Heading back home--June 27

Sunday morning after gorging on the breakfast buffet at the hotel, we packed the car to begin the trek home. All weekend John had been mulling over whether to visit Saratoga Battlefield, which was only about 30 minutes away. I actually encouraged him, (a big surprise, I know, considering I've had my fill of battlgrounds). But, I also knew it may be that we are never in this neck of the woods again, so he might as well take advantage of the proximity.

It was very interesting, not the battlefield, but the fact that a couple were getting married right outside of the museum. As Abbey, Elijah and I watched the bride and flower girl come in, Abbey remarked, "That's what I'm going to be, a flower girl. And Elijah is going to be the ring borrow!"

We watched a film, rather John watched. Elijah was feeling quite whiny and not at all interested, so I walked around with him.

They had period clothes for the kids to try on. Abbey really enjoyed this part:

Elijah... not so much

Then we rode around the battlefield. John was very considerate and did the fastest tour of Saratoga on record. I was in awe of the beauty. There was all types of wildflowers every where you looked. It was absolutely gorgeous. We skipped church with our friends in order to get a jump on our travels, but I can say that I surely "had church" as I praised Him for his beautiful creation. 

It's hard to see, but this deer was pretty close to the road, and didn't mind at all that I was taking her picture

The Hudson River

After Saratoga, we began our trip home in earnest. We drove for quite a while and encountered awful traffic in Maryland. It was stop and go for over an hour. John wasn't enjoying the traffic, and the kids definitely weren't enjoying being in the carseats for six hours with only a few short stops. Finally, we got to our hotel in Maryland and felt we all deserved a reward. That meant ice cream for the kids and Starbucks for us! Abbey was extremely disappointed that the pool had already closed. I was too, she really needed to get some energy out!

After a good nights sleep, we resumed our travels. John has always wondered what "Stonewall Jackson's
Shrine" was, so we stopped. We discovered that this was the place where Stonewall Jackson was taken after he was shot, and where he later died. We went in the house and the park ranger was giving a talk that sounded rather interesting (what I could hear of it). Elijah wasn't having anything to do with being a good listener, so I took them outside. It was about a million degrees, but I figured they really needed to stretch their legs.

Outside of the house where Stonewall Jackson died

Always one to stop and blow the dandelions

Back in the car, a few hours later, we saw a welcome sight---

Home again, home again!!!