June 26

We made it to church today – a real sacrament meeting. We pulled in the parking lot about 5 min early so we sent Taylor and Dallin in to get t seat while Rick got dressed. Then the rest of us walked in – we were maybe 2 minutes late. They were having the opening announcements and the first thing I heard while walking through the door was something like, “while we do have a sign that says Visitors welcome we need to be careful to be vigilant in watching who comes into our meetings and keeping and eye on them. Also keep your children close we don’t want to have any problems – if you see any suspicious activity make sure and report it. The timing was perfect – we walked through the door as they were counseling the ward to be wary of strangers . I felt like turning right around and leaving. I don’t think we look to scary, well maybe Rick- he is up to a 4 week beard now. I kind of felt like I should pull out my temple recommend to prove we were legit members and not there to steal their children. Anyway the meeting was ok. I wasn’t super impressed with their speakers – which was the seminary class – but it was ok. We left after sacrament meeting. We had debated staying for the whole meeting but we didn’t feel to welcomed and we were ready go see Kirtland. Turth is I am guessing we had more of a spiritual experience in Kirtland than we did at church.

“Historic Kirtland” was really an neat place. It is interesting to note the different feelings you, (or at least I) felt at the Kirtland visitors center, the Palmyra sites and other church sites versus the feelings at the Kirtland temple. The temple was neat, I really enjoyed seeing the building and learning a bit more of its history – but for the most part the spirit simply wasn’t there. Except I have to say at one point while we were sitting in the lower court listening to our temple interrupter talk he said something like, while the early saints didn’t get to enjoy their temple for long it remains a memorial of their sacrifice and faith.” I really did feel the significance and importance of that statement. The rest of it was more like a a history lesson than a spiritual experience. Their was just something different about the missionaires who gave us tours and the tour guides of the Community of Christ. It is hard to describe but I guess it just comes down to the spirit. The tour guides, or temple interrupters just seem like hired employees doing there job while the missionaries seem more invested in it. I don’t know who to describe it but for those who have been to both – my guess is you already know what I am talking about . It is interesting to- that there have been some presentations I have been to at National Parks (not a lot- but a couple) that have given me the same feelings I felt at say Palmyra or the Whitney Farm. I think because, like I was telling our children, our countries freedom and the sacrifices made to become a freedom are sacred and came through divine intervention. I hope my children could sense that and feel the importance and significance of those who have come before and sacrificed so much for the many blessing they enjoy today.

After leaving Kirtland we drove straight to Ann Arbor. We pulled in around 9:30. Jeff and Stacey had dinner for us. We tried to be quiet and get the kids to bed rather quickly but we succeeded in waking both Jacob and Rebecca up. After getting the kids to sleep and taking the rv over to park at their church we visited a bit and went to bed close to 1:00 am.

June 25

Today was our Canada day. We went back into Niagara and then walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. We didn’t get our passports stamped- what a disappointment. Funny thing is Canada is just the same as the United States- the kids just couldn’t understand that. Well the same except more expensive. Rick told the kids the could buy a suveniour so we went shopping. We went to store after store – the kids had a blast looking at Canadian things and trying to find something we could afford. Ryan, and Rachel just wanted the cheap plastic toys you could buy at the dollar store – we finally agreed since the main goal was to make them happy and the toys were a lot cheaper than tee shirts or something. Dallin got a shirt, Taylor got a hat, Anna got a key chain and Ryan and Rachel got squirmmals. Rick and I got chocolate.

The falls from the Canadian side are pretty cool – again so huge. I think they have a better view, although like I heard a tour guide say, the US side tries to make the falls a little less commercial buy making them in park with grass, trees, walking trails etc while the Canadians built the city right up to the shore. Our little jaunt across the boarder was short and sweet but fun.

We walked back across the bridge to find a turnstyle blocking our path. We needed to pay .50 cents a person to get into the US. While that is not a lot of money- it was more than we had. We had credit cards and 1 $20 bill. It only took quarters. There was a change machine but it didn’t take twenties. We stood around a while deciding what to do. Anna had the perfect solution – we can just all walk under the turnstyle like we did at the subway. Finally someone came in to see if there was a problem. They must have a camera in there of something because we looked for someone to ask and couldn’t find anyone. They took our $20 and after about 5 min they came back with change. 5 minutes isn’t that long but it was long enough to wonder if they were coming back or not. So we got back in the USA .

