Went to CMN, signed some books, made some contacts, and met Regina Doman, Ian Rutherford of Aquinas and More, said hi to Matt Pinto of Ascension Press, Steve Kellmeyer,  and  Mary Rutowski of Gospa Missions. Saw Marcus Grodi, the Lords, and Michael took Little Michael over for a chat and a blessing from Fr. Andrew Apostoli

Then in was over to Valley Forge – we did the car audio tour and not much else, being in kind of a hurry. It was a good thing for us to do. What was interesting was the tour script’s determination that we would not leave that tour thinking, even for one minute, that Valley Forge was all about poor sick Continental soldiers shivering in rags – the popular image. The narrators repeated words to that effect several times: that it was a period of re-formation and re-tooling, from which the army emerged as a formidable opponent. Why, yes, but it was sort of funny the way that they kept pressing the point.

Oh – and I’ve been reading all of these stories over the years about how tame the deer have gotten in this part of the country.

Got it. The critters were all over the place, chomping calmly on grass, not caring a bit as we drove inches from them.

Next stop, Philadelphia, and a visit with Dr. Lena Allen-Shore, who has been a friend of Michael’s for a few years and was a friend of Pope John Paul II’s for years before that. She is a fascinating, enormously intelligent and compassionate woman, with an eclectic past and present. I was honored to meet her and very glad that my children, especially Katie, had the opportunity to listen to her wise words as well.