When Cerwin asked me a few days earlier if I wanted to go for a drive and get lunch on July 4th, you know I was on board as I envisioned a few back roads.

I suggested going to Plum Creek for an early lunch. It has been a while since we were there. It is a forty-minute drive.

These pictures will give you a bit of an idea of the pretty scenery we saw along the way to Bernville, PA.

There were lots of flags, giving us a festive, vacation-like feeling as we drove through several towns.

I was fascinated by this store front – especially the broom next to the door – making it look a bit old-fashioned.

We were on familiar roads, but not roads on which we travel very often.

We arrived at Plum Creek shortly after 11:30 am. It was good timing, because we were ahead of the lunch crowd.

The line got quite long as we waited for our sandwiches.

We decided to get only sandwiches and iced tea, then go to Patches Family Creamery for ice cream. I had a chicken sandwich and Cerwin had a cheeseburger. This place is also known for its great ice cream, but going to Patches gave us an extended drive and added something to a vacation day.

The parking lot was full, but there were plenty of empty tables inside. Afterward we found out why. The outside shaded tables were full, as well as the children’s play area.

I liked the pattern of this hillside field following the harvest of wheat or barley as we traveled from Berks County to Lebanon County.

We retraced a few roads on our way to Patches Family Creamery, seeing some farms from the other direction.

This cow knows how to stay cool on a warm summer afternoon.

There were more flags as we took a few new, back roads.

This confirmed that our GPS had taken us on the correct route.

We had never been here, but had heard about it for several years.

We were surprised to meet our friends Dan and Melody, and her dad. Dan served as Transport For Christ President during a time of transition to the current president. The line inside was fairly long, so we had time to catch up on each other’s lives.

We chose comfortable cushioned seats at the end of the patio and enjoyed watching people and the petting pasture across the driveway.

This bed of coneflowers was right next to us.

I enjoyed watching a few bees looking for pollen.

When we finished our ice cream, we walked across the driveway to the petting pasture.

I find turkey heads and necks so interesting.

It was a fun, delicious, and interesting day.