We took the day off from farm duties to explore some of the surrounding area. After a beautiful drive, we eventually ended up at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 

Lehigh was a beautiful campus with more of the Gothic architecture Dave really enjoys. It's primarily known for its engineering programs and was originally a technical college. 

It was also a gorgeous day with crisp air and blue skies. 

The outside of the Lehigh's library...

And the inside! This library, with its spiral staircases and rotunda full of books, was a great unexpected surprise. 

So cool! I could just live inside here. 

This is the stained glass dome in the library's ceiling. (!!!) 

This library also had an incredible collection of very old books. This is an original by Mr. Audubon himself from1827. Audubon gave life-size paintings to his publisher, who transferred them to copper plate etchings. They were then printed in black on white paper, and each was hand-colored according to Audubon's specifications. There were only about 200 sets produced, and only about 120 remain today. How cool to see one in person! The book was huge. 

More of the university's really great buildings and geometric pathways winding through lush green space. 

After having dinner with Dave's brother two nights ago, we drove at night until almost midnight (something we usually avoid) to find a town with a place to stay. To get around the toll on I95 (since when can interstates be tolled?), we took all back roads. Exhausted, we finally found a place to sleep, assuming we had made it to Pennsylvania since we were somewhere near Philly. We spent the entire next day thinking we were in PA, until we saw the address of where we were: Newark, Delaware. Geography isn't my strongest suit, and I had honestly thought Delaware was in New England because it's a small state. Clearly I was wrong. It didn't take us long to fall in love with this unexpected place: Newark, home of the University of Delaware, is fantastic. 

Newark's Main Street is treasure trove of coffee shops, independent stores, and restaurants. It is bustling with people and college students, adorned with University of Delaware gear proclaiming Fear the Bird, referring to their school mascot, the blue hen. This was us in Brewed Awakenings coffee shop yesterday. It's hard to find the perfect coffee shop: good atmosphere, friendly staff, cozy feel, good coffee, the right noise level, and reasonable prices. Brewed Awakenings had it all. One of our favorite coffee shops on the trip so far. Thanks guys! 

One of the reasons we're loving Newark is its ideal combination of rural and city areas. This is exactly the kind of place we eventually want to live: somewhere where we can have land and homestead in a semi-rural area, but somewhere that is also close to a town, preferably a town with a college. That's exactly the definition of Newark. This gorgeous farm was only about a 10 minute drive from Main Street and the college campus. 

Silo to heaven.  

We spent a while this morning driving through the countryside, enjoying the views. We also happened upon an awesome find: an open air auction in the middle of a field. It was our first auction, and going to auctions is something Dave has been really excited about doing recently. It was so cool. If we weren't living on the road right now, there's so much we would have bought: farm equipment, antique doors and shutters, an antique lawnmower, and so much more. 

After our morning drive through the countryside, we took a long walk around the University of Delaware campus. It's really beautiful here. We even managed to find some free food again...fresh fruit and cookies, which nicely complimented our picnic lunch, which we had on this picturesque deep green lawn. 

This guy found the best place on campus to study! 

All the flowering trees this Spring are just stunning. Because we've been paying such close attention to nature, its like we've been watching Spring unfold in slow motion right before our eyes. It's really neat. 

We hit gold at the Salvation Army thrift store near campus. Since we're getting married in September, our goal has been to collect things for the wedding, specifically Dave's clothes, during our travels. We've had our eyes peeled for the perfect pair of vintage shoes, and yesterday, we found them! These gems are very vintage and were only...$4. It makes us absurdly happy to be pulling off this wedding on a budget.