August 19

Hundreds of mushrooms and/or fungi and this is only from our RV park.  Alaska is known for getting fungi in late summer, early fall. What can we expect, living in a temperate rain forest.  I amazes me how many shapes, sizes and colors these little fungi come in.

August 18

While Courtney may be going back to STL early to get surgery, Sandy and Jim will be staying until the last week of September. The plan is to hurry back and be home by the 1^st of October. We want to be out of Alaska by the time the first heavy snow storm comes in. As much as we’d love to stay in Skagway a little bit longer if we were too then we’d be stuck here all winter in a metal RV. Burr!

August 17

We’ve had quite an interesting few weeks. It seems that Alaska is becoming dangerous to the health of the workers at the Dredge and more specifically the Atkinsons.  Our first health-related issue came in the form of a black bug that’s half the size of a house fly called the White Sox. With a name like that one doesn’t conjure up a bug that will cause inflammation to your extremities. White Sox makes you think of a baseball team, something cute that doesn’t wreak havoc on your body.

Jim met a White Sox while watching salmon spawn in Dyea Flats. The first bite was mildly irritating, just like a mosquito bite. It wasn’t until the third bite he received on his elbow that his upper arm started swelling. And by the time he received his fifth bite his ankle swelled to double its size. He couldn’t come to work for three days because in addition to inflammation it also causes fever. Luckily, the White Sox has limited effect especially if you use an Alaskan remedy of limes, coffee grounds, devils club salve and a few other special ingredients.

A week after Jim went back to work Courtney went out with her friends to 80s Dance Night. It started like any other Friday night. They drank whiskey before going out, walked to the bar and hung out for a few hours. As the night was winding down one of our co-workers from Lithuania walked her home, made sure she got in the RV okay, and went back to company housing. Being the considerate drunk she is she took the dogs out for a little walk before she went to bed. But while she was out she came across a few lights dancing 30 feet up in the trees. She got an idea. Once she put the dogs away, she went exploring and joined the lights dancing in the trees. She is really good at climbing trees sober. She proved she was still good at climbing trees drunk. However, she is also good at falling out of trees. She fell 9 feet out of the tree onto her right foot. It rolled up like a taco. The one of the men behind the dancing lights in the tree had to carry her home on his back because she couldn’t walk.

After she crawled into the RV and tried to walk a few steps she called out. “Dad! Mom! I need help.” It was already 1 a.m. She was crying and in pain. But the funny part was she wasn’t crying because she was in pain. She was crying because she was embarrassed that she woke us up and upset because she thought she was an inconvenience.  What a thing to cry about at 1 a.m. after you’ve had a few too many glasses of whiskey and broke your foot.

After a few trips to the clinic we learned that she fractured her foot in two places and may need surgery. We aren’t certain if she’ll need an CT scan yet. We are still waiting on the results.

Monday, following the weekend Courtney fractured her foot, Sandy fell ill. After becoming extremely dehydrated and not being able to keep anything down the clinic told her to keep drinking water and sleeping. She’s been under the weather for a week now and was finally able to eat solid food last Thursday. A solid week and two days after she initially got the flu she will be able to go back to work.

July 4

We had a wonderful Fourth of July!  Although we weren’t able to celebrate the holiday with our biological family, we did enjoy celebrating with our Alaskan-work family.  The holiday was different from any we ever experienced.  It all began July 3^rd, with street dance beginning at 9:00 and fireworks beginning at 11:45 p.m., because it doesn’t really get dusk until 11:30.  From the middle of June to the middle of July we really don’t see a dark night, just dusk until 3:30  a.m. then daylight begins.  There was an amazing fireworks display, with fireworks being shot off of a barge in the harbor. 

How cute!

The Fourth dawned with a Kiddie parade beginning at 9:30 a.m., which ran three blocks long.  After the three blocks some of the kids from the parade entertained us with singing, tricks, or dance routine.  

Ten o’clock was the adult parade.  The old White Pass engine blocked the sight of the adult parade until it was ready to begin.  The Royal Mounties even made an appearance.  The parade went seven blocks through town, around the court house and back down the same seven blocks, so you have the opportunity to see the other side of the parade. 

There was a full day of games and races.  I’ve never heard of a SLOW bicycle race. It was hilarious watching people trying to ride their bikes as slowly as possible.  If you lost your balance or your foot touched the pavement you were disqualified.   

