Reynolds Avenue: temporarily closed (obviously)

Generally I hear about these things before I see them. So it was sort of a huge surprise when, driving around the battlefield to take pictures on Sunday, I went to turn onto Reynolds Avenue and was greated with a big crane and a blockade. Generally when I am unable to do something I want to do I like to know the reason (this drives my parents absolutely crazy) so I parked at the info station and walked as close to the scene as I felt necessary for adequate observation. And this is what I saw:

They've taken out the bridge over the Railroad Cut on Reynolds Avenue. This was apparently something that was known by some ahead of time, but I did not know, and thus was a little surprised. But after I got over all of the "HEY THERE IS NO BRIDGE THERE" thoughts I started thinking "I bet people would like to see this." So here you go, two pictures of a bridge that is no more.

Driving, driving, driving, thinking...

So on my way home from a quartet gig tonight I realized something. My Civil War obsession is very gas-guzzling. I decided to take the road that goes through East Cavalry Field instead of Route 30. Yeah, it added a good five or ten minutes onto my drive since it's all curvy with a 25 MPH speed limit... but it was exactly that: a good five or ten minutes. It was so beautiful, the monuments glowing pink and purple and orange from the sunset, and the rolling hills of farms past the trees.

As much as I want to get out of this area sometimes, I do truly love this part of the country. During my trip westward last fall I remember feeling so uncomfortable in Iowa because I couldn't see mountains in the distance. Iowa is my least favorite state for this reason. The flatness and the tornadoes and Taco John's. Ugh.

Anyway, I think the point of this post was that I really like taking the long way home when it takes me through the battlefield because it's very pretty at sunset.