The National Apple Festival

Fi tasting an apple. Delicious!

 Today (6 October) we visited The National Apple Festival at a town called Biglerville (near Gettysburg) - a 45 minute drive from Carlisle.  It was similar to a Tenterfield or Murgon Show but without the rides. There were lots of craft and food stalls and anything and everything to do with Apples!.  I enjoyed a non-Alcoholic Apple Daiquiri! The Festival provided us with an insight of rural America - we stood out from the majority!


Dougal and Ben catching the school bus to the Festival

Autumn has arrived at 504 Belvedere St, Carlisle.

Lotsa apples!

Making wooden shingles

Picking apples!

Fi's new PINK chariot!

Ben & Fi tasting Pumpkin Fennel Pie

The engine powering the saw cutting the shingles

Pumpkin Fennel Pie = similar to a doughnut

Gettysburg Battlefield on bicycles!

Who are the devils in Devils Den?

Mikey Young (US friend) travelled up from Washington DC and spent 21/22 September with us.  We decided on cycling around the Gettysburg Battlefield, a 45 min drive from Carlisle.  A relatively flat easy ride. The Autumn weather was perfect for cycling!

Ben leaning against a "Drunk man's fence".

Ferg trying to figure out how he could use a cannon!

The view looking out from Little Round Top (Union position)

Looking out across to Seminary Ridge, where the Confederates held position.

Picnic lunch with Mikey, at Little Round Top - magnificent views out across to Seminary Ridge

Mikey, Fi, Dougal looking out from the Pennsylvania Memorial

Pennsylvania Memorial (Union position)

A typical barn around Gettysburg (and drunk man's fencing)

Here we are cycling across an open field where "Pickett's Charge" (the last Confederate assault of the 3 day battle), occurred July 3, 1863.



"Copse of Trees", some 7000 Union soldiers posted here and repulsed the bulk of the 12 000 man "Pickett's Charge", against the Confederates.  Total casualties (killed, wounded, captured and missing) for the 3 days of fighting were 23 000 for the Union army and as many as 28 000 for the Confederate Army.



The James family atop of Pennsylvania Memorial (Union position)

Shipwreck party at The US Army War College

 The US Airforce and Navy celebrated their birthdays on Friday called the "Shipwreck party".  Here are Ben and a fellow US seminar colleague, Robert.  I understand Robert is pretty handy on the softball field.

Ben and Robert

Ferg and Charlie (Poland)

Fergus and Charlie

Tashina (India), Fi, Sarah (UK)

Veronique (Poland), Libby (Canada), Andrea (Chile), Dougal

Pumpkins!

Corn for sale

 Today (22 Sept) is the first day of Fall (Autumn) and one of the traditions is to decorate your home with Pumpkins!  We stopped by this roadside stall - we have never seen so many different varieties of pumpkin of varying sizes!

Daddy Punkin

Look at all the pumpkins!

Punkin smile!

The road side stall

Daddy Punkin!

Who's that Punkin?

Witches warts.....ugly!

Life in Carlisle and at the War College

A couple of shots here to show you how things are going in Carlisle and at the War College.

 Softball is the summer sport at the College and we play in Seminar Teams.  Some of the US students take it pretty seriously - pull out their old baseball outfits and, of course, offer plenty of tips.  Some of the IF's are still coming to terms with the game - how far / what direction do you run.  Makes for a pretty comical spectacle some times.

 Carlise is well known for its car shows and the corvettes were in town last weekend.  We rode our bikes out with Charlie (Ferg's mate from Poland) and took in some of the sights.  Fi found a pink Corvette - which we didn't buy.  Some pretty funny registration plates as well - note 'Kids R Gone'!

 
 

A swim at the Macaluso's post Corvette Show.

 

Charlie from Poland aiming for the basketball hoop

 


Chris, Miranda, Fi & Ben at "Proof" restaurant in DC

 

We caught up with Chris Field and Miranda Kelly during a visit to DC on the weekend.  It was great to see both of them and we shared a lovely dinner at Proof restaurant, not far from the White House.  The boys stayed in Miranda's unit with her daughter, Annabelle.  We even dropped by the White House for a few photos on the way home.  I'm sure I heard Michelle yelling, 'Get to bed you bloody kids...'!

The boys with Annabelle
Kelly and her 'American Girl' doll

Fi and the boys on the hike.

 We have invested in some new Thule bike racks for the car.  2 for the roof, and 2 for the back.  The racks were on sale through a big US outdoors shop last week - so got them for about 1 third of the price at home.  So we headed off to Laurel Lake for a bike ride and a short hike. A pretty humid day but a lovely, quiet part of the Cumberland Valley.  Plenty of people out fishin', grillin' and swimmin' - enjoying their labor day long weekend.

 

The heavens opened shortly after we got back from the bike ride and hike.  As the rain and hail came down, the boys couldn't miss the opportunity to get outside and see what it was like.  Some slides on the front lawn, some mini-crow pecks from the hail and some boat races in the storm water drain soon followed as these photos and the video show.  A good time was had by all!