Courtney participated in the spike driving contest, placing fifth out of 14 girls.  Not too shabby. Now, she is suffering from sore arm muscles. An example of train tracks were laid on the street. Contestants tried to drive spikes into the ties.  Men had to drive five spikes, women three spikes in two minutes or less.  The winning time for men was 12.5 seconds.  Winning time for women was 46 seconds. Courtney completed it in 1 minute and 46 seconds. Not bad for a girl who has never swung a sledge hammer before. When she completed the competition she looked and sounded like she ran a few miles in that amount of time.

The reason for this contest was because the railroad was the major reason Skagway didn’t become a ghost town.  Ships unloaded cargo onto train cars, shipping supplies into Canada.  Goods were shipped by rail from Canada into Skagway to be loaded onto ships for transport.  From 1989 to 1942 the train ran right down the middle of the main street of town.

Skagway will celebrate anything to the fullest, even a big reason for keeping a small town alive! 

Courtney and Rejoy, her sister in arms, after they completed the challenge.

June 21st - Sandy

OK, I get it. We’re in Alaska.  We’ve seen humpback whales, eagles, sea otters, bears, caribou, and tourists (10,000 a day).  I had dinner at a party and the guy sitting next to me was from Washington, MO.  We’ve gone on nature walks, trail walks, train rides, BUT REALLY…… LIGHT all night LONG????  Haven’t I endured enough already??  We can’t even get a good night’s sleep because of the light.  When they say the sun sets, it really just slides past the horizon washing the area in a light dusk.

We went to an outdoor summer solstice concert (a bit nippy but fun).  There were four bands, all from Skagway.  People brought blankets and lawn chairs, sat or danced, just enjoying the beautiful outdoors and the sun.   

No, actually, I love being here, it’s an adventure every day. At the park, where we work, we run into people from all over the world. Some have even gone to Port Aransas, TX, where we used to live. Many don’t even speak English.  Everybody’s got a story about their trip. And, I’ve only met one person who was disappointed with their cruise. Can’t please everybody, I guess.  If you want adventure and fun (besides all the parties) this is the place to be.

We work with a great group of people, most in their mid-twenties to thirties, and then here we are in our 60s.  We are beginning to jell into a close knit group.  We are asked to join in with the younger generation like we are their ages.  BUT really, Jim and I can’t quite keep up.  We’ve been to a mock wedding, bingo, party after party, outdoor concerts, a magic show, trivia night, and the list goes on.

The kiddies love dancing to jams.

And the adults love dancing to the jams, too.

And, look! A rhubarb that is bigger than me!

May 25 - Sandy

May 25

We can’t believe it’s been a month ago that we arrived in Skagway, going from 3,830 feet  in altitude to 50 feet,  in 15 miles.  We had burned out the brakes even in low gear, so the last two miles was done with minimum braking power.  Oh what a way to arrive!   So far this has been an awesome experience.

Many people here have a greenhouse of one sort or another.  We found out that tomatoes and okra don’t grow well here outside – it’s too cool.  Beans, squash and cool crops do very well all summer long.  AND rhubarb grows wild.  By the end of the summer the rhubarb will be five feet tall.   There is one rhubarb plant that’s 160 years old.  There’s a protective fence around it, and a sign asking people to only take pictures.

Local dogs—I still haven’t seen a small dog that actually lives here.  All the dogs are of musher size and all look to have the same gene pool.  We were on the dog field (no not a dog park) when a couple brought out their dogs.  Their dogs were afraid of our little RV sized dogs.  The lady told us their dogs have never seen small dogs such as ours.

The school!  Skagway built a new state of the art school complex for 8 million dollars.  It’s complete with a greenhouse, salmon hatchery, and state of art technology.  The territory of Alaska was bought for 7.2 million in 1867.  The school has an average of 70 to 80 kids per school year from kindergarten to twelfth grade.  This year three seniors graduated.  The prom is open to all high schoolers as well as the whole town. It’s a big community affair! 

Everything is celebrated!  We joined in the city wide clean sweep before the tourists began to arrive.  Businesses donated prizes and trips, there was a meal for all “sweepers”.  The next weekend there was a city wide garage sale to benefit the school, where again the whole town shows up.  As one old timer said,  “We just pass around the junk!” It was fun.  We got to meet quite a few locals.

