Bitter tolls and sweet roads (Days 22 & 23)

Day 22

Friday, August 2^nd 2013

We drove through this tunnel in Maryland thinking how cool it was... and then suddenly... the light at the end of the tunnel was not so wonderful. There was a nice big sign saying:

TOLL AHEAD

Twelve dollars poorer, we continued on complaining about being robbed. That's when another toll sign came into view.  

In order to cross over the bridge before us, we had to pay $24! Ouch!!! 

Goodbye Maryland and your crazy tolls! Into Pennsylvania we went. 

We even got to drive through Amish country in Lancaster and a little town called Nottingham Village. (I wonder if they have a Sheriff)

We got to the Village Scene RV park in Hatfield, Pennsylvania around 5pm and had trailer issues to deal with. 

Caleb had to replace the trailer jack and thankfully there was a RV parts store right by us and it was open!

The girls watched the Very Hungry Caterpillar movie while I made some dinner. Then we faced time with the fam back home. 

We've been enjoying our trip, but we do miss everyone back in Washington! 

Day 23

Saturday, August 3^rd 2013

With the trailer waiting safely back at the RV park, we headed to the train station. Toady we were going to explore Philadelphia.

The girls loved the train ride. No seat belts, yay! About an hour later, we were in the city. We loaded up the girls in the double stroller and took to the streets.

Sorry to say, but Philadelphia is a dirty city. We couldn't help but notice as we coughed our way along the smoke filled sidewalks. Cigarettes and trash were everywhere. 

It wasn't until we got to the Visitor Center and more into the tourist part of the city that we could take a breather.

First off, was fulfilling one of Caleb's dreams of eating a Philly Cheesesteak in Philadelphia. 

Check. 

Now that that is off the list... onto historical sights.

We waited in a big line to see the Liberty Bell. It didn't take as long as we thought and soon we were standing before this historical piece. Seeing the bell in person was pretty cool. 

It was on display in the middle of the room with only a small rope to partitioned if off which gave you the ability to get almost within arms reach. You could see the crack and all the words engraved upon it.

We checked out another treasury - the United States Mint. Not nearly as cool as the national bank but you could walk through the building and read about how the coins were made.

Next we went on a tour through Independence Hall, the original building where the first Supreme Court of the United States met and presided from 1791 to 1800. 

Just as we entered the very room where the Declaration of Independence had been signed, the fire alarm went off and everyone was ushered out. I was able to snap a few pictures though as we were at the back of the line. =)

We took the train back to our car and decided to make a late night run to Hershey, Pennsylvania.... because that's where Hershey's Chocolate World resided. 

And would you believe it, but we had to take Chocolate Ave. and Cocoa Ave. to get there. 

They had an AMAZING free tour. It was entirely automated and ran on a conveyer belt. 






We jumped inside this little car and it rolled along the track through a singing adventure that showed you exactly how Hershey made and packaged their candy. 





A sweet experience for sure!

So much candy, so little time... and money, lol 

P.S. Again, I am sorry for how long this is taking. We had no internet for our laptop last week and the connection I have now is so slow its taken me days just to get this post ready. Unfortunately, I will probably not be able to catch all the way up for awhile till we get more reliable wifi. So for now, I'll just put up a few days here and there when I have the patience to deal with the hours it seems to take to load pictures. ;D Thanks for following even when things get slow!