Road trip recap

Monday afternoon, after some difficulties getting started in the a.m. we set off for our Smith family '07 road trip. We traveled in a rented minivan, it actually worked out to be quite comfortable. Tara sat in the back with Luke most of the trip, Whitney and I sat in the middle seats, and the parents in the front. Why people hate minivans, I will never know.

All in all the trip was great. 50% of it on the road, 20% of it sleeping, and the other 30, actually seeing the sights. Luckily the east coast provides a beautiful backdrop for a very long drive, lots of trees, lakes, and hills.

This is a very condensed version of what we did. It would take me days to write up posts for every stop, so you will see very brief highlights from them.

PALMYRA, NY

We pulled in around 8pm. Since it was late we didn't do much except for drive around trying to find something to eat, which was a very disappointing experience. But we did get up not so early the next day and explored the historic sights.

Highlights included: Joseph Smith's home, the Sacred Grove (it was as beautiful as I imagined it), Hill Cumora, visiting the old General Store and seeing how they bound the first Book of Mormon, a decent hotel with a pretty good continental breakfast, a not great "recommended" diner, Luke's obsession with the fish tank, Tara's  migraine (her preventative pills were stolen from her bag while in flight), lots of rain and mud.

NIAGARA FALLS, NY, CANADA

We spent a nice afternoon and evening here. We actually stayed in Buffalo, right outside the falls. I was in suburbia heaven, I somehow talked the family into Mexican food (not enough of that in Utah), JoAnn's, Old Navy, and a movie. The next day we headed to the falls.

Highlights included: trying to figure out the exact location they filmed Superman, getting soaked, the obvious beauty of the falls, being entertained by the Canada side of the falls (very touristy), watching a tight rope walker, taking lots of pictures, paying over $65 dollars in gas, and eating Canadian candy bars.

TORONTO, CANADA

After Niagara, we cruised into Toronto. It was odd knowing we were driving through another country, yet the only notable difference was the signs were also in French. We hung out in Toronto that night, went to dinner, and then spent the next day of course, shopping.

Highlights included: Yummy gelato, Luke loving the lights all over the trees, a hotel with fish ponds and ducks (Luke's favorite part of the entire trip), the best chicken nuggets I have ever had (at McDonald's), the highest building in the world, driving past the carnival secretly wishing we could stop, Whitney doing a makeover on me, & shopping.

ADIRONDACKS, NY

We didn't leave Toronto until after 3pm, and the drive to the campsite was another six. The kids weren't so excited about setting up camp in the dark, but tried to stay positive just for our dad's sake. He finally gave in when it started pouring. So we ended up staying the night in Albany.

Highlights included: Sleeping in a warm dry bed, showering, and a continental breakfast.

BOSTON, MA

Despite Albany not being a destination hot spot for our trip, we didn't manage to actually leave until the early afternoon, putting us in Boston around 3pm. Tom and Justin had already arrived, went to Harvard Square, and ate at Bartley's Burgers. We drove straight to Boston Commons and ate in a food court. We actually only hung out in Boston the rest of that evening, but it was enough to convince everyone that they needed to move there, including my parents.

Highlights included: Boston Commons, H& M (I was able to replace the hair clips I lost from my last trip to Boston), Salt Water Taffy, hanging out with Justin (he left NY last April), Beacon Hill, Luke showing off all of his sign language, actually doing some of the freedom trail, trying to figure out where they filmed the Departed, 7-Eleven's you can walk to,getting lost trying to find the hotel because we were too busy staring at the bridge we were driving over, packing up the car to leave and Whitney locking the keys in the minivan forcing us to wait an extra 3 1/2 hours in the hotel lobby until someone came to unlock it, thanks again Whit!

CAPE COD, MA

Because of our late departure out of Boston, we didn't get into Cape Cod until 5pm. And then most of the evening was spent driving around trying to find a beach. Cape Cod is hard to navigate around, you can't see through the trees.

Highlights included: The adorable cottage homes, restaurants, and churches, all in the same shade of grey. Ice cream, the beach, going out to eat to our first seafood joint, Justin and his lobster, losing our ball in the ocean (it went too far, too quickly), Whitney and Justin throwing my dad into the ocean, rock throwing contests,trying to figure out the location they filmed Splash, driving and driving to find a hotel with vacancy, and finally finding one with a swimming pool.

Overall highlights: Eating more junk food in one week than I have in the past year, spending time with my family, and watching Luke have the time of his life pretending to drive the car.

** Note: I really wished I could have documented this along the way. This  post took WAY too long.

In order to appreciate New York City...

you need to get out for a while.

