Tuesday, August 22 – We continued our tour of Gettysburg, PA, today but started our day in York, PA. York is the home of the Harley-Davidson Motor Cycle Company.
We arrived for the early tour but were disappointed to find out the plant was retooling for the new 2018 motorcycles and were only offering a modified tour. Dang! The only manufacturing we saw was the stamping of a front fender....LOL We did have a tour but instead of seeing actual production, there were video displays at stops along the factory floor showing what we would have seen during normal production. Disappointed but what can you do? Definitely call ahead on these factory tours to assure that production is taking place.
After our stop at the Harley plant, we headed down the road to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. The capital city was quiet. Guess the state government is on summer recess. The capitol building was open, so we took advantage of a “self-guided” tour. This building is very ornate. One of the prettiest capitol buildings we've seen.
The main dome area is the most beautiful area in the Capitol. Soaring over 6 stories from the ground floor, it is very ornate and beautifully done.
Looking up at the dome.
A close-up look of the top.
There is gold everywhere.
We visited the House of Representatives and the Senate Chamber. Of course, Marsha had to get a few photos of the ceilings. She just loves them.
House of Representatives.
The Senate Chamber.
After our visit to Harrisburg, we then returned to Gettysburg and our campground to cool off. The temperatures have topped 90 degrees the last couple days, and the humidity is also very high. We took a break until we had to leave for a ranger guided tour starting at 5 PM. Temperatures were still about 90 degrees. The tour was a 90-minute hike throughout the battlefield. It was intended to give the visitors an overview of the entire 3-day battle. Now this was a hike…up and down all those battle hills.
The ranger did a wonderful job explaining the battles that occurred over the three days of July, 1863. Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War with nearly 50,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action. The volunteer rangers do an amazing job helping the nearly 1.2 million annual visitors understand the significance of this battle in American history. Just a few photos of some of the battlefield.
We learned what all the symbols mean on the statues.
General Reynolds killed the first day of battle.
East Cemetery Hill
We had a memorable two days visit, so far, and look forward to the rest of the week here in Gettysburg. Stop back and enjoy a little history with us.
UPDATE ON OUR DAUGHTER IN HOUSTON: Carrie is doing great. She is back at work. Her apartment building has electric and water. She and her friends volunteered with thousands of others this weekend. Stay Houston Strong! Stay Texas Strong!
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.
