33 - 44 - 66 NPS Trip

33 states/3 provinces in 45 days and 66 National Parks.

12,706 miles What a trip!

I'll be posting a final epilogue as I sort through the best pictures, adding a page with some of Wanda's best pictures and finish the "best of..." , nature photo & NPS stamp pages.

...but for those who have been checking in from time to time or anyone new to the blog, I've gone back to edit many of the days - adding pictures ( alot of Wanda's ) from when I was running behind.

So please check back over the next few weeks... check out any days you missed - just click on a day from the Archive. Click on any picture to enlarge it and a 2nd time for more magnification . The trip begins at June 19.

School is starting so it may be a few weeks or so until I finish.

Thanks for following . ChayR

P.S. Nov. 27, 2010 - I've finished going back editing all the days with additional pictures and commentary, finished the Special Nature Photos and "Best of ..." and NPS Passport Stamps pages and added the " How We Did It" page at the top of the blog. I'm still adding to Wanda's pics so check back later. JR

We had such great weather for our trip until we got back east and then had a couple days of rain and the last night at Cobb Island, we put on long pants and sweatshirts when we were outside after supper.

It was drizzling when we left Cobb Island and crossed the Potomac River Bridge on US 301.Wanda doesn't like high bridges so I couldn't get her to take any pictures of it as we crossed.

The power plant is right along the highway and the river,

The 32nd state counting Wash. DC. We had plans to drive into NJ when we were in Delaware but after we didn't do the Mason-Dixon line hike, we decided we didn't need to spend the hour to drive to Jersey. We've both been there and we can count DC as a state. ( my students think it is)

We didn't spend much time at George's Birthplace. The only things that are original are the family graveyard and the foundations of some of the original houses.

We looked at the small visitor center with some artifacts dug up on the property and a few exhibits and got our NPS Stamps & postcards.

I've taken Wanda to a number of Civil War sites in the last few years and she's been reading many books from my CW library so we followed the battlefield trail of the 7 Days battles of 1862. We stopped at 5 visitor centers as part of the Richmond Nat'l Battlefield.

Cold Harbor was the site of one of the battles of 1862 but is best known for the slaughter of Union troops in 1864 where Grant sent his soldiers

against entrenched Confederate troops and lost 7,000 in less than an hour.

The lines of trenches are remarkably well preserved. Most of these were dug by hand, literally. The troops used tin cups, plates, canteen halves - anything to move dirt for protection.

The Glendale/Malvern Hill VC is the Admin. Building of the National Cemetery.

Wanda questioned why there are no national cemeteries for the southern troops. The ranger told her that most were removed to local cemeteries like Hollywood or Oakwood in Richmond.

Malvern Hill was the last battle of the Seven Days. The Confederate troops attacked up the hill into one of the largest assemblies of massed cannons in the war. " A splendid field of fire" as one of the Union Generals put it.

I had not been to Chimborazo before, site of the largest Confederate hospital in the war.

The scale was enormous, the bakery produced something like 10,000 loaves of bread per week.

The exhibits showed a variety medical stuff : the surgeons instruments & uniforms and ghoulish things like pictures and

descriptions amputations.

For about 3 miles we drove along Battlefield Park Rd. which had a number of small forts and long lines of trenches very well preserved.

Fort Harrison was one of the larger earthen forts that had been built to defend Richmond.

a pretty neat little Visitor Center

The fort covers about the size of a football field

and the earthen walls are still about 15' high.

Tredegar Iron Works is in downtown Richmond along the James River and a few of the original buildings are used by the NPS and a privately owned Civil War museum.