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We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.

Last year the kids and I visited the four battlefields of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP over a two month period. After doing so, we decided we needed to visit Gettysburg NMP in the near future. The battles around Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania were at the beginning of May, 1863 and some of the troops who fought there then headed north to fight at Gettysburg, which occurred over three days at the beginning of July, 1863.

We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.
Soldier’s National Monument in the cemetery

We decided to go in the fall, but weren’t able to go until the last week of October. We’d originally planned to go the week before, but I’d gotten mixed up on the date of a field trip with one of our homeschool groups, and we had to reschedule our road trip.

We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.
Each Union state that had soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg has a section in the cemetery. The headstones are arranged in a semi-circle around the Soldier’s National Monument that you can see at the top of this post. Not all who died here are buried here, just a representative number.

Going in the off-season was great, but when we return, and we will, since we didn’t get to see it all, it won’t be so late in the season. I think if we’d gone when we’d originally planned, we’d have been fine (the weather was gorgeous the week before), but the last week of October in Pennsylvania was cold and windy.

We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.

The park itself is free to enter, but several of the tours cost money, as do the cds for the audio auto tour. We only made it part way through the auto tour, so when we go back we’ll finish it and do a tour or two.

Before we started the auto tour, we visited all the required locations for the Junior Ranger program, including a ranger-led tour of the cemetery. Sunshine helped River complete his packet, so he received his patch, though I think he needed a little more time before he’s ready to do more Junior Ranger programs. At the time, he had just turned 4, so he was on the young side. This summer he’ll be almost 5 and better able to stay focused. Sunshine was 5 when she started doing Junior Ranger programs, though we definitely helped her a lot in the beginning.

We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.
Sunshine and River talking to the ranger about their packets, with Ocean wanting to be part of it

I was super busy before the trip, so I didn’t have time to do a lot of prep work before we left, so I hadn’t realized that the Eisenhower National Historic Site is next to Gettysburg NMP and can only be accessed through a paid tour and shuttle bus. We discovered this while at the visitor’s center, and it’s one thing we’ve already added to our to-do list when we return.

We stayed at Gettysburg Farm RV park, which is about 20 or so minutes from Gettysburg. Not the closest RV park, but we didn’t have to pay to stay there, so we weren’t being too picky.

When we bought our RV, a year’s membership in Thousand Trails was included, which allows us to stay at certain RV campgrounds for free. We’re limited in how long and how often we can stay in those certain campgrounds, but we can upgrade our membership to remove those restrictions. We have several trips planned for the spring and summer to try to take full advantage of the membership benefits, but we won’t extend it once the year is up. The membership is a bit pricey for where we are right now, i.e., not traveling full time and tied down by obligations at home so we aren’t camping as much as we’d like. If we had more flexibility to our schedule, I could see it being a valuable option, but we’re not there yet. If it sounds like something you’d like to invest in, use my link and receive a discount on an annual camping pass.
We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.
one of the larger monuments that can be seen along the first part of the auto tour

Like a lot of RV campgrounds, the spots aren’t large, though we’ve stayed in campgrounds that were more cramped. They had farm animals, a mini golf set-up, a couple playgrounds, and more. The kids were able to do a little exploring, but not nearly as much as they wanted, so they’re looking forward to returning and making full use of the facilities.

We've been visiting Civil War battlefields and there's still several on our must-see list. We recently crossed destination: Gettysburg off our list. Read about our visit to Gettysburg (and why we need to return soon) at ouradventuringfamily.com.
and we can’t forget President Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address

Have you been to Gettysburg? Is there anything we should add to our must-see list when we return this year?

Want to take a road trip, but don’t own an RV? Skip the big corporate rental companies and rent from someone local. Look on RVShare or Outdoorsy to find a rig that will work for you and your family.

The last week of October in Pennsylvania was cold and windy. Still, we had been visiting several Civil War battlefields, and it was time to see this one. More at ouradventuringfamily.com.