Seniors trip to Valley Forge

Our second seniors outing was to Valley Forge, where George Washington and his troops spent the winter of 1877-1878.

It is located on a high hill overlooking the Philadelphia area.  It is hard to see Philadelphia, but George Washington was able to keep track of the British from here.  Now, it is a very large green countryside.

There is a road throughout the park where you can see many of the sights at Valley Forge.  There were many thousand men encamped here, and they divided them into 12-man teams.  Each team had to build its own hut.  There are trees growing now, but after building the huts and keeping the fires going, it is estimated that there wasn't a tree standing for two miles in any direction.

Only a few remain, but at one time there were over a thousand huts.  Each hut was somewhat different and outfitted by each unit.

They had cooking mounds nearby.

This one was used for baking.

Because they came from many different area, their "uniforms" weren't.

They learned to fire muskets and rifles.

After General VonSteuben arrived they were really formed into a great army.

Later a large commemorative arch was built, honoring those who were here.

Another tourist was prevailed upon to take the seniors picture in front of the arch.

But the sisters wanted their own picture together, to they gathered by a nearby tree.

Farther on around the drive we came to the house that George Washington used as his headquarters while they were at Valley Forge.

These are our good friends, the Houses.  They serve in the office with us, and we really enjoy their company.

Elder Ashby, our former bishop who lived accross the street from us in West Valley City, and I checked out the huts that Washington's guards had.

And so, we bid farewell to you from Valley Forge.  You should study more about this era in our country's history.

There is a great program on BYU-TV on the internet called "The American Ride" which gives some great information about our American history.

I think our next senior's trip might be to Longwood Gardens.  We've been there five times already, but see something new each time.

May God bless each of you.

With Love,  Elder and Sister Bailey