Pennsylvania is a big state chalked full of rolling hills and American History among many other points of interest. It’s also littered with deer which often times are viewed as a nuisance by locals as they frequently appear on the roadway. We were finding more campgrounds open here however not always near the places we wanted to visit as our points of interest were spread out.

We opened up the Pennsylvania border crossing with a twenty dollar toll from a toll booth attendant born in the same hospital in California as four out of five members of our family. What are the odds?

Our first stop was to see old friends in Newtown Square located around an hour’s drive south of Philadelphia where we attended a Friday night High School football game. We arrived early to a large campus with ample parking for our coach and chose our spot. It wasn’t long before the lot filled up and our friends knocked on our door. We were there primarily to watch our friend’s daughter cheer at the big game. She’s on the cheer squad and is what you call a “flyer”.

The person that is thrown into the air displaying grace and form with a big smile while relying on her team to deliver her safely back to the ground. It was great to see her skill and confidence through the routines. The cheer squad got the stands fired up while our kids had the run of the stadium.

With the game over we headed to a Walmart to spend the night. Not every Walmart will allow you to camp in their parking lot overnight so I always go in the store to ask permission from a manager.

As we pulled in the car park there was another camper in the far corner, a good sign. As we drove around to pick our spot the vibe started to reveal itself.  There were “No overnight parking” signs posted around the parameter of the lot. The other RV looked like the kitchen from Breaking Bad with four men loitering around it. With a few random characters roaming the parking lot and the strange late night clientele the vibe was increasing on the sketch meter.

 

I was tired and not up to driving anywhere else as Pennsylvania is spread out and everything seems to be a minimum half hour drive from everything else.  I went inside and spoke to the manager who told me they didn’t allow over-nighters but they would not call the authorities if we chose to stay. Emerging from the stores florescent glow we found two cops searching some guys car while they had him cuffed over the trunk. It kept getting better.

Stepping back into the coach we waited for the cops to finish to ask about staying. Laurel and the kids were feeling less than excited but I was too tired to drive anywhere. The cops said, “no problem” as they patrol the lot all night. We pulled into a spot in the middle of the car park and slept with one eye open.

The following evening we were treated to a great Philly style dinner with our friends.

Lots of laughs and catching up. The kids had a sleep over with her two kids while we retreated to their church parking lot a couple miles away. As we left her house there was a herd of deer grazing in her yard. They hung out until they got a whiff of our dog and then bolted into the cool darkness.

We had cleared our stay with a church elder earlier that evening who asked us to park the coach in a small lot behind the church. We climbed in, blasted the heater and fell fast asleep. We slept well knowing our kids were well taken care of and in the comfort of a home.

Morning came early as I was awoken from a deep sleep to a strange but familiar noise. I had heard it many times over as I drifted out of my slumber but awoke abruptly when I recognized the sound. It was Sunday and we were in a small church parking lot. Seven AM Mass had the lot filling up with parishioners. The familiar sound was car doors slamming shut. Before I could get to the window to look out I yelled at Laurel to wake up. I feared we were being surrounded by cars thus locking our large coach into the small lot for all three Sunday services. I was relieved to find out there were only a few cars in the lot with the majority parking on the road next to us. We got out of there quickly, parked at a nearby medical building and drove back to get the kids and have breakfast together. We were blessed beyond measure spoiled by our good friends.

Next stop, Valley Forge and Gettysburg. We have been loving our immersion in American History. I especially was excited to visit these most significant sites.

We arrived at Valley Forge on a Sunday afternoon and took to our bikes to explore. Bikes are definitely our preferred mode of transport. They present the opportunity to be totally immersed in your surroundings. The skies were clear and warm. We road many miles through the rolling hills discovering artifacts and learning about the harsh winter conditions endured here by General George Washington and his troops.

 

We toured George Washington’s quarters and with the help of the docents on site gained a rich understanding of life here and the events that transpired during the harsh winter of 1777.

Touring George Washington’s quarters, with the help of docents on site, gained a rich understanding of life here and the events that transpired during the harsh winter of 1777.

This was truly a moment for me to be standing in such a significant place. The east is rich in history that formed our young nation. Growing up in the west the only access to these events had been through history books. Its one thing to read about it and it is quite another to stand in the spot where it took place. The same rung true for our visit to Gettysburg. The warmth of the day gave way to a chill in the air as we made our way back to our coach arriving in near darkness.