We are known as summer locals, and get discounts in stores and free tourist trips, when there’s space.  For example:   We can hop a ride on an airplane tour that lands on the glacier and just pay a tip.  Any of the shows are free. 

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May 10 - Sandy

May 10^th

Happy Mother’s Day to all.  We had an adventurous day.  We went to Dyea (said like dye*ee), a ghost town nine miles from Skagway.  We passed through mud flats, filed with thousands of ducks and seagulls.  It smelled wonderfully salty and fishy, just like the mud flats in Port Aransas.  Then on into the rain forest, yes rain forest.  It was filled with light green moss; that grows up tree trunks and on any deadfall on the forest floor.  It is like walking on deep plush carpet. 

Back to Dyea.  Dyea during 1898 to 1899 had up 10,000 people, most heading up the Chilkoot Trail through mountain passes on their way to the gold fields in the Klondke 600 miles away.  In 1901 there were three people living there. The town was mostly a tent city with some false front stores, with tents behind the fronts.  People discovered the best gold claims were already taken and gold was discovered in Nome, Alaska.  So off they went in another direction.  All that is left of Dyea is a false front store, a fallen down warehouse and a crumbling wharf in the mud flats. 

May 8 - Sandy

May 8^th

Today we received our costumes. Don’t we look awesome!

Here is our office!

One of the great things about working in Skagway is we get to see the shows for free and take a lot of the tours for free including the train through the mountains to the summit just inside the Canadian border, and an air flight to a glacier where you can walk on a glacier. 

May 3 - Courtney

I don't know about you, but I think hiking is hard work. One of my dreams is to hike Scotland. And, hiking Alaska is starting to make me rethink that fantasy.
Yesterday, I hiked for four miles around two gorgeous lakes in the mountains. Both were glacier fed ponds. There were five of us hiking. And, here I was, an islander, trying to keep up with four people who were used to hiking. I could barely see them ahead of me. I was panting loud enough to scare off bears. And, I was walking quite funny thanks to the six or seven blisters forming on my feet.
There is an event called the Duff's Challenge. If you complete 12 trails in Skagway then you get a free hoodie and the pride of completely gorgeous trails through the Alaskan rainforests. I would like to complete it but it is a total of 85 miles (if not more, because I think that's all one way.) In the span of 5 months maybe I can create the dexterity I need to complete them.
Today, a few people from work and I hiked up another six miles. My blisters have gotten larger and I hobbled the majority of the way down.

May 2 - Jim And Sandy

May 2, 2105 Jim & Sandy

We got here on the 22^nd of April, expecting to start work on May 1. Well, things didn't quite work out that way. After 8 ½ days of driving, our boss let us off for about 3 days and we started work on the 27^th, anything from construction, demolition, clean up, polishing, scrubbing. We aren't used to this type of hard labor.

We got this weekend off after one day of training on Friday, May 1. We learned how to pan for gold, how a gold dredge works, and history of Skagway and the effect of the gold rush on Skagway. Monday, we get our costumes and the first boat arrives on Tuesday. Our job starts out being a dredge tour guide; then we work into guiding all the different jobs from gold panning, -40 degree room, entertainers, and of course, we will clean toilets, scrub, restock, etc. We've even been learning how to pan for gold and put it in a bezel.

                                      

Skagwayans will celebrate anything from the city clean-up, city rummage sale, to music on the sports field. We've been partaking in all the activities we can.

We wake up every morning looking up at Harding Glacier, and snow capped mountains. Temperatures are cool, sometimes, like today, it might get into the 60's, during the day and low 40s at night. Later this summer, it will get into the 70's during the day and 50s at night.

April 27 - Jim and Sandy

April 27

Today, Jim and Sandy decided to take one of twelve hikes that are offered throughout Skagway. We took the easiest tail, around the mountain, following the inlet. We hiked up, we hiked down, we hiked over rocks, and around trees. It was great.

The hooligan fish are beginning to run, and the eagles are taking full advantage of it.

We saw five young eagles with hooligan in their beaks. One passed so close over our heads we could hear it's wings beating. The seals were feasting and playing in the water. Then all of a sudden they swam away. We looked behind them to see what they were swimming away from. Much to our delight, a whale breached. During the next forty-five minutes we watched four whales beach as close 100 yards away to about a fourth mile away. What a delight! We didn't expect to see eagles, seals, and whales this morning. So much for our hike! We were getting cold, so we decided to head back and allow the animals the privacy of the Alaskan Inlets.

