Baseballs and Battlefields

Yesterday Greg and I returned from a WONDERFUL trip to Pennsylvania and Baltimore! I worked a half day on Wednesday, August 4, and then we took off. We drove to Zanesville, Ohio (about an hour past Columbus) for the night, and then made it to Gettysburg on Thursday. It was so fun to see my Mississippi friends Angie and Matt, and to meet their little guy, Benjamin. Angie and Matt took us to a Gettysburg staff cookout that evening, and it was fun to meet their nice co-workers. Angie and Matt have a beautiful home about 20 miles from Gettysburg, and they were nice enough to let us stay with them. Ben originally called Greg "The Man," but by the end of the trip he was calling him "Reg." :-) It was so cute!

On Friday Matt had to work, and Angie was taking care of Ben, so Greg and I headed to Baltimore to do some exploring. Our first stop was Fort McHenry--birthplace of "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was so beautiful there in Baltimore Harbor! It was really hot outside, but we had a wonderful sea breeze to cool us off. I love visiting Fort McHenry--it is a very patriotic place, and it is inspiring to see the circumstances surrounding Francis Scott Key's authorship of our national anthem. It's always neat to see an American flag flying, but there's just something extra special about seeing a flag over Fort McHenry.

After the fort, we went downtown for a late lunch. The hardest part was finding a place to park, but once we got that out of the way, we went to Phillips Seafood--right smack in the middle of the harbor. This was the view from our table! At one point a pirate ship sailed by, but I didn't have a chance to whip out my camera. There was literally a pirate standing there on the deck of the boat. It must have been some kind of kids' thing. He looked like Jack Sparrow.

But even better than the view was the FOOD!! Greg and I had the most amazing crab cakes ever. I have literally never tasted anything so delicious. There were large chunks of crab in said cake, and it was seasoned and cooked to perfection. It was so good!!

After our divine meal, we headed over to CAMDEN Yards for the Baltimore Orioles baseball game! Isn't that cool that Camden has a baseball stadium named after her?! Camden Yards is a beautiful park. I found it funny that not only does the park share my niece's name, but one of the streets bordering the park is "Eutaw Street" :-) Very appropriate. But they spelled it wrong--just kidding.

Greg and I got to the stadium early so we could hopefully get autographs from some of the players. We arrived just as the Chicago White Sox were starting their batting practice, so Greg and I camped out on the front row right by first base to watch. After a while I started not really paying attention, so I was just kind of looking off into the distance when Carlos Quentin came up to bat. He hit a foul ball, and all of a sudden I heard a White Sox coach yell "Look out!!!" Then a baseball smacked the wall right in front of me! It bounced off the wall, and the man standing by first base picked it up, nodded at me, and tossed it over our way. Luckily Greg was there--he reached up and caught the ball one-handed. It was so cool! One of the guys behind me said, "That makes it worth almost getting creamed in the head, right?" Ummmm, I guess so. :-) I watched more closely after that.

Angie and Matt came and met us at the stadium (they are big Orioles fans), and though Greg and I still love the Cardinals and Royals the most, the whole Orioles atmosphere was pretty contagious. It was an absolutely perfect evening for baseball. There was a nice breeze and a terrific sunset.

Greg and I managed to get one autograph--Bryan Roberts (#1). He's been injured for most of the season, but I think he's making a good comeback. He won the game for the Orioles with a walk-off home run last night. The Orioles have had a rough season so far, but they just got a new manager last week, and he seems to have kind of picked the team up. The game we went to was awesome. The Orioles ended up winning in the 10th inning--it was so exciting, and the crowd went crazy!

What better way to celebrate a victory than with fireworks? They had a really great fireworks show after the game. Luckily we had Matt and Angie in the car with us to help us get out of Baltimore--because it was quite tricky, but we made it. We took them to the metro station and then met back up with them at their house. It was a late but fun night!

