Valley Forge & Philadelphia, PA

Cole and I joined Brady and his boy scout troop to hike two historical trails in early August. 

The Valley Forge Historical Trail was really long and a lot to walk for the 27 of us.  In order to receive the trail medals, the boys had to complete a scavenger type hunt throughout the park.  However, their compass skills had to come into practice.  They had to know at what degree to hike, which caused a few miles of back tracking when errors occurred.  The hike should have only been 9 miles although it took us over 11 miles and about 10 hours to complete.

Valley Forge was the winter encampment where George Washington and his troops stayed during the Revolutionary War.

Some of the soldiers 'huts' re-created.

A soldier re-enacting and teaching the boys how to prepare a musket gun.

An arch built in memory of soldiers that died while at Valley Forge.

Our first rest of the day, listening to the story tellers inform us of historical figures that lived here.  

And on with the hike...here is where it really began to get rough..

We finally made it the Artillery area of camp.

Throughout the hike there where deer EVERYWHERE!!!!  We acted as if we had never seen deer before.  There were just so many!  

This deer was especially sweet.  While we were hiking through the woods, she popped her little head up and stared us down as if we were awaking her slumber.  So sorry....

 

Just keep walking, hiking, drinking, sweating and...complaining!!

 

We thought we were just about done, but we were wrong...keep on hiking!!

The boys kept resting, which is another reason it took us so long.  C'mon boys (and girls, there were three girls that joined us from a Venturing Crew)...I'm hungry!!

FINALLY, back at camp to start on dinner and to rest our feet before the next day of hiking.

On to downtown Philly.  The boys didn't realize that 'hiking' doesn't have to happen through the woods, but can also take place on concrete...which actually was harder on our already tired, blistered feet. 

The Benjamin Franklin Historic Trail took us about 8 1/2 miles and about 8 hours to complete.  No compass reading this time!

C'mon boys...we haven't even begun yet!!  Get it together!

 

Franklin's printing shop, where the Declaration of Independence was printed.

 

Lunch this day was a bit different, on brick and in the sun compared to sitting on nice plush grass, under a tree at Valley Forge.

Resting on the steps of the 2nd bank of the United States.

Airing out the feet....they really do get hot while walking on concrete in the hot Philly sun!

This is the closest I was able to get to experience 'Rocky, the Italian Stallion"!  I wanted to run up the steps in Philly to re-enact Rocky's training...but we were no where near those steps...maybe next time!

Michelle Obama was in town and stalled our hike quite a bit because there were several stops on the trail that were closed down due to security.

People lined the streets to get a glimpse of Michelle...we kept on hiking...

Ben Franklin's grave, which people would throw money on.  Notice the $100 bill on his grave.  There was a guard standing by so the boys weren't able to snatch it up.

An unexpected stop, was the US Mint.  The boys weren't able to see the money made (due to it being a Saturday), but it was a cool building to visit.  We weren't allowed to take our bags or our cameras in, so this is our one and only snapshot.

 

Our last stop was the Liberty Bell.  It was a weird line to wait in, 45 minutes without a roller coaster to ride, but a BIG bell with a crack in it!

Michelle Obama interfered with us seeing the Declaration of Independence.  We were able to see the outside of Independence Hall though.

Back to camp for dinner, which the boys made and then cleaned up after all of us! :)

Cole stirring dinner.

 

The boys washing dishes...which I don't get to observe very often!

Cole, the cub scout offering advice to a boy scout on how to light a fire.  Which we never enjoyed due to the rain.  Good coaching Cole!

 

Brady has just been caught drinking my Pepsi, which is NOT allowed at camp (but I was able to smuggle it in with my skills)!  BAD Brady BAD!  Good think I caught you and not your Scout Master!

Tearing down camp in the POURING DOWN rain!

It was a great weekend for the boys and I.  We learned a lot about our national history, we slept great in tents because we were so tired, we even showered (which usually doesn't happen when camping).  Most importantly, we enjoyed spending time with each other!  Good times, good times!