Advertisement
Published: November 12th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Obfuscator writes: Some days everything goes right. Others, everything goes wrong. Of course, the vast majority of days are somewhere in between. Rarely can I think of a day that had so much promise, and headed so distinctly south by the end.
We woke up at our campsite in New York, and having no reason to stay there, packed up and left. Despite the creepy vibe the place had given us (too close to the highway, reflective signs just on the edge of flashlight range, and a constant ranger patrol that never actually stopped to talk to us), it turned out pretty well. We had read on a sign that a ranger would come by to register us sometime in the evening, but none ever did. Consequently, we never were charged anything, and were able to have a nice little camp and good fire built largely with wood that was left by a previous camper.
We drove into Pennsylvania and were pleased to find that the gas was a lot cheaper. We even managed to find some that was under $3.00/gallon, even if just barely. Since this was a good 15 to 30 cents cheaper than everything else we
had been finding, we considered ourselves lucky. We stopped near the border, near the town of Milford, to see something called Grey Towers. We had no idea what it would be, but with a name like that, how could we pass it up? Grey Towers turned out to be a mansion and estate for a former Pennsylvania governor, Pinchot, who also happened to be a high muckity muck in the Forest Service under Teddy Roosevelt. At any rate, the guy was really into trees and conservation and so forth. He apparently donated his ancestral home to the state for all future generations of Pennsylvanians to enjoy. We couldn't get into the mansion, since it was closed for the season, but we walked around the outside of it, and it was well worth our time. The mansion has some really pretty turrets, and gargoyles, and the landscaping is great. In one of the garden areas, this guy had built a floating dining room. In other words, it was a big pool that everyone sat around, and all the food and drink were floated around the pool in little wooden vessels. Of course, this area and several of the others had sort
of an unsettling, ancient evil vibe to them, that we couldn't quite shake, but it was still quite nice.
A bit down the road, we stopped at a waterfall when we saw signs for it. It was either Dingman's Falls, or if it wasn't, it was in the immediate area around Dingman's Falls. It certainly wasn't the prettiest falls we've seen, or even as nice as Connecticut's Kent Falls, but it was still good. It was basically two sections, an upper and a lower. The upper falls were a bit more dramatic, but the lower were not without their charm, including an interesting tree in the middle of the observation deck that used to be used as an anchor for fencing cables.
We drove on, intent on seeing Valley Forge. We eventually arrived at Valley Forge, approaching mid afternoon. We had a nice chat with a lady at the front desk of the Valley Forge Visitor's Center, and heard a young archeaologist tell us about a number of cool artifacts that had been collected from the encampment. The museum there is nice, if somewhat small, but they have a very good trail that leads all the way around
the encampment and to all the interesting places, if you have the time, or the historical interest in where each commander's quarters were, and where each unit was stationed.
For me, I guess the most fascinating thing about Valley Forge is what I thought I knew about it, but didn't. What they always teach you in high school American History is that Valley Forge is where the Continental Army sought refuge for the winter, and that it was a miserable and freezing winter, and that the Continental Army was basically lucky to get through it alive. As the Park Service tells it, the story is actually pretty different. While they certainly were looking for a place to winter, they also needed to keep within striking distance of Philadelphia, where the British were wintering, basically to keep tabs on them. They also claim that the winter there was really not markedly worse than an average Philadelphia winter. Why then did Washington complain so bitterly about it? Well, since all of his men were outfitted by their home states, and they were collectively funded by the Continental Congress, he had to play up their hardships to make sure they continued to
get support. Finally, the Park Service explains that one of the biggest purposes of encamping like this was to allow the Army to train and develop more uniform practices, so that they would be better equipped to fight the British in the spring. This was largely accomplished through the rigorous training plans laid out by General von Steuben, a Prussian Baron who found gainful employment in the Continental Army.
After that, it all sort of went downhill. By the time we left Valley Forge, it was dark. Having received an intelligence report that warned of high probability of rain, we wanted to find a reasonable motel. I won't bore you with the details, but after about 4 hours, and 80 miles of driving, 90% of which were within 15 miles of Valley Forge, we finally found an evil little motel. Let us never speak of it, or Philadelphia, again. Onaxthiel adds: Except to say, when you're in Amityville, PA, be very careful of the motel you pick.
Onaxthiel's Lessons Learned: Major cities with no local contacts are just a mess. You won't be able to find anything, and you're probably simply better off going somewhere less crumby. A
half hour in a McDonalds with WiFi could have saved us a heck of a lot of time driving around a Godforsaken cesspool of misery, and found us a non-evil alternative to our actual night's lodgings. Despite its general wretchedness, Pennsylvania has lower gas taxes than Connecticut or New York. If you don't have to fill up in Connecticut or New York, don't. They don't need your money.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.304s; Tpl: 0.025s; cc: 21; qc: 104; dbt: 0.1452s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb