Dennis and I, along with my sister Patty and her husband Tim, just returned from a ten day, eight state vacation.  We started at the Biltmore Mansion in North Carolina, wound our way through Revolutionary War and Civil War sites, Colonial Williamsburg, Shenandoah National Park, Monticello, Mt. Vernon and the Chesapeake Bay.  It was an awesome journey.  At most of our stops we took guided tours, which I find the best way to learn history.  We even got lucky and witnessed a Navy Blue Angels’ air show at Annapolis.  It was amazing.

Three of us are history buffs and we loved learning about our country’s history through reliving the battles of Appomattox, Gettysburg, and Bull Run in the Civil War.  We learned how George Washington’s strategy and success defeated Lord Cornwallis at  Yorktown during the Revolutionary War, and life at Colonial Williamsburg.  I hope I can keep the details straight in my brain.

The Biltmore Mansion, Monticello, and Mt. Vernon were also very educational and beautiful.  I loved touring the houses, learning about the architecture, the gardens, and the history of the houses and the people who built them.

Dennis loves National Parks, so Shenandoah was one of his favorite stops.  We hiked the Stony Man Trail to a summit with amazing views.  On our way back, we took a different route and had a somewhat close encounter with two bears running down the hillside.  Fortunately, they weren’t interested in us, and we got some great pictures.  It was as close as I ever want to come to bears in the wild. Because we took a different trail back from the summit we ended up three miles from our car.  Patty flagged someone down, who happened to be a park employee, and she and Dennis rode with her to retrieve our car.   We got a lot of exercise that day!

It’s great to be home, but I’m already planning our next trip.  Dennis would love to go to Alaska!