July 1, 2013 marks the 150th anniversary the battle at Gettysburg, one of the Civil War’s most famous  andmost significant fights.   Here on northern soil, we find the “high water mark of the Confederacy” – the northernmost point at which significant fighting occurred between the north and south.

The Gettysburg Concordance is being released in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.  It is a comprehensive and interactive digital reference to the most significant battle ever fought on American soil.

… From the Gettysburg Concordance Press Release….

Follow every regiment, brigade, division, corps, and army across the campaign area and battlefields in the month leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, the historic battle itself, and the subsequent retreat.

The Gettysburg Concordance follows the entire campaign from June 3 to July 14, 1863 and includes over 1,000 events, drawn from over 150 primary and secondary sources. The app covers the order of battle, including over 1,300 individuals who held command at Gettysburg. It is a visual database as well, showcasing over 700 images � photos and sketches of the officers and battlefield in 1863 and today.

Each event is geo-referenced. You can use it as a guide on the battlefield, within the campaign area, or as an armchair general at home. Backed by rigorous scholarship, each entry includes at least one, and sometimes as many as four or five references.

Track Joshua L. Chamberlain, Robert E. Lee, John F. Reynolds and over 1,300 other individuals. Read the orders they gave and the letters they wrote. See images of them as well as the engagements in which they participated.

Data is displayed on scalable maps, which can be zoomed in or out with a simple pinch or swipe, and on easy to search tables. With a few taps you can search and restrict events to a range of dates, one or more units (over 800), an individual or any combination thereof.

Download from the Apple App Store

Despite the large volume of data contained in the Gettysburg Concordance, it is fast, easy to use and provides an enjoyable experience for the amateur historian, re-enactor, educator, researcher or tourist. You can even walk the battlefield with a GPS enabled iPhone or iPad and watch your user position change as you intersect the location of important historical events.

The authors of the Gettysburg Concordance continually expand the content as new research comes to life. Users are encouraged to contribute photos and additional detail to be considered for inclusion in updates. To join the discussion, visit them at Facebook.

If you are interested in the American Civil War and the most significant battle ever fought on American soil . . . you need the Gettysburg Concordance.

A Historical Experience on a Road Trip to California National Parks

 Joe Laing, El Monte RV

What a perfect way to spend a vacation – traveling in an RV on a tour of California’s National Parks! This is truly a unique way to experience California and U.S. history as well as amazing people from our past. Explorers, adventurers, artists and Native Americans – all sorts of folks savored the beauty and also some of the adversity of California as they arrived year after year, century after century. Many stories are told within California National Parks.

Let’s start in Southern California and work our way up to the northern reaches near the Oregon border. We will move not only through the deserts of the southwest where archeologists find historical treasures, but also through wild lands of rugged mountains and tall trees where American Indians hunted and gathered for their families. We’ll visit Gold Rush Country where miners laid down their lives for riches beyond measure. As you travel in an RV you will never lack for a place to stay, as there is an abundance of RV parks everywhere you go.

At Channel Islands National Park, off the coast in Southern California, you will be visiting five amazing islands that have been the subject of many years of research by scientists and historians. Each island has its own story. The Chumash inhabited the islands for thousands of years, yet were decimated when traders and explorers brought in disease. These same traders exploited resources as they hunted seals and otters. Because the islands are so isolated, they have a wealth of unique plant and animal life which creates in itself a wonderful reason to visit.

Heading east now, you will want to visit Joshua Tree National Park next. This desert park offers views into a rich history, with a fascinating story set in an almost surreal environment. There are numerous archeological and historic sites to explore. It is imperative you stop at the museum to see the Campbell Collection which consists of numerous artifacts, notes and photos which tell the story of early cultures.

On north now to Death Valley National Park! You simply cannot visit California without stopping here. You may not believe how much history this park can contain. However, you can’t deny that the Twenty Mule Team wagons have made an impression on young and old ever since they entered the history books. You have the opportunity to visit a long list of ghost towns such as Chloride City, Greenwater or Harrisberry. And to get a look into the life in this desert area in the 20s and 30s, be sure to stop at Scotty’s Castle.

