Goodbye Friend, Hello Friend

Lauren and I started off the morning of her last day here with a walk to the Collingswood Farm Market. It was hot again, but there was a nice breeze, and it was much drier than earlier in the week. The Farm Market was packed when we got in, including another demonstration next to the first booth. I bought strawberries, cheddar cheese, celery, carrots, and asparagus for me. Lauren and I bought snap peas and first-of-the-season cherries to split when we got home.

We strolled across Collingswood and down Newton River Park. Took in three yard sales, but didn't find anything we liked. After we left the park, we stopped at CVS to get a drink, then went home. We made a quick stop at Dad's to tell him we wanted to leave around 1:15. Turns out he had other errands to run today and wanted to leave even earlier, at 1, which was fine too.

We spent Lauren's last few hours here inside, watching cartoons and eating leftovers out of the fridge for lunch. Dad did pick us up on-time; we were at Cherry Hill by quarter after 1.

The train ride to Philadelphia went fine. The train was ten minutes late, but Lauren had an hour-long layover at the 30th Street Station. We saw traffic going into the city and I figured my friend Jen would be stuck in that, poor dear. Lauren ran into trouble when we saw the departure/arrival board and saw that her train was delayed more than a half-hour! She only had a half-hour to get to her train in Penn Station! I left her in line at the Amtrak customer service booth, trying to find out if she could transfer to the next train to New York.

Turned out I was right. Poor Jen DID run into traffic. She finally picked me up in front of the 30th Street Station around quarter of 3. Jen Payne is an online friend of mine from Seattle who is touring the eastern US, seeing Revolutionary War sites and Naval stations. Her goal is to eventually see all 50 states.

We had no better luck with traffic going to Valley Forge in eastern Pennsylvania. We didn't get into Valley Forge State Park until almost 4. Valley Forge State Park is a gorgeous park, with recreated cabins and real Revolutionary War-era buildings set against the green rolling hills of Pennsylvania. This was George Washington and the Continental Army's winter encampment in 1777, and the place where the Continental Army was whipped into shape to become real soldiers.

Alas, many of the long, winding trails weren't really marked properly. We had a hard time finding our way around. We never did get into the visitor's center, though we did see George Washington's house, the currently-being-remodeled Valley Forge Railroad Station, and one of the re-built iron forges that gave Valley Forge its name. George Washington's House was probably busier than it's been since the days of the Army's occupation. In addition to random tourists like us, a large troop of schoolboys and their teachers were on a tour at the same time. (I keep running into school kids at historical sites this week.) We all squeezed into the house to see the offices, bedrooms, and kitchen. (I liked George Washington's bedroom. The blue canopy bed reminded me of a blue version of Felicity's bed and bedding from the American Girls series.)

We didn't have much luck with traffic getting home, either. We hit a few rather nasty patches going over several rivers and into Northern Philadelphia. Thankfully, by the time we were passing Citizen's Bank Park, where the Phillies play (and getting a better view of the stadium than many people watching the game), the traffic had thinned out considerably.

Ironically, we came out right on the Black Horse Pike, across from the Acme where I work...so Jen got to see the outside of where I work and the mall it's in front of. We ate at the Arby's next to the Acme for dinner. I had the All-American Roast Beef Burger. Jen had a Roast Beef Gyro. (I thought of getting a gyro, but I more-or-less had one in Philly on Thursday.)

After we arrived at my place, we strolled through Veteran's Park next door. Jen was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the gorgeous scenery in the park when we saw something I'd never seen on the tree at the edge of the park, near the river - a huge black turtle! We stood back and got some pictures of him before he turned chicken and waddled off. We also took pictures of each other with the river in back of us.

Spent the rest of the night at my house. We watched That's Entertainment together. Jen had never seen it, and she loved watching all those fabulous, huge MGM musical numbers! Jen enjoyed some of the magnificent cherries and strawberries I picked up at the Farm Market this morning. I had Banana French Vanilla Mousse Pie.

As for Lauren, she called while we were stuck in traffic on our way back from Valley Forge. She had arrived in New York 15 minutes before her train was due to depart and barely managed to catch it...but catch it she did! She was just on her way home when she called, and is probably at home with her parents now or on her way there.

Alas, that's the end of my vacation. I go back to work tomorrow. Jen moves on to Baltimore to visit another online friend of ours, Rodney Walker.

Here's Jen's perspective on this afternoon...

Jen's Trip Blog