We finally arrived in Baltimore, Maryland at 1:45am in the morning (Saturday). Guess you would say we were a little on the late side. Since there were 7 of us with 11 suitcases and 1 Duffel, we decided that Debbie and I would take off for the car and come back and get the crew and bags. We had a good plan. Did it work that way? Heck no, so here goes our first adventure.
They didn’t have a big enough car for us at Enterprise even though Debbie and I told them we had reserved it. They said, “Sorry, we don’t have anything.” I’m like ma’am your breaking my heart. We have got to get these quilts and people to our mission. She said she would see what she could do. Well, Debbie was pacing, I was pacing and I called the crew and said, “Houston we have a problem.” They got a shuttle bus with all our stuff and headed to us. By the time they got there it was 2:15am. Then, the manager says, “I can’t give you a big car, it has no oil.” We are like, really? So they finally give us a Ford 8 passenger car. We could hardly get everything in and the crew had luggage everywhere but it would get us to the hotel. I tried to get the manager to give us a guarantee for a car in the morning but she said she couldn’t do that.
So, again, I go into how important it was and you all told us there was a car for us. Well, in the end she called me at 4am and said to come and get the car at 6am. Well, it was 3:30am before we got to bed so Rick and I got maybe 2 hours of sleep. So, we started a crazy first day and this was all before the sun rose.
We got up at 8:30am to have breakfast so that we could get to Gettysburg. You know you will see pictures along the side of the road. You would be surprised at how quick I can pull off the road for a barn picture with a quilt. It is beautifully green here. Wish we could bring some back to California.
We finally got started to Gettysburg at 9:00am, not bad considering our morning. We were meeting my cousin Paul and Randy and one of our best friends, Carol and her sister, who drove from Pittsburg. Carol is our best friend and used to live in Calaveras. It was so great to see everyone. It made our trip so worth it. So now we are at 11 of us. We are in a 2 car caravan. We decided our first stop would be the Visitors Center but it was so busy and hot outside. All the tours were booked so we decided to “Auto Tour” on our own and that gave us more time to visit. Rita and Debbie climbed to the top of one of the Monuments – they looked like ants up on top. We decided to eat at this restaurant called Hoof, Fin and Foul. That way some could eat fish (Yuk). We did have a good meal and everyone got really full. Thank you to Paul and Randy for supporting us at lunch. We used Paul and Randy’s room as home base as we didn’t have a place to stay yet. I went up to change and the crew stayed downstairs in the lobby area. When I came downstairs, all of them were stretched out asleep on lounge chairs except Rick.
We took off at least 40 minutes early since I was to report at 6:30pm to Gettysburg National Cemetery. Well, first thing the two cars get separated – not good. Then we end up in Evergreen Cemetery winding through the cemetery in a large SUV and we can’t find the exit. I have 6 voices telling me which way plus the GPS talking and the other car calling us on the phone. It was like a nightmare and I’m thinking we traveled over 2,000 miles and I am not going to be able to play. The other car was on one side of the cemetery and we are on the opposite side. My cousin, Paul in the other car, is thinking Gail is going to lose it when, as we are flying down Baltimore Pike Road, I see Wendy Allen on the other side of the road. I quickly yell that there is where we should be. I sped the car into this parking lot across the street and jump out of the car. It was like a fire drill with all of us. I am still dressing, Flo and Cyndy take off to tell Wendy that I am there. They had to climb over a rock wall bit in the 1800’s and here I come behind them. Cyndy says I leaped over the wall. We finally get there at like 6:32pm. Then the other car realizes they are across the Cemetery which is huge. Rita ran to us as she knew we would all be crazy. Everyone finally made it and we all tried to settle down so I could play.
What an honor to be there on this hallowed ground. Before we started we honored Wendy Allen with a Quilt of Honor for all she has done bringing 100 Nights of Taps to Gettysburg in their seventh year. I am always nervous that I will make a mistake and I never want to but sometimes your lip doesn’t always do what you want. It wasn’t as perfect as I would like but they know I played from my heart. They presented me with this awesome coin that only Buglers receive if you play there. This will always be special to me. At the end, Wendy called all the veterans in the crowd up front and I shook each one of their hands and thanked them for their service. Quite a special night even with all our crazy stuff.
We then had to say goodbye to the Jersey Boys, Paul and Randy. Love you both. Thank you for being a part of Quilts of Honor crew for a day. Carol and Sandy, we loved seeing you too. We drove back to Annandale, VA to the AirB&B where we are staying. It is a huge house – like 9 bedrooms. Uniting US brought us all kinds of goodies to keep us going until we could get to the store. They brought us all our boxes and Colton, a 9 year old boy, helped us get those big boxes up the stairs. His mom, Tiffany, carried some all by herself.
What a day and evening! Great time with family and friends in Gettysburg. Our thoughts were at home as our community fireworks were on Saturday night and the finale honored our sister, Diana.
We are looking forward to all our up and coming adventures and hope all these things happening in today’s world won’t stop our big event. Stay tuned . . . . . . . .
God’s blessings
Gail
Quilts of Honor 
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