Independence Hall

I got up pretty early this morning.  I stayed up until 1:30 doing laundry. A little after 4:00 Jorja came and got me.  She said Marie had thrown up.  I hurried to Fort Preston.  Marie was sitting up with throw-up overflowing her cupped hands.  She was so sweet, she did everything she could.  Marie scooted to the edge and I was able to lift her down. We went outside and she threw her throw-up into the trees.  We went inside and got cleaned up.  I took her upstairs to Brett & Rachel.  Poor girl.  She threw-up a couple more times.  Not a fun way to start a birthday!

I stayed up so I could wash the sheets.  While the laundry was going I was able to get caught up on my blog, so that was nice.  I took a shower and went to the store with Rachel.  Too bad Marie got sick.  Brett & Rachel were going to hang out a bit with us today.  Poor Marie would have been miserable.  I just realized Rachel texted me a couple of pictures before we left.  I'll have to put them another day.  It was sad to say goodbye to them.  I wonder when we will get to see them again?  I wish they lived next door.

We got a late start because of the change in plans and sheet washing. We had to cut out Fort McHenry.  Too bad, but we were only going to stop there for a bit anyway.  We made it to Valley Forge.  We didn't have time to see much.  It wasn't that exciting for a quick trip.  I think it would have been interesting if we had more time.

We were hurrying because we had tickets to Independence Hall.  When we got to Philadelphia it was crazy trying to find a place to park.  Mike probably drove around for 40 minutes.  He was about to give up when we spotted one.  Whew!  Our tickets said to get in line 45 minutes early. Maybe that was because they know how ridiculous it is to find a parking space?  We were waiting for awhile.  We gave Brett's tickets to some people behind us that didn't have any.  We talked to the park ranger who seemed really nice.  He asked us what time our tickets were for.  4:30.  He went and gave Mike a ticket for 4:15 and said we would be able to go in that one.  A few minutes later he called for all the 4:15 tickets.  We started walking in with Mike.  The park ranger snapped at us and said only those who have tickets could go in.  Mike was inside trying to come out, other people were going in and the park ranger just keeps yelling at me.  He would yell things like, "Calm down!  You'll get inside!"  I'm thinking, "What the heck is going on?  I'm not upset, I'm just confused.  If anyone needs to calm down it would be the person that is yelling at me."  It was bizarre.  Luckily he wasn't our tour guide. The tour guide we had was pretty funny.  Both Mike and Stockton commented that he reminded them of Bishop Lundgren.  Anyway, here are the pictures I took in the hall.

 George Washington sat in that chair

 Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Stockton

 Good sports

 Outside of Independence Hall

 Liberty Bell

 Preston

 Maysen, Mike & Preston

 Dad

The small crack is what actually caused the bell to stop ringing.  If you look super close, you can see the small crack form above the large crack.  Right by the letter P.

There was a spot where you could touch a casting of the Liberty Bell. That's as close as we're going to get!

Maysen, Jorja, Stockton, Preston

We grabbed two Philadelphia cheesesteak sandwiches to share.  We were just in time.  They were closing up shop.  They were quite tasty.

Mike & Jorja

 Stockton, Jorja, Preston

After a bit more looking around we got back to the motorhome right as our parking was going to expire.  Our next stop . . . New Jersey!  We are staying at the Liberty Harbor RV Park.  It is really just a parking lot. We have met a couple of families.  They are really nice.  The parking lot is also filled with old boats and campers.  Kind of funny, but it will be a safe place to leave the motorhome while we explore the city.

Preston found an app that tells him where every collectible penny machine in the United States is.  He keeps looking at it and telling us where he wants to go tomorrow.  Oh boy.

I got a text from my aunt as we were driving here.  She said that Grandpa Parry has gone way downhill this past week and they are putting him on hospice care.  He is barely talking and isn't eating or drinking.  That is not good!  I know it's selfish, but I'm hoping he hold on for a bit longer.  I don't know what I would do if something happened.

We also got a text from Nathan.  Melissa (our niece) had her baby.  He weighed 8 lbs. 2 ounces.  Nathan's text said, "Some distress at the end. Abrasion on the head from vacuum pump used in final stages due to umbilical cord wrapped around neck and x-raying right now for potential broken clavicle and chest damage.  Melissa is doing well." That's scary!  I hope he is okay!  We haven't heard anything since.  No news is good news?  I hope!