Today is Sunday the 28th and Sue and I are safely sitting in the Silver Lady in a beautiful KOA Campground. We arrived yesterday afternoon having driven here from our home in Manassas, Virginia.
We brought the Silver Lady home from storage on Friday afternoon and began packing. It was extremely hot and humid and the task was somewhat slow. The packing was interrupted by the welcomed arrival of Bruce's sister Cheryl, her Husband Gene, his brother, David and his Wife, Paula. We had a wonderful dinner with the four of them. Dave and Gene helped me put the Chrysler on the tow dolly so that come Saturday morning, we only had to pack clothes and food.
Packing for this trip is different from last summer in that we are bringing additional clothes to fend off the cooler temperatures we expect when we arrive in Maine later in the trip.
We left Manassas about 10:45 am and arrived at the West Chester Campground about 3:30 pm. A welcomed nap was in order after we hooked everything up and turned on the a/c's. Last evening we watched "The Wrestler" a movie which created a string of conversations between us about life.
Today I made muffins and served Sue tea and her muffin in bed before we took Pooh Bear for a long walk. This campground sits along Brandywine Creek with sites there and for us up the side of a long hill. This area is much more hilly than we expected. Although its not really true, we feel as if we are very much off the beated path. We are about 7 miles from Route 1 just off a small winding road that was a challenge driving in the Silver Lady.
We headed out this morning for Valley Forge National Park. We drove through the area of the Barndywine Battlefield Park on our way to Valley Forge. We arrived at the park to see an extremely busy Park with lots of horseback riders, bicyclist, joggers and families. It is magnificant in its natural beauty and awesome in its historical meaning for us as Americans. We walked through the Visitor's Center, watched a movie about the 1777-1778 Winter Encampment and then took a trolley tour of the Park. We were able to stop at two different places on the tour, a reproduction of an encampment of ordinary soldiers at which we were able to watch three reenactors demonstrate the firing of muskets. We learned that their purpose was not to aim but to put lead in the air to simply hit whatever. We aslo saw inside of several of the huts and got a very small taste of how the soldiers lived. The tour continued through the Park, past various monuments errected by the various States. Our last stop was at Washington's Headquaters where our guide and a Park Ranger combined to tell us about the house, the grounds, the people who lived and served there during that long winter. We were even told that Martha Washington came to be with her husband for most of the winter. The house was very small and probably occupied by about 30 people most of the time.
There was so much to see that we really just scratched the surface. There was also a self guided car tour with a CD. I suspect that I could have spent all day wandering around here. We had a great day. I have long been interested in Colonial and Revolutionary War history. The more I see of places like we experienced today, I stand amazed that as a "nation" we survived the War. God just seemed to send Washington the men, ideas and materials he needed at just the right time. Today we understood more about the arrival of Von Steuben and how he standardized everything for the troops. Here in this long hard winter was the birth of the American Army. This war went on for almost 10 years. Washington was able to hold an "army" together and to stay in the field against the largest Army ever put together by the British Empire to that time. With each defeat, things were learned and with the few victories came more and more confidence.
Our Country is a miracle. Please Lord, don't let us forget that. Please Lord fulfill your purposes with this People. Please Lord, fufill your purposes in us in these days as you did with others in their days of trial. Give us more George Washingtons and the men who served with him.
Returning to the campground, we again napped and then went for a swim. Tomorrow, we head for downtown Philadelphia as part of a tour run by the campground. I am pleased not to be driving.
It is so good to be away with Sue and to be off on this our 5th Excellent Adventure.
We brought the Silver Lady home from storage on Friday afternoon and began packing. It was extremely hot and humid and the task was somewhat slow. The packing was interrupted by the welcomed arrival of Bruce's sister Cheryl, her Husband Gene, his brother, David and his Wife, Paula. We had a wonderful dinner with the four of them. Dave and Gene helped me put the Chrysler on the tow dolly so that come Saturday morning, we only had to pack clothes and food.
Packing for this trip is different from last summer in that we are bringing additional clothes to fend off the cooler temperatures we expect when we arrive in Maine later in the trip.
We left Manassas about 10:45 am and arrived at the West Chester Campground about 3:30 pm. A welcomed nap was in order after we hooked everything up and turned on the a/c's. Last evening we watched "The Wrestler" a movie which created a string of conversations between us about life.
Today I made muffins and served Sue tea and her muffin in bed before we took Pooh Bear for a long walk. This campground sits along Brandywine Creek with sites there and for us up the side of a long hill. This area is much more hilly than we expected. Although its not really true, we feel as if we are very much off the beated path. We are about 7 miles from Route 1 just off a small winding road that was a challenge driving in the Silver Lady.
We headed out this morning for Valley Forge National Park. We drove through the area of the Barndywine Battlefield Park on our way to Valley Forge. We arrived at the park to see an extremely busy Park with lots of horseback riders, bicyclist, joggers and families. It is magnificant in its natural beauty and awesome in its historical meaning for us as Americans. We walked through the Visitor's Center, watched a movie about the 1777-1778 Winter Encampment and then took a trolley tour of the Park. We were able to stop at two different places on the tour, a reproduction of an encampment of ordinary soldiers at which we were able to watch three reenactors demonstrate the firing of muskets. We learned that their purpose was not to aim but to put lead in the air to simply hit whatever. We aslo saw inside of several of the huts and got a very small taste of how the soldiers lived. The tour continued through the Park, past various monuments errected by the various States. Our last stop was at Washington's Headquaters where our guide and a Park Ranger combined to tell us about the house, the grounds, the people who lived and served there during that long winter. We were even told that Martha Washington came to be with her husband for most of the winter. The house was very small and probably occupied by about 30 people most of the time.
There was so much to see that we really just scratched the surface. There was also a self guided car tour with a CD. I suspect that I could have spent all day wandering around here. We had a great day. I have long been interested in Colonial and Revolutionary War history. The more I see of places like we experienced today, I stand amazed that as a "nation" we survived the War. God just seemed to send Washington the men, ideas and materials he needed at just the right time. Today we understood more about the arrival of Von Steuben and how he standardized everything for the troops. Here in this long hard winter was the birth of the American Army. This war went on for almost 10 years. Washington was able to hold an "army" together and to stay in the field against the largest Army ever put together by the British Empire to that time. With each defeat, things were learned and with the few victories came more and more confidence.
Our Country is a miracle. Please Lord, don't let us forget that. Please Lord fulfill your purposes with this People. Please Lord, fufill your purposes in us in these days as you did with others in their days of trial. Give us more George Washingtons and the men who served with him.
Returning to the campground, we again napped and then went for a swim. Tomorrow, we head for downtown Philadelphia as part of a tour run by the campground. I am pleased not to be driving.
It is so good to be away with Sue and to be off on this our 5th Excellent Adventure.
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