Every year "the moms", and anyone who is lucky enough to get a few days off during the week, take their kids up camping. When I say camping, you need to understand that I don't mean hiking and mess kits, I mean, nice grassy lawns, canoing, swimming, bathrooms, & fridgerators... Camp Liahona. To clarify however, there are fires and tents involved, but this camp site is manageable enough for moms and kids of all ages. This year, the dates fell on and around the 4th of July which meant Dads could come up too. Tom came up Tuesday night and stayed with Luke and I through Wednesday afternoon.

I was the primary photographer so most of my shots of are Luke.

:Rugged and ready:

:Getting ready for his first canoe ride:

:He didn't do much swimming, I forgot his water wings:

:Riding with Ruby:

:Gets the kids every time:

:As I have mentioned before, Luke likes to play with the big kids. He now asks for Duck Duck Goose at least 5x's a day:

:Tom arrived, giving me a little break. We headed back down the beach to test out Luke's new sand pail:

: Sadly, the rest of the camp missed the grey and camo uniform memo:

:sshhh....."baby talk":

:Tom needed to get some canoe time in, unfortunately Luke didn't enjoy it until he got to help paddle:

:Cause we didn't feel like we ate enough junk food, we stopped for milk shakes:

After all the fun we had, we were too tired to venture out anywhere for fireworks. Our upstairs neighbor had a semi formal get together on top of the roof, so we snuck up for a view. Although the picture does not capture whatsoever the view, you get the idea. New York puts on at least three visible shows up and down the island. When you are actually close to the fireworks, they seem to take up half the sky, from here they looked like sparklers. But, if you look closely I was just able to squeeze 2 of them into the frame.

On second thought, it kinda looks like we are watching New York under attack.

Utah thus far...

I had one free day before I started my training, which happens to be very intense. I am not sure if it is my teacher or the course in general. Anyhow, more on that later. With that free day, my mom made sure that I was thrown back in to regular suburban activities,  even to my dismay.

Luke actually seemed rather excited to hit the road, maybe because of the SUV, much better view.

First on the list, Ikea. Haven't ever been there before, at least not this particular one. Lots of kids, lots of blonde kids, lots of people in general, even for a early week day. Not much was different about this one, except that it carries fabric. Cute fabric too! I can't think of any needs right now for striped apholstery fabrics but maybe at some point, if I ever get around to making oven mits or dish towels, I might head back for some.

Next stop, Costco. I got to actually stock up on stuff. I am only here for two weeks, but I couldn't resist the chance to buy in bulk.

Third stop, the Cotton Shop. A small fabric store in Sandy. They don't carry much designer fabric but they have a lot of reproduction prints and usually for a pretty good price. I didn't get much because they have a sale starting soon, which I will I will definitely hit.

Fourth stop, McDonalds. Admittingly, we go there in New York too, but it was fun anyway. I can't resist the new southwest salad, without the dressing. And Luke loves the chicken nuggets. Here are a few pics, of his first icecream cone. They also rent $1 dvds, random, I guess they don't trust New Yorker's.

Friday morning I took off for a run. I have a loop that I run in New York that is exactly 4 miles door to door, and even if I don't feel like running the entire thing, there is a path I can cut into that cuts it down by a mile. Needless to say, I didn't have a loop and I just started running. Half way through the run I realized I was running just too far. I ran 6 miles, which typically would have been a stretch but the elevation change really did a number on me. I haven't run since.

That night we hit our next essential suburban stop, Cafe Rio. The Chipotle chicken salad just doesn't compare.

:Luke and his auntie's:

Saturday after class we hit the pool. It took Luke a few minutes before he was doing back strokes and swimming under water.

Sunday, we filled up a wading pool that I bought for Luke. I thought about buying one in New York but I was afraid the water would ruin our newly sanded and stained floors. There is something so nice about having a backyard and porch. Luke is constantly grabbing anyone who will lend him a hand and dragging them outside to help him collect rocks or climb the patio stairs. If only....

Luke has also been enjoying time with his Bean extended family. He apparently now needs to be watched closely, he has been caught putting one of his cousins in a headlock and biting the other on the nose.

Things I have almost successfully avoided so far; the mall, freeways, chili's, & jordan commons.

Memorial Weekend

I have been putting off this post, and not for any other reason than I don't have many great photos that really captured our trip. We left our camera behind for one whole day. And lets be honest, that is all anyone is really interested in.

