Girl's trip- the Country Life

When our kids are about 14 John and I like to take them on a special trip back east.  John took Nick the summer after he turned 14, and I took Maddie during fall break right before she turned 14.  The trip is meant to be part church history, and part just for fun.  We started off in upstate New York, drove over to Vermont, and then down to Boston where we caught a flight to New York City.  I know John's dad was disappointed we weren't able to make a stop in Ohio like John and Nick were able to, but Maddie and I were working with less time than they were, so something had to give unfortunately.

When we woke up our first day in New York, we were disappointed to find out that it was raining.

 Most of our plans for that leg of the trip included a lot of being out doors, so our first stop was to buy a couple of umbrellas.  Our second stop was to Tim Hortons to buy donuts and hot chocolate. And breakfast sandwiches too.

Then we headed off to our real destination which was the Hill Cumorah. 

Fortunately, the rain pretty much insured we had all the sights we wanted to see to ourselves.  We did see only one other family at both of our stops that day who were also from Gilbert, Arizona. Queen Creek, really, but that's close enough.

Next up was the Palmyra temple,  the Joseph Smith farm, and the Sacred Grove.

It was all so gorgeous.  We went at the perfect time. 

The temple was pretty.  The farm was pretty cool.  It was fascinating to see how they really lived.

And the sacred grove was something else.  Maddie and I had the place to ourselves as we walked along the path (the other family hadn't shown up yet) and I kept thinking to myself, "I wonder where the exact spot was", and then after a time, we rounded a corner, and it was like, "Oh. Here." (It was also the spot where the three different paths converged, but there was definitely a different feeling there.)  And so I closed my eyes and said a teeny tiny prayer. I've never had doubts on the matter, but I thought I'd ask while I was there.  Did it happen? That's all really.  Did it happen like Joseph Smith said it did?  As a fourteen year old boy, did he see both The Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in this spot?  The answer to my question was immediate and totally overwhelming. That yes. It's all true.

After that, we headed to our next destination which was a scenic little B&B near a lake owned by a couple of old hippies. 

Being the off season we totally had the place to ourselves.

Marriotts are great and all that, (and free) but sometimes you gotta mix it up a little bit.

I think there was only one other business in the whole little town which was a combo gas station, pizzeria, deli, corner market, and video rental place. 

Doing cartwheels in the middle of the street.

We had pizza and wings for dinner and then ate treats while watching a movie we rented that night.

I think we both would have liked to stay longer.

They had a dock with boats to use, but the sun was nearly setting and it was a bit chilly out, so we just enjoyed the scenery from shore.

The next day we headed over to Vermont.

Home of the birthplace of Joseph Smith.

Plus it was a lovely scenic drive to get there.

My kids are big fans...

So, when we were planning this little trip, Maddie was like, "So, we're only gonna be in NYC for like 2 days, and the rest of the trip is like just driving around and stuff?"  I explained to her that it wasn't just "driving around and stuff"  it was a ROAD TRIP.  And road trips with the right people can be FUN.  And guess what?  I am the right kind of people.  I am fun. 

I absolutely would love to be buried in some little run-down, forgotten graveyard by the side of the road, yet somehow brimming with character, in the cheapest box available, than some over priced and cheesy looking place.  -FYI

I suppose if you have to tell someone that, you lose a little credibility. Plus I don't know if that's the right picture to put after the statement where you are declaring just how fun of a person you are. But I didn't know where else to put it.

Oh well. 

I don't think she believed me then.  But she does now. Ü