Saturday was our Gettysburg day. Angie took us to see the amazing new Visitor Center (completed in 2008), which included a new movie and a huge museum. Then we met up with Matt and had lunch at the FARNSWORTH House Inn!!!! The inn is named in honor of Elon John Farnsworth--a distant relative of Mom's, so he's the closest person I have to a Civil War relative. Our common ancestor is Matthias Farnsworth--Mom's sixth-great grandpa and Elon's fourth-great grandpa. Elon Farnsworth was killed at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, just two days after being made a Brigadier General. It was really neat to have lunch at the inn named in his honor! And the food wasn't bad either--I had some delicious pork and sauerkraut with homemade mashed potatoes--yummy.

After lunch Angie and Ben showed us around the battlefield. Here we are at the Robert E. Lee monument, marking the center of the Confederate line where Pickett's Charge began. As you stand there and look out over that open field, up towards the position of the Union line (which included a lot of cannons), it is hard to imagine the courage it must have taken for those Confederate soldiers to charge. There was no protection for them--just open field. My favorite description of Pickett's Charge, which really seems to capture the essence of it, comes from William Faulkner's Absalom! Absalom! He said:

"For every Southern boy . . . there is the instant when it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863; the brigades are in position behind the rail fence; the guns are laid and ready in the woods; and the furled flags are already loosened to break out. And Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one hand, probably, and his sword in the other, looking up the hill waiting for Longstreet to give the word. And it's all in the balance, it hasn't happened yet. It hasn't even begun yet. It not only hasn't begun yet, but there is still time for it not to begin. . . . Yet it's going to begin, we all know that. We have come too far with too much at stake. And that moment doesn't need even a fourteen-year-old boy to think This time. Maybe this time with all this much to lose and all this much to gain: Pennsylvania, Maryland, the world, the golden dome of Washington itself to crown with desperate and unbelievable victory . . ."

As we stood there looking across the field, I thought about this quote.

That evening, Angie took Greg and me to Devil's Den, where Greg's ancestor, Pinckney Downie Bowles, fought with the 4th Alabama regiment of the Confederate Army. In this picture of Angie and me on top of Devil's Den, you can see Little Round Top behind us. Imagine being in the 4th Alabama, reaching the top of Devil's Den, and seeing that you were going to have to try and climb that hill--with guns and cannons pointed down at you! Yikes.

We then went up to the top of Little Round Top for a special ranger program called "Twilight on Little Round Top." One of the rangers Angie supervises was giving the program, and she was interested to hear what he said. It was great--especially the scenery! It was a beautiful evening. After the program Angie took us to dinner, and then we went back to the house. It was sad that it was our last evening together, but at least Greg and I knew we had chocolate waiting for us the next day.

We woke up the next morning and left Angie and Matt's to head to Hershey, Pennsylvania! Our destination was, of course, Chocolate World.

On our tour of Chocolate World, where they explain how Hershey's delicious chocolate is made, we learned what makes their chocolate just so tasty: it's the singing cows!

Here I am with the world's largest candy bar. We thought of bringing the world's largest candy bar back to Illinois to use as payment to Melissa for taking care of Lily while we were away (the Spikes were at a doggy hotel), but then we decided that might be a little too much chocolate! We still ended up bringing home a lot of chocolate though. It was quite the trick to keep it from melting.

We stayed that night in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, then yesterday morning we got up bright and early to head for Illinois. On our way home we stopped in Dayton, Ohio at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, but when we got there, we realized that we were kind of toured-out. This particular site was also located in the ghetto of Dayton, so we decided to just take a quick look around and then head on our way. It worked out well because we made it home in time for Greg to pick up the dogs, and we were able to spend a nice evening here together with the animal children. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was so much fun--especially to see Angie, Matt, and Ben!!!!

While we were vacationing, Sarah and Joel graduated with their DOCTORATE DEGREES from Clemson University! Congratulations to them on such a wonderful accomplishment! Mom and Dad are currently helping them move to Illinois, and Greg and I are excited to meet them all in Carbondale on Thursday. It will be wonderful to see everyone and to meet Baby Leo!

Civil War Adventures

Greg and I are very excited to embark on a Civil War adventure tomorrow! We are off to visit my fun Mississippi friends, Angie and Matt (and their little guy, Mr. Ben) who now both work at Gettysburg. I have to work tomorrow morning, but then tomorrow afternoon we'll drive to Ohio and arrive in Pennsylvania on Thursday. We are also excited for a Baltimore Orioles game with Angie and Matt on Friday! It should definitely be a good time. I have been to Gettysburg before (but it was in the winter, and it was FREEZING outside, so this will be a different experience), and this will be Greg's first visit. There will surely be many pictures to post when we return next week!

Speaking of freezing, we were doing the opposite of that today. It is SO HOT here! The heat index was 110 degrees this afternoon, and I tell you what--110 degrees and polyester pants do NOT make a good combination. I am going to wear only shorts on our vacation.

Dog Days of Summer

Today has been a bizarre day filled with dogs. It began when I first got to work and saw what looked like a giant pair of ears with little stubby legs running around. It was a French Bulldog named Brutus, and he was ADORABLE! A little later I saw a fluffy Pomeranian who looked just like Aunt Karalie's sweet little Cooper, who unfortunately passed away last week while I was at home :-( It made me happy and sad at the same time to see the little guy. He had a big puppy smile just like Cooper's.

Then I was in the office working on some things when one of the Living History volunteers came in and told me a disturbing tale. He said that he was in the house and overheard Ranger Kyle (my replacement starting October 1) saying this to a tour group (which included some very attentive children): "After the Lincolns left Springfield, they left their dog Fido here with some friends. One day Fido found a homeless man on the side of the road and went over to put his paws in the man's lap." [Keep in mind the attentive children.] "Then the homeless man pulled out a knife and STABBED Fido in the heart, and he bled to death. So, ladies and gentlemen, Lincoln's dog was assassinated before he was." Our Living History volunteer said that the children (and their parents) were mortified! Some of the kids looked like they were on the verge of tears. Now, I've heard a couple of stories about how Fido met his end, but you don't tell the kids about it! Kyle may have been hoping to elicit a laugh from the visitors with his assassination line, but nobody laughed. When Barbara learned of the situation, she asked Kyle to not include that story in his tour ever again.

Then this afternoon some visitors came into the Visitor Center and told the rangers that they had seen a distressed dog in a van with all of the windows rolled up in the parking lot. (It has been very hot outside all day.) So Barbara called me and asked me to go check on the dog while she looked for its owners. I went out to the parking lot and was looking in people's windows (which felt kind of criminal-ish, but it was for a good cause), but by the time I found the right van, Barbara had returned with the dog's owner. He opened the van and let the puppy out--she looked so hot and thirsty! The owner did not think he had done anything wrong, but Barbara explained to him that being in a hot car like that can kill a dog (or a person). The pup seemed happy to be out, and she got a nice drink of water. So all was well.

Homepage News

Today I pulled up the National Park Service homepage (nps.gov), and wham! There was my "Polygamy vs. Popular Sovereignty" program listed as one of the nation-wide park events for the day. It was quite a pleasant surprise. I expect that I'll have a pretty good crowd there today--not necessarily because of the program itself but because we have about a three-hour wait for tours right now, and people are looking for things to keep them busy. It has been a crazy busy day here!

Flash Floods and Pioneer Picnics

I had such a wonderful, relaxing, enjoyable trip to Utah! It is hard to have to come back to reality (aka work). I flew home to Utah on Monday, July 19. That evening Mom, Dad, Rich and I went over to Springville and had a nice visit with Grandpa Taylor and Cathy. My favorite thing was when someone called and asked if Cathy was there. Grandpa, who had answered the phone, said, "Are you wanting to talk with her or just find out if she's here?" :-) I'm glad that he still has his funny sense of humor! On Tuesday Mom and I went back over to Springville to check out the now world-famous S.O.S. Drug Store (made famous by a feature in the Country Living magazine). It was so cute! We also had a delicious lunch at the new Magleby's restaurant in Springville. And I got to see the Barrett girls that afternoon!

On Wednesday Mom and I went to the fun Blue Lemon Cafe in Alpine to have lunch with some very fun people I hadn't seen for a while. The food was delicious and the company was even better! I also received this neat post-birthday present from Aunt Karalie and Mom and Dad. It is a literal TIFFANY BOWL! Perfect for Tiffany Bowles. I have always had a special liking for things from Tiffany & Co., so this was a special present. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Karalie! On Thursday we got ready for our fun family trip to Southern Utah.

