KOA, West Chester, PA:  Another cloudy day, but a lot warmer.  Got our stuff together and packed for our trip to NYC tomorrow.  Jeeze, what a pain.  It’s so much easier in our RV.  My suitcase weighs a ton.  Thankfully, it has wheels.  Hope Penn Station has an elevator.  Our train leaves at 1:27 (from Trenton), so we should be at our hotel by 3:30 or so.

KOA, West Chester, PA:  Got going early this morning and went over and took care of the laundry.  A cool, cloudy day with a misty rain.  After getting the laundry done we watched movies for most of the day.  Getting ready to pack up and go to NYC for a few days.  Low 70s today.

Large four-masted square rigger moored on the Philadelphia waterfront.

KOA, West Chester, PA:  Off to Valley Forge today.  Missed the turnoff and ended up way north.  We didn’t see any signage heading west but was very visible heading back—after we turned around.  I learned a lot about Valley Forge and Gen. Washington’s winter camp.  There were 12,000 people in this camp at one time—including women and children.  The women were enlisted to do the laundry for the camp.  Each woman did laundry for as many as 60 men—each day.  A lot of the recruits were immigrants, and several languages were spoken in camp.  The recruits were promised land—100 acres I think.  What they failed to tell them was that the land was way west and considered Indian land.  Gen. Washington rented a house—a nice house—in Valley Forge.  And Martha wintered with him.  Came back and stopped for dinner at the historic Marshalton Inn—Est. in 1814.  Back home and watched golf.

The recruits of the Continental Army built their own cabins.  Non-officers were 12 per cabin.  Officers maybe 6 to a cabin.  Trees were cleared up to two miles in every direction.  So the recruits had to walk several miles to get logs for their cabins and wood for their fires.  And there would have been nothing but mud (and other things) in camp.  Certainly no grass.

Gen. George Washington's winter quarters.

Check out this old stone barn.

The historic Marshalton Inn where we dined alfresco on the front porch.

The Continental Army summer uniforms.

KOA, West Chester, PA:  Drove into Philadelphia this morning.  Parked and walked around the historic district all day.  I was going to wear sandals.  Thankfully, I was smart and wore sensible shoes.  Had lunch at a little restaurant in the historic district.  I had a Philly cheese steak sandwich.  Mike had a Reuben.  Walked around some more, then back to our parking spot and walked around the riverfront for a while.  Back to our site.  Actually, some of the buildings around us here in the Brandywine Valley are older than the ones we saw today. 85 today and beautiful.

Independence Hall--where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell--the wood it's mounted on is over 300 years old!

Holiday Inn, Exton, PA, to KOA West Chester, PA:  Tossed and turned all night.  Wish we were in the fifth-wheel with our comfy Tempurpedic mattress.  Mike had no trouble sleeping.  Partook of their breakfast downstairs.  Now it’s a waiting game.  Mike went over to check on the truck and came back around 10:30.  All fixed and we’re ready to go.  Turns out it was the exhaust brake—a solenoid or something.  Hooked up and were on our way.  There are some really historic homes and other buildings around here—I’m talking Revolutionary War historic.  We finally made it to the KOA after meandering all over.  We’re out in the country again.  It’s a beautiful park.  Our site is like being in a National Forest campground, but with amenities.  We have full hook-ups for our 15 day stay.  But 8 of those days we’ll be in NYC and will leave the fifth-wheel here.  Low 80s today and sunny.

My side of the room.

Mike's side of the room.

Tucked into the woods--KOA West Chester, PA

Fallingwater grounds

The barns in this area all have little louvered shutters which give them a very distinctive look.

Hickory Hollow RV Park, Somerset, PA, to KOA, Coatsville, PA:  Left this morning around 9:30 and headed east on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  A beautiful drive through the lush hills/mountains of southwestern PA.  Lots of long pulls up and long coasts down and around 4 or 5 tunnels.  The truck performed really well—only downshifted around 3 or 4 times in all those hills.  Dropped down into the Cumberland Valley and stopped at a service area for some lunch.  The semi parked next to us was hauling some kind of animals—probably cattle or horses.  I could hear them thumping around in there.  It was a regular trailer with no ventilation of any kind.  I can only imagine how horrible it was for whatever animals were in there.  Continued east and got off at our exit for the KOA.  However, it’s several miles away in the country somewhere.  Unfortunately, shortly after we got off the truck started belching black smoke and we lost power.  This has happened before and the mechanic said it was just something in the air filter.  We stopped and turned the truck off and then restarted and it was okay.  But only for a mile or so and then it started doing it again.  So, we happened to be right by a Holiday Inn, and we pulled in there, parked and went inside to see if they knew where there was a GMC or Chevy dealer.  They told us there was a Pep Boys right next door, so Mike walked over there and they told him the mechanic that works on diesels had left for the day.  So, we pulled the fifth-wheel out in the Holiday Inn back lot and dropped it and Mike took the truck over to Pep Boys so the mechanic could work on it first thing.  So, here we are in a Holiday Inn in Exton, PA, only 15 miles from our destination.  Could have been a lot worse though.  81 today and mostly sunny.

Honeysuckle or Jasmine--it smelled wonderful.

Nest with four perfect robin's eggs.  In the site next to us.  Unfortunately, the nest was abandoned for some reason.

Wed, 6/13/12:
Hickory Hollow RV Park, Somerset, PA:  Headed out this morning to see the Flight 93 Memorial which is only about 20 miles away.  I guess I was very surprised that the plane came down in a high meadow covered with wildflowers and fringed with trees instead of a farmers field down low.  The plane came down upside down at a 40 degree angle going 593 miles per hour.  It left a 40 foot crater and amazingly 95% of the plane was recovered and everyone on board was identified by some means.  The crater was filled in after all the remains and debris were removed and it looks pretty much the way it did before the plane came down.  It’s an amazingly tranquil and peaceful place—considering the horrific violence that took place here.  Left there and drove up to Johnstown to visit the flood museum there.  In 1889 one of the worst floods in our history happened here and 2200 people died.  Johnstown is situated along the Little Conemaugh River in a narrow valley.  14 miles upstream is a large earthen dam creating Conemaugh Lake.  At that time this lake was home to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club which was owned by several rich Pittsburgh families. They would come to this pristine, man-made lake in the mountains and fish or hunt or just relax in their “cottages” along the lake shore.  Unfortunately, they ignored signs that the dam was weakening and after a period of heavy rain the earthen dam finally gave way.  The tower of water that hit Johnstown was over 37 feet high and wiped everything out in its path.  One woman was giving birth in the upstairs bedroom of one of the homes that was ripped away by the flood and floated away.  Both survived.  Bodies were found as far away as Cincinnati as long after as 1906.  South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was abandoned since there was no more lake.  They left their cottages and everything in them and never came back.  Tomorrow we leave for western Philadelphia.

Someone took this picture right after impact.

Impact site in front of the boulder

The white marble "wall of names".  The wall is placed right along the line the plane took in its last seconds.

The white marble wall of names.

Wall of names.

So sad...

JOHNSTOWN FLOOD

City Hall--Johnstown

Members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club used to hang out on the spillway.  Must have been fun climbing around in those long dresses.