We went back to our RV had some dinner and took one last look at the falls then we headed out to Kirland. The drive was only about 2 hours but I was exhausted so it felt much longer. The kids watched a movie and Rick drove. We were staying at the Heritage Hills Family Campground. We called to make sure they had a site and they said they had a couple left but we better reserve because they fill up quick. So we did. We told the kids if we got in early enough we could go swimming because they had a pool. The campground was out on a dirt road a couple miles from nothing. When we pulled in Rick and I both laughed and thought there is no way this place fills up. Well we found out we got the last “good” spot. According to the old couple who runs it they have a couple good spots – a couple “crappy” spots and the rest are permanent residents. So we pretty much were staying in a mobile home park. It was kind of sad to look around and see all these families living in something not a whole lot larger than our RV. I can’t imagine how awful that would be. They didn’t have a pool like I supposed but a roped off portion of a pond. There were a lot of ducks, mud, and scum on the pond so jumping in for dip didn’t seem to inviting. The kids ran over and played on the little playground but it was cold enough they were asking for jackets. There were fires burning all over the park – I can’t imagine “camping out” permanently. You would perpetually smell like smoke. One thing the this has reminded me how blessed we are to have the home we do although there are some states I would gladly transport that home too.

June 24

June 24

Our back bedroom is filling up with laundry – all of our laundry baskets are overflowing. So we decided we should try and find a laundry mat. So when we got to Batavia where the walmart was we plugged “laundrymat” into the gps. It took us to one – how amazing is that. Anyway we gathered up all the laundry, it took 3 of us to carry it in, and we were stopped by a nice old lady who said it was too late to start laundry. So we left, on the way back to Walmart we saw a sign for another laundrymat. We stopped, they were open till 11:00 (it was like 9:30) so we went ahead and went in. It was gross and expensive but we decided to do a load of two anyway. That was a mistake. The laundry didn’t get very clean, it took forever to dry and we ran into a lot of rif raf. We turned on a movie for the kids to watch in the Rv and Rick and I went in the laundrymat. Rick had to go out and sit with them when two suspicious looking cars pulled in the parking lot right next to the RV. Pretty sure they were using the Rv to block their drug deal from main street. Anyway we got the laundry done (not clean but done) and back “home” to our Walmart parking lot site by 11:30. The kids were pretty much all asleep so we just threw some bankets on them and went to bed.

It is amazing to me that Rick can sleep in till like 9:30 in a walmart parking lot. You start getting a lot of traffic noise and people coming and going by around 7:00-8:00. It is hoping by 8:30, but Rick and the kids slept on. So I went in to walmart and did a little grocery shopping. I got a box of donuts from the Duncan Donuts store and woke the kids up to eat them about 9:30 – when they were almost done with the donuts the went in and woke up Rick so he could have the last one. He may have still been asleep at noon if we hadn’t woke him.

We took off for Niagara Falls as soon as we were all ready. We had a bit of a hard time finding where we wanted to go but when we finally found a parking spot we were pretty excited to be there. You can see the mist coming up from the falls from pretty far away. In fact it looks like smoke from a fire when you are coming into town. I was so impressed by the sheer power of the water. There is just so much – so much water, so much power- so much noise. It is incredible. We walked along the falls trail and took a bunch of pictures and watched the seagulls for awhile. Then we went on the Cave of winds tour. It was pretty cool. Dallin has been looking forward to going to Niagara Falls so he could get a rain poncho. He heard they had them there. He was absolutely thrilled when he found out they gave them out to everyone who went on the tour. Even better they even gave out new shoes for us to wear. So we got all dressed up in yellow rain poncho’s, and cheap plastic sandals. And headed out to the falls. Looking at the falls from their level is a lot different then from above. It is pretty amazing. At the bottom there was the “hurricane deck” where you can stand under the falls and get soaked. The force of the water was termendous. I loved it and the kids were pretty impressed too. It is interesting to see how many different people come to tour the falls. We heard lots of different languages and saw a lot of different cultural dress. There were lots of Muslims, Indians, Japanese and even quite a big group of Mennonite people as well as the regular mix of Americans.

