Philly

Our first weekend in NJ was spent getting settled, getting groceries, and getting Jeff ready to start work.  Our second weekend in New Jersey we decided we were ready to take a day trip.  We drove to Philadelphia, which is only about an hour and 15 minutes away.  We had a great day there and hope to be able to visit again sometime this summer.

First thing we went and got tickets to tour Independence Hall.  It was nice to have a free guided tour, but Claire cried through most of it and I felt bad for the other 58 people with us.  It was really cool to see the room where the Consitution was created and the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed.  Here we are in front of Independence Hall.

Here Claire and I are in the room that was used as a court room.

Here is where all the political action took place.  They still have the original chair George Washington sat in!

The Liberty Bell is right across the street so we went there next.  I enjoyed seeing it from a professional standpoint (the material used to repair the bell is what caused the crack and they inserted a "spider" into the crack to prevent it from propagating further).

Then we went and visited the site of Ben Franklin's home.  They also have a small museum and a replica of his printing shop.  On the wall of the print shop was this quote of Franklin's that I really like.

Nearby, outside the Carpenter's Hall, we ran into Ben Franklin himself...or a good actor.

For lunch we went to the Reading Terminal Market, which used to be the Reading Railroad train depot (from Monopoly).  The marketplace was really busy, but the food was AMAZING!

My favorite things were the roast pork sandwich from DiNic's -- I would go to Philadelphia again just to eat another sandwich.  I think it was the sharp provolone cheese that made it incredible  -- and the soft pretzel from Miller's.  Soft pretzels don't generally excite me, but it was so soft inside and crispy outside.  Slightly sweet, slightly salty, and very buttery.  Mmmmmm.  Jeff also really liked the Dutch Eating Place, where the Amish prepare food.  We had apple cinnamon french toast and blueberry pancakes.  Their homemade butter tastes really different.  Here they are cooking.

After lunch we ran up the Art Museum steps, where Rocky (from the movie) took his victory lap.  I've been training for a half marathon so running up these steps got me all fired up.

We visited the Constitution Museum, which I really enjoyed.  They had a moving video/presentation and lots of interactive exhibits.  One little area they had two little school desks.  Lily really wanted to sit in one, so I let her and then I watched a little video about integrating the public schools.  While this was all going on a little black girl came in and sat in the desk next to Lily.  I was really touched and it made me so happy to be in this country.  At the end, they had bronze statues of all the men who signed the Constitution.  Here's Jeff with Pierce Butler of South Carolina.

And here's me with George Washington.

After the museum, we wanted to do something fun for the girls so we went to a nearby park.  Much to our surprise they had a carousel and Lily LOVES carousels.  We decided she would have to ride it and just hoped it didn't cost too much.  While we were walking up a man asked us if she'd like to ride the carousel and gave us a free ticket.  He made our day!

Sweet Dreams

Lily put her princesses to bed tonight and it was so cute I had to take a picture.  Each princess doll had a hair bow for her pillow and a headband for her blanket.  Lily is getting more creative and imaginative all the time.

Day 10 - Palmyra Continued

In the morning we visited the Smith Family Farm.  It was really neat to see where Joseph and his family lived while Joseph was growing up.  Here is our family in front of the Smith log home.

While we were there I thought a lot about what the Smith children would have done for fun on the farm.  It was easy because Lily was demonstrating for me.  There was a little family of foxes (or foxen as Brian Reagan would say), lots of pretty flowers, and a little stream. 

Claire had a lot of fun too!

Next we visited the Sacred Grove.  It was so beautiful and quiet.  I could really feel the spirit there.  Here are a few pictures that I liked from the Sacred Grove.

Then we went and walked around the Palmyra Tempe grounds. The temple has beautiful stained glass windows depicting the Sacred Grove and the Tree of Life.  Our girls missed this because the were sleeping in the car.  I guess playing at the farm tired them out.

At this point our camera battery died.  Good thing we had a back up battery....but it was dead too.  What a shame!  We visited the Peter Whitmer farm and saw the log cabin where the church was organized.  It was amazing!  Imagining all the first Saints there that day (I think there were about 40 people that attended)...it would have been PACKED!  Then it was so neat because the day the church was organized was the same day that Joseph Smith was able to baptize his father.  The visitor's center had some beautiful art depicting it and how moving that must have been.

After the Peter Whitmer farm, we continued on our journey.  We drove to Harmony, PA.  There isn't much there, but Jeff jogged down a dirt road to see the spot on the Susquehanna River where the priesthood was restored.  He said it was really neat and he was able to help a couple of missionaries find their way too.  I stayed in the car to feed Claire and let Lily continue sleeping.

Then we drove through Scranton, PA.  We didn't stop, but I would love to go there and take a tour of sites from The Office.

Finally, we arrived at our apartment in Somerset, New Jersey at about 7:45pm.  Phew!  What a road trip!

Day 9 - Niagara Falls and Palmyra

We stayed the night in Niagara Falls, NY and in the morning went over to the falls.  It was really beautiful.

The highlight was going on the Maid of the Mist boat ride to see the falls from below.  They suited us up in blue rain ponchos before hand (but they certainly didn't keep us dry).

And this is a little tribute to that crazy night at Disneyland:

The falls were stunning from the boat.  So powerful!  And worth getting soaked for.

After visiting Niagara we had to dry off so we went and ate lunch and checked into our hotel near Palmyra. After a little break, we set out again and visited the office where the Book of Mormon was first printed.  It was really amazing.  Here is a copy of the manuscript.

