Philadelphia (the city of brotherly love) is a great, walkable city with plenty of things to do whether you’re a history buff, a foodie (Philly cheesesteaks…yum!), sports fan, art lover, or pop culture junkie. We had a blast touring Philly with our friends the Grabowski’s a few years ago so didn’t go back this year. Instead, we took the RV backroads through rural Pennsylvania. If you’re thinking rolling hills, red barns, grain silos, dairy cows, Poconos hills, front porch rockers, and the Amish horse and buggies you’re spot on!
From Gettysburg PA we headed northeast towards Lititz. Lititz is a quaint but bustling, very hip historic town. It was founded in 1749 by Moravians (German-speaking Protestants) seeking religious freedom. Log, brick, and stone homes in a variety of English, German, and Victorian architecture make this town picturesque, and its park would make the Gilmore Girls of Stars Hollow jealous. It is also home to the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in America and the oldest all-girls boarding school. A fun place to grab a bite to eat: shop for candy, kitchen items, or art; or just enjoy the old buildings and their pretty flower boxes.
Lititz
A roadside grocery store near Manheim with homemade ice cream is always worth a stop in this area!
We stretched our legs again at this covered bridge in Brownstown.
We stayed at a campground in French Creek State Park and the next day rode the bikes to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site to learn about 19th century iron operations that required feeding in (on average) 15 bushels of charcoal, 400-500 pounds of iron ore, and 30-40 pounds of limestone every half hour! This highly unsustainable charcoal-fueled process was replaced in the mid-19th century with anthracite-fueled steel mills, making furnaces like Hopewell’s (picture at top of blog) obsolete. As early as 1938, it was designated a historic site.
We spent quite a bit of time talking to a Hopewell Site volunteer, who said that he and his wife are spending the whole summer in the area, where he learns and then demonstrates different processes like soap making and shearing the sheep raised at Hopewell to spin wool. They’ve been doing this at different historic parks around the country for 10 years. Doug was a little bit intrigued but Wendy was having a hard time picturing herself demonstrating quilting!
Overshoe protection 
Furnace tunnel head
Most driving days in early June through Pennsylvania were under blue skies, next to Kermit-green trees and lush rolling farm country. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We were surprised when we got to our next stop, Valley Forge, and encountered persistent rain.