We decided to head to our campsite around 5:00. We typed it in the GPS and headed out. We were following the directions and found ourselves on the bridge to Canada. This can’t be right we thought but couldn’t figure out how to get off it either so into Canada we went. Luckily we had our passports and birth certificates because we had planned to go into Canada tomorrow. I was terrified we were going to be searched. Which normally wouldn’t be a problem –but Mark gave me a little box and ask me to take it to Jeff. He didn’t tell me what it was and I didn’t ask. But I have this sneaking suspicion it is a gun. So when the boarder agent ask if we had any weapons or firearms and Rick said no- I felt a little guilty. I figured why would they doubt Rick – they won’t look. Just then Ryan speaks up and says “Yeah we do – we have weapons”. I could have smacked him. Luckily the agent ignored him and he let us in.

We found a campground, not the one we intended to go to but the GPS did lead us to one. It was pretty expensive and tacky looking so didn’t stay. We drove around a bit and looked at Canada and headed back to the USA. The kids were excited to go back to the USA, they sang all kind of patriotic songs like “Coming to America”, “God Bless the USA” etc. They are so weird sometimes.

We drove around for maybe an hour before we were able to find the right campground. New York really needs to work on its GPS directions for State Parks. We overheard some other campers commenting on how hard it was to find the place too – so we knew it wasn’t just us. The campground, 4 mile creek, was right on Lake Ontario. It was actually only about 15 miles from the Falls but we drove around in circles looking for it. It’s a pretty nice park. Lake Ontario is huge. Once again the sheer size of it amazed me. We could look across the lake and see the skyline of Toronto. Other than that it looks like the ocean – water as far as you can see in all directions. There were even waves. The kids had a great time collecting old dirty bird feathers and little pieces of rocks and shells. They are getting quite the collection of “treasures”.

June 23

June 23

I have wanted to see Palmyra and the Sacred Grove, well -forever. I have really looked forward to this. And I wasn’t disappointed. When we pulled into town the toll booth attendant asked us if we were here to see the Mormon sites. He told us to be sure and go to the sacred orchard. We kind of laughed at the “orchard” but I knew why he listed it as a can’t miss spot. We had talked to the kids about being reverent and respectful and for the most part they were. We went to the smith Farm, Hill Cumarah, the temple and the EB Grandon printing press. I was really impressed with all of it. The sister missionaries who took us on the tours of the printing press and the Smith Farm did a great job telling us stories, sharing their testimonies and helping us feel the spirit. It was a really good experience. I felt the spirit and I think the kids did to.

Taylor is proud of himself for making the sister missionaries journal. She was telling us about EB Grandon and told us his name was Egbert B. Grandon. She told us we were going to play a guessing game and see who could guess his middle name. Her first hint was it started with the letter B – then she said it is “not a very nice word for someone who isn’t very nice” Taylor got a kind of shocked look on his face and said, “you mean the B word- the swear word”. Thank goodness he didn’t actually say the word. The sister turned red. No, no, no – I didn’t mean that word.” The Elder sitting across the room cracked up. Everyone kind of laughed and she said that was one she would have to put in her journal. My kids have a knack for embarrassing me.

The Sisters were really good to play to the kids but sometimes my kids can be so weird. When one of them shook our hands Anna told the joke, “are you cold” – “no then why are you shaking”. That was ok but then Ryan wanted to get in on the jokes so when he was shaking her hand he said. “Where do you live, (in a house) Where do you go to the bathroom (in the toilet), What do you use to wipe (toilet paper) to which Ryan says - I use my hand. I almost died. You just don’t tell missionaries potty jokes. My kids used to be shy but lately they have really talked to strangers a lot – and for some reason they have a knack for saying something kind of awkward – and often off topic. Rachel sure had a lot of comments that kept the sisters laughing. But I was really proud that for the most part they knew all the anwers to the questions they were asked and knew a lot of stories about Joseph Smith. They seemed interested and learned a lot. It was an experience I hope they never forget.