The Barretts left for St. George on Thursday, then Mom, Dad, Rich and I took off early Friday morning. After a tasty stop at the Cheese Factory in Beaver, it was off to Grandma's house in St. George! It was so nice to seen Grandma and Dick. Here's a picture of the girls :-) We had a nice visit there and then headed over to Zion National Park.


On our way to Zion, we found a place for Greg to work!






We had a fun dinner with the Barretts at Pioneer Lodge that evening. They have something for everyone on their menu. It was such a beatiful evening there in Springdale. Every time I go there, it brings back memories of all the fun trips we had there throughout my childhood.



After dinner we took a walk over to the Springdale cemetery to visit Aunt Elsa's, Uncle Calvin's, and Baby Calvin's graves. You have to admit that for a place of rest, this one has about as nice of a view as you can get! It was so beautiful and peaceful there at the cemetery, and the girls enjoyed putting flowers on Aunt Elsa's grave.



We had a nice evening at our favirote Zion Park Motel, and then got up bright and early on Saturday morning to head up the canyon. It was a nice, overcast morning which helped with the heat. We drove into the park, parked at the Visitor Center, and caught the shuttle up to the Narrows riverside trail. Here is the cute Barrett family along the way.

At the end of the trail, we decided to venture into the crystal clear river! Here are Lindy and Cam enjoying the cold, refreshing stroll.

And Dad (Grandpa to the girls) and Riley enjoyed it too!

Even Mom (Grandma) and Sid thought the river was fun!

We had fun looking for tadpoles, skipping rocks, and getting our picture taken together at the river. We were just missing Sarah, Joel, Eliza and Baby Leo! We met some very aggressive squirrels when we stopped for a little snack. It was such a fun hike!

Mom and I are still pro's at self-portraiture. When we returned from our hike, we had a delicious lunch at Mom's and my favorite Springdale restaurant: Oscar's! It was delicious as always. Our post-lunch plans included naps and then swimming.

We got the nap part in, but our swimming plans were changed by . . . this--a storm (actually more like a monsoon). It started thundering, then the lightning came, and then the RAIN. It POURED!!! They even issued a flash flood warning for the area. The motel parking lot bacame a river, and we could only imagine what this unusual storm had turned the Narrows into. We were grateful that we had gone up the canyon in the morning instead of the afternoon. It was a fun and exciting storm to watch.

Thankfully the storm ended just in time for the July 24 Pioneer Day picnic over in Rockville. After attending the picnic last summer, we decided that it should become a Taylor family tradition. I love being in Utah for Pioneer Day because they don't celebrate Pioneer Day in Illinois! Pioneer Day commemorates the arrival of Brigham Young and the first company of LDS Pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. And Rockville is an appropriate place for us to celebrate such a holiday because we have ancestors who lived there. As you can see, Sid loved the baked beans.

The perfect picnic ends with the perfect blue snow cone! It turned my mouth quite blue. In fact, my mouth was still blue the next morning--even after brushing my teeth numerous times. We also enjoyed the candy canon. The girls made a candy haul!

Since the weather had cleared, we were able to enjoy the pool after the picnic. The water was perfect!

Riley and Cam especially enjoyed catching some air in the pool. It was a perfect pioneer day!

On Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast, and went to church in Hurricane. Then it was time to head back to Orem. We did, however, have time to stop at Cove Fort for a fun picnic together. Sid was stylin' in her cool shades. We even enjoyed a fun pioneer-ish tour of the fort. Then we continued on home. What a fun trip we had! On Monday morning I hung out with Mom and Rich, then Dad came home from work early to take me up to the airport in Salt Lake with Mom. It was sad to leave Utah, but I'm grateful for the wonderful time I could spend with my family. The best part of the trip was just watching movies with Mom and seeing everyone there at home. It was such a great week! I arrived back in Springfield late Monday evening, and it was really hard to get up for work on Tuesday morning. But it's good to be here with Greg and the animal children. They have all been extra cuddly! (And it's been fun to be back with my friends at work!)