Pennsylvania countryside

Despite the rain, we forged on – to Valley Forge as a matter of fact.  We got our history facts from the visitor center movie and then drove a meandering road around the Continental Army’s 1777 encampment site.  It cleared enough for a picnic in a picturesque setting under the trees – the deer were very friendly.  We toured Washington’s Headquarters, a stone house that he rented for the winter, and that is still mostly original. 

The park ranger was great (we were the only people in the house at the time). Drake asked whether we still would have won the war without the help of Captain Von Steuben, a Prussian Army transplant credited with training and drilling Washington’s Army thereby turning them into a powerful fighting force for the first time.  He answered that although it may have taken longer, he believed they still would have won.  He said that although it may not be politically correct, he believed as Washington did that were it not for the Divine hand of God, they would not have prevailed.  Not what I expected from a National Park Ranger.

We next drove up to Lancaster County.  Our younger kids had refused to believe our descriptions of how the Amish live and so it was nice to be immediately vindicated by a buggy on the main highway.  It was sporting blinkers which the kids immediately seized on as proof that they did use some electricity.  I admitted to ignorance about the specifics, but as we drove through the countryside and saw the farms and people and how after sundown, the kitchens were lit with only one lantern, the stark contrast with their own lives was impressed upon the kids. We crossed over eight of the thirty or so historic covered bridges in the county.  We couldn't have cleared a single one in the RV.