Deer Hollow: Gettysburg/DC Trip

We sure had a great visit with Brady and Dani and those two adorable children of theirs!! Leisa was lucky enough to celebrate her big 50 and it was sweet! This post will sumarize our trip.

It's a little on the long side...

Liam had helped his mom make a delicious cake and it was on the table waiting for us when we got to their home! It was complete with trick candles and a rockin Nana playmobile figure ;)

The next day the birthday celebration began with a delicious breakfast of crepes!

Mark and Brady picked up Mark's rental bike and we were off to Gettysburg for their much anticipated century ride! That evening we celebrated Nana's birthday with a scrumptious birthday dinner at The Dobbin House Tavern. The food was wonderful and we really enjoyed our time together. They presented her with a stack of wonderful birthday wishes from family and friends.

ooohh...those crab cakes were amazing!

Liam and his chicken bones...isn't he the cutest little four year old? He keeps us smiling.

The Pecan Pie was the best we have ever tasted!

A little time for splashing in the hotel pool and we were ready to hit the hay.

The Ride

Mark and Brady loved every minute of the Gettysburgh Civil War Century ride. After days of torential rain - the clouds parted and the day could not have been more perfect!

tuning up the bikes

all smiles and they are off...across the filed of dreams, as Mark put it :)

The starting point.

The Fair

Meanwhile, Nana, Dani and the kids headed off to York to visit a Pewtar Outlet and and the York County Fair - the oldest Fair in the US. We had a wonderful day!

There were cookies to decorate and gobble up...

The cotton candy was on the top of Liam's wish list.

The petting zoo was wonderful and we played with so many cute animals.

Elsie is smitten with horses.

Up close they are little big big for her :)

The animals were beautiful...the barns smelled of sweet hay.

Little by little the cotton candy bag shrunk down...

As you can see by the look on Liam's face...the dragon roller coaster was not his cup of tea!

The Nemo ride was a much better fit!

and back on the road....

Mark's thoughts:

We began the ride in a sweet little country town and then began the day of climbing. Most of the climbs were along mountain passes lined with trees. We rode in the canopy of trees most of the day except when we would break out into pastoral areas of green rolling hills and farmland. The road pavement was smooth as taffy the whole day. We passed civil war monuments frequently and from the comfort of 21st century bikes considered what it would have been like to march with our muskets in the sun, dust and humidity to the next bloody battlefield. Those thoughts made the ardorous task of climbing 6900 feet emotionally easy. Brady was amazing. He had not ridden much this summer. At one point he said, refering to riding farther than he had all year, "well Sam Gamgee has just left the Shire".

We rode with 1600 other riders, but in actuality rode and hit the rest stops with about 150 others that we leap frogged all day long. Including one grey-haired woman on a mountain bike that kept catching up with us. Her bike was decked out with bell and all. The mantra of the day soon became "whatever we do today we are beating her to the finish".

Riding into Gettysburg was a highlight. We rode into the park and past Confederate Lane, the peach orchard, the wheat field and to the base of Little Roundtop. We then exited the park and circled the back side of Little Roundtop and headed for home. The last 25 miles was rolling hills past rivers, over covered bridges and through beautiful farm land. We rode fast through that section passing many other riders and put a lot of distance between us and the road bike woman.

Seeing our family at the finish made a great day fantastic.

Waiting for our guys...

A few weeks ago, Liam decided Elsie's bangs were way too long and he took matters into his own hands. Not a pretty thing for mom to find. Thankfully he left her adorable curls alone. Hair will grow and she is still the most adorable little girl you will meet. Just as sweet as they come!

We played at the playground until we saw them come flying around the corner! They made it!!

A happy reunion and stories to share and the most delicious ice cream for eveyone!!

Mount Vernon

The fun continued. Long nights chatting, the cat mimicking game on Nana's tablet and a lots of great food! On sunday we drove out to Mount Vernon and enjoyed a beautiful fall day visiting the grounds. Lucky for us there was a reinactment going on commemorating the battle of York.

We really enjoyed the beauty and serenity felt there. It was nice to be reminded our rich history and the amazing people who formed our country. On Monday we were winding down and had to pack our bags to come home. We made a stop at the new Martin Luther King Memorial. What an inspiring place. We discussed our thoughts and made claim to our favorite quotes engraaved along the giant wall. There is so much we can learn from each other. So very much.