****WARNING******* EXTREMELY LONG POST*******
I would've updated you sooner, but we have been without internet until this week! And folks, WE-ARE-HOME!!! Back in good ol' Lethbridge, Alberta! I've gotten used to the fact that Lethbridge is now my home, away from home (Utah). In fact while driving across the states, all the way back to this province, I was soo excited!
Blake and I left Sunday, the 29th of August, and got back the following Thursday. Besides all the HORRIBLE tolls (in which has convinced me to NEVER live in the East, PAST Wisconsin), it was a really fun drive home! We weren't rushed and just took our time to drive, stopping when we needed to, eating when we needed to, etc.
The first day we drove from Saint John, NB to Palmyra, NY. Okay, so it was more of the outskirts of Palmyra but still, the next day it only took us 15 minutes to get to actual Palmyra. We stayed in this little place called the "Scottish Inns". I was a little hesitant at first, because it was kind of a no name motel, and right on the edge of town. But when we walked in, and up to the front desk, we saw a bunch of pass along cards and a picture of the workers with Donny Osmond. I was at ease once I saw that ;). And honestly, that bed was THE comfiest bed I had ever slept on!! Best night of sleep ever!! And there was a huge fridge in the room, plus a microwave, and it was roughly the same price as a Motel 6, minus the smoke smell and NO fridge/microwave in those rooms!! So much better.
The next day we spent most of the morning and afternoon in Palmyra. We went to the Smith Farm/ Sacred grove, and it was SO wonderful. The last time I was there, I was a senior in Highschool visiting my friend Noelle, and it was in December. I have to say I liked it much better this time around. The last time Blake was there was when he was 2 yrs old, so it was basically like his first time seeing everything! Here is Blake and me in front of the Smith house, where Angel Moroni had appeared to Joseph Smith! And next to that is the Entrance to the sacred Grove!
We then went to the Grandin where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. Blake wasn't too enthusiastic about it at first, but once we got in there, and the Sister missionary gave us the tour, he was pleasantly suprised! We got a copy of the first 16 pages of the very first Book of Mormon. It was so awesome! In this picture Blake is trying to fold the pages, which are on a huge sheet of paper front and back.
After the Grandin, we stopped at Hill Cumorah. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The whole time we were in Palmyra we just kept talking about Joseph Smith, and all his experiences in the places that we actually got to be at. It was such a testimony strengthener! And when we were driving over to Hill Cumorah, it is quite far away from the Smith farm, and we just put it into perspective of how far he had to go, and when he actually got to the hill, how much he had to hike, and all the trees he had to go through and how he found the actual spot where the golden plates were buried! Its just mind Boggling but it makes me so happy!!
We got done seeing everything, around 2 and had a veeeerrry long lunch break at McDonalds afterwards. Seriously, we stayed there for like 3 hours just talking, and enjoying the nice air conditioning. Oh! I forgot to mention, Blakes car does not have any air conditioning. Humidity..and driving in the sun..for hours..with NO air conditioning = HORRIBLE. Luckily, that day there was a lot of cloud coverage, compared to the day before were it was stopped traffic almost the whole time we were in Maine. ON A SUNDAY. In blazing sun. So that is why we enjoyed the air conditioning for hours.
So at about 5 o'clock we were planning on driving half way to wisconsin! So like 8 hours or so of driving. And to save money, we planned that every other day we would be sleeping in the car at a rest stop. Well, we were about ready to stop around 9 o'clock at night, we were pretty tired, but then..we suddenly remembered how miserable Chicago traffic was going to New Brunswick. We decided to drive a couple a few more hours to get through Chicago, and it would work out perfectly because just outside of Chicago is an awesome rest stop called "The Oasis". Perfect. And we were SO smart to do what we did, Chicago traffic was still pretty busy but it was not grid locked, or even close to that like last time! Chicago was much more enjoyable, and Blake could actually look at the city, compared to last time where he had to keep his eyes straight ahead so we wouldn't crash.
Well, we got to the Oasis and we're sooo ready to crash! We went to the restroom, and came back..when we noticed this sign.. "2 hour parking Only". Dang it. We considered sleeping over by the huge Semi's, but I was scared that a tired truck driver wouldnt see our midnight purple, almost black car and run us over. And I also felt bad for taking a truckers parking spot to begin with. Wisconsin was still 6 hours away, and it was already 12:30, plus the time difference of an Hour, so it was really 1:30. So, we set out to drive to the next rest stop..we drove..and drove..and drove..and there was NOTHING. Finally, we only had 3 more hours to go till Wisconsin and we were past the point of being so completely exhausted, that we had actually become even more awake, so we said why not? I got the brilliant idea too that we could find the Church and sleep in that parking lot! Wahoo!!! Oh by the way, no more tolls once you get to Wisconsin. We were so happy, we seriously spent 50 or more dollars on tolls. Still cheaper then going through Canada though. (Gas Prices).
