tours of some of the battlefields. This will be the first time the grandsons will be on a horse, so it will be interesting. The visitor guides are ordered so we can be prepared to experience as much as possible. Staying in the area for a week will also give us a few days of doing absolutely nothing and enjoying the lazy days of summer.

I am sure that the boys will enjoy the final leg of this journey as we visit Hershey Park. I look forward to touring the chocolate factory and sampling as much of the product as humanly possible. ;-) But the amazing amusement park will be the finale for them.

After the two-day trip back home, we will drop the boys at home and then spend two weeks making the final preparations for the next leg of this journey. Changing your living style from 3,000 to 300 square feet means that a lot of stuff gets left behind. It needs to be well thought out since a little over a month later we will be looking at the Pacific Ocean.