Washington Crossing Historic Park

One of the things I had really wanted to visit in New Jersey was the Washington Crossing Historic Park.  I knew the park included the spot where George Washington crossed the Delaware to fight the Hessians on Christmas Day 1776.  But I didn't really know what to expect beyond that.  I thought there might be a plaque or something, but I didn't think there'd be much else.  It turns out it's a giant park.  The entire park is about 500 acres.  There are historic buildings, walking trails, and lots of wilderness.

I had come there to see the spot where George Washington crossed the Delaware.  So I made a bee line directly there.  It's one of those things that isn't that amazing to see, because it's just a river.  But it's neat to stand there and realize the history that happened in that very spot.

This is what it looked like standing at the spot.  If I were George Washington, I probably would have used that bridge.

 After I spent some time pondering this historic place, I decided to explore the rest of the park.  When I was driving in to the park, the road kept crossing over some sort of a walking trail.  Every time it crossed, there was a sign that said, "Continental Lane."

Every time I saw this sign I was confused.  What is a continental lane?

All I could tell was that the continental lane was clearly a well maintained trail.

 I decided I would investigate the continental lane.  What better way to investigate than to walk along it.  So I did that for a while, until I finally found a more helpful sign.

It must have been very convenient for Washington that there was a groomed trail for him to take his army along.

 Once I knew what the Continental Lane was, I decided I wanted to keep walking along it.  I just wanted to be a continental army man.  I walked for a mile or so, when I discovered that someone else was walking the same trail.  But he was doing it a little slower than I was.

Well hello there Mr. Turtle.

When I first picked him up he decided to retreat into his shell.

Soon he realized that I was safe, and he came out of his shell so that he could pose for a selfie.

 After hanging out with the turtle for a few minutes, I set him down to resume his journey and I resumed mine as well.  I had planned to walk the trail to the edge of the park, but I was just in my flip flops and I stepped in some thick mud and my foot sunk down a few inches.  It made walking less fun after that so I decided to turn around and go back to my car.

The next park has nothing to do with the historic park, but I had to show you how fun my wife is.  When I got back to my hotel that evening I did facetime with Robyn.  Facetime with me is probably pretty frustrating, because I'm not very good at conversation because I'm too busy making funny faces and putting the camera in my mouth or really close to my eyes.

I would probably do that during every conversation, if I had a small screen that I could see how funny I am.

But rather than get frustrated with me, my wife participated in the funny face fest.

Didn't I marry well?

The Handy Wife and the Garden

My wife is very handy.

Anyone that knows me knows that handy is not a word that describes me at all.  So it's good that at least one of us can be described that way.

Robyn's latest project is a very important one, because it will turn into food in the future.

Remember when the coverings on our grow boxes blew away?  Well, the grow boxes were phase one.  The final phase is a fancy schmancy greenhouse type structure.

Lest you think I didn't participate, I was a big helper.  I drove all the way to Lowe's and helped pick out seeds.  Don't they look delicious?

I also documented the whole process.  Somebody's gotta do it.

Robyn had to hand cut the PVC to build her structures.

She had to screw them in to the sides of the grow boxes

She looks like she's going pole vaulting, but she's just being a good little builder.

Aren't they fabulous little covered wagons?

The little ropes divide up where the different plants go.

Her Dad came in and helped with the planting round.

In our old house, we planted in May and then it snowed the next day.  This greenhouse strategy protects against that problem.  If there is snow or even just frost, it won't hurt our little babies.  Then later in the summer, we just take the plastic off.

She cut holes in the plastic to help the wind pass through.

Look at our cute little plants.

Are you totally impressed with my wife?  I know I am.  If you want to be more impressed, come on over in a couple months and eat some delicious vegetables with us.