After recognizing that Memorial Weekend was a few days away, we quickly made plans to drive to Boston to take advantage of the holiday. After a few days, we finally convinced our friends the Riches that they needed to come along too. We set off early Saturday morning. The drive really wasn't bad at all. Traffic was smooth and the lush vegetation made the it quite lovely and relaxing. One of our goals before we leave New York is to pack as many east coast destinations as we can in before we move. It was nice to drive through Hartford, Greenwich, & Rhode Island, all on the way to Boston. The east coast, is a great place for weekend getaways,everything is close, and the scenery is amazing. We took a couple of opportunities along the way to let the kids out and enjoy the country.

We pulled into Boston around noon. Our friends the Kelly's were so nice to offer up there sweet cozy apartment in the quaint neighborhood of Brighton. They unfortunately made plans to go away just before we contacted them so our hanging out consisted of seeing them off on their road trip to Canada.

We met up later at the Boston Commons to ride the swan boats. It was a beautiful way to start our sightseeing.

I did make a promise to myself that I wouldn't go shopping or even step foot into a store while we were there, but that night we happened on an H&M and Newbury Street. Newbury street, for those that haven't been is quite possibly the nicest shopping destination in America. It is comparable to my favorite parts of New York but minus the trash, and street vendors. I was good, and only bought a few things. We did finish off our day with some tasty burgers and a beautiful sunset.

The next morning we set off for Beacon hill for some breakfast before church. Such a cute charming neighborhood. I wish I had photos. Cobblestone streets, beautiful brownstones, steep hills, I was ready to move in. The neighborhood even has zoning laws to keep the continuity of the charm . Note the 7 eleven.

After breakfast we took the train to Cambridge for church. I was also equally impressed with the meeting house. Imagine looking at exposed wood beams and ducts verses carpeted walls and pastel upholstered furniture. Even the exterior of the church was great.

The rest of the afternoon we spent exploring the two front runners for Luke's college education. Hard to decide Luke looks good in front of both MIT and Harvard.

The only bummer  part of the day was the kinked neck I woke up with. I had a hard time seeing anything that was higher than Luke. Katie got a good laugh out of this picture, I wasn't laughing when she took it.

The next morning we explored some of South Boston. Also very charming. We grabbed brunch after walking several miles only to find the famous Charlie's was closed. Memorial day isn't always the best day for Boston city hot spots we found. Mainly we spent the day walking around downtown and the beautiful Charles river. We failed to take many pictures.

I love Boston. I would move their if the winters weren't so rough, and our families lived there. The architecture is amazing and not to mention the people are incredibly friendly. If you took New York's best neighborhoods, cleaned them up, and placed friendly people on the street, you would have the entire city of Boston.

For a better written perspective of our trip read Katie's post.

A day in Philly

The summer is nearing,which means so is our upcoming move back to Utah. We are attempting to cram a bunch of day trips & weekend trips in before it gets hot since we plan on spending 80% of the summer at the beach and pool.This past Saturday,we managed to escape the city for a short trip to Philly. Our friends Christian and Mara Pulfer just purchased a very convenient seven seater joy ride equipped with a very handy GPS system. We were able to sit 7 very comfortably. Us, Pulfers, & Cliftons, all piled in at 9:30 am and set off. Since our only planned activity was getting cheese steaks we decided to take a very scenic route through Bucks County . Pretty country houses, lush green vegetation, and rolling hills were a nice change from grimy sidewalks and skyscrapers. We made a couple of stops and let Luke release some energy.

We rolled into Philly around 2pm, making our first stop for cheese steaks. If you haven't been to Philly for cheese steaks, we suggest you hit the cheese steak mecca. In Philly, they claim, you are either a Genos or a Pats fan. Both of these joints happen to be across the street from each other, creating some unhealthy competition. Check this out before your next trip. Pat's v. Geno's

I prefer Geno's. The meat is a bit sweeter and I love the cheese fries. Tom, and the rest of my friends, prefer Pat's. The meat is saltier, and if you add onions, & mushrooms, pretty tasty, and their fries without cheese are better. The secret though, is the cheese. Some make the mistake of ordering their steaks with a whoosy cheese like Provolone, or Swiss, but a true cheese steak lover choses cheese whiz, yes, cheese whiz. We learned our lesson the first time. Another tip, you have to order a certain way, if you don't, they send you to the back of the line.

:After our yummy meal:

:We hit the local market for more food, this time dessert!:

:Our next stop, Rocky's steps, which also happen to be a museum. Luke ran to the top and cheered in typical Rocky fashion:

:I made it too for a family picture:

:We met the Porter's there after their long bike ride from New York. What they do for friends:

:It soon rained, and everyone headed home, or at least for shelter: