Before leaving the Northeast for our Summer adventures in Utah, we met up with our friends Katie and Louis for some going away pizza on our way out of town. If there's one thing New Haven is known for (besides Yale of course), it's their delicious pizza. MmmMmm.
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| I can't wait to meet their baby this fall when we return to the Northeast! |
I'm was so glad we sent Dominic to Utah on an airplane with his Grandma! I was excited for some one-on-one time with Michael.
At our first rest stop in New York, I was tickled to meet Michael's dopplegรคnger. I sneakily took this picture of the stranger. Admit it, you thought this was a picture of Michael. Michael has this exact outfit: Rainbow sandals, salmon colored shorts, grey hoodie and Red Sox Hat. From the back, you couldn't tell them apart-similar height and frame! It was too funny.
Our first stop was in Palmyra, New York: a historical city in the Mormon church.
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| The Palmyra, NY temple |
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| The home Joseph Smith grew up in |
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| The room where the young Joseph Smith was visited by the Angel Moroni |
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| The room where the young Joseph Smith was visited by the Angel Moroni |
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| One of the original hiding places for the Golden Plates (keeping them safe from mobs that were trying to steal them) |
After touring the Smith home and farm, he walked into the beautiful grove of trees behind the Smith's home.
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| Entering the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ in the Spring of 1820. |
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| The Sacred Grove |
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| The Sacred Grove |
We spent some time wandering through the trees in quiet reflection pondering what that experience must have been like for a young 14-year-old boy.
Following our visit to the Smith's property, we went into town and visited the printing shop where the Book of Mormon was originally published by E.B. Grandin.
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| The printing shop where the Book of Mormon was originally published. We got to see the entire book binding process-which took months. |
From there we went to visit the Hill Cumorah. Here Joseph was guided by an angel to find the Golden Plates. About 4 years later he began translating them into what is modernly known as the Book of Mormon.
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| Sunset from the Hill Cumorah |
Michael and I both loved visiting Palmyra and were excited for out next stop: Niagara Falls
I think we were both surprised at the majesty of the falls.
We hopped on the Maid of the Mist and ventured right into the spray of Horseshoe falls. It was kind of like taking a shower fully clothed. Don't let the poncho fool you, with the sheer power and force of all the water, they were virtually useless!
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| Aboard the boat Maid of the Mist |
Next we ventured to the Cave of the Winds where we followed a wooden walkway to the Hurricane Deck (positioned right under one of the falls). Here are a few short clips from the Deck.
Niagara Falls was lovely! I really wanted to stay the entire day and catch the Memorial Day fireworks that evening, but we felt that would set us back too much from getting to Utah and picking up Dominic from our family. So we ventured on! We decided to route up and around Lake Erie through Canada.
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| Crossing the bridge into Canada!! |
Our short stint in Canada was less then ideal (including bad directions and angry and belligerent border patrol who threatened to imprison Michael). Frankly, we were glad to leave. Hopefully we'll visit again soon and have a more peasant experience.
Highlights through the Midwest: We were sure to stop for some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza on our drive.
Anyone who's driven through South Dakota has seen the incredible volume of billboards for hundreds of miles (literally hundreds!) advertising Wall Drug. There are so many sign that you would think you are on your way to see one of the seven wonders. Though we had been warned that this was a huge tourist trap, we decided to venture off the freeway and see what all the hype was about. Wall Drug as it turns out
is in fact just a large western convenient store, with a mediocre cafe and lots of tacky souvenirs. Don't get me wrong, we quite enjoyed our visit, but I did find the hundreds of miles worth of advertising quite amusing. At least now I can say I've been to the famous Wall Drug.
We weren't sure anything could beat the exhilarating Wall Drug, but we decided to continue our journey to Mt. Rushmore anyways.
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| The view really was quite impressive of the giant Presidents |
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The sculptor of Mt. Rushmore
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| It was interesting to learn that Mt. Rushmore was commissioned solely to promote tourism in the area (obviously it worked!) |
The sculpture went through many revisions throughout the course of the project.
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| One of the original designs that was later revised |
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| My favorite angle of the Presidents |
Pictured below was Borglum's sculptor studio. He sculpted (and was constantly refining) this model while over seeing the actual work being done on the mountain (observing through the large windows). The model was adjusted to enormous proportions and a majority of the cutting away was done with dynamite by local miners. Construction commenced in 1927 and upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son took over the project. As you can see from these two pictures, a large portion of the sculpture was never completed due to lack of funding and man power in late October 1941 (as a result of WWII).
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| Wildlife seen in the park |
I was pretty amazed to learn that although the workers spent years and years (suspended hundreds of feet up) operating power tools and explosives that there were only two noted accidents. One man was sent over the cliff's edge as a result of nearby lightening strike. Thankfully he was harnessed in and sustained little injury, returning to work the next day. The other incident involved a cable car that broke loose hurling from the mountain down to the sculptor's studio. One of the men fell/jumped out of the car and sustained a broken leg when the car came to a stop at the bottom of the mountain.
We were able to watch a short program in the evening with a lighting ceremony. The mountain was even more dramatic by night.
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| The flags of each state |
We spent that night camping in the beautiful Black Hills area before our final stretch of driving to Utah.
We had a little car trouble in the middle-of-no-where, Wyoming and after investing a little time, money and TLC into the car, were on our way again and eventually made it safe and sound to Utah.
We have been having tons of fun and adventures with friends and family. Stay tuned for some more pictures and updates!