April 24 - Courtney

Sometimes, having a few drinks and taking a walk alone at night turns out to be the best thing you can do with your time. Sometimes, not all the time. I'm not advocating getting drunk and being intoxicated in public. However, if you ease up on your logical and critical mind your perspective can change dramatically.
Today, my parents and I walked around town memorizing Skagway's history. There were 100 pages single spaced that we were given and told we needed to memorize by the time we got to town. I got stuck in my mind today. Not only was there a large amount of history I needed to learn, but there was an entire town that I had to learn the layout to and be able to match the history to the layout. I've only been in town for two days, and I'm not always the fasted learner.
For a reprieve we went to a trivia night. At first, I was embarrassed. I love my parents, but I'm 24 years old and feel like I'm still a child. I know intellectually I will always be their child. And, I don't wish to be a child for any other couple. But that still leaves me at 24 years old, living with my parents, and not knowing exactly what I want to do with my life. Everyone around us were in large groups of people my age laughing and having fun. And I felt unsure how to connect with them. It wasn't because my parents were there. Even if I was completely alone, I would still feel like a fish out of water.
We had a lot of fun at the trivia night. After a few beers, a group next to us ordered my parents and me shots. They were handing out an olive branch. It was very kind. They were all helicopter pilots and glacier tour guides.
It was Redneck night, so we got to see people from all walks of life dress up in ridiculous outfits. There was even a man with a cowboy hat who recited Kenny Chesney's "She Thinks My Trackers Sexy," in a Shakespearean accent.
Afterwards, my parents drove home and I walked the 13 blocks back to the RV park. That was the first time I looked around without the fear that I may never become a fully independent individual. Around me were snow covered mountains. That's where I've wanted to be for a few years. But not only that, but I was surrounded by people who said hello to me on the streets and didn't know me. I can't take a walk without someone being friendly and saying hello. I don't get that back in Missouri or Texas for that matter.
But here, something magical has occurred. Every single human is worth your time and you are worth their time.
So, to sum it up. We are lucky enough to be in a town where everyone is friendly, if I want to go snowboarding I can, and even if I feel completely alone I'm not.
Then, I started venturing into my head again. I am my parents' child. I am 24 years old. I live with my parents in an RV with very little privacy. We live together. We eat together. And, typically, my parents cook dinner for me.  I am not only their child, but I get to relive my childhood. The right way.
I've held a lot of resentment because my family lived apart for seven years. I thought that I would always be broken because of that. But now, in Alaska, I can be the kid again. But I can be the kid with my own responsibilities too. I pay bills like an adult. I can drink like an adult.
But, ultimately, the gift that I was refusing to see is that I get my parents, together, like it should have been. And I get to enjoy it with the intelligence of an adult and with the freedom that comes with an adult.
How can I complain when I get the best of both worlds? Especially when that's what I was wishing for all along.
I'm not sure I would have seen unless I took a walk tonight, with a little Fireball Whiskey in my system.

April 22 - Last Full Day in Canada

We had another exciting day on the road. Filled with unexpected events. It all started the from Toad River RV park, after crossing the summit, the highest elevation on the trip.

Two hours into our journey, we came across a flipped 18-wheeler on the side of a ridge. There was another 18-wheeler surveying the damage of the scene. Turns out the accident happened the night before without major injury. All that lost mulch and soils gone down the hill. The trucker surveying damage pointed us to a local Hot Springs. Of course, our mermaid daughter wouldn't miss a chance to swim even if it meant in 105-118 degree water. As she was enjoying the springs, she struck up a conversation with a family of five. They pointed out a cold spring connected to the hot spring. Courtney swimming and Sandy soaking her feet and legs enjoyed the spring for an hour. Courtney refused to bring a towel stating that she might not get in the water, but we knew better. She bravely walked a fourth mile back to the RV in her swim suit in 50 degree weather, with snow off the sides of the walkway, snow banks and an ice covered pond.

We also crossed the Continental Divide. Courtney bravely tried out the snow. She sank up to almost her knee. Our poor dog Nova the chiweenie, sank up to her belly, not enjoying it one bit.

