Day 7-9 of Spring Break Trip

Well, we're back at home again now, and it feels so good to sleep in our own bed! But I suppose I need to get the last couple of days up here on the website.

On Thursday, we drove to Plymouth Rock, Massachussetts, and finally got Steve his clam chowder. We loved wandering along the shore of the ocean, although it was not very warm, and there is no beach area there. We found a bunch of clam shells which we brought home with us, and saw Plymouth Rock itself. It is supposedly the rock on which the first pilgrim stood when they arrived in the New Land, although there is much debate about which rock it might have been. Regardless, somewhere there is where the Puritans arrived, and the era of freedom and independence was ushered in.

As a sidenote, one of the things we purchased in Plymouth was a Pirates Mad Lib book, so if you hear either of us say something like "Avast, ye Moose!" or "I will feed you to the spacemen!" that is the reason.

Then we drove to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and got there after dark. After the usual where-should-we-eat-tonight rigmarole, we went to bed.

Friday was the day of family history. We spent the day visiting cemeteries and geneaology libraries, trying to ascertain where Steve's family ended up after Scranton. Although we didn't have much success finding out where they went to after Scranton, we did find the graves of Jacob and Jadwiga Yerka, who where the original immigrants in his family. They are buried in Dickson City, PA.

Saturday, we finally came home! It was a long drive, during much of which I played a Nancy Drew mystery game while Steve was driving. The most eventful part of it was that, about ten miles from home, the serpentine belt fell out of our car, stalling it while we were on the freeway. Don't worry, we're both fine. Steve managed to get the car off to the side of the road, and we called a tow truck. Unfortunately our mechanic was closed for the day, so we left the car outside the shop and we'll call them on Monday. The tow driver brought us home, where we were going to pick up our other car and take it over to get all our luggage. Unfortunately, after he dropped us off, we discovered that the battery in our other car was dead. So we called a couple dozen people from our church to find someone who could come over and jump it for us. We did eventually find someone (thank you, Brother Snow!), and everything is well now.

That's it for vacation posts. In conclusion, we had a great time, and we learned so much about history and the events that shaped our country. I came away with a great appreciation for all those who serve and have served to help us enjoy our freedoms. It was so great to stand where these wonderful men and women stood.


A tunnel in Boston. There were exits in the tunnel! It made me feel like such a country girl.


Plymouth Rock. It's hard to see, but the date 1620 is carved into it.


Steve standing on the shore of the ocean. He was trying to find a way down to the water, but there was disgusting dried seaweed everywhere. We found a way down in a different spot.


The Atlantic Ocean, by way of the Plymouth Bay.


Sorry about the expressions on our faces. It was cold and windy! Behind us is the Mayflower II, a replica of the original pilgrim vessel.


The gravestone of Jadwiga Yerka. If you look closely, you can see the whole thing is written in Polish. That has put a bit of a kabosh on our plans to find her parents.


The gravestone of Jacob Yerka.

Day 6 of Spring Break Trip

The fun thing about this trip is that we've been getting farther and farther back in American history. We started at the Civil War, then did the Foundations of American Constitutionalism. On Day 6, we did the beginnings of the Revolution, and today we are planning to go to Plymouth Rock to see the place that started it all.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. We rode our first subway! In Boston there are four subway lines, all named after colors. We rode the Red Line into downtown Boston, past Harvard and MIT, and got off at the beginning of what they call the Freedom Trail, which is a walking trail that goes past all the historical sights.

We saw places I've only read about, like the Old North Church, where Paul Revere put up a lantern to warn how the British were coming; the Boston Massacre site, where the Revolutionary War fighting began; the Old State House, where James Otis argued that "taxation without representation is tyranny;" and the graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Mother Goose, and Elizabeth Pain (said to be the inspiration for Hester Prynne). Everything was really great, except the weather, which was windy and cold.

After this excursion, which took most of the day, we got back on the Red Line and headed for our hotel, where we camped for the rest of the day watching NCIS. We are on vacation, after all!

