Philadelphia - Nick

4/7/17

Yesterday we started driving to our new campsite in Philadelphia at about 9:00. While we were driving we missed a rollover crash by 30 seconds. If we wouldn’t have thrown our garbage in the dumpster on the way out we might have been in the crash. Mom had to get out and help the ambulance. Only one person was hurt and luckily it was just a really bad scrape on her head that wasn’t bad. It kind of freaked me out that we only missed it by 30 seconds. We kept driving and we stopped in a parking lot and made lunch. When we did get to our campground it was time for dinner. We had fish and then we started watching Iron Man 2.

4/8/17

Yesterday we went to the Philadelphia Mint. That is where they make all the US coins. In the time we were there they made 24 million coins. We actually got to see them make the coins. First they have a big sheet of metal to start and a machine punches out a circle the size of the coin it is making. The scraps are used again for more coins. Next they were heated in a machine and then another machine washes them. Then the picture gets stamped on with the force of 3 high speed trains hitting it at the same time. After the mint we went to the Chemical Heritage Foundation. We watched a video about scientists testing the reactions of some metals with water and air. Some of them started on fire and some of them went crazy in the water and would smoke and bounce all around the water glass. Then we had lunch at Sonny’s. They are famous for Philly cheesesteaks. I tried some of Mom’s Philly cheesesteak and it was good. For my meal I got a pizza cheesesteak. It was good. Next we went to Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. It was not as big as I expected but it was still cool. Then we went home, did laundry, had dinner, and finished watching Iron Man 2.

4/9/17

Yesterday we went to Valley Forge. That is where George Washington kept his troops during the winter of 1777-78. This was in the Revolutionary War. The army had to build log cabins working in teams. They had straw for beds. The weather was so harsh that the army went from 12,000 men to 6,000 men. When spring came the army went from 6,000 to over 12,000 men. There were some reconstructed cabins where some people were dressed up as soldiers. We saw the hospital. There was a saw and the person there said it was for amputating arms and legs. There was also a guy who was talking about how their guns worked. He said that their muskets misfired 2 out of 3 times. Then we came home. I went biking with Andi, and we had dinner.

4/10/17

steel frames to represent where
Ben Franklin's house was located

Yesterday we went to the Visitors Center to get tickets for an Independence Hall tour. We were planning on getting a tour for 10:30 but we ended up getting a 1:15 tour. In our spare time we went and saw where Benjamin Franklin’s house was. The actual house wasn’t there but they know where it was so there are steel frames marking the outside of it. It was four stories high. It was pretty big. Then we went back to Independence Hall. The tour of Independence Hall was great. The person giving the speech was very enthusiastic. First we saw the court room. The person getting accused of doing a crime had to stand in a black cage. Then we went to the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The lady said that a guy bought a painting that he didn’t like, but he liked the frame. It was four dollars. When he got home he cut out the ugly painting and from behind it fell a copy of the Declaration worth $2 million. Then we came home and I played with Andi. Then I played football with my dad for a little while. Finally we made a fire and had s’mores.

4/11/17

Yesterday we slept in late. We had eggs, hash browns, and toast for breakfast at 10:00. We skipped lunch and just had some snacks instead. Then we went geocaching at a local park. We found five caches. Andi found 1, Dad found 1, Mom found 1, and I found 2. The first cache I found was pretty hard. It was in a tree that had a little hole in the tree, and it was two Gatorade caps screwed together. The next one Andi found was in the middle of a couple of trees growing together. The next one Dad found. It was in a hole in a tree just like mine was. The next one I found. It was really easy. It was just lying on the ground under a pine tree. The last one mom found. It was deep in the woods. It was in an uprooted tree and you could only see it if you were right up next to it. It was 80 degrees out yesterday so we were sweating the whole time. We went home and Andi and I rode our bikes around for a little while. Andi met some girls and she played with them. I kept riding my bike. Then we had pasta for dinner. Finally we started watching Captain America. It was too long to finish in one night.

4/12/2017

Yesterday we got going pretty early in the morning. First we went to the Ben Franklin Museum. It was a small museum but it was pretty cool. My favorite exhibit was about Ben’s invention of the lightning rod. It was about ungrounded and grounded lighting rods. Grounded lighting rods are where you have a chain attached to the lightning rod and when the lightning strikes the lightning rod, the lightning travels down the chain and into the ground. The house or building is unharmed. With ungrounded, there is no chain. The lightning hits the rod and destroys the building or house. Then we ate lunch at a park. There was a geocache nearby so we decided to find it. Mom got it. Then we walked the Ben Franklin Bridge. It goes over a huge river. It was 1.5 miles and 3 miles all the way. Then we went to the Federal Reserve Bank which is like the Bank for the Banks. We also saw a cart with a ton of 5 dollar bills in it. It had about 1.7 million dollars in all. Then we went and got ice cream at a place that makes the ice cream with liquid nitrogen. I went to a similar place in Texas with my second cousins Cooper, Jaxson, and Maddie. It was super cool. When they make the ice cream, the liquid nitrogen starts to steam. You can breathe the steam in through your nose and it tastes like whatever kind of ice cream they’re making. I got cookies and cream. It was really good. Then we came home. I met a guy named Logan and I played with him for a little while. Finally we had dinner and finished watching Captain America.

4/13/2017

Yesterday we went running in the morning which we haven’t done in a while. Then I had pancakes for breakfast. They are one of my favorite breakfasts. Then Andi and I played Yard Farkle. It is just a giant version of Farkle. You roll the dice out of a five gallon bucket and the dice are wood and the size of a small coffee pot. Some of our friends we met the day earlier came over by us and we played yard farkle with them. Then I rode my bike around with Logan for a while. Then I came back and did some math. Then we had leftovers for dinner. We also had some other stuff to use up so we also had some French toast.