Again heading northward, you will come to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks where the breathtaking beauty of the giant trees and rugged mountains will encourage you to get out in the fresh air and get some recreation time in. These side-by-side parks lie in the San Joaquin Valley and have a six thousand year history at least, with hunters and gatherers living in this Southern Sierra wonderland. More came in later years – the trappers and miners, the sheepherders and the loggers. Learn the story of Walter Fry, who arrived as a logger, but after counting the growth rings on one of the trees he cut, decided he wanted no part of ending over 3,000 years of growth.

Don’t miss Yosemite National Park and learn all about our well-known John Muir and all he did to have this area protected as a national park. Experience the views as did Ansel Adams through his camera lens. This park is filled with history and you should allow many days to take it all in. There is so much about this park that can be said, that we’ll leave it at – GO!

Finally you will come to your last two stops, very different from each other – Lassen Volcanic National Park in north central California and Redwood National Park on the coast. Lassen is filed with meadows, lakes and, of course, volcanoes. More than one! Discover the wild stories of the Native Americans who lived and raised their families in the Lassen area. Find out all about the effect that American Indians and the loggers had on Redwood National Park. The wildlife and beautiful coastline at Redwood National Park are some of the main attractions here. As you explore either park, you will learn so much about this region of California and how natives and European explorers came and forged out a living. Although your tour is now at an end, the memories will last forever!

About the Author

Joe Laing is the Marketing Director for El Monte RV, your nationwide source for RV rentals. El Monte RV also sells used motorhomes through eight different locations across the United States. For more information on purchasing a used motorhome see http://www.elmontervsales.com/.

The Camino de Santiago is an ancient Christian pilgrimage to the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Although there are many possible routes to take, the most popular are the stages starting at the French Border town of  St Jean Pied-de-Port or at Roncesvalles Spain.   The journey from these cities is about 680 kilometers.

Here, from this excellent site about the Camino, are pictures from the various stages of the trip.   If you’re interested in the trip you’ll also want to visit the Facebook discussion page to read information about the Camino and ask questions.    https://www.facebook.com/CaminoDeSantiagoForum

Buen Camino!

I have just  survived a top ten dangerous hike in the most dangerous National Park so naturally I’ve been wondering just how dangerous that hike was.  Typically we overestimate “dramatic” dangers like lightning strikes and hikes and underestimate the mundane, greater dangers of driving cars and riding our bikes around.

However in the case of Half Dome it appears there is a bit of death risk, albeit still pretty small in the scheme of things.

http://www.backpacker.com/october_08_americas_10_most_dangerous_hikes/destinations/12631

Bill Ferry is an active traveler, photographer, and blogger.  Check out his photography and travel blog   “f 360” here:  ferry360.com  Over the last decade of retirement Bill and his wife have traveled throughout the US, Canada, and Europe.    In his working years Bill was an executive in the construction materials industry, publisher of a travel newsletter, and a board member of the Southern Oregon Visitor’s Association which promoted travel over a very large region of Oregon.

Bill covers topics relating to travel and photography and you can find a list of some of his work here at the Retire USA blog:

Travel and Photography from Bill Ferry

Here are links to our state pages, but be sure to check out the blog where posts are made almost daily from our merry band of retirement bloggers.

For more about US Retirement see our State Profiles at the Retire USA website.   Here are some of the “most popular” retirement states people choose when they’ve decided to travel away from the home state :

California Retirement | Colorado Retirement  | Florida Retirement | New York Retirement | Nevada Retirement | North Carolina Retirement | Oregon Retirement | South Carolina Retirement | Texas Retirement | Utah Retirement |  Virginia Retirement  | Arkansas Retirement

Saigon 131

Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Vietnam Trip, Feb 2011: We returned to Saigon / Ho Chi Minh CIty after three quiet days in Sa Dec. It’s impossible in photos to capture the frenzy of Saigon’s busy streets, teaming with scooters, taxis, carts and people and about as noisy as you can imagine from very early until very late at night. Yet by the end of the trip we’d learned to tune out the hustle and bustle and focus on the charming sites and sounds as millions of residents go about their daily routines.