Blake served his mission in Milwaukee, WI. But when we were driving through, it was at night, and he wouldn't dare take me there at night time, yet alone even in the day. And I was okay with that. I hated the thought of knowing that thats where he was though..sooo scary! We arrived to his favorite area Fond Du Lac, WI. Got to the little Church there (seriously, smallest church i've ever seen, being raised in Utah there is a Church on each block and they're BIG). It was about 6 in the morning when we got there. Sleeeeep. Yeah, well..worst night of sleep EVER. Okay, not even a NIGHT of sleep, worst 3 hours EVER. At 8 we checked in to a Motel 8, and got their just in time for Breakfast!
Well, the original plan for Wisconsin was so we could meet up with a lot of Blakes favorite families. It didn't end up happening, we met up with one guy and Blake was really glad we did. But we just had no time to see everyone because of varrying work schedules and such! But something we did get to do, was go to the famous Culvers. Blake told me about Culvers driving out. That they have amazing "Butterburgers". Butterburgers? I know. Greasy goodness. So the whole summer I just looked forward to having a Butterburger, and it did NOT dissapoint! mmmm.
Isn't it Beautiful??
Well, our next destination was Bismarck, North Dakota. We drove and drove and drove, and had planned on staying at a rest stop, but then were so miserable by the time we got there we wanted a Motel 8. We were quite impressed with the last one. But Bismarck..ohh how horrible you are. Every Hotel/Motel was Full! Unless we wanted to pay 100+ dollars. No thank you. We figured the next rest stop would be relatively close. Wrong. It was like 4 hours away! We slept better then we did in the parking lot in Fond Du Lac. We got like 6 hours of sleep, but it was still horrible.
Finally, we were on the last stretch home. 9 more hours. I was dreading the border, but it turned out to be just fine! We got home at like 5 that day. Oh to be home again. No more APX. No more Humidity. No more basement Suite. We didn't come back to that horrible basement suite. We now have our own little house that we are renting. All to ourselves. Life is good!
Blake and I left Sunday, the 29th of August, and got back the following Thursday. Besides all the HORRIBLE tolls (in which has convinced me to NEVER live in the East, PAST Wisconsin), it was a really fun drive home! We weren't rushed and just took our time to drive, stopping when we needed to, eating when we needed to, etc.
The first day we drove from Saint John, NB to Palmyra, NY. Okay, so it was more of the outskirts of Palmyra but still, the next day it only took us 15 minutes to get to actual Palmyra. We stayed in this little place called the "Scottish Inns". I was a little hesitant at first, because it was kind of a no name motel, and right on the edge of town. But when we walked in, and up to the front desk, we saw a bunch of pass along cards and a picture of the workers with Donny Osmond. I was at ease once I saw that ;). And honestly, that bed was THE comfiest bed I had ever slept on!! Best night of sleep ever!! And there was a huge fridge in the room, plus a microwave, and it was roughly the same price as a Motel 6, minus the smoke smell and NO fridge/microwave in those rooms!! So much better.
The next day we spent most of the morning and afternoon in Palmyra. We went to the Smith Farm/ Sacred grove, and it was SO wonderful. The last time I was there, I was a senior in Highschool visiting my friend Noelle, and it was in December. I have to say I liked it much better this time around. The last time Blake was there was when he was 2 yrs old, so it was basically like his first time seeing everything! Here is Blake and me in front of the Smith house, where Angel Moroni had appeared to Joseph Smith! And next to that is the Entrance to the sacred Grove!
We then went to the Grandin where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. Blake wasn't too enthusiastic about it at first, but once we got in there, and the Sister missionary gave us the tour, he was pleasantly suprised! We got a copy of the first 16 pages of the very first Book of Mormon. It was so awesome! In this picture Blake is trying to fold the pages, which are on a huge sheet of paper front and back.
