Tuesday 9 July
Our campfire last night was lots of fun, and Sam was hilarious. The poor little boy was desperate to like toasted marshmallows – so desperate that after he spat out the first one, he went back twice more trying to toast them a different way and make himself like them. He was devastated to have to face the fact that he just does not like marshmallows! After the kids went inside to do their diaries and go to bed, Ross and I sat and watched the fire die and reflected on the holiday and the fact we go home soon 😦 We counted our blessings and favourite experiences, and Ross mentioned how amazing it was that no one had been sick…I joked about the medicine cabinet I had brought in a suitcase unnecessarily… This is important information considering what happened over the next three days…
We left Washington DC at 8am and travelled straight to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell. It was quite hot there, but easy to find parking. We wandered a few blocks and joined a long queue of people waiting in line for their turn to see the bell up close, which the boys were not impressed about. After a 20 minute wait, we toured through an exhibition of information and pictures, with the last stop being the Bell itself. As we took a photo of the kids in front of it, Tim noticed and quickly pointed out the glass wall behind it meant we could have skipped the queue and taken a photo from the outside of the building. Needless to say, I was more impressed than anyone else with the exhibition…
We then looked at Independence Hall from the outside, as the next tour was not for another two hours. We decided to move on, and on the way back to the RV, saw another tour you could pay for – called “Once Upon A Nation”, it was people sitting in a park while an actor in normal street clothes acted out scenes presumably relating to the Bell or dragging of the constitution etc. it was fun to watch from the sidewalk, especially the embarrassed glances of the two teenage kids sitting through the performance with their parents. I did tell the boys I could have signed them up for that rather than line up to see the bell.
Our next stop was the Temple Baptist Church, Uni and Hospital in Philadelphia, the site of the 57 cents story. This being a true story, it is just amazing what has happened and been built there. Sadly, we were only able to drive around the area, as there were so many detours for hospital renovations and roadworks, there was nowhere to park the RV. We tried the streets on the opposite side of the main highway, but it would have been a long walk back and the people in the streets there didn’t give us confidence that the neighbourhood looked too good. We moved on, stopping at an Applebee’s just off the highway for lunch.
Parking was plentiful at Pottstown, our next stop, which was an impulse detour off the highway as we saw a sign for another Outlet Centre. The boys were not happy to be shopping again, but Ross has been in search of sunglasses, and we felt this was our last opportunity to shop.
We picked the closest KOA to where we have to return the RV at Linden, New Jersey tomorrow. It was in Allentown, PA, 90 miles from the RV rental place. We didn’t have a chance though to enjoy its facilities as we had to find a Kmart/Walmart to buy another suitcase to carry all the purchases we have made while on this RV leg. An hour and $100 later, we returned to the KOA for a late “finish off what’s in the pantry” dinner – only $20 was spent on a duffle type bag as none of the suitcases were big enough, but the kids all got involved in the purchasing…hence why I try to shop without them at home…
Ross washed the outside of the RV (if we don’t return it clean, there is a $75 cleaning fee) while I showered the kids. I didn’t get them to bed until 10.30pm! And the older three were up later than that packing their bags. After everyone called it a night, I still had to bags left to pack. I finally turned in at 1.30am, and just as I was dozing, Belle appeared in our bed at 2am with a very high temperature. We had trouble getting it down, even with cold compresses and Panadol and Nurofen, and we sat up for the next hour or so just watching her sleep between us because of her fast breathing and high temps. I finally had to open some of the medicines I have been carrying around! 😦