January 2

Since tomorrow's forecast calls for rain, Adam woke the rest of us up this morning at the bright and early hour of 7:30 so we could take a little side trip. Grandma wasn't up yet so I left her a vague note to say that we'd gone "on an adventure" and would return later. Following sustenance stops at Starbucks (because duh, no one wants to go on a car trip with un-coffee'd me) and McDonalds, we headed north on the highway toward Gettysburg. After traversing miles of farmland and passing the Mason Dixon line, we crossed into Pennsylvania and, just a few minutes later, arrived at the visitors' center, where we took a break with Abe Lincoln (see pic) before Brady and Isaac happily added stamps to their National Park Passports.

While inside, we watched a short documentary on the Battle of Gettysburg and then experienced the Cyclorama before sauntering through the museum (where we found the flag in the collage).

Then we were off to visit some of the notable locations and monuments. Although there's a well-marked and detailed auto tour available, we had limited time, so we hit just a few spots, including Cemetery Hill (see the boys with the cannon), Little Round Top (center and lower left), and The Pennsylvania State Monument, which we were amused to discover features a statue of Alfred Pleasonton, the namesake for our little town in California (the two on the right).

From there we hit the highway bound for mom's house so she and Harvey could join us for lunch at their pick: Cheesecake Factory. We had a pleasant mid-afternoon meal before returning to grandma's house for the night. I was amused when my jovial grandma, who was sitting in her usual spot in the family room, turned and, with a sly grin on her face, pointed a finger in my direction and cooed that she knew where we'd gone on our adventure. She confessed that though my aunt told her where we went (courtesy of a few Facebook posts I made), she had guessed either Gettysburg or Harper's Ferry. And, of course, she was right.

I'm certainly tired, but I'm also grateful that we were blessed with the opportunity to share some history with our kiddos and to spend more time with family.