Valley Forge

Amy and Bill live near Valley Forge National Historical Site, so we spent some time checking it out.
At the visitor center we watched a film explaining how the soldiers settled here for the winter during the American Revolutionary War (1777-1778). Sadly of the 12,000 that came, many of them didn't make it thru the winter as disease was rampant thru out the camp.

Such neat scenery. Doesn't this look like a painting?

Learning about the tools and weapons used during the Revolutionary War.

Who knows what this is?

It's a "pen". The two white straw-looking things are quills. 

Just remove the cork in the center, then dip a quill into the ink to write. So cool!

A tool used to make buttons for their uniforms.

To pass the time, the men created lots of games. 

A domino made from bone.

I find it interesting that the cards and dice they made so many years ago are basically the same ones we all use today.

Booklet of Rights published in 1766.

Shillings and fractional dollars from 1776.

They even used fractions of coins, interesting.

Building began in 1903 on the Washington Memorial Chapel, 

an Episcopal church that also serves as a memorial. This is a truly gorgeous place!

When we walked in, a photographer was posing a model in front of this door. Once they moved on, Journey asked me to take a few of her. This is the pose she chose. 

The inside of the chapel was absolutely stunning!

The ceiling

Intricate carvings adorned seemingly every surface.

And just outside this beautiful creation sit cannons, a jarring reminder of the history of this area.

There are quite a few other parts to this NPS site, however we ran out of time. 

We will return at some point to see more.

A Dutch Wonderful Day

Amy and I have been friends since 7th grade. In our 20s, I moved to Vegas and she moved to Philadelphia. She was the only friend who flew out for my wedding. This trip up the East Coast has allowed us the opportunity to stay with her family for a few nights. It was so nice to finally see her beautiful home and spend quality time with her, her husband and their children. It didn't take long til our four children were playing together which makes my heart happy.

They invited us to a place I'd never heard of before, Dutch Wonderland. It's an amusement park near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. My kids absolutely LOVED it! They rode a ton of rides, but the roller coasters were their favorite.

There's a waterpark section which is like a brilliant watery playground. Asher spotted the huge water slides right away and talked me into going with him. We sat together on a double raft and went down the slide in complete darkness. It was quite thrilling and fun. Asher LOVED it!

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When looking at the map of the area, I spotted a town named Audubon. I thought that was interesting and then learned that John James Audubon actually lived in the area and his home has been turned into a museum and art gallery. Of course I had to visit and do some birding on the property.

It was a wonderful place to bird with a variety of habitats. I noted 27 species and especially enjoyed the Goldfinches and an Indigo Bunting as they were visiting the tall flowers in the yard. Trails take you thru woods, over bridges, and to a river. Audubon's own drawings mark the paths.

An aviary holds disabled Great Horned and Screech Owls that can't

 be returned to the wild. It was fun to see them up close.

A new museum is scheduled to open on the property in 2019 at which time they'll display his very large Birds of America book. I saw the plans for the new building and it looks amazing. I look forward to walking thru it one day.

I must admit I was disappointed when I asked a question about a bird and got blank stares. They called over someone else, who called over someone else to learn that no one could answer my question about which flycatchers tend to hang out right outside their window. I would think Audubon himself would be sad that those working at a museum bearing his name would not have developed a deep love of birds. Or maybe they appreciate them just not to the extent of a typical birder.

Our Nation's Capitol

Andrews AFB was our base for exploring the Washington D.C. area. On day one we took the kids to the most visited museum in North America, the National Air and Space Museum. 7,500,000 visits were recorded last year!

Such a fantastic way to learn our solar system! Seeing the scale this way is shocking.

Afterwards we walked to the Capitol, thru the National
Botanical Gardens and then to the Washington Monument.

The kids enjoy making crazy faces in photos. Sometimes I prefer the silly ones over the smiles.

The next day we drove back downtown to spend a couple hours at the National Zoo and the Georgetown Riverfront National Park Site before heading back to the memorials.

Journey was excited to find a cicada. We normally only find the shells, so this was pretty neat.

Found out our family weighs 433lbs which means we collectively 

weigh more than a newborn Asian elephant, but less than a one year old.

We love seeing animals that are new to us. This Mouse-Deer was pretty interesting. Its legs are so tiny, he looks like he's walking on stilts. Such an odd sight.

And the Tamandua, which looks like a cross between an ant-eater, and a polar bear with a monkey tail.

The kids were interested to see the White House, but disappointed that they didn't get to meet President Trump, ha! They recovered from the disappointment by racing each other to the Washington Monument.

Lastly we experienced a sobering walk thru the Vietnam, WWII and Lincoln memorials.

We found out how much more enjoyable it is to check out the monuments after 6pm when the traffic, both pedestrian and vehicle, have mostly vacated the area. In the future, I'll only do indoor museums during the day and save the outdoor monuments for early evening. Seeing them lit up is a whole different experience.

We enjoyed catching up with our friend Paz and his sons, whom we haven't seen in nearly ten years. Our last day in D.C. was spent relaxing and swimming at the base pool where Asher jumped off the diving board for the very first time. He loved it and jumped off again and again.