Day 2 A Visit to Valley Forge

   Monday was a rainy day and everyone stayed in and relaxed. Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and promised to be a beautiful day. Bill had the day off work so we all piled in the car and headed to Valley Forge PA. The hour long ride can always be eventful because you have to use the Skukill ( I spelled as we pronounce it ) expressway. It is the scariest ride ever. At least that is what I think. Along the  Schuylkill expressway you do get a nice view of the Schuylkill river, boat house row, the Art Museum, as well as some old and very interesting factories and buildings, but with the amount of traffic converging together and the speed you must travel not to be killed even the passengers in the car only catch a quick glance before it is behind us and the ride smooths out and becomes much less scary, unless the truck in front of you blows out a back tire with an ear splitting BANG that can stop your heart for a minute or two. Even with all that we arrive safe and sound at our destination and the fun begins.
    Some day I would like to walk the entire trail in the the Valley Forge State Park, and believe me that would be a big undertaking and would take the better part of a day. On this day however we are doing the driving tour and stopping at all the points of interest. If you have never been and you are in this area you should go. Walking or driving it is a wonderful tour. You can also take the guided trolley tour, it looked fun but well we like moving at our own pace. We saw so much and had a great time. There were lessons on the different trees we were seeing from Bill. Always interesting stuff. His vast knowledge of trees never ceases to amaze me .

 There was a lot of nature going on around us as well as statues and monuments. We saw deer as well as butterflies and lucky me we also saw an Oriole and a Brown Headed Cow bird both birds I had never seen before. For me the birds were the highlight of the trip but not the only enjoyable part of the day. That park is just beautiful and you can't help but be in awe of it. No matter where you stand the views are breath taking and majestic. In some areas it is so green you would swear that someone had taken a paint brush to it. We absolutely enjoyed our time spent driving around Valley Forge. It is a beautiful park rich with history and pride, you leave there feeling good with just an inkling of an idea of the sacrifice that was made in an effort to build this country.  

The Brown Headed Cow Bird. A cool looking fellow and not to terribly shy either. 

I think this is one of the coolest monuments it has some very neat carving and stone working for sure.

George Washington in uniform but without his sword. Look at the view behind him.

Have you ever seen so much green? and it goes on for what seems like forever.

This lovely creature was enjoying natures green carpet as well.

Everyone enjoyed this tour very much. Even mom felt the need to step out and enjoy the view.