Gettysburg, en route to Washington- Thursday, March 3, 2016

I finished packing early this morning in a very grumpy mood (mainly from not getting enough sleep the last two nights).  McDonald's wasn't open yet.  The buses were late getting to school.   Burger King was so slow getting us through that I didn't bother filling my drink because I wasn't going to have time to drink it.  The Wi-fi on the bus isn't working.  But here I am on a bus with 8th graders, headed to Washington again.  yay.  

When we got to Gettysburg, I actually snuck away from the group.  While they went to the movie and the Cyclorama at the Visitor's Center, I went to the gift shop and the museum.  I bought a couple of DVDs there.  I figure I've only gone through the museum here twice (but they were two significant times-- the day it opened and the 150th anniversary of the first day of the battle).  I didn't spend long there because I didn't want to hold up the group when they were ready to go on the bus tour.

I think I heard that this was our battlefield guide's first tour.  He actually knew his stuff well, but he was way to "official" in his delivery.  He seemed to give us the same spiel every group gets, and didn't tailor his presentation to the fact that we were 8th graders or to our Western New York viewpoint.  The guy last year did both and was much better.  We got off the bus at Reynolds's Woods (which actually was a pretty good choice for a "Day 1" stop), the Virginia Memorial, the "Eisenhower Power Tower" and Little Round Top.  Then it was off to General Pickett's for a buffet for dinner.  mostly nachos, mac &cheese, & brownies for me.   They were all good, but I think I appreciated the Diet Pepsi the most. 

The hotel is in Tyson's Corners, Virginia this time.  Wi-Fi costs $12.95 per day, so this isn't getting posted until I can get to a free spot again.  Dave P. is my roommate, and we watched the end of the Republican Debate after we got the kids taped in.