Results from the Trip Back East

This was a whirlwind trip, primarily to visit relatives. First to Durham, NC to visit Phil's 94-year-old mother. She's almost blind, but sharp as a tack. She listens to a lot of books on tape, and that really seems to help her.


Also in Durham is Phil's favorite niece, Joanna, and favorite brother, Dennis. We went to an outdoor concert and were amazed by this beautiful sunset.


Next, on to Northern Virginia, where I used to live. My son still lives in the area, and I got to see him in a softball game. I still think of him playing T-ball!


He is quite the wine connoisseur, and brought out this 1949 bottle just for me. Tasted really good for such an old wine ;-))


Then on Pennsylvania to visit my father. He's an excellent photographer, but it's hard to get him to smile for a picture. This shot is nothing short of a miracle.

I also got to visit with my one-and-only cousin, Linda, her husband Terry, and my Aunt Bea, but alas I got no picture.


My father lives near the Gettysburg National Military Park, which encompasses just about the entire town of Gettysburg, PA, and it's surroundings. It was the site of the battle that was the turning point of the American Civil War.


There are hundreds of monuments and memorials in the area, but the largest one is the Pennsylvania Memorial, which lists the names of each of the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers who participated in the battle.


My great-grandfather, David Wolf, was among them.



In the museum is this "Battle of Gettysburg" cyclorama, which attempts to show the horrors of this terribly bloody war. An unbelievable number of young American men, 620,000, died in the war. Two-thirds of those were from disease or other non-combat deaths, but they were still gone.


I'm now back west of the Mississippi, in Iowa. We visited Phil's sister, Peggy, and her puppy, Sam, shown here is last year's picture.


Wow! Sam has really grown! He's now 95 lbs, and I don't think he's done yet.


And Phil celebrated his big 63rd birthday at his sister's. She made him all his favorite foods.