We had lots to see across P.A. and scheduled an oil change for the coach during our tour of the state. On our way towards the service facility we tracked down a campground called Dutch cousins

located in an antique district of PA. Arriving after hours there was a sign on the door directing us to call Rachel to check in. I dialed the number and a man with a raspy voice answered the phone. I asked for Rachel and the voice said, “This is Rachel”… We stayed one night and headed toward Amish Country to experience a culture foreign from our own.

As we neared our campground we had the first of many Amish encounters as we shared the roadway with a horse and carriage piloted by a young couple in conservative Amish attire.

 

Amish life is a very different experience than growing up in Southern California. This was somewhat surreal as our only previous exposure to the Amish may have been briefly on television. We continued deep into Amish country in the rural rolling hills of Lancaster to White Oak Campground which was set on top one of the highest hills in the area.

A quite campground with only a handful of travelers offering showers rating very low on the “Happy shower” scale.

We had homework to catch up on and settled in for several nights with a planned day trip to Philly. Weather was moving in with rain and cold weather in the forecast. Cruddy weather makes schoolwork a bit easier to swallow.

The following evening during a hard driving rain I received phone call from “Rachel”. She had made a photocopy of my driver’s license and told me she still had it. She was over an hour away and offered to meet me half way to get it back to me. We agreed on a location and I left alone in the rain soaked darkness. I could barely see out of the windshield in the dark and the hills were filled with patchy fog. The windshield wipers cleared the water of the window but left an oily residue on the glass making visibility poor at best. It is a miracle I stayed on the roadway. I met up with Rachel, kissed her hand with gratitude and retrieved my license. I mean she had to be pushing eighty and to drive all that way in the pouring rain, well I was thankful.  I drove straight to an auto parts store and purchased new wipers which provided a drastic improvement eliminating the visibility issues I had experienced on the way there.

The following day the weather cleared and we made our way into Philadelphia. It was Veteran’s Day and we attended a service at the Veterans Memorial, visited the Liberty Bell, the home of Betsy Ross, Benjamin Franklin’s final resting place, Independence Hall, ate Philly Cheesesteaks at Jim’s Steaks on Sixth street and  topped it off with the Museum of Modern Art which is the location of the iconic stair climbing scene from the original Rocky movie.

 

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The Architecture here is a cool blend of New York, DC, San Francisco and East Coast turn of the century making Philadelphia truly unique.

We hung around the entrance to the museum and soaked in our day whilst looking across the illuminated city skyline. We all agreed we loved Philadelphia and our long drive home was filled with conversation of all things Philly. Pulling into the campground late that night, the misty fog lingered in the trees while miniature lawn pony statues made the perfect setting for a Wes Craven film.

We had a scheduled an oil change for the coach in Harrisburg. With a short stop over for service we made our way to the chocolate capital, Hershey for a quick tour, yummy samples and to purchase a few gifts.

An hour seemed to be enough so once again we headed through the darkness towards our next campsite, Caledonia State Park.

This put us within striking distance of Gettysburg, our final stop on our Pennsylvania tour.

The road was narrow, hilly and winding. Head lights of oncoming traffic inflicted temporary blindness making the drive all the more difficult. On the way we ran across a pizzaria with my sisters family namesake.

We arrived before the weekend to a nearly full campground finding most every site to be sloped.  It was Mid November and the old man winter was slowly waking up. The nights were cold and the days were pleasant. By Sunday we were one of a handful of campers left in the small park.

We spent four days hunkered down catching up on school work and grading papers. We broke up the days with field trips of hiking, fishing and hatchet throwing.

Gettysburg gave all of us a somber insight into the civil wars bloodiest battles. Monuments dot the landscape paying tribute to the men who fought here.

They came from far and wide to fight for their beliefs and ultimately determine the direction of the country. The visitor’s center houses a museum housing countless artifacts of the war.

They say the countryside is still full of them but signs posted prohibit treasure hunting. Another must see at the visitors center is the Cyclorama, a three hundred sixty degree oil painting depicting the July 3^rd, 1863 battle at Gettysburg painted by Paul Dominique Philippoteaux.

You enter the Cyclorama from an escalator that delivers you upstairs into the middle of a round room. The circular room hosts the three hundred seventy seven foot long forty-two foot tall painting. The lights dim and a narrative comes over the speaker system illuminating the points discussed on the painting. Philippoteaux executed the painting largely be himself and his level of expertise is impressive. As we were leaving we encountered a captain who told us his role in the story of the war being conceded by General Lee.

It was another one of those “pinch me” moments where we walked away feeling so fortunate.

We have enjoyed a thread of history through our journey as we stood in the court house where Lincoln honed his skills as a young attorney and in front of the chair he was sitting in on that fateful evening at the Ford theater. Now to be standing where he gave his famous address was an amazing experience.