We left the Cochranes this morning after 11 wonderful nights parked in the same place. Jim & Sally have a wonderful horse farm in Chester county of Pennsylvania and were very gracious guests. They lent us a car so we could tour around and gave us lots of tips of things to see and do. While we were there we visited family and friends including Cochranes, Manonians (ALL of 'em!), Auchinclosses, Betners, Cupps and more! The Australian Manonians (Greg, Chrissy, Jacques, and Zoe) are visiting the US so we got to see them! When we left this morning I dropped Trox off on the Brandywine Creek/River and I drove down to a pickup spot. I am now waiting for him and my yak to arrive. From here we are heading to my sister's in Virginia and from there we will head west and home.
Some of the touristy stuff we did included a few state parks, a national historical site, a big city (Philadelphia), a few paddles, and a botanical garden. It was very hot and humid the last few days but other than that we lucked out as far as the weather was concerned.
The national historical site we visited was the Hopewell Furnace NHS. It was founded in 1771 and was a going concern through 1883. It has been nicely restored and it is easy to get a feel for what life must have been like on a "iron plantation". It was especially fascinating to me because my Grandfather was a molder of iron and I learned a lot about how it was done.
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| The Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site |
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| Uncle Jim & Trox walking the grounds |
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| The views were pretty amazing |
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| Green and Blue! |
Surrounding Hopewell Furnace NHS is a state park, French Creek State Park. A few days after we visited the NHS we returned to the state park and I paddled while Trox rode. It is a small but very pretty pond. The colors aren't as far advanced here in Pennsylvania as they were in upstate New York but a few trees are pretty.
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| My paddle |
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| Spotted on a leaf near our parking spot |
One day we spent about 4 hours wandering around a beautiful botanical garden - Longwood's Garden. It was created by Pierre du Pont. He purchased the land in 1906 in order to save an arboretum of trees from being sold for lumber. Enjoy our pictures:
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We also managed to visit Brandywine Battlefield which is a state park so wasn't closed! We got there just about closing so we didn't get to see much but of course had time to wander the cemetery.
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| Cemetery at Brandywine Baptist Church located in the battlefield |
And then ... we spent a full day in Philadelphia which was lots of fun. We took the train into the city and then walked and walked. We met Trox' cousin, Sandy Betner, for lunch and after that we walked some more. Unfortunately the national parks were closed due to the shutdown but we still were able to see lots!
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| Our train |
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| The Irish Memorial | |
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| The Franklin Bridge across the Delaware River |
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| A tall ship |
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| The Korean Memorial |
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| The Carpenters House |
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| Love the hinges! |
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| bah humbug! |
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| Old St. Mary Cemetery |
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| St. Peter's Cathedral |
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| Cemetery at St. Peter's |
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| Inside of St. Peter's |
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| Second Bank of the US |
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| Second Bank of the US |
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| A street view |
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| An aisle of the Market |
The last day we were there we met up with Greg and Cri Manonian and Cri's soon to be wife - Beth Coopey. Beth and I paddled while Greg & Trox rode bikes. Cri didn't join us until late but was there to visit.
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| Beth |
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| A Heron along the shore |
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| I had paddled the same pond a few days earlier when it wasn't quite so calm |
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