Our schedule looked like this:
Day 1- travel and get as far into Pennsylvania as possible
Day 2- Hershey and Lancaster
Day 3- NYC or Philly...depending on weather
Day 4- NYC or Philly depending on weather
Day 5- Washington DC
Day 6- Gettysburg
Day 7- start heading home
Day 8- get home
Day 1 started off at 3:37 am we left our driveway. Yes, I know this is early but we use it to our advantage and we hope the kids go back to sleep. After an hour of excitement...they usually drift back off. Around 6:00am we hit Chicago. We thought this was a good time but found out that it's already jammed up...LOL
Then after connecting with a friend of mine from Etsy, we agreed to finally meet after knowing each other for 2 years. I've purchased many of her cards that she creates and sells in her shop Goodgosh or you can find her fan page on facebook. This turned out to be a treat not only for me but the rest of the family. Her business in Mishawaka is an Art and frame gallery. A short drive off the interstate it's a must stop in Indiana to find treasures that Peggy has picked up at auctions or something she's created herself. Back on the road again we passed through some Amish country side along the interstate which kind of shocked us...The Amish has bigger and newer hay bines than Mark's and they were horse drawn. If I would have known about it coming up I would have gotten a picture. The Amish around here are old order and you'd never see anything like that...LOL
As we got into Ohio the rain started and it was cold. We had stopped at a rest area towards Pennsylvania that had the temp at 46 and the real feel at 36!!! Yikes and we want to camp. Remembering what I had seen on the weather before we left I knew we had to try and cross the front to get on the warm side. So we pushed and drove another couple of hours and finally arrived at Bellefonte KOA. 770 miles total for the day!!!
On day 2 we packed up camp and headed for Hershey, PA...dreary rainy day perfect for some time indoors...LOL The kids had a great time taking the tour and checking out all the chocolate in the gift shop. This stop was the first we realized how many school trips we might be coming across in our adventures. 
We also drove through Lancaster county to check out the Amish. One thing that stood out very quickly was how modern they are...which really upset us. We have old order Amish living around us and to us the eastern Amish are almost like us in how we live. I told Mark that all we'd have to do is sell the van, truck and tractors and get horses and we'd fit right in. They wear colors and have more modern farm equipment than Mark does...LOL Their houses even have color. 
We stayed at the West Chester/Philadelphia KOA for the next 2 nights.
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| Yes, you can do pop tarts over a fire. :) |
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| Look at Philly!!! We're so excited that we're going to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell!!! |
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| And then things changed...see the sign? We're heading for NJ...Atlantic City. Missed a turn and mapquest doesn't tell you "if you miss this exit, take this one"...I got us back on track and drove 2 hours trying to find a parking spot. ALL the parking ramps were full, any parking lot full...so many school field trips. No GPS or tour bus would have helped. |
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| So then we went to Valley Forge after a very frustrating day in Philly. |
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| Ethan and Karlie |
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| The kids! |
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| I took pictures of flowers I saw along the way...a picture lasts longer. |
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| When we got back to the camp ground feeling beat up by the big city we burned all our maps and directions. This was the end of the third day of our vacation and we're going to start over. NYC got canned...everything was over. We spent over a year planning for this trip and at this point the kids wanted to go back by my friend in Indiana, Peggy. :) |
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| Preston |
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| Heather teaching Livi how to cook. |
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| We ♥ you too Karlie. |
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| So there goes the plans...we'll sleep on it tonight and see where we go from here. |
