Granger Girls on the Go

Part III: Day 3 and 4

Friday came quickly and on it’s agenda was visit the Pentagon, pick up Alex and Grandma from the airport and drive to Gettysburg, PA. 

My boss at the Chamber is a CASA (Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army) and has some connections in the nations capital and was able to get us a private tour of the Pentagon.  It was amazing!  We spend about 2.5 hours touring the place, even getting to see where the plane crashed into the building on 9-11.  I didn’t take any pictures while we were there though, sorry!  After our tour, we had to quickly head over to the airport to pick up Grandma and Alex. 

Once we got them, we got our sweet mini-van and headed to Gettysburg.  It was a little stressful getting out of the city to head that way, but we made it- only getting road rage for a second from my dad when Garmin wasn’t working as fast as he liked. :)  We arrived in Gettysburg around 4:30ish, unpacked, and headed down to see all the Rowland’s!  The reason for this whole trip was for the Rowland Reunion in Gettysburg, and why Gettysburg you ask?  Well, not sure to be 100%, but it is where my Grandparents met and one of my dad’s uncles still lives today and even taught at Gettysburg College.  It was awesome to catch up with everyone again, and Callie had a blast with the older kids.  We headed to bed at a decent hour, while others decided to hang out late.  Callie and I were headed to the Battlefield in the morning and needed out sleep.

Day 4: Gettysburg Battlefield

We’ve been to the Battlefield before, but it had been a while and I didn’t remember much of it.  They have a car path you can take around the battlefield to see it entire field, and it’s nice cause it’s so huge!  Plus, it’s pretty much the same view from wherever you are- so it’s nice to keep going on through if you hit a spot that looks exactly like the one you saw two minutes ago :)

Along the road they had each state that fought a memorial for the soldiers that they lost.  This was South Carolina’s…Callie and her tongue… After spending a hour and half driving around and occasionally stopping at some monuments to see what happened, we headed into town to check that out and get a bite to eat.  After a nice lunch we headed back to the hotel, went for a dip in the pool, and then got ready for another cookout with the family- including a family pic!

Here’s our groupshot!  Not everyone could make it, but a good majority did. Out of the 7 brother’s and sisters only four are still living and of those four, two were able to join us.  This is my grandfather’s youngest brother- Butch- and one of his two sisters- Eddie.  My Grandmother- Jean- or Big Callie   Little Callie Callie’s stroller was used as a hidden cooler, true Rowland fashion...Callie has a blast playing with her bigger cousins; in fact, thought she was one of them the entire night- a little too brave for this momma’s liking! Our immediate family picture Callie was also concerned that people stayed cool, so she passed out ice to everyone; I did warn them not to eat it, she like to drop them on the ground and put them back in the cup- yummy!We stayed up for a while that night visiting with everyone- these only happen ever 5 or so years so we had to make the most of it!  The next day, Sunday, we were headed back to D.C. to fly out and head back home.  Overall we had an amazing time.  I was exhausted, Callie was too- she came home and slept for 13 hours!  Even that being said, I can’t wait to do another reunion, the Rowland’s are always up for a great time!