Hello everybody. A few weeks ago Heather, Lola, myself, and our 13 yr. old nephew Connor went on a road trip. By the time it was done we traveled 1800+ miles in a week. I thought I would give you the highlights. We started out from 535 Harris Place (yes our street name is really Harris Place) and drove north to Kirtland, OH. We took a tour of the Newel K Whitney Store, including the room where the School of the Prophets was held. The missionary on hand told the story of the school, and then ask us to sing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives". It was something I will never forget. The highlight of Kirtland for me was the temple. Just like so many of our temples today it sits atop a hill and is beautiful. The tour is given by the Community of Christ church since they own it. Our guide was a young intern from Independence, MO. While they have a different view of the temple then we do they still treat it as a holy and sacred place. From Kirtland we drove NE along the shoreline of Lake Erie. I think lake is a bit of an understatement. It seemed more like the Erie Ocean to me. The fun part of road trips is that you do whatever seems fun at the time. We decided that swimming in the lake sounded fun. We pulled off the road in a little upstate NY town and went swimming with the locals in Lake Erie. It was great fun. We stayed the night in Buffalo, NY. The next day we drove 30 min. to Niagra Falls. The falls are more massive than I imagined. We took a tour ride on the Maiden Mist which gives you a very upclose and personal look at the falls. It's like being in a massive rain storm. Lola loved it. She kept yelling "Water, water ..." like she had to point out to me that it was there. After Niagra we spent the night in Rochester, NY. Wow what a cool city. It is only 1/2 hour outside of Palmyra. On the way to Palmyra we stopped and had lunch along the boardwalk of the Erie Canal. It was a fun little area that reminded Heather and I of Sun valley. It made us wonder how many great little towns are there that we've never heard of. Palmyra was great. The highlight for me was the newly restored Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was published. The sacred grove was of course very special as well. From Palmyra we drove south to Hershey, PA. I heard once that when you drive into town it smells like chocolate. Not so, but we spent one of the funnest days of the trip at Hershey Park. It is an incredible amusement park - ENORMOUS. From Hershey it was only 45 min. to Gettysburg, PA. I have been several times now, but it never gets old. From Gettysburg we made an 8 hour drive back to good ole 535 Harris Place. Anyway we had a great time. There is so much to see. I can't wait until our next road trip.
The picture of Lola is on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. If you don't know the history of Little Round Top be sure to ask Troy Langston at the next family get together.