Since my last post, we made Catoctin Mountain National Park in northern Maryland our base of operations for three days. It is not far from Gettysburg, PA where we visited the battlefield park two years ago, but not Eisenhower National Historic Site where President Eisenhower had a farm when he retired. We drove up and took a tour of the farm before returning to the battlefield area for a tour of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in the evening followed by TAPS at the Soldiers' Monument. It was a pleasant visit except for the motorcycle rally going on a short distance away.
Saw mill exhibit next to our campground.
An early morning hike from Catoctin Mountain Park visitor center to Cunningham Falls was very pleasant with no other visitors out on the trail.
Eisenhower farmhouse
wallpaper in the farmhouse with all of the state seals
view from the farmhouse
Gettysburg Address memorial
National Soldiers' Monument at Gettysburg National Cemetery
Between Catoctin Mountain Park and Gettysburg is the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg and the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton next door.
9/11 Memorial sculpture
We took some time to visit a few covered bridges in Frederick County, Maryland.
And this one near the Eisenhower farm (also used by retreating soldiers after the Battle of Gettysburg):
Our next major destination was Johnstown, Pennsylvania for the Luther Reunion (Brian's mother's family). We rented a 7-passenger SUV and drove the Baltimore, MD to pick up son, Mark, and his family at the airport and bring them to Johnstown. With time on our hands in Baltimore, we made a visit to Fort McHenry National Monument on a very hot afternoon. (Another fort! but a different war.) We didn't have time to wait for the changing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" later that day because we needed to get out of the city before rush hour (we ended up in bad traffic anyway).
A delayed flight from Houston made for a late night - we managed to get all seven of us, car seats, our cooler, backpacks and luggage into the SUV, but it was almost midnight when we made it to the motel and got some tired kids into bed. In the morning we drove through western Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Ariceli (age 3) kept saying "I see mountains." It does look quite different from Houston.
Once back in Johnstown, Brian's mother saw the kids for the first time in 3 years. They call her "Grandma Grape" because four years ago, Logan couldn't pronounce "Grandma Great" and the name has been used ever since. We had a mini-reunion of Kissells that evening.
Brian's mother and four Kissell cousins who haven't been together in years.
One of Brian's cousins from Michigan happened to be in town.
The Kissell clan
Ice cream on the porch at Arbutus Manor - a family tradition.
REUNION DAY:
About 85 Luther relatives gathered in Johnstown for potluck lunch, games, and visiting. We didn't take any pictures because Brian was acting as president this year and I was watching the kids play games. Our daughter-in-law, Krystal, caught most of the action on her phone.
After some downtime at the hotel for naps and swimming, we made a trip down "memory lane." We stopped at the cemetery to the gravesite of Brian's father and grandparents, dinner at a favorite restaurant, Kissell Lane, waiting for fireflies on the porch with Grandma Great, and a trip up the Inclined Plane to see the lights of the city below.
Our 5 year old grandson, Caleb Dean, has been curious about his namesake great-grandfather Dean Kissell. He wanted to leave sometime on the headstone so we placed the U.S. flag pins
the kids were wearing that I bought at Fort McHenry.
The bench at Arbutus Park dedicated to Dean Kissell
a street at Arbutus Park that was renamed a few years ago
Caleb
Krystal and Mark catching fireflies, the kids are way off at the end of the parking lot.
As we were waiting for an uphill-bound car on the Inclined Plane (steepest in the world, the sign said), a carload of Luther cousins was coming down.
Again, we didn't take any more pictures, but I'll bet there are a few on Krystal's phone.
There were a few peaceful moments.
Celi liked Grandma Grape's magnifying glass
Silly picture time
Our son, Mark, and his grandmother.
On the day after the reunion, we loaded everyone up and headed to Pittsburgh to a motel so we would be closer to the airport for the kids to fly back to Houston in the morning. We made a stop at Buttermilk Falls on the way and had a picnic. It is on the land that belonged to Fred Rogers' grandfather McFeely where he used to explore as a kid. There is a platform we could walk on behind the falls. This was the first time our grandkids saw a waterfall.
Krystal and the kids behind the falls
Buttermilk Falls, Indiana County, PA
Thinking of Dean Kissell on July 20 (the day of the reunion)
After dropping Mark and family off at the airport (we won't see them again until October when we return to Houston), Brian and I took advantage of a break in the rain for a quick trip into downtown Pittsburgh to Point State Park at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers where the Ohio River begins. We walked across the Allegheny on a pedestrian bridge to the fountain at the "point." We found a large sculpture of Fred Rogers overlooking the river.
crossing the Allegheny River, Pittsburgh
looking over to Point State Park, Pittsburgh
looking downstream from the beginning of the Ohio River
Mr. Rogers
We made a brief trip to stay at the cabin of a cousin and camp one night at Prince Gallitzin State Park about an hour from Johnstown.
the Campbell cabin
Jim led us on a nice ramble through some of the 100 acres of the property.
Brian with his cousin, Janet, and her husband Jim Campbell
Prince Gallitzin State Park
The view from Headache Hill, Prince Gallitzin State Park.
We climbed up a set of stairs to the top of a water storage tank on top of the hill.
Seen while geocaching (not much caching done during the past week):
A nice hike at Prince Gallitzin State Park to find geocaches placed
by park personnel.
The geocache logbook of a cache hidden by Jim Campbell
