Mothers Who Know

Trip to Pennsylvania

It is my husbands vacation and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do that week. We had decided to forego a regular vacation this year, so that we could spend the money on some projects that needed to get done instead. Next year, we are planning a two week trip anyway, so we figured we could do without this year.

Sunday afternoon comes, and all of a sudden, I asked my husband what he thought about taking a trip to Pennsylvania. He was suprised to be asked this out of the clear blue, but said we could think about it. So over the next two days we went back and forth about the idea. Finally late Tuesday night, we decided to go for it!! The plan was to leave Thursday morning for Pennsylvania. That gave us the next day to pack and get ready to take seven children on a camping trip. On top of that, that Wed was full of things to do. We had carpet being put in in the morning. The Senior Missionaries were coming over to teach us how to make Clam chowder at lunch time- which came out absolutely wonderful. The dog had a vet appt. in the late afternoon, and we went out to dinner with my parents that night! I was wondering if we were insane to even attempt to do this - but we got it all done. We were up a little late the night before, and got started a little later in the morning than we had planned, but we did it!!!!

Thursday morning we pulled out, and headed to New York City. We saw the Statue of Liberty which was really cool. We didnt have time to get off at Ellis Island, but we got to see it from the boat. Unfortuneately, the camera we had was broken and so we didnt really get any still pictures of it - just video. We then drove by the Empire State Building, and Ground Zero, and stopped for McDonalds in downtown Manhattan. We would have liked to have stopped at a few more places, but it was getting late and we still needed to drive to Pennsylvania, and set up camp.

We got to the campsite around 6pm or so, and got everything all set up.The kids played at the play ground while we set up camp. We had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. Then we sat around the campfire and roasted marshmallows.

The next morning, Friday, Sean made pancakes on the new Coleman stove, while I made lunches for Gettysburg. We just had sandwiches, cookies, yogurts, drinks, and chips, nothing special, but it was great to not have to stop and buy fast food, wasting both time and money. We got to Gettysburg National Park, had lunch, and then took the tour. It was amazing reading the stories, and watching the videos. A couple of the kids started off a little rough, but as the day went on, everyone had a great time. We drove around Gettysburg and saw the monuments, and climbed a 122 step tower to see a magnificient view. The kids got to go rock climbing, and climb a castle. The rain that was threatening all day, held off till we were on our way back to camp. We had stopped at DQ to get some ice cream, and right as were bringing it to the car, it opened up and poured buckets!!!

When we got back to camp, I made chicken rice, and started working on the dessert, while Sean cooked the BBQ chicken on the grill. (We had marinated it and stored it in a container - so all we had to do was cook it - we had done the same thing with the hamburgers the night before as well). After dinner, while the kids went swimming, I made Apple Crisp in the Dutch Oven - it came out really good - even though it was my first time ever cooking in it. I could hear dh talking to the kids about thier favorite part of the day around the fire while I nursed Princess Chaluba to sleep.

The next day, we saw Chocolate World, and took an Amish buggy ride. It was so much fun!!! We stopped at a house on the way and they had a little store that we could go into, and I bought a bonnet for the three year old, and a cookbook. Sean kept teasing me, that he could picture me out with a little stand, all dressed up, and selling homemade goodies, and jams. (I had spent Monday and Tuesday before we left, picking strawberrys and making jam.) We went to a family style dinner that night, which was really good. They had this item called ham loaf. It was shaped like a meat loaf (which I really dislike), but it was really good. It had kind of a sweet taste to it. I found it in my Amish Cookbook and will try it out at some point.

The next day we woke up early, broke up camp, had breakfast, and left for home. It was Sunday, so we stopped for Church in a town called Nazareth, and attended the ward there. The people were very nice and welcoming. We stayed the whole time, enjoyed the lessons and the Spirit, and then headed off for home. We arrived home later on that evening.

Overall, it was an awesome trip. We all had a lot of fun. It was nice to be off on our own as a family, just spending time with each other, away from all the distractions of life. It was so much fun camping, being outside, and enjoying nature. It was one of those times that really stand out, and remind you, why you do all that you do. It is moments like this that you think of when you are dreaming of raising a large family. It was definitely a successful vacation!!!!

Untitled Comment

08:57, Friday, August 15, 2008 .. Posted by Tiredmamaof5

Your trip sounds fun. Where did y'all stay in PA? You mentioned Gettysburg, we normally camp at Caladonia State Park.We love that camp ground. You are up in the mountains and just surrounded by trees and nature... lots of trails to hike also. We only Live two towns from gettysburg. Chocolate world is great isn't it? They just remodeled it about 3 yrs ago. before that it wasn't as nice.

Hugs,
nikki

Trip

11:18, Saturday, August 16, 2008 .. Posted by Handmaiden

Your trip sounds great. I am sure your whole family will remember it. Making memories is so important. Have you ever been to the Morman Miracle Pagent?
I'll stop by for another visit soon. Many Blessings.