August 10, 2002

Good Evening everyone, Today Vel and I took off around 10AM. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shinning and only a few clouds against the blue skies. Well now, where shall we go is the usual question. We decided to head south west toward Delaware. We were glad to be going in that direction because the traffic was very heavy, heading to the shore. It was great to see so many people out and about. I guess because it was a Saturday and we hadn't been out on a weekend in a long time.

Every town we went through was humming. Millville, Bridgeton, and Salem are all medium size cities, but all of them are very old. The homes are all situated right to the sidewalk. No front yards, and mostly made of old stone or brick. Of course on the outskirts are more modern type homes. They try to keep certain areas fixed up because they are historical but you know some of the places are blighted because a lot of the people are poor and live either on welfare or work on some of the large farms outside the area. Anyway, we finally arrived in Delaware after going over the Memorial Bridge. We wanted to get to the nice woodsy area so Vel makes a right hand turn and we are heading west, for a short time.

Next thing ya know, we are no where near the trees and rolling hills that we talked about, We are in the back slum area of Wilmington. It was horrible, so dirty, full of trash, people hanging on the corners. It was very un-nerving, haha. This went on for several miles, and nest thing we are on a main highway. again. We had a good laugh about it and continued on our journey to gosh knows where. Finally after wondering where we made a wrong turn or even where this road would take us, we made another right.

Did find the hills and we were able to breathe more easily. We finally saw a brown sign, which usually means a park of some sort. It was really nice, We drove in, made a p stop and then continured for a ride around the park. It was beautiful, lots of lush trees, flowers, areas for campers, a food concession (which we never saw) and a lake. We saw some open space across the water so decided to try to find what it was. We found the road, very winding and had lots of children and parents walking, just enoying this wonderful day. We went to the area and it was great. There was a huge swimming pool, bigger than an olympic sized one. The water was so blue compared to the lake, the people sure were enjoying themselves. In among the trees were picnic benches fill with coolers, and picnic baskets. I have no idea how many but they were all taken. Even had a big pavillion and it looked like a family reunion all sitting around the tables. It was great. Then we decided to get out of there. and on the way out, who comes walking out of the woods but a deer. He must have been used to people cause he just sauntered across, then stood there and looked at us. Now we are back on the road again. it sure was a nice ride, lots of hills, sometimes it looked like we were going to drop off, and talk about zig-zagging, and very sharp curves. We could see small mountain in the distance. What gorgeous views!!.

Have no idea where we were, but we were now in Pennsylvania according to the Welcome sign. Have no idea how we got here but now what shall we do? Oh well, we just continue, oh wait a minute what is that sign? Valley Forge!! LOL, how did we get here, all those right turns finally pay off, Never been here before, not in many, many years anyway.

We decide to stop and check it out. Went to one building and inside was a bell, on the order of the Liberty Bell, to honor some of the women who were connected with the Suffrage Movement. Along the walls were plaques with all the names of soldiers from the Revolutionary War. Civil War,WW 1 and WW 2. This was very moving for us. We read a lot of the names, and it sure was interesting. On the outside of this stone building were more placques in memory of the Patriots of Pennsylvana.

Click pic

Next door was a church, can't remember the year it was built, but seemed very old. Sort of had a musty smell to it, although it was beautiful. There was an isle right down the middle with pews on opposite sides. They were small compared t todays churches. maybe could seat 6 people. I think the wood was oak, and stained a dark color. They were absolutly beautiful. The alter had stained glass at the back of it but it was crowded with children and a couple of ministers were talking to them. I think they were getting ready for a service which was to be held at 5pm. and it was now 4:30pm.

Oh I forgot, we stopped at a little restaurant somewhere before we got to Valley Forge. It was ok, but nothing to rave about, Vel and I hadn't eaten and it was 2:30pm. Ya know, Vel has diabetes and she gets shakie if she doesn't eat. We had filet of flounder with FF and cole slaw. It was good, but strickly from the freezer. The waitress was young and not friendly at all. Felt like she was doing us a favor waiting on us. There were several other parties there also, but don't think I saw her smile one time/. All I can say is, don't go out on mountain roads and expect to find a nice place to eat, unless you are in a resort area. LOL.

Now back to Valley Forge. There were several open type buildings around the church courtyard, and each one was named for a different state. I noticed, Maryland, N.Y., N.J. and Virginia. In the courtyard there was a statue of a woman, kneeling down, with her hand to her face. It was in honor of all the mothers of the soldiers who died. The lettering was so worn I couldn't make out what time period. Maybe from the Revolutionary War. Seemed like alot of the stones were donated by the DAR. The Valley Forge Web Site will give you a little history about it. We got back in the car, and took a ride through the cemetary. Lots of headstones but most of them were from our era. I guess the real old ones were in the back. I think you have to be a direct decendent to be buried there. Now we are off again heading SE. figure we should head that way since it is around 5PM and we are quite a distance from our area. We followed Rt. 23 for a long time. Lots of beautiful scenery and many small towns. We arrived in Philadelphia and fortunately not too much traffic, only for about 10 miles it was bumper to bumper.

Vel is a good driver, have to remind her of a red light now and then. haha, thought my foot was going through the floor couple of times, but one time it was not her fault, somone had put a branch in front of the red light and she didn't see it, No sweat, everything was good, no close calls. It was a nice ride once we his Jersey. She brought me home and we parted around 7PM. Wow other than getting out of the car for maybe 2 hours we were riding for about 8 hours. LOL. Gosh talk about 2 old ladies being stiff. Didn't think the old legs were going to move.

Anyway, we had a great day, loved every minute of it and looking forward to our next jaunt. Hopefully to Tangier Island, off the coast of Virginia. Hope this wasn't too long, and that you enjoyed reading about our little jaunt. Lots of hugs to all. Sorry No pics. Just didn't get near a Wal Mart, hahahahah