Crossing the Atlantic and closing a chapter

We are now well across the Atlantic and in heartland East Coast country - we even made it into Amish country today, in Lancaster County, Pensylvania, complete with horses and buggies.
However I haven't closed the Battlefields Chapter yet!

Every night since being opened in 1927 with great ceremony, many international guests and the first foreign BBC broadcast, this place has been the site of a nightly memorial service (apart from the 4 years of German occupation during WW2).
We were privileged to attend and for representative from among us to lay a wreath in honour of those who fought and those who died.
Dinner and Belgian chocolate completed the evening.
The following morning we had more to see, including sites surrounding Passendale. This was the most remarkable cemetery in terms of size, being the resting place of 11,000 men, 70% of whom are unknown... and 33,000 are missing. This is the place name that I have in my head from the perspective of NZ's involvement. Alan our guide gestured to where the NZ troops had advanced in the gunfire, with appalling rain and mud, and said we were down in the "Valley of Death". I have learned that battle sites are often not known by their geographical name, but by the one given to them by the soldiers that lived, fought and often died there.

This photo is a panorama so may give a sense of scale. Among the list of missing soldiers on the NZ wall there is a McCabe from the Auckland Regiment...
We even had a serendipitous moment - about 10 min after Alan talking about a local man that has become an 'amateur expert' in retrieving remains, in the context of a specific story of finding 5 bodies just there when some roadworks were done, we literally ran into him at the next memorial! He gave personal insight into growing up in the area and of some of the work he has benn involved in.
There are some wonderful statues among these places. One of the last we saw was very special. Called Cobber it depicts one man carrying his wounded friend to help. This at a place called Fromelle, where a battle with the odds stacked against the Dominion troops was fought over 2 days. A young Hitler watched this one play out. The German bunkers remain not just at this memorial site, but in the occasional field.

On a lighter note I must tell you about the Dr Seuss trees here - I'm sure a Maisie bird would be right at home! All the trees are bare, many of the fields are bare dirt, but occasionally you see a blob, or blobs, of green in one or more trees. My family will know that I would have to be fascinated...

I was delighted to be told this is in fact mistletoe!
After multiple farewells in Paris, on Tuesday morning we, the now just our tour group, were treated to a heavily undersubscribed flight across the Atlatic. I had a row of four middle seats to stretch out on! I missed the action out the window - one of the guys reported seeing icebergs as we arced north, then back down over Canada and pretty much directly over Portland and Boston!
Now it's time to get serious about our itinerary and setting up the USB cards Kevin organised for us for gifts.

It took a long time to sort out our rental vehicle... there was one fast talking guy behind the counter. He lined us up a large van instead of the two cars the travel agent had booked. We figured it was more because they didn't have the right vehicles on hand, than because this was really a better deal. After some lengthy discussions, inspections and rereading of the 'extras per day' lines we were happy enough that the van would have good points. Then it just remained to get our bags in, take a picture and head off on the wrong side of the road! Driving in the USA, if you're not born in the USA, is not instinctive! Or so the guys that have ably taken up the challenge indicate...

I'll talk about some of the visits we have made in Pensylvania next time folks :)