Yesterday's Traffic Mess Revisited

Last night I was so tired that I don't think I gave proper homage to the traffic mess we were ensnared in. We got on the New Jersey Turnpike in Southern New Jersey. We cruised along until we reached exit 6, then we creeped at a turtle's pace through exit 8A (it took over an hour to cover the distance between those 2 exits), then the turnpike split into 5 lanes and we flew up the turnpike until we reached our exit... lucky number 13 at Elizabeth, NJ. The exit lane was at a standstill. I don't think we ever needed to step on the gas while exiting, Dan just took his foot off the brake to accelerate. The exit was a disaster... 4 exit lanes, 9 toll booths... shouldn't have been a problem, right? Well, only 4 of the toll booths take cash and after the toll booths, the 9 lanes condense into 3 lanes with 2 of the lanes going into New Jersey and the other lane went to Staten Island. It was a massive fish bowl of cars with everyone creating his own lane to try and position themselves better. No one allows anyone to merge, because if you do, you are seen as a small fish in the bowl and the bigger fish will eat you up and not let you move. Even the little old ladies were bull sharks. It took us 90 minutes to navigate through the fish bowl (and I could not believe that we made it through without bumping or being bumped by another "fish"). Our flight was long gone by the time we made it over the bridge onto Staten Island. The 90 miles drive took us over 6 hours to make. We finished the drive and made it to the airport rental car return by 9:30 p.m. (our flight left at 8 p.m.). We returned the lovely Impala (and the car guy actually commented on the impressive number of miles we put on the car). We went to the terminal and were re-ticketed by 10:15 p.m. and then we had to find a hotel. Nearly every JFK hotel was booked. We are at a Sheraton and paying $289 for the room, but I'm glad we got one! We didn't get to the hotel until 11:45 p.m. because their shuttle took forever and they had their little shuttle operating and about 30 people waiting for a ride. No one in our family had really eaten since breakfast since we planned to get to the airport with plenty of time to find food. We found a Chinese place that would deliver and our food arrived around 1 a.m. and we were in bed by 2 a.m. (Miles, who was amazing yesterday- beyond patient in his car seat, fell asleep at 12:30 a.m.) We were down to the last 4 diapers so Dan found a convenience store and paid $14.49 for more diapers and $2.99 for a half gallon of milk (and I'm glad he did). We have a late check-out today and then we'll head to the airport and kill time there for several hours... the boys don't want to go back into the city- sleeping in and lounging around are on their agenda for the day.

3 random photos from the trip...
Miles was acting like a king in the picture as he had breakfast in bed. Nolan helped color this beautiful picture while we waited for our food at Friendly's. Jonathan refused to shave while we were on the trip. He wanted to see what he could grow in 2 weeks.

Have You Missed Me?

Well, don't worry... we've been on a longish vacation... I've blogged each day, but am waiting to get home so I can add pictures before I publish the posts. Here's my trip teaser for you... 11 states, 2,205 miles driven, 13 church related sites visited, an elevator ride to the 86th floor of a building, and much more. I'll get the trip posts up soon!

Last Day of the Trip! (sort of)

Today we went to Valley Forge and made a very brief visit (and slid down the walls of the visitor's center). I wish we'd had more time. It's a driving tour, like at Gettysburg. But we only had a very short time, so we only made it to the first 2 stops. We visited with a Continental solider and saw his cabin. Next we drove to Philadelphia and went to Independence Hall. It's been restored to it's original paint scheme (after 40 layers of "on top of" paint was scraped off). We saw the court room and the assembly room. The Assembly room is where all the good stuff happened... Declaration of Independence, Continental Congress #2, the Constitution. Next we ran over to see the Liberty Bell. We left Philadelphia and made a quick trip across the Delaware border and then headed through New Jersey to get back to New York. We left ourselves 4 hours to make the 2 hour drive. It took 6 hours, including 90 minutes just to get off the turnpike. Needless to say, we missed our flight and can't get out until tomorrow night... Not what we planned, but we'll make the best of it!

