Gettysburg!
I was back at the 'Burg again on the 3rd. And it was fun.
Better yet, I was paid to be there. :-)
Late last week, Andrew asked me to fill in as his backup guide for a teacher's tour of Gettysburg. His parents (Susan & Tim) were acting as the civilian guides for the tour, but he was going to be flying in from New Mexico at 5 that morning and was not sure he was going to make the tour! The offer of twice my normal daily pay made this an easy choice...
So, I got up very early on the 3rd and met up with the tour; then helped with the orentation during the 90-minute drive north-west. Andrew did make it, so I became his backup fact-checker and 'trained guide' (Andrew, Susan & Tim, aka "Team Dangel," are all trained teachers, but only I had ever lead tours before). My other primary job was to make sure we didn't lose any of our score of teachers from across the country to the high heat. And it was a fun day - Andrew ran point most of the day (amazingly), with myself as the occasional counterpoint and dead-air filler. When we hit a spot that their areas of interest covered - Civilians for Susan and Medical for Tim - they would take over briefly before Andrew and I would resume.
Also, we were quite pleased to find Tim Orr at the Visitor's Center; he is still one of the Marylanders and we hope to get together with him before the month is out; after which he shall return to school to finish his doctorate. What Tim will do with this plethora of education he's got, I have no idea... but I'm guessing he's aiming for tenure at some Ivy League school. Andrew and I made sure to chat with him a bit before & after the tour.
I suppose the amusing moment of the tour was when the third teacher asked me why I was with the tour; my late addition meant that the packet all the teachers had gotten made no mention of me! I ended up telling folks who I was & why I was there while we drove through the G'Burg campus. Talk about amusing.
Oh, and I got to exercise my Ike knowledge as well, from those long-past years at the Ike Farm! I can't tell you how pleased I was to get to exercise that mental muscle. And that it was still there...
I have a few photos - I'll try to find time to post 'em with captions about what is going on. Most, I fear, are of Team Dangel doing their stuff...
Better yet, I was paid to be there. :-)
Late last week, Andrew asked me to fill in as his backup guide for a teacher's tour of Gettysburg. His parents (Susan & Tim) were acting as the civilian guides for the tour, but he was going to be flying in from New Mexico at 5 that morning and was not sure he was going to make the tour! The offer of twice my normal daily pay made this an easy choice...
So, I got up very early on the 3rd and met up with the tour; then helped with the orentation during the 90-minute drive north-west. Andrew did make it, so I became his backup fact-checker and 'trained guide' (Andrew, Susan & Tim, aka "Team Dangel," are all trained teachers, but only I had ever lead tours before). My other primary job was to make sure we didn't lose any of our score of teachers from across the country to the high heat. And it was a fun day - Andrew ran point most of the day (amazingly), with myself as the occasional counterpoint and dead-air filler. When we hit a spot that their areas of interest covered - Civilians for Susan and Medical for Tim - they would take over briefly before Andrew and I would resume.
Also, we were quite pleased to find Tim Orr at the Visitor's Center; he is still one of the Marylanders and we hope to get together with him before the month is out; after which he shall return to school to finish his doctorate. What Tim will do with this plethora of education he's got, I have no idea... but I'm guessing he's aiming for tenure at some Ivy League school. Andrew and I made sure to chat with him a bit before & after the tour.
I suppose the amusing moment of the tour was when the third teacher asked me why I was with the tour; my late addition meant that the packet all the teachers had gotten made no mention of me! I ended up telling folks who I was & why I was there while we drove through the G'Burg campus. Talk about amusing.
Oh, and I got to exercise my Ike knowledge as well, from those long-past years at the Ike Farm! I can't tell you how pleased I was to get to exercise that mental muscle. And that it was still there...
I have a few photos - I'll try to find time to post 'em with captions about what is going on. Most, I fear, are of Team Dangel doing their stuff...