After the Grandin, we stopped at Hill Cumorah. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The whole time we were in Palmyra we just kept talking about Joseph Smith, and all his experiences in the places that we actually got to be at. It was such a testimony strengthener! And when we were driving over to Hill Cumorah, it is quite far away from the Smith farm, and we just put it into perspective of how far he had to go, and when he actually got to the hill, how much he had to hike, and all the trees he had to go through and how he found the actual spot where the golden plates were buried! Its just mind Boggling but it makes me so happy!!
We got done seeing everything, around 2 and had a veeeerrry long lunch break at McDonalds afterwards. Seriously, we stayed there for like 3 hours just talking, and enjoying the nice air conditioning. Oh! I forgot to mention, Blakes car does not have any air conditioning. Humidity..and driving in the sun..for hours..with NO air conditioning = HORRIBLE. Luckily, that day there was a lot of cloud coverage, compared to the day before were it was stopped traffic almost the whole time we were in Maine. ON A SUNDAY. In blazing sun. So that is why we enjoyed the air conditioning for hours.
So at about 5 o'clock we were planning on driving half way to wisconsin! So like 8 hours or so of driving. And to save money, we planned that every other day we would be sleeping in the car at a rest stop. Well, we were about ready to stop around 9 o'clock at night, we were pretty tired, but then..we suddenly remembered how miserable Chicago traffic was going to New Brunswick. We decided to drive a couple a few more hours to get through Chicago, and it would work out perfectly because just outside of Chicago is an awesome rest stop called "The Oasis". Perfect. And we were SO smart to do what we did, Chicago traffic was still pretty busy but it was not grid locked, or even close to that like last time! Chicago was much more enjoyable, and Blake could actually look at the city, compared to last time where he had to keep his eyes straight ahead so we wouldn't crash.
Well, we got to the Oasis and we're sooo ready to crash! We went to the restroom, and came back..when we noticed this sign.. "2 hour parking Only". Dang it. We considered sleeping over by the huge Semi's, but I was scared that a tired truck driver wouldnt see our midnight purple, almost black car and run us over. And I also felt bad for taking a truckers parking spot to begin with. Wisconsin was still 6 hours away, and it was already 12:30, plus the time difference of an Hour, so it was really 1:30. So, we set out to drive to the next rest stop..we drove..and drove..and drove..and there was NOTHING. Finally, we only had 3 more hours to go till Wisconsin and we were past the point of being so completely exhausted, that we had actually become even more awake, so we said why not? I got the brilliant idea too that we could find the Church and sleep in that parking lot! Wahoo!!! Oh by the way, no more tolls once you get to Wisconsin. We were so happy, we seriously spent 50 or more dollars on tolls. Still cheaper then going through Canada though. (Gas Prices).
Blake served his mission in Milwaukee, WI. But when we were driving through, it was at night, and he wouldn't dare take me there at night time, yet alone even in the day. And I was okay with that. I hated the thought of knowing that thats where he was though..sooo scary! We arrived to his favorite area Fond Du Lac, WI. Got to the little Church there (seriously, smallest church i've ever seen, being raised in Utah there is a Church on each block and they're BIG). It was about 6 in the morning when we got there. Sleeeeep. Yeah, well..worst night of sleep EVER. Okay, not even a NIGHT of sleep, worst 3 hours EVER. At 8 we checked in to a Motel 8, and got their just in time for Breakfast!
Well, the original plan for Wisconsin was so we could meet up with a lot of Blakes favorite families. It didn't end up happening, we met up with one guy and Blake was really glad we did. But we just had no time to see everyone because of varrying work schedules and such! But something we did get to do, was go to the famous Culvers. Blake told me about Culvers driving out. That they have amazing "Butterburgers". Butterburgers? I know. Greasy goodness. So the whole summer I just looked forward to having a Butterburger, and it did NOT dissapoint! mmmm.
Isn't it Beautiful??
Well, our next destination was Bismarck, North Dakota. We drove and drove and drove, and had planned on staying at a rest stop, but then were so miserable by the time we got there we wanted a Motel 8. We were quite impressed with the last one. But Bismarck..ohh how horrible you are. Every Hotel/Motel was Full! Unless we wanted to pay 100+ dollars. No thank you. We figured the next rest stop would be relatively close. Wrong. It was like 4 hours away! We slept better then we did in the parking lot in Fond Du Lac. We got like 6 hours of sleep, but it was still horrible.
Finally, we were on the last stretch home. 9 more hours. I was dreading the border, but it turned out to be just fine! We got home at like 5 that day. Oh to be home again. No more APX. No more Humidity. No more basement Suite. We didn't come back to that horrible basement suite. We now have our own little house that we are renting. All to ourselves. Life is good!