Nolan's Birthday and Pennsylvania Rain

Yesterday Nolan turned 12. He got to pick what we did and where we ate. He had breakfast in the hotel near Cleveland, then we got in the car and drove and drove and drove towards the Philadelphia area. We'd brought most of Nolan's birthday presents with us and used Miles' clothes for wrapping paper. He got an early birthday present- a camera on day 1 of the trip, and yesterday he got a THS hat, a DS game (Zelda), and the game BANG! For lunch Nolan wanted to stop at a convenience store. He had Dr. Pepper and a bag of Cheetos Puffs for his lunch. Then we drove some more while Miles watched a movie, Nolan played Zelda, and Jonathan typed an essay for English. Meanwhile (and all day long), it rained. Since Nolan is 12 and will soon be ordained a Deacon, he wanted to go to the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration site in northeast Pennsylvania. The area is marked with a monument. We got there and lucky for us, the downpour subsided to a drizzle. We read the placards, then drove closer to the river to the baptism area for Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey. We couldn't walk on the trail because the area was flooded. Miles (and Nolan) liked throwing rocks in the pond (that was supposed to be the walking trail). We got back in the car and the downpour returned and didn't let up for hours. The rain was coming down so hard and there was so much water on the road that the visiblilty was awful. We ended up in Allentown for the night. For his birthday dinner, Nolan chose (of all the places) Taco Bell. We made him go to Friendlys afterward for ice cream. Even though most of Nolan's day was spent in the car, he said he still had a great day.

Ohio

We were busy yesterday. We may not have covered much ground, but we used up every minute from 9:30 a.m until 10:45 p.m. We started the day at the Kirtland Temple, which is owned by the Community of Christ. They offer tours of the inside of the temple. It is very different than the inside of functioning LDS temples. The inside of the first two floors of the Kirtland temple are essentially 2 way chapels... the benches can be moved to face the west or the east. The lower "court" was the "general meeting room" and the upper "court" was for Priesthood instruction. On the third floor was Joseph Smith's office. Miles was not in the mood for a tour so our guide casually suggested that Dan take Miles up to "Joseph's office" to play blocks. I thought it was funny- go "play" in the prophet's office! Next we went to the church's historical sites in Kirtland. We told the tour guide that we only had about 20 minute for a formal tour and after that, Miles would probably be through. The guide said "okay, let's start with a 23 minute video presentation." Miles did fine during the video, but was done after that. He was tantruming in the Newel K. Whitney store so Dan took him to throw rocks in the river and they stayed there for the rest of the 2 hour tour... so much for the "20 minute" formal tour we asked for. So, Whitney Store with original key and lockand windows (the "wavy" windows are original and the "straight" window is a replacement) and the School of the Prophet's upstairs, the Whitney home, the saw mill, and the Ashery. Loved the School of the Prophet's Room. We were given a few minutes for quiet reflection in there... great feeling! Then we drove to the Johnson farm and toured their home. Sister Johnson had a thing for color- turquoise and orange! There was also a floor that was black, red, and green checkerboard. We enjoyed the room where the 76th section of the D&C was received. It's amazing how the spirit manifests itself, even today, in such humble and plain places. Then we drove through Amish country (Middleland, OH). That was wild sharing the roads with horses and buggies! The Amish are out everywhere; I thought that they were a "more to themselves" people who completely shun modernization. I was surprised to learn that they shop at WalMart. WalMart even has a hitching post for the Amish to tie their horses to and a covered buggy parking area for the Amish to use while they shop. Next Dan drove through an area where he served his mission to Cleveland. Then we went to an Indians game. We got a good deal... tickets, parking, food, and hats for $96. The food lines were nuts because it was "hotdog" night... $1 per hotdog, limit 6 per person per time in line. The Indians won... everyone was happy, and Jonathan is now a self-proclaimed Indians fan.

Palmyra and Niagara

How does one accurately describe the "feelings" felt in Palmyra? Well, I can't. We started the day with a visit to the Cumorah Hill. Miles loved seeing the mini Christus. He loved climbing up Cumorah Hill even more. Next we went to the Smith Family Farm... saw the buildings... listened to the (long-winded) tour guide...dealt with a tantruming 2 year old. Then we went in the Sacred Grove. We found a private spot and read from the Joseph Smith History as a family. We quietly walked through the grove thinking and reflecting. Even Miles was quiet. It was lovely. We visited on a clear, early spring day... just as Joseph did. The ground was muddy at times. The trees are bare. The signs of spring we just beginning to emerge. It was special. Next we walked over to the Palmyra mini-temple. Then we went to the Grandin Building and learned about the printing process in 1829 (from another long-winded tour guide... they don't know how to condense their tour into 2 year old attention span level) and what it took to get the Book of Mormon published. I loved Palmyra. I realized that not a single thing is for sale at the church sites... how many other places are there in the world that invite you to come see their special sites, invest in restoring them, give free guided tours, and then sell nothing, nor have donation boxes set out?

We finished up in Palymra mid-afternoon so we headed for Niagara Falls. The river that feeds the falls is still partially frozen and large chunks of ice sit on top of the water. The flow was impressive. I recall that when I saw the falls as a child, I could see the rocks at the bottom of the falls. Not yesterday! We saw American Falls then took a footbridge over the river to the other side of the falls where we could sort of see Horseshoe Falls. It was fun to see Canada as well.Currently I am sitting in a hotel about 10 miles outside of Kirtland, Ohio. That is where today's adventures will begin.