We saw more snow and beautiful scenery than we had seen before on the trip so far. The tops of many of the mountains were covered in snow or glaciers. Thank goodness the peaks were still much higher than we were. The roads were clear and all paved except for about 100 yards of gravel.

We saw 62 buffalo in 5 herds, beside the road, enjoying the sunshine, five skiddish elk, one brown bear, two baby beavers, and four big horn sheep eating along side of the Alaska Highway. We could have gotten out and petted them, yeah, right!

We drove and drove getting a little bit of get “are we there-itis”. I think that was the longest day of the trip. We got within 165 miles of Skagway and just decided it was time to quit.

We pulled into a motel, restaurant and RV park. Unluckily the RV part was closed, due to frozen water. However, they had us pull up next to the motel and plug into their electric. We said that would be great, how much? “$15.00” I said sold! Their motel rooms started at $79.00! Daylight lasted until after 10:00PM and lightens up at 5:00AM.

We found much of the food in Canada to be over priced, the special of the day for supper is usually around $20.00 and it goes up from there. Gas is sold by the liter, roughly 3 and 3/4 liters makes a gallon. It looks cheap at $1.039 per liter, but it takes a lot of liters! More tomorrow.  

April 21: Seventh day on the road

Oh  Boy, seven days on the road and what haven't we seen?  We've driven through rain forests, over snow capped mountains, and past sheer cliffs, frozen rivers and waterfalls, plains that extended past the horizon, industrial zones, miles devoid of human touch, and busy cities.

Everyone has given a go with driving the RV. Courtney drove for two hours while battling 45 mph winds, Jim has driven most of the time through all kinds of conditions, and Sandy drove for a few hours over bumpy roads.

Canada and USA are very similar. Northern New Mexico looks like the outskirts of the Northern Rockies, and most of Mid-Canada looks like the Great Plains in the U.S.A. We almost couldn't tell the difference. But there is one huge difference. Prices are higher for most everything, however, you pay with credit or debit card and the price is diminished by about 15% because of the exchange rate.

So far, we paid anywhere from $2.04 in the USA to $5.00 a gallon here in Northern Canada.

We are a mere 10 hours from our destination in Skagway, AK. We have been staying in Walmart parking lots and RV parks over night.  The parking lots have all the concessions of home; all the food you could buy and spacious bathrooms. The RV parks are very varied in services and prices.  In one we paid $2.00 for a six minute glorious shower, instead of a weak spray hot then cold and hot again shower. Most of the time showers are free. The last two RV places water was still frozen.  The RV park we are staying in tonight is beautiful, right beside a mountain stream complete with a beaver dam and beaver lodge.  Snow capped mountains surround us in a 360 degree panorama. Here in North Canada we are paying $15.00 a night, maybe we'll stay a bit longer. But, Skagway will be $600.00 a month.

We went across the highest mountains on our trip today, I was beginning to think we weren't going to make it - first gear at 35 MPH for 30 miles up and down in second gear and using the brakes to slow down.  At one point, we drove over a few fallen rocks with one tire.  It bounced off the siding on our RV and sounded like we popped two tires.   After pulling over and frantically checking out the RV we decided we were lucky, and nothing was amiss.

Currently, we are half way between Fort Nelson and Watson Lake, surrounded by snow topped mountains (very High Mountains) and waterfalls, even frozen waterfalls. It's a small town that isn't on the map. There is an airport and a camp ground, that's about it. But its adorable. Courtney scared and got scared by a baby beaver out on its own. She took a few pictures after she composed herself, but didn't manage to get a good shot.

April 17 - Alaska Bound Day Three - Courtney

The last time I went through border patrol in a foreign country I had a melt down, and they threatened deportation. Of course, I figured the same thing would happen this time around, even though it was in a different country.

Throughout the day, I joked that I would be deported. When we got within yards of the border I told my parents we'd be pulled over and searched. They knew I was being over dramatic because of the last time. Dad and I jokingly argued back and forth about it. I was on the side of us being detained and he was on the side that we'd drive on through no problem. But, we did get pulled over to be searched. I'm not sure if that's a win I should be proud of.

We had contraband. No, the Kentucky Fire Bourbon I had didn't count. They didn't even care we had two dogs on board. It was the contraband eggs that got us. Eggs. Really, eggs? That's what got us searched at the border! 

