Oh the places you will go

I just returned from a 2 week excursion back east. I was able to visit all the LDS church historical sites as well as the American history sites.



Our journey began in Baltimore Maryland! We flew into BMX on July 10th and made our way to Washington DC.







The first night was spent in Washington DC where we got to visit all the monuments. I got to see the Lincoln memorial, WWII monument, Vietnam, Korean, Jefferson memorial, JFK and the Washington monument. My favorite was the Korean memorial because of the statues that stand in the garden; you can see the hardship on the soldiers faces which brings a very real feeling to the memorial. I also got the chance to meet up with my family in DC who drove up from North Carolina. I hadn't seen them for 2 weeks prior so I missed them a lot! We spent the second day in DC as well where we attended church as well as Arlington, Iwo Jima, The American History, Holocaust, and National Archive Museums!




Day 3 of our trip was spent in Gettysburg. I never knew the the amazing things that took place at Gettysburg. We got the opportunity to visit little round top where the last battle took place. Many people died here so you can imagine the peace that fills the area. This was my favorite American History part of the trip because I can relate to this area. My entire life I have had someone close to me serving in the military and I could feel the acts of service that took place here for our country's freedom.


After we left Gettysburg we made a quick stop in Hersey Pennsylvania where I ate the most amazing peanut butter ice cream. Then we visited the Rocky steps which our whole group ran up and did a punch dance at the top. The picture shown is my rocky pose which I think looks freaking sweet. I'm not going to lie Pennsylvania scared me it was the dirtiest place I have ever been in my life. I don't think I ever want to go back there! Luckily we didn't sleep in Pennsylvania that night we drove the bus into New Jersey where we would wake up the next morning at go to NYC!

Welcome to New York! The first thing I saw in NY was Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was raining a torrential down pour the entire time in New York which was a pretty sweet experience. I got to attend 2 Broadway plays the Lion King and Wicked. Wicked was AMAZING I loved the dancing and music! Also in NY I got to do baptisms in the Manhattan Temple as well as navigate the subway. It took me a few tries but I became really good at making my way around the city.


I must say out of all the places I was able to visit Boston is the one place that I would live when im older. I love the atmosphere and the people are very welcoming. While in Boston Hilary, Skyler, and Zylis met up with me. We were able to go to lunch at the original Cheers restaurant and then we went shopping at Quincy Market. It was so good to see them :). In Boston I was also able to visit the temple which was so beautiful!

The next part of my trip was spent in Sharon Vermont. This is the birth place of Joseph Smith. Today was the beginning of all the Church history sites. After going through the visitors center in Sharon we changed into our swimming suits and tubed down the White River which is probably the shallowest river EVER! It was still fun though. When we were finished with that we went and had a bon fire where I got eaten alive by mosquito's.


The next day we went to Cooperstown NY which is one of the cutest towns I have ever seen. This is where the baseball hall of fame is. I got to go and see all the different hall of fame names as well as original mitts and bats from players such as Babe Ruth. In Cooperstown we also got to stay in this motel which was right on a lake. The motel reminded Sarah and I of the Ring which sounds scary but it was actually a really cool place.


The Susquehanna river is where Joseph Smith was baptized. We got to visit the river and have a devotional there. While we were there a baptism took place for an 8 year old boy from Pennsylvania. It was a really cool experience to be apart of a baptism at the actual place where our prophet was baptized.




The next few days were spent in Ohio where we were able to visit The Whitmer farm, The Sacred Grove, The Eerie Canal, The Printing Press, and Kirtland. I had some wonderful spiritual experiences at each of these locations and my testimony was defiantly strengthened.




Braden here turned 16 the day we went to Niagara Falls and I volunteered to be his very first date. That's correct we went on our first date to Niagara Falls and went and saw the cave or the winds. After getting drenched we went and had lunch and Braden bought me ice cream. If anyone knows me well enough you can always score points by buying me ice cream :). Sarah and I decided we needed to document Braden's first date so we took out the camera and on the count of 3 we both kissed Braden right on the cheek. He turned as bright red as his shirt.
Our next day was spent in Amish Town. The Amish people don't believe in any modern day technology for instance they still get around my horse and buggy as well as hand wash their clothes and hang them out to dry. They are a very simple and kind people. Our trip to Amish town consisted of dressing up like Amish people and then eating at the most delicious restaurant ever. All of their food was home made so it was like thanksgiving in July. Oh man I left that place so stuffed it was a great experience.

My vacation in coming to an end. Three days before I went home we were able to visit Carthage Jail, the corner stones of the temple, and Nauvoo. In this picture in sitting in the exact window that Joseph Smith fell from when he was in Carthage Jail. There is a strong spirit in all of the places that we were able to visit on these days and again my testimony grew even stronger.






The last day of our tour was spent in Nauvoo. We were able to do baptisms in the Nauvoo temple which was really neat. They have to largest baptismal font in the world (which i never knew)! We were also able to attend the Nauvoo Pageant and walk around old Nauvoo. I found a lot of family history at the Land and Records office and I was actually able to find where my ancestors lived in Nauvoo. Nauvoo is a place I will never ever forget because of the amazing things that took place here.





I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to come on this vacation. I hope you can sorta get an idea of the cool things that I was able to do. I know a lot of people have wanted me to blog about this so here it is. I know that its long but I just briefly touched the surface of all the neat things that I got to do :). I hope you enjoy!!