Today we set off for Mount Vernon. This house was also amazing. It felt much more serene than Jefferson’s. We could imagine horse drawn carriages pulling up to the front of the house in the circle driveway. It was so cool to think we were walking through the same doorways as George Washington once did. The views from this place, looking across the Potomac, were also amazing.

Mount Vernon also had a cool app for kids to use while touring the grounds. They played on the whole spy part of George Washington, and the kids had to go on a scavenger hunt for clues to solve a story. The girls were really excited about completing the challenge and getting their gold spymaster bracelets. However, the app didn’t work as well as they thought it would – not because of our service, just a wonky app. Still fun, though, and we wanted to pass through this challenge FAST – it was SO HOT today!!!

We found some relief in the museum which was neat because they had a ton of exhibits and short videos to sit down and watch along the way. The girls got a good overview of the Revolutionary War and the beginnings of the United States.

We decided to eat in the café there so we could just hit the road and not make any stops along the way.

Then, we were off to Lancaster, PA. We drove through Maryland on the way, past the town where Scott used to live.

We had hoped to get to Lancaster early enough to show the girls some of the Amish country and go into the local Amish shops, but we weren’t going to make it in time. So, we focused on getting to our RV Park to make some dinner and relax a bit.

On our way, we noticed a sign for tomatoes, green beans, corn, and other vegetables. We needed more for dinner, so we decided to stop. The vegetables were sold out of a little shack in the backyard of someone’s house. And guess who came out? An Amish woman! Then, we started to pay more attention, and noticed a black buggy in their garage.

Scott had originally parked at the top of their driveway in the front of the house since we weren’t sure what the back looked like and didn’t want to get stuck. After meeting the woman, and noticing that their back driveway was huge, Scott decided to pull the RV down the driveway to turn around. All of a sudden there were two little faces staring out of the window of the house. They ran out the back door to their mom. The mom said, “Oh! You have a bus!” Then she said, “Now, you’ve got the girls all excited.” They were looking at us like we just landed from another planet – in a way we had. They were as interested in us as we were of them. Our two girls stared back at their two girls. It was like each pair was staring at an alien. We paid for some green beans, and said our goodbyes. We would have loved to hear the conversation back in their house after we had left.

As we continued down the road, we realized we ended up right in the heart of Amish country without even knowing it. We even had some traffic – following behind horse and buggy! Madison said, “People are so interesting!” We agreed.

It ended up being one of our notorious unplanned, long drive days, and Scott just wanted a beer once we got to the RV Park. Well, that is no small feat in some states! We tried two places with no luck, although Stacy was able to buy some wine at one. After that, Scott was getting pretty frustrated, but luckily found one at the next place we tried. Phew!

We pulled into our spot at the RV Park, and as son as we got out, Scott noticed a bunny right behind our RV, so the girls were excited to see that – although it also created more mosquito bites!!!!!! UGH!