The Trip Pt. 1

Finally, the post you've all been waiting for! 

THE TRIP!

Part one!

I survived four planes! However, I’ve been highly disappointed so far in our airports, because there are no members of the Amazing Race running around, and it’s always been my dream to see The Amazing Race in person (especially the episode where they roll cheeses...)

Our first plane stop took us on a scenic sky voyage to Seattle, where we resided for approximately enough time to buy and eat a cup of oatmeal. I am highly entertained by all the tiny trucks and carts airports use to transfer things. And when I saw that the trucks that hold the food that’s going into the plane could raise themselves up (like in the below picture), I was freaking out. How cool is that?

Magic!

Our next sky-venture took us from lovely Seattle, where you can smell the ocean in the air, to Philadelphia, which smells like city. Want to know what city smells like? Sewer. Sewer and questionable-looking greasy food being sold from street carts. And probably rats, somewhere. I never actually saw a creature there besides a bird, but I’m convinced the city was crawling with them, underneath the ground, where they were gathering together to stage The Great Rat Uprising of 2015, conveniently when I decide to visit.

Okay, back up. It wasn’t all yucky bad city.

So once we arrived in Philadelphia, we rented a car and drove to WC (West Chester), where we checked out a school interested in C. WC is not like Philadelphia. WC reminds me of Stars Hollow (sans-Gilmores, unfortunately.) WC is pretty, it’s hilly, it has cute little farm houses and it has Mennonites (which are almost as good as Amish!) No, but really. The first night there we visited a local diner called Ruby’s and some Mennonites came in and I about lost it. It was fantastic. 

In other food news, our hotel had a pancake machine and it was awesome! The first day we tried it and it gave me two perfect six-inch diameter pancakes, and I was happy. The second day, we tried it again and something in it must have been broken, because instead of getting two perfect pancakes, I got a massive 15-inch long, 6-inch wide perfect pancake. It was like eating a really really dense crepe. It was still awesome.

While in WC, we checked out the university one day, and that evening took the half-hour drive to Valley Forge, where the Continental Army stayed during the winter of 1777-1778. It was there that they trained and learned how to become a competent army. It was a great way to unwind after the stressful flight and long day of tours and having to meet new people and navigate a new city and all that jazz. Me and C had a great time. We also came at the perfect lighting for pictures, so we took a bunch. And there's joggers and runners and walkers all over that park, so we tried not to get any in our shots. 

National  Memorial Arch, Valley Forge, PA

Inside the arch

After reading this description of what General Washington wanted in his personal guard unit,
C decided he qualified.

Washington's home

The Grand Parade

In sum, here are the pros and cons of WC:

Pros:

-Pretty

-Not too big

-Close to cool historical sites

-Hotels have pancake machines

Cons:

-Close to Philadelphia

-Hard to navigate

Part 2 coming soon! 

Valley Forge Visitor's Center (we got there just as it was closing, but in enough time to get a map!)