High Point of the Day: Seeing these historical sights come alive (or maybe riding a subway)
Low Point of the Day: Being tired and hungry, and therefore grumpy.


The New State House, built in 1842. We took a tour and learned a bunch of information about it, but none of it is really important to anyone but a Massachusetts native, so I won't put it in here.


Paul Revere's grave. As you recall, he was one of the men who took word to the minutemen that the Redcoats were coming. We were told he is mostly famous just because of Longfellow's poem.


These are the graves of the first casualties of the Revolutionary War. The little boy was killed in February, and the Boston Massacre happened in March. We actually saw the exact site where it happened.


Me at Paul Revere's House.


The Old North Church, where they lit lanterns to show which way the British were approaching from. Also the site where Ian gets arrested in National Treasure.

Day 5 of Spring Break Trip

Today was the big drive day, from Philadelphia to Boston. Honestly, we didn't do much rather than that, so this will probably be a short post.

We drove through six states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The farther east we got, the more fun the accents were. About the only two memorable experiences were in New York and Connecticut. In New York, we had the pleasure of driving straight through the middle of the Bronx (on highway of course). It was about all that you would imagine: disgusting and dirty with tall buildings everywhere. We didn't stop anywhere.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, it was a completely different story. There we stopped at the Ocean for the first time (actually Long Island Sound), and saw some of the hugest houses I've ever imagined. We felt definitely out of place in our old car. Everyone there drives Lexus and Audi and here we are in our Ford Contour.

In Boston we drove on the lower level of a huge bridge to get to our suburb, which is called Revere, Massachusetts. Then, after a hunt for some food that ended in delivered Chinese, we went to bed.

High Point of the Day: seeing the Ocean!
Low Point of the Day: New York City and spending $8! to cross a bridge!


You can barely see it, but that is Manhattan in the distance.


My first view of the Atlantic Ocean!


Steve and I standing at the shoreline.


The biggest house I've ever seen.


Oh, and they also have the biggest Audi dealership in the world, and I believe them, since everyone there was driving something like an Audi.

Day 4 of Spring Break

Today we finally made it down town to all the historic sights of Philadelphia. It cost us $18 to park downtown, and we walked around a lot. We saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. It was so neat to be standing in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were drafted. But the coolest thing was next door in Congress Hall. There, on March 4, 1797, about fifteen feet from were Steve and I were sitting, John Adams took the oath of office of the President of the United States, and became the first person in history to have a peaceful transference of leadership that didn't occur through bloodshed or bloodline. Just thinking about that gave Steve and I chills.

After that we walked up to the Edgar Allan Poe historical sight, but it was closed, which was very disappointing. For lunch, on the advice of several friends, we went to Geno's in South Philly and got cheese steaks. They were great! Then we came back to our hotel room, and we have been chilling here, watching movies and eating pineapple. We feel a little guilty for being so lazy, instead of being out there doing things, but part of this vacation is to relax and unwind from our busy lives.

Tomorrow we leave for Boston and we get to see the ocean!

High Point of the Day: Congress Hall and the great tour
Low Point of the Day: Walking 8 blocks to Edgar Allan Poe's house and finding it closed.

This is the Senate Room upstairs in Congress Hall.

This is the clock tower of Independence Hall.

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square.

This is outside of Edgar Allan Poe's house. We were very sad to find that it was not open and will not be again until after we leave.

This is the Liberty Bell.

Day 3 of Spring Break Trip

Sunday was not the most spiritual Sabbath we've ever had. We did make an attempt to go to church, but we found out the night before that they were all having Stake Conference. So we lounged around the hotel for several hours, reading scriptures and resting. We ate breakfast for free at the Marriott because they were so busy they couldn't help us. We weren't actually inconvenienced, but we didn't turn down a free breakfast.

After a small lunch, we headed for New Jersey, where we did a tour of the Battleship New Jersey, which was great. I've never been on a battleship before. Then we drove south to Delaware, which makes 30 states I've been to now. We got lost in Wilmington, and ended up next to the Brandywine River, which was picturesque. Then we came back up to Philadelphia and spent the rest of the day around our hotel. It was quiet and nice, a great day.