We stopped for lunch at the Chill and Grill. It was a little roadside hamburger and icecream joint off the main road. The missionaries suggested it. Other than being a little more expensive than we had planned and not taking credit cards it was really good. They had great ice cream and the servings were huge. The biggest problem was that we didn’t have very much cash, paying for lunch left us with a handful of change and maybe $12. We were a little nervous because we knew we would have toll roads to pay. Turns out we made it to a Walmart to get cash with $2 to spare.

June22

“Dad makes better sandwiches, but you give me more chips,” says Ryan. I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses. One of mine isn’t driving – at least when it comes to RV’s. I hate driving the beast. Rick had been hinting the last couple days that it was my turn, I put him off for a while but promised him today I would drive. So I drove, all day. And I hated it, all day. About 1 of the 7 hours was on freeway the other 6 were on tiny little backroads with lots of pot holes, narrow shoulders, curves and hills. It also poured most of the day. My knucles were white from griping the wheel, my face hurts from clenching my teeth and my eyes stung from holding back the tears. Which didn’t always stay held back. I was stressed and overwhelmed and terrified most of those 7 hours. But I was successful. No one died, I didn’t fall off the road I didn’t harm any person or property. On the other hand Rick is a good driver (except for that little incident in New Orleans, where he ripped the mirror off someone car and dented in the door) but today he played stewardess. His job was to tell me where to go, feed the kids, set up their games/movies, read scriptures with them, keep the rv clean. He did a pretty good job except for the cleaning up part. The Rv was an absolute disaster when we arrived. Like Junie B Jones says I don’t want to toot my own horn but I think I am better at playing stewardess than Rick. I guess that’s what makes us such a good team. Together we can do anything – even make a pretty decent lunch.

We started out the day by going to the Joseph Smith Birthplace in Sharon Vermont. We debated wether or not we should go because it was a couple hours out of our way. But we decided to go, and I am so glad we did. It was really pretty neat. Vermont is beautiful. I am not sure why the Smiths wanted to leave, it looked like a wonderful place to live. I really enjoyed the scenery and the visitors center. The missionary asked us if we wanted to watch a movie, again we debated. I knew we had Joseph Smith movies in the rv and I thought we should just watch it on our way and hurry it along but we decided to watch it. We were the only ones there so we went into the theater and all got cosy. The movie is a new movie (about 6 weeks old) called Joseph Prophet of the Restoration. It is a lot like the last movie with the same name – in fact they kind of just reworked that movie. I really liked it and the kids all did to. I was impressed by how the focus and watched it. It was a nice morning.

Being in Vermont we thought we should buy some syrup so we went in search for some real maple syrup. We found a working maple farm and cheese factory called Sugarbush Farm to visit. It took a little while to get there and if I would have know what the roads would have been like I would have never stopped but it was really cool. We learned how to make cheese and syrup. We tasted lots of different kinds and syrup, cheese, jams and other sauces. They were really good and we bought a few. The kids were in love with the syrup and have been begging for pancakes all day.

We had decided to stay in a State Park about 1 hour south of Palmyra. The problem was our GPS lead us all over these tiny hilly backroads through absolutely beautiful thickly wooded forests to a locked gate. It was almost 10 at that point and we figured there was no way to find another park that night so we were stressing a little bit but decided to just get back on the road and keep driving. Well the locked gate kind of was a breaking point for me and the driving. I just decided I couldn’t possibly back that huge thing back out onto a road so I got Rick to do it, he took the wheel for the rest of the night. Luckily that didn’t end up being to long. As we went to get back on the freeway I spotted a sign for the park we had just been to. The sign pointed the other way. We decided to try it out. Turns out the park entrance was on the other side, the gate we got to was the back gate. We got in the park and found an open site. The The site we came to first was grass, we wanted a gravel or concrete site so we started to circle looking for one. But then decided it was late enough we would just take the grass site. Turns out that was pretty smart. There was only grass and dirt sites and since it poured all night the next morning all the dirt sites were mud bogs where the grass sites were pretty soggy but nothing like the dirt sites. We got out ok which may not have been the case if we would have gone with a dirt site. The campground was really beautiful, we got in so late and left pretty much as soon as we all got up and showered that we didn’t see much of it but what we did see was amazing.