Here is a picture of the printing press.

And here is one of the finished copies.

Afterwards we visited the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center.  The room with the Christus is really beautiful.  They play the same recording at each visitor's center, but I was really touched here.  It made me think about how personal the Savior is - He redeemed ME from my sins, and He visited Joseph Smith in an answer to his personal prayer.  Oh it is wonderful to me!

Then we hiked up the Hill Cumorah and visited the monument on the top. The view was beautiful!

Day 8 - Kirtland, OH

We spent day 6 and 7 in Chicago, enjoying a much needed break from the car.  It was great to be able to spend Mother's Day with Jeff's family.  Jeff gave me a great Mother's Day gift - a WHOLE DAY without having to take care of our kids.  It was the best!  I love my kiddos, but every mom needs a break every now and then, especially when you've been in the car with them non-stop.

On the 8th day of our trip we got up really early and drove to Kirtland, OH.  I loved Kirtland.  I had never been there before and I was very impressed.  It was really neat to visit the Kirtland Temple and think of the monumental events that took place there.  We got to sing "The Spirit of God" inside the temple before we left which made me think of all the miraculous things that happened at the Kirtland Temple dedication.

The temple was really beautiful and being inside reminded me of being inside of a temple.  Upstairs there are windows connecting the rooms to let in more light.  All of those windows are symmetrical and looking through them reminded me of looking into the reflecting mirrors in the sealing room or celestial room.

The church has a couple of blocks restored to how they would have been in the 1800's and that was really neat.  I especially loved being inside the Newel K Whitney Store.  The upstairs of the store was where the prophet and his family lived for a while and where the school of the prophets was held.  That was also where Joseph received the Word of Wisdom revelation.  The Spirit was very strong there.

We also visited the Whitney home.  I thought it was so cute!

They had a working sawmill where the people in Kirtland would have gotten their lumber and where the pulpits of the temple were made.

And being a chemical engineer, I really enjoyed seeing the Ashery and learning about the early "chemical plants".

Kirtland is definitely worth the trip!

Day 5 - Nauvoo to Chicago

Nauvoo is such a great place to visit.  We really wished we had more time there.  Also, it was cold and windy when we visited so we had to change some of our plans (no carriage ride).  We visited the Family Living Center where we learned about making pottery, rope, candles, and bread.

My favorite stop in Nauvoo (besides the beautiful temple) is the Scovil Bakery.  You get little gingerbread cookies when you come in!  Plus the sister missionaries there told us a very moving story about the Scovil family and their firm foundation of faith in Christ.  They related it back to the strong foundation of the bakery itself which is still original.

We visited a couple other spots then we had to go.  On our way we stopped at Carthage, which is always such a special place.  Lily was having a hard time being reverent - she's just not that into church history yet - and she kept getting into trouble.  Here she is touching the display that says "do not touch".

Here's a picture of us by the window where Joseph Smith was shot.

The missionary that gave us the tour of the jail took a really neat picture of our family.  This is a picture of us by that same window taken through the bullet hole in the door (the bullet that killed Hyrum Smith).

One of the BEST parts of the trip was meeting up with my college roommate, Becca, and her family.  They live in Illinois and it was right on our way to Chicago.  She was so nice to invite us all over for dinner.  It was so yummy, especially since we had eaten way too much fast food by this point of the trip.  It was so great to catch up and see how similar our interests still are.  Lily really loved being able to play with her kids.  It warms my heart to know that we are still good friend despite all these years and my failure to keep in touch.  Blogs are wonderful for that.

Day 4 - Independence to Nauvoo

On day 4, we traveled from Independence, MO to Nauvoo, IL.  I had never seen the church history sites in Missouri so we planned on visiting as many as we could.  We read the Our Heritage book in the car to help us prepare for seeing the sites.

Our first stop was the visitors' center in Independence.  They had a neat exhibit in the basement that explained some of the history and persecution the saints experienced in their time in Independence.  Here's us outside of the visitor's center.

Joseph Smith prophesied that Zion would be built where Independence is today and that there would be a temple there someday.  The temple site is there (but its just a big field now) and the Community of Christ church owns the land.  Here Jeff and I are at the temple site.

For lunch we wanted to go to a Jack Stack BBQ place that my dad had recommended.  I used our new GPS to help me find the closest location, and off we went.  The GPS failed us, however, and took us to a business park in some underground caverns -- I'm not kidding.

Turns out, that's where the corporate headquarters is.  Who wants to work inside a cave?!?

We ate lunch at Panera bread instead.  It was really good.  I had never been to one before, but I'd always wanted to go.

We visited the Liberty Jail.  It was so awesome to see the jail and really understand how awful it would have been to be imprisoned there.  Being in prison and away from your family must be awful, but add to that the terrible conditions (cold, unsanitary, cramped, and crowded) and the fact that you're innocent and I think it would have been almost unbearable.  I think it was Joseph's refiner's fire and it really felt like a temple.

After Liberty, we went to Far West.  The only things really left there are the cornerstones of the temple that the saints wanted to build there.  They have it nicely landscaped and you can really feel the Spirit there.  Even though Far West is in the middle of nowhere, its really worth a visit.

Finally, we visited Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  It is such a beautiful valley.  I really enjoyed visiting and walking around.  It is so peaceful.

After that, we drove on to Nauvoo to our hotel.  We got there really late and went straight to bed.