Philadelphia, PA? Yes . . . but first . . . . The Amish Farmland!

Philly cheese steak, anyone?   Well, not quite yet!  That WAS the plan, but . . . 

We left Martinak and took to the "blue highways" in the direction of Greensboro (north!), off the beaten path.  

We were barely out of town when we stopped for a parting glimpse of the Choptank River. 

I got out of the RV to take a picture and as I stepped onto the bridge, a great blue heron lifted from his hiding place along the bank and passed right in front of me.  I kind of think of that as the Choptank bidding us farewell.  And then I looked down and there were two big turtles, just drifting along in the water - what a wonderful river - I'll never forget it!

All along our Saturday drive . . . beautiful lush green farmland . . .

Continuing on the county "highway" through some wide spots in the road - Goldsboro, Henderson, and tiny Marydel with its lovely old church (c.1871). . .

and we rolled through tiny Templeville -


And then - saying "so long" to Maryland after almost six weeks . . . 

"Welcome to Delaware"

Two miles in, we pulled over in Hartley for lunch and threw open the windows – a most agreeable day!  As we ate, we saw two young Amish women in their long, dusty rose dresses, white aprons and covered heads – rolling along the road on their “scooters”.

Hearing a clip-clop clip-clop, we looked out to see a horse and buggy . . . an Amish man and woman going down the road.

and more lush fields . . .

Moving on through the little berg of Kenton, stopped to take this pic . . . 

The Bailey House c.1779!

Just another Delaware country scene . . .

And then - crossing the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on this pretty bridge!

(Click on this picture to enlarge - it's a really cool bridge!)

And - coming into . . . .

. . . Wilmington!

Well, we weren't in Delaware very long - about an hour!

And then . . .

"Welcome to Pennsylvania"

OK - so we were thinking Philadelphia, but got sidetracked and ended up west of there at Brandywine Creek, Downingtown! 

And here we are at a lovely, rustic RV camp - and we're parked right here by Brandywine Creek.

And here's a big rock with a little scene painted on it!  Different!!  But nice!!

Finding ourselves in these gorgeous, very scootable, surroundings, we decided to postpone Philadelphia . . . 

on the backroads, lots of very interesting old stuff!!!!

 And then we discovered that we are in Lancaster County - Amish country!!

The further we rode, the more Amish we saw!  Is it because it's Sunday?  At times it seemed there were more horse-drawn buggies than cars!!  And the horses are beautiful!!

We got a wave and a smile from these youngsters!

. . . a serene scene . . .

Not surprised to see the Harley zooming by the buggy!!

This young Amish woman was rollerblading up the hill!

And - another farm . . . . .

 It was a grey day - but that didn't stop us from exploring . . .

Kiwi & Blondi in front of the Herr Grist Mill, Est. 1738!
Ronks, Pennsylvania

And the old covered bridge near the mill . . .

Another family at a busy rural intersection -
 heading home from Sunday meeting?

Amish youth - volleyball along the roadway . . 

We figure we saw about a hundred buggies on the road today - maybe more!!  A most interesting scooter ride, indeed!

Here's Harold at just one of the many, many picturesque scenes we came across today.  Sixty scootin' miles of country roads - WoW!!  FUN!!  It was grey and a bit cool, but our luck held out and it didn't start raining until we got back to camp!

The plan for tomorrow is to get back on track.  We're going to try to squeeze in Valley Forge AND the Liberty Bell - and hopefully that Philly Cheese Steak, too - and then get on the road to . . . . Boston????