Upstate New York

June 16th

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed out to get our rental car. Thanks to some advice from our bishop, we were brave and took the subway with our luggage in tow. After a few minutes at Alamo Rental we headed over the George Washington Bridge and got the heck out of the city. Can you tell that I was ready to put Manhattan in the rear view mirror? It was about a 5 hour drive to Palmyra and it was nice to sit down and put my feet up after all that walking the past few days. We drove through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. It's a good thing that my favorite color is green because that's all there was for miles around! We stopped to eat in Scranton, PA which might interest you fans of "The Office" and while there we redirected our course off the main highways and took a back road approach so that we would pass through Fayette, NY. Fayette houses the Peter Whitmer farm which is where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized and where some of the translation of the Book of Mormon took place. I was so excited to start this leg of our trip and was glad we had planned it so that we ended in Upstate New York. The foundation of the house was original and had been rebuilt to look as it had back in the days of the Restoration of the Church. It was a thrill to think of the 60 or so people who sat in that very room and listened to a Prophet of God who stood practically where were were standing. Unbelievable stuff!

We made it to Palmyra and settled into our hotel which was right in the heart of the Church History sites we were planning on visiting. By the way, have I mentioned how nice it was to sleep in everyday, not have to change diapers, make dinner, do laundry and take care of my kids for 10 days? It was extremely nice!

June 17th

It's safe to say that this was the day Keith and I were looking forward to the most since we decided to go to New York. Wednesday morning we were up bright and early to visit the Sacred Grove. We even got there before the visitor's center opened and had a few minutes to read our scriptures and sit and think about land we were on. I had a small case of butterflies. The missionaries led us on a tour that started with the home that the Joseph Smith Sr. family moved into when young Joseph was 10 years old. It was in the upper room of this home that the Angel Moroni appeared and spend the night teaching and informing Joseph of the gold plates and the responsibilities that were being placed on his shoulders.

Just down the road is the frame house that Joseph's older brother, Alvin started building before his death. The family moved into it and it was there that Joseph and Emma were living when he received the record on the gold plates. We were able to see a few of the places he hid the plates. This home was 80% original. I got goosebumps walking through the rooms.

Once you walk out the front door of the frame house, a quarter mile away sits the entrance to the Sacred Grove. There were tears pouring down my cheeks before we walked in. There was no mistaking that we were walking on sacred ground. It also was special that Keith and I were the only people there, we had the grove to ourselves. We sat on a bench and read the account of the First Vision from Joseph Smith History and spent the rest of the time praying and walking around. What a wondrous place!! We were amazed to discover that by the time we walked out of the grove we had been in there for 2 hours.

After that experience we decided to grab some lunch. There is a specialty dish that originated in the Finger Lakes region called the Garbage Plate. We decided to try it although it did not sound appetizing. The bottom layer is baked beans next to macaroni salad topped my a layer of french fries. Next came the two patties of hamburger and cheese with all the fixins of a normal burger. The top layer was a picante chili sauce. It really didn't taste bad as long as you ate the layers by themselves. I never did try a fork full of it all together. Yummy!

Up next came the Hill Cumorah. They have a great visitor's center where you can view the movie "Joseph Smith, the Prophet." It was nice to watch it without our kids around causing distractions. Then we got to walk up the hill to the monument. It is one steep hill!! Good thing you can also drive up to see it as well. It's where they have the pageant each year. The missionaries told us that each night they set up 9,000 chairs for the people who come to see the performance. That's one of the reasons we went a month before the pageant started! One of the nights we were in Palmyra we came back to see the monument lit up. I had a stark realization of what it might have been like the night the Prophet received the plates. The woods there are so thick and dark and you can hear every little crack of a branch and the wind blowing in the trees. I imagined myself as Emma Smith, waiting all alone in a wagon for 2 hours for Joseph to return, knowing that he was conversing with angels. Or to be Joseph and know that there are people in those woods waiting for you, ready to kill you to get what you possess. Keith had to convince me to get out of the car. It was an interesting experience to say the least.We also stopped by and spent some time on the grounds of the Palmyra Temple. I learned that it was built on the land that was originally owned by the Joseph Smith Sr. family.

June 18th

We set our sights on the rest of the Church History sites that day. Keith and I were disappointed to discover that the home of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witness to the Book of Mormon was a private residence and we were not allowed inside. Bummer. We were able, with a little help, to locate the headstone of Joseph's older brother Alvin. It was interesting the see the old stone had been surrounded by a newer one to preserve it. You could see the same engraving on both sides.

The Grandin Building was our last stop. It was interesting to hear the story of the printing of the Book of Mormon and learn new facts. The price of the book when it was first sold was $1.25 which equalled two days wages! The floorboards in that building were original. Imagine standing on the same floor where Joseph Smith walked! When the LDS Church purchased the building they added onto the back of it so it the middle of the rooms sits the original back to the Building, which is cool. For those of you in Utah, there is a museum in Provo, the Crandall Printing Museum, that has a replica of the press used to print the Book of Mormon. Our family has been there and it's worth a visit. That night we took a ferry ride on the Erie Canal. It included dinner and a Murder Mystery Dinner theatre that left a lot to be desired. Still the ride was great, very relaxing and a great way to chill out at the end of the day!

June 19th

Goodbye Palmyra, Hello Niagara Falls! About a 45 minute drive took us over the border into Canada to see the famous Niagara Falls, our last stop on our journey! The falls themselves are indescribable. They are huge, powerful and larger than life. You get soaked just from walking next to them. Every night they light up the falls in bright prismatic colors which looked very cool! Other than that, the city is a tourist trap full of casinos, wax museums, amusement parks, shops and attractions that have absolutely nothing to do with the Falls. We did see a fun IMAX film about the history of Niagara and that night ate a the Rainforest Cafe'.

June 20th

Keith and Sammie are ready to go home. It was a fantastic vacation, better than imagined, but we missed our kids, our own bed and not having to pay to have decent water to drink. Lucky for us, there were no problems with our flights this time although the 5 1/2 hour one from Baltimore to SLC was rough. And yes, our kids were dying to see us! We had a great reunion, tons of fun giving them gifts from our trip and listening to their tales from while we were gone. Thanks so much for the trip, honey! I've never had a funner time and I can't wait for the next one!!!