High Point: Touring the Battleship New Jersey
Low Point: Spending $3.00 just to cross a bridge.

We are at the Battleship New Jersey.

We are standing at the fore deck looking back at the big guns and tower.

This is one of the bunks.

This is the Officers' dining area.

Daffodils in Delaware.

Day 1-2 of Spring Break Trip

We got moving about 2:30 on Friday afternoon, heading for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The most interesting part of that trip was driving over a mountain pass in the Appalachians with a 9% grade. That's the highest I've ever seen! It was pretty fun, although it was dark, so we didn't see much.

In Gettysburg on Saturday morning, we went to the visitors center for the Battle of Gettysburg and hired a private tour guide (as we were told it was the best way to see Gettysburg). Turns out, whoever told us that was right. The man who drove us around was very knowledgable and made the Battle of Gettysburg come alive for us. It was really neat. We spent a little time in the Museum Giftstore, buying some Civil War books. Then we got back on the road and drove to Maryland, where, as it turns out, it's very difficult to find postcards.

After Maryland, we drove north to Harrisburg, then got back on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and headed for Philadelphia. We discovered that Valley Forge is on the way, so we stopped there for a brief time. After arriving in Philadelphia, we started looking for a hotel, which for some reason was a very difficult process. We got completely lost in the slums of New Jersey, which was scary, and drove around and through Philadelphia till we were sick of it with no luck. Finally we headed back into the suburbs and decided to hang the price, we were staying at a Mariott. As luck would have it, the Mariott was the same price we had budgeted for our hotel rooms, so we are going to stay here for all three nights that we are in Philly.

The last thing to do was find some food. So far we have avoided spending much money on food on this trip, but we were pretty hungry last night, so we went to a place called Dave and Buster's, with no idea what it actually was. Turns out it's like an arcade, for adults. We got carded, for the first time in either of our lives, which was a little embarrassing because I didn't have my wallet on me. They let us in anyway (apparently I look older than 21), and we ate some food in a place that was buzzing with people. It was very nice to get back to our hotel and finally go to sleep.

High Point of the Day: the Tour of Gettysburg
Low Point of the Day: Getting lost in New Jersey with no internet

General Lee and some members of the Confederate Army

Minnesota Monument

This is a Union cannon. They ran out of balls for them on the third day of battle as the Confederate troops were attacking. The Confederates thought they were completely out of ammunition, so they started advancing more quickly. The Union soldiers had some canisters full of scatter shot, however, and they were able to stop the advance of the Confederate soldiers within about 25' of their line.

We made a quick lunch excursion across the border from Gettysburg to Maryland.

This is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge across the Delaware River into New Jersey.

Springtime and Corners

Steve and I went for a walk today. It is the first time in months that we have felt like going on a walk. The sun is shining, and it is fairly warm (for winter): 46 degrees. It was so nice to be outside and moving around. I feel like we have been hibernating for months, and I am so tired of it. I want to live somewhere where I can go outside, or at least see outside. Our apartment has north-facing windows, and not very many of them at that. Oh how we hope to be changing our living situation in the not-too-distant future!

In other news, my friend Heidi taught a wonderful lesson in Relief Society today, about how to use our different stages of life to become more like Christ. She said a lot of great things, but one thing in particular stuck out to me. She said we should do whatever we can to make our homes a place of strength, peace, and security. I think that is exactly what I needed to hear this week. I have been struggling so much with knowing what I can do to help Steve with the stress he has been feeling, and also to give myself something to do that will help me feel productive and useful. Often I don't feel like anything I do is actually important, but it takes the time I could have used to be productive. It's very frustrating. But now I have some ideas of how to create an atmosphere in my home that will allow Steve to work through the things he needs to get done. And, I will find a way to challenge my own mind so that I'm not bored and impatient.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and I also saw Alice in Wonderland yesterday and I would recommend it. It was pretty cool. I enjoyed the 3D.

Happy birthday to me!