Category: National Monuments, National Historic Sites, Memorials, Battlefields, National Forests etc.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 10, 2026

This famous battle between July 1 to July 3, 1863, ended as a major victory for the Union troops. On the final day, 12,000 Confederate soldiers known as “Pickett’s Charge” attacked the union army, suffering 5,000 deaths in one hour, and retreated from Gettysburg. Overall, more men died during the Battle of Gettysburg than any other battle on American soil before or after. Overall, 11,000 men died and 40,000 were wounded, captured or missing. Perhaps, this way there are many paranormal claims connected with areas of the battlefield and local houses.

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln came to Gettysburg to dedicate the new Soldiers National Cemetery and here he gave the famous “Gettysburg Address “speech.

We visited the excellent battlefield visitor center and viewed the incredible 377′ x 42′ cyclorama detailing the conflict. Afterwards, we drove the battlefield trail. Ironically, while we were in the visitor center, a severe storm struck the battlefield.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 10, 2026

The Eisenhower Farm was adjacent to the Gettysburg Civil War Battlefield and had a view of South Mountain. The farm served the present and first lady as a weekend retreat and also as a diplomatic meeting place for world leaders.

The farm included a putting green, rose gardens, skeet range, and remains of Eisenhower’s cattle operation. The Eisenhower’s first lived here in 1918 and returned here during retirement after the presidency.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 9, 2026

The town of 300 people sits on The Point, a V-shaped parcel of land between the confluence of the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River. The town has old historic houses and churches, restaurants, Airbnb’s, and John Browns Museum and Fort. We learned so much about the Civil War history and Brown’s abolitionist uprising. We enjoyed hiking on the Appalachian Trail which runs through town and ascends into the foothills (only four miles of the AT is in West Virginia). Across the bridge into Maryland, you can hop on the C & O Canal Towpath bike trail. Shuttles from the National Historic Park Visitor Center will drop you off downtown at The Point as car parking is very limited.

Investigation Team: Dave Miller, Debbie Miller

Date: September 23, 2026

As part of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, Hawthorn Hill is the landmark mansion of the world’s first pilot, Orville Wright. Tours of the mansion, a National Historic Landmark, are through Dayton History/Carillon Historical Park. A shuttle bus took us from Carillon Park to the mansion, and a guide escorted us room by room throughout the two-story home providing engrossing history and anecdotes about Orville, some of his famous guests (including Ronald Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Charles Lindburgh), and artifacts in the home. Construction on the mansion began in 1912 and was completed in 1914. Orville Wright lived here from 1914 until his death in 1948.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: September 3 & 4, 2026

This almost 900,000-acre wilderness forest in the Upper UP of Michigan has both an east and west section. The forest is named after the Mohawk Indian Chief. We first encountered the forest as we drove along the shoreline along the south part of it touching Lake Michigan. The combination of lakes, sand dunes and forest was beautiful. We hiked a small part of the North Country Trail through the National Forest near Munising and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. While at a parking lot in the forest, we noticed this (Photo #3) abnormality on our travel trailer window. Rosie things that it was an angel marking.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 7-12, 2026

America’s first long distance highway, this 620-mile road (also known as US 40) began at Cumberland, Maryland and went westward to Vandalia, Illinois. Toll houses were built along the road. The historical marker marks the location where the road began on Greene Street and Braddock Road. The road was a vision of George Washington to develop the continent and unite the country; his idea was championed by President Thomas Jefferson & authorized in 1806. Construction work began in 1811. 

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 5, 2026

This somber memorial is a place to learn about the fourth aircraft that crashed on September 11, 2001, in a field near Shanksville, killing all aboard. Exhibits tell the story of that day and about the 40 passengers and flight crew members whose actions thwarted the al-Qaeda hijackers plan to fly their plane to a target in Washington, DC, most likely the US Capitol Building. After viewing the exhibits at the incredible visitor center, we hiked the 1.7-mile Western Overlook Trail past beautiful wildflowers down to the crash site and the Wall of Names.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: November 23, 2025

We departed on a ferry boat from Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, next to the USS Yorktown WWII aircraft carrier. We boated across Charleston Harbor past Castle Pinckney (formally Fort Pinckney) to Fort Sumter, the famous island fort. The boat rides each way were 35 minutes in length.

The historical fort was the site of the opening shots of the Civil War fired on April 12, 1861. Originally, the fort was built in 1829, one of a series of coastal fortifications built by the US after the War of 1812. A mortar shell fired from Fort Johnson in Charleston burst over Fort Sumter igniting the conflict. After a 34-hour fight with no fatalities, the Union troops agreed to terms of evacuation. The troops marched out of the fort and boarded a ship for transport to New York. The Civil War had begun. Fort Sumter was now in Confederate hands. During Union bombardment of the fort in 1864 & 1865, a total of 52 Confederate soldiers were killed in the fort.

Photos below show what the original fort looked like before the bombardment and destruction.

We toured the casements (gun rooms) on the first and second floor levels, the small museum and the parade ground. There were lots of cannons, mortars and war memorabilia. I talked to both park rangers about the Confederate submarine Hunley, the USS Ironclad Patapsco, and if they had any paranormal experiences to relate.

On the way back three dolphins swam parallel to our boat.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Nick Kelly, Jacque Kelly, Elizabth Kelly, John Kelly

Date: May 18, 2025

Meriwether Lewis visited here in 1803 as part of his preparations for the Lewis & Clark Expedition. He stopped here while traveling down the Ohio River, collecting fossilized bones for President Thomas Jefferson which were believed to be remains of ancient, giant animals.

After the expedition, Jefferson continued his interest with the fossils at Big Bone Lick. William Clark, accompanied by his brother George Rogers Clark, conducted a major excavation at the site in 1807, collecting a large number of bones and teeth.

The site is now known as the “Birthplace of American Vertebrate Paleontology” due to the significant fossil collections and discoveries made at Big Bone Lick by Lewis & Clark and others. Big Bone Lick Historic Site is named a National Natural Landmark, one of only 16 so named in the USA.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 12, 2025

As we exited the Al Mauka Makai Trail and turned north, we began this coastal trail which runs north and south for 175 miles (although not continuous). Within a quarter mile we could see seven large green sea turtles in the tide pools. The turtles were either sleeping on land, resting in the water or were swimming. Since it was low tide, a could see black sea urchins (Photo#8) and some butterfly fish and angelfish that were caught in the tide pools. We decided to hang out next to these turtles for a while instead of hiking farther of the hiking trail to the large ‘Aimakapa Fishpond. We really enjoyed our up-close encounters with these wonderful creatures.