Gettysburg Weekend Part Three

 

Some bronze war dude watches the sunset

23 October 2021

As we drove closer to the Gettysburg battlefield, the sky got cloudier and cloudier. By the time Tom parked the car along the side of the road leading to the precipice, we had no hope for a sunset.

We could still take pictures of the sky, although we were about thirty seconds too late for the best of that. No matter. It was still spectacular. And very windy.

This was the most we saw of the sun:

From the car, we ordered takeout from a diner. When I went in to pick it up, I was the only one wearing a mask.

The hotel was quiet; all the Philly Bike Club people were out at the organized dinner. Tom lit on the idea to eat at a table by the indoor pool because nobody would be in there. Jim and TEW joined us to talk. Jack H and Dorothy were already in bed. It was 7:00.

By 8:00 I was back in my room. There's only so much packing one can do the night before one leaves. Our plan is to load the car tomorrow morning at 9:00 and be on the road for a short bike ride by 9:30. 

But right now, it's 9:11 p.m. and I'm moping around my hotel room with the blinds drawn. If this were Bar Harbor I could at least sit on the balcony and listen to the water, or go for a walk in the dark along the Shore Path, or root around for balcony spiders. 

In retrospect, the only reason to have made this trip this weekend was for the cheap hotel rates. We have participated in exactly none of the Fall Foliage Weekend organized activities. I've done little more than say "thank you" to other bikers who might have held the elevator door for me, which was maybe three times. The truth is, even without Covid in the air, I wouldn't have felt comfortable among the crowd of Spandexed strangers. I like small groups, like the five people I traveled here with.

So, yeah, the roads out here are primo cycling roads, but was it worth sitting in my hotel room for hours on end? No, it was not. 

Oh well. I still have a couple of Bar Harbor blogs to write. I guess I'll do that for a while, then read a book and go to bed.