From TX to MA via Gettysburg

To get from Houston to Cambridge (with our car), we decided to make a short stop in Dallas to see Matt and Natalie and their kids, meet up with Mark in the middle of Arkansas for dinner, go to church in Tennessee, then spend Rob's birthday visiting Gettysburg, PA, before finally ending the road trip.

View Trip from Houston to Cambridge in a larger map

So, about 1600 miles into our trip, we stopped for the morning and took a tour of the battlegrounds. 

If anyone is thinking about doing this (touring Gettysburg, not doing a crazy road trip), I highly recommend hiring one of the tour guides that will drive your car around and give you a personal tour of the sites.  For 2 people, it's about the same price as doing a generic bus tour, and for more than 2 people it's a steal.  

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863 and was the battle with the largest number of casualties (killed, wounded, or missing) in the Civil War.  It was really interesting to imagine how the battle progressed from day to day as we learned about how the landscape, communication (or lack thereof), and the different personalities involved shaped history.  

Our guide did a great job helping us understand and appreciate why these men were at war.  I'm grateful for their sacrifices, but it's so sad to think about the huge waste of life that was a result of that war.   Gettysburg is a very neat place.