After driving for two weeks and visiting every state in the northeast. After making a dozen memoriable stops and eating way too much fast food our trip came to an end back in Virginia. As I have looked back on these photos more than a month after getting back I am so grateful we did this! We made amazing memories that the kids still talk about. Hallie now loves to talk about Rollercoasters and whenever playing pretend she says they are in New York. Kyle got to make memories with Nana and Papa that he now remembers. He still talks about wrestling with Papa and “kicking Papa’s butt”. lol I am grateful Ben took two weeks off of work and organized this whole thing. He saved up the money for a year and a half and made this possible. I am grateful my parents took two weeks out of their crazy schedule to go with us. We couldn’t have done it without them nor would we have wanted to. I loved seeing my kids with my parents (since that doesn’t happen very much with us living across the country) I loved seeing all the beautiful country side. Staring out the window for hours was actually enjoyable. I loved making memories with Ben and the kids and I loved seeing new places and experiencing new things. What an awesome opportunity we had!

 

After Niagara we had a long drive to Pennsylvania. We decided to stop at a place called Knoebels and let the kids play. My friend Stacey introduced me to Knoebels last year when I went to visit her while she was staying at her grandmas in Danville, PA. It is an old school amusement park where you pay per ride rather than an entrance fee. We camped for a night and spent a day and a half riding the rides. The kids were in heaven! Big thanks to Nana and Papa paying for all the rides. 🙂

We had such a great time at Knoebells. The biggest adventure was Hallie riding a grownup rollarcoaster. I really wish we would have gotten a picture of her. She saw the big coaster and decided she wanted to ride it. She barely, if even, made the height requirement and off we went. She chose the very front row and was all smiles until we took off. She was so serious and then started saying she hated it. I was laughing and loving the ride. It was a great rollarcoaster. lol After we got off she said she liked it. Silly kid. She even got a special coin from the park when they found out it was her very first coaster. That made her feel special and very proud! And although she didn’t want to ride that big coaster again she did decide to ride two smaller coasters. Both times she had the same serious face on and then after she would say she loved it. haha I loved seeing my kids have so much fun!

 

 

Intercourse, PA:

No that is not a type o. There really is a place called Intercourse. The funniest part of that is that it is Amish country. We were able to spend an afternoon touring the Amish country and seeing how the Amish live so differently than the rest of the world. We had a Amish tour guide on our little buggy ride and he told us all about the Amish life style as we rode through the beautiful country side.

I love that the Amish can live in the world but not be of the world. The LDS church teaches this principle of being different and not being afraid to stand out. As the Amish man told us about his community I was drawn to the many similarities that the Amish and mormon people have in common. And although I don’t want to wear the clothes that they wear and ride the bikes they have to ride etc. I am grateful for the similarities we share. I am proud to be mormon and stand out. We asked the tour guide lots of questions and he answered them without any hesitation. I love when my friends ask me questions about being LDS. So if you have questions…ASK! I love it!

As you can see from the pictures we had a beautiful sunny day! This is the day we discovered the a/c in our RV didn’t work. haha 2 days before our trip was over. Up until this point we didn’t need it because of the rain. I was dying when it got hot enough to need it and it didn’t work. We tried getting it fixed but to no avail. We called the rental place and they paid for us to stay in a very nice air conditioned hotel with a swimming pool. Score! It was nice to have such a comfortable bed and shower for a night. Thank goodness the next night we would be home in Virginia. No air conditioner is no bueno!

Not pictured:

The Harley Davidson Factory in PA. Ben and my dad took a tour and were fascinated. 🙂

After tasting some amazing Vermont cheddar and the best apple cider we had ever had we crossed Lake Champlain on a ferry and drove onto Plattsburg, NY, where my good friend Lindsey lives. We had such a great time visiting with Lindsey’s growing family. Last time I saw her family her little Irelyn was only a few months old. Now Lindsey was about ready to have another little angel join their family. I wish we would have had a few more days to just hang out together like we used to, but the trip was scheduled and we had to press on more quickly than I would have liked. Love you Linds, thanks for a great short visit!

 

Niagara Falls:

After leaving Plattsburgh we drove to Niagara Falls and Canada. As I briefly mentioned in my first vacation post it rained almost the entirety of our trip. We had a few rain free days and we were very grateful for those but the vast majority of days were spent under umbrellas. In fact we spent several days looking for rain jackets that fit and didn’t cost $100. (And yes I did check the weather forecast! Only I checked it like 3 days prior to leaving and evidently everything changed in those 3 days!)

So when we arrived at Niagara Falls it was sadly no surprise that it was raining. We put on our rain jackets and tried to see as much of the famous waterfalls as possible. We were blessed with about an hour of no rain which made it more enjoyable although it was so misty we really weren’t able to see much of the falls. That was disappointing, but we made the most of it.

The coolest part of seeing the falls was paying a little extra money to ride the elevator down the mountain and walk right up to the American Falls. It was AMAZING!! My funnest memory on the trip. My mom stayed up top with the kids while my dad and Ben and I went down. We actually got to stand in the stream of the water. It was crazy and we were soaked! My dad has the pictures of us actually in the waterfall getting drenched. (He was the only one brave enough to take out his phone and take pictures at that point.) He even got a video of it but who knows when I will get that. Just take my word it was awesome! If you ever go to Niagara Falls don’t leave until you do this.

After touring the American side we drove over to Canada. The Canada side is much different than the American side. The American side is a National park but Canada was more Vegas style. Well not exactly Vegas but it was crowded and full of tourist rides and waterparks etc.

Other memories:

I prayed for at least a small window of no rain during the day so we could enjoy ourselves more. God answered my prayer and we got an hour! It was a tender mercy to me.

After we got that hour it started raining slowly and then more and more steady. By the time we were headed back to the RV on the Canada side we were stuck in a torrential downpour. We got mixed up about where the RV was parked and boy was that an adventure! The kids were troopers as we tried finding our way in the huge storm.

On to Palmyra, New York. Another very important spot in LDS history. Joseph Smith Jr. saw God and Jesus Christ in this little town in a spot we now refer to as the “sacred grove”. For more of the story of Joseph Smith visit here. This was a very special visit for us. We felt the Spirit of God as we toured the different sites and had it confirmed to us once again that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God just like Moses and Abraham. God spoke to him and revealed important truth that had been lost after the Savior’s twelve apostles were killed. Things such as the purpose in life and what happens after we die. The eternal nature of families and how God and Jesus Christ are two separate people and they are still very much involved in our lives just as they were in ancient days when they instructed prophets back in the old testament.

After walking the grounds of the Temple we went and took a tour of the smith family farm.

The Sacred Grove:

The Hill Cumorah:

Fayette, New York:

Not pictured is the printing press office that we went to in down down Palmyra. I loved the tour and learning about how everything fell into place for the Book of Mormon to be printed there. (All the pictures are on Ben’s phone and who knows how long it will be until I get them uploaded.)

Next we went to Sharon, Vermont. The birth place of Joseph Smith Jr. The LDS church has a beautiful visitors’ center and memorial there.

After spending time at the visitors’ center we stuffed ourselves silly at a cheese factory. Oh it was glorious.

We were able to camp at some beautiful camping spots. Here are on camping next to Lake Erie.

Next up was Maine and New Hampshire. In Maine Ben and Papa ate Lobster rolls and the girls went shopping.

New Hampshire: Ben’s friend Clint lives in New Hampshire and has a business selling Solawrap and Geo-domes. They are amazing. One day I would love to have a garden in a geo-dome.  We had a great time visiting with the Ellsworth family. Thanks for hosting us Clint and Britt. Here is the website: www.harvestpathway.com/

Next up on our agenda was a visit in Plymouth and Boston, Massachusetts. But first some stops in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Both beautiful states!

Connecticut:

Rhode Island:

Plymouth, Massachusetts: One of my very favorite stops! I would love to live there one day. It was fabulous.

Boston, Massachusetts: Another one of my favorite stops. I would love to visit Boston again when we have more time to explore. It was a beautiful city.

I can’t wait to go back to Plymouth and Boston. 🙂

The first stop on our trip was NYC. I was the only one who had been there before out of all 6 of us. I was excited to show everyone the NYC that I loved and everyone else was excited to finally see the famous city.  We stayed in a RV park just outside the city in New Jersey. We got there late and Ben wanted to go in that night. We left the kids with my parents and headed in. It was a fabulous date night. We walked a ton, hit up time square and ate ice cream.

The next morning we all rode the train in. We got off at the World Trade Center Memorial. It was raining and misty so we couldn’t see much.

Day #2 in NYC

The next morning on our way out of town we HAD to stop off in Hoboken, New Jersey and visit the original Cake Boss bakery.

Next stop….more states and a visit in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Our epic trip this year consisted of traveling in a motorhome and visiting every state in the north east. My parents came with us and we had a great time making lots of memories.

This is the baby we drove around for two weeks. It was good to us until it got hot enough to need the air conditioner at which point we discovered it did not work! We only had two days left of the trip by then and so we toughed it out during the day and at night the company paid for a hotel (with a swimming pool I might add).

Kyle pretending to drive

Hallie pretending to be the co-pilot.