We had to grab our passports, escort our dogs into a kennel, and proceed inside to be detained while they searched our vehicle for drugs and firearms. And the eggs? Well, they didn't search our frig or our freezer for more eggs. Hell, we could have hidden 3 more cartoons. Though, we had to give up 4 cartoons of farm fresh eggs to get into Canada.

I guess you could say I knew that we'd be detained. But I would've never guessed it'd be over eggs. I mean, we got to keep GMO packed meat products that are banned all over Europe. It's cool. Banned meat isn't poison, but eggs could be. 

We were detained only a short while.

After a few hours on the road after that we found a lovely RV resort to stay at over the night where we were able to get access to the internet. We even had time to visit downtown Winnipeg. Forks Market was a cute addition to our trip. Local artisans sold their wears and food in an old train warehouse. 

April 15th - Alaska Bound - Jim

We have just started on our GREAT ADVENTURE!!

We have been on the road for 3 months, traveling and visiting our sons - one in South Texas the other in North Carolina. We had a 2 week stopover in Washington to repack the RV.

Today we left Washington enroute to Skagway, Alaska. We left at 8:45 this morning from Sandy's brother Gary and his wonderful wife Michelle's farm in Concord Hill. We have stopped in Council Bluff, Iowa at a Walmart for the evening. We've seen gas prices from $2.11 just west of Columbia to $2.39 in Iowa, I hope it goes down in South Dakota.

We stopped a few times for the dogs but mainly kept up about 57 MPH, everyone kept passing us. Tomorrow, off to Fargo, ND, then Canada. We had a scare when Courtney said she lost her passport! Thankfully she found it, right where she left it. More tomorrow from ND..... Jim

March 6th

After a day and  half travelling we arrived near Raleigh, North Carolina to visit with our middle son Kyle and his girlfriend Alexis.

Sandy: March 10 Discovering Shadow Hawk

March 10

Trying to catch up on posts.  It's amazing what and who you find on the back roads of our country.  We found another gem in North Carolina near Smithfield (yes Smithfield of Smithfield ham, turkey and chicken).  

As we were traveling we found a frontier town named Shadow Hawk.  This western town is complete with hotel, mercantile, post office, saloon, and cute little church which was built by a man named William Drake.  This gentleman was a supporting actor for nine episodes of Bonanza, usually playing a gambler or bad guy, three episodes of Gunsmoke, eighteen movies including Big Jake, Outlaw Josie Wales, and Quantrell's Raiders, and various made for tv movies.   Check out his web site at, shadowhawk.us.  He has written four books and produced a film from one of his books.  We were lucky enough to have a personal tour by William Drake and was able to sit with him and talk to him about his career and town.  It was an interesting and fun afternoon.

Atkinson is a common name in this area so when we found Atkinson's  Mil we just had to stop in. This particular mill has been in operation for 142 years.  Of course we bought several items.  Later in Smithfield's Walmart we found a whole section of their products. 
  

Sandy: March 15: Williamsburg

March 15

Yessss, another item checked off of my bucket list!  We spent the day at Colonial Williamsburg.  It's amazing the things you can learn from history. I didn't know mortar was made with sand and shells.  Our forefathers would cook oyster shells and various seashells overnight, cool them and pound them into a powder, add sand and water and wa-la mortar. We learned about herbal medicines, maybe we should use more of this.    Of course we saw all the usual basket weaving, candle making, glass blowing, gardening with heirloom seeds.  I can't imagine working in all that clothes.  I would like to have some of their recipes   The most amazing experience for me was sitting in the church that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson attended.  A cemetery surrounded the church with most of the graves above ground.   It was a wonderful step back into history. 

Courthouse

CapitalThe Palace

Episcopal Church that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson attended. 

Courtney was sooo BAD!

Sleeping on the floor of the car.  Tired after a long day of walking.

Sandy: March 21 Battle of Bentonville

March 21 

We're still traveling through history.  Another pleasant surprise, we found Bentonville Civil War Battlefield, and surprise, surprise March 19th - 21st is the 150th anniversary of the  last full-scale action of the Civil War,  and largest land battle in North Carolina.   There were 60,00 Union soldiers and 22,000 Confederate soldiers in the battle.  Some of the demonstations ,depicted the troops daily lives, how women followed the troops, how limbs were amputated. Although; the Confederates won this battle, they lost the war.

  

confederates firing

Union soldiers

Confederate officers

 troop living quarters

  We parked in a cotton field.