Some of the frenzy is simply what you find in most big cities, but I’d have to say that Saigon “felt” much busier to me than Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, or even Beijing or Shanghai. Unlike European and American cities I think Saigon / HCMC is growing very fast and changing reapidly, and unlike China’s megalopolises there’s not a lot of funding or guidance or enforcement of traffic and planning rules to channel the rapid development.

Sa Dec, Vietnam

Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

One last market picture from Sa Dec Vietnam before we move along on our tour of Vietnam based on my February 2011 trip that took us from Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon to the Mekong delta and fairly small city of Sa Dec. Sa Dec is known in Europe mostly as the backdrop for the story and film “The Lover”, Marguerite Duras’ semi autobiographical novel about the experiences of her youth in French Colonial Vietnam.

After an eventful bus ride from Sa Dec back to Saigon / HCMC we spent a few more days in Saigon, Vietnam’s economic powerhouse, experiencing a very interesting take on the Vietnam War in the Presidential Palace and War Artifacts Museums – extensive pictures from their are here at Flickr in my collection, though note that some are graphic and may be disturbing to you.  We took a day trip on old Russian-made hydrophoil boats to Vung Tao Island, a popular resort area. Next we headed north to Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue, Ha Long Bay, and the amazing caves at Phong Ke Ban National Park. More on all that in upcoming posts.

Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 098

Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Vietnam, especially Ho Chi Minh City aka “Saigon” (a very interesting historical naming issue for later), is modernizing quickly like most of communist Asia. For me there’s huge irony here as communism’s centralized economies blend with western-style capitalism, but I get the idea that for most of the folks in Vietnam (and also China) this is NOT ironic at all. Rather, those governments are now responding better to the natural forces of economics such as entrepreneurship and free enterprise.

The upside of this are much higher standards of living for many of the folks in Vietnam. The downside as a traveler is that the charming tiny shops and restaurants that line the city streets are giving way to bigger and brighter lights of department stores and massive signs you could find in any western city. As we sat with some of our new table tennis pals at a nice restaurant in downtown Saigon one of them pointed across the street to a huge store with bright lights, proudly showing me the beauty of the new Vietnam. The older generation seems less enthusiastic about the changes sweeping the country, although I think they understand that the rising tide of capitalism is lifting most of the boats here, giving their children opportunities, health, and prosperity they could only have dreamed about only a few decades ago.

Here’s a great video of the Sa Dec Market featured in my previous post:

Sa Dec Market, Vietnam

Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

This post begins my summary of the three weeks I spent traveling in Vietnam last February with two Table Tennis friends – one who grew up there and one expert player from California. The trip was an amazing introduction to a beautiful country with wonderful people. Unlike the “Vietnam War” imagery that still haunts most of us in the USA, the “new” Vietnam is teaming with energy and enthusiasm as the economy blossoms and relations with the rest of the world improve. Some would say that Vietnam is not yet ready for “prime time” in terms of the tourism amenities (for example a boat much like ours sunk in Halong Bay during our trip, killing several tourists), but I’d encourage all but the faint of heart to venture into this amazing country.

Here, in Sa Dec near the Mekong River, we sampled fruits I’d never seen before that we bought on the street from the vendors.
Sa Dec is not on most tourism itineraries, making my California friend and I something of celebrities there as we walked along with kids yelled “hello, hello!” or coming up to practice their very spotty English, now required in most Vietnamese grade schools. As we found throughout the country the people throughout Vietnam were both warm and friendly, and the war that figures so prominently in American memories seemed almost like a historical footnote to most of the people here. More on that American war history later when we visit the “Hanoi Hilton” in Hanoi and the “War Crimes Room” of the Presidential Palace Museum in Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City.