I'm Back

There are mixed feelings about being home from this long vacation. It was nice to sleep in my own bed, have more than 10 options for clothes (actually since today was Sunday I had more than two options). Not being stuck on the bus for hours at a time. But there are things I am going to miss. The people I met, the places I've seen, and the feelings I felt. There is no way to try to describe the trip to you all. This trip was just so much more than the sites I saw. It was all the feelings I had and all the people I met.
My favorite non-church site. . . I think it would be. . . Boston, Washington D.C., or Ft. McHenry in Baltimore. I can't pick just one, they all have such an amazing rich history. So much more than I would ever imagine. If you didn't know Ft. McHenry in Baltimore is where The Star Spangled Banner was written during the War of 1812.
My favorite church site was The Sacred Grove. There isn't much to it, but I personally had an incredible experience there. But everything else was absolutely amazing to. Just so many feelings so hard to explain.
Here is a quick overview of where I went. We started in Salt Lake City, on Tuesday, drove down close to Moab, and took the 70 all the way through Colorado and Kansas. That part of Colorado is so pretty, I want to go back someday and take tons of pictures. Then we got into Liberty Missouri around 4 on Wednesday and went to the jail. Then Independence, Richmond, and Far West on Thursday and Adam-ondi-Ahman to Nauvoo on Friday. Stayed in Nauvoo two nights went to the temple and Carthege Jail on Saturday. There is a funny story about a frog here, I was talking on the phone waiting for ice cream when I noticed a frog in the parking lot. I kicked it a bit to see if it was dead or alive, and it didn't move. So I left it. After about ten minutes I had a couple of the girls I was over come and check it out. I told them it was dead and they asked how I knew and I told them I had kicked it. So, I kicked it again, and it jumped about 5 feet away. Yes, there was a lot of screaming. When something is supposed to be dead you expect it to stay dead, and this frog did not stay dead. After we got over our initial shock it became something for us to play with for awhile. Sunday we had sacrament and drove all the way to Ohio, then Monday we drove to Pennsylvania where we had dinner with an Amish family, the Kings. We went to D.C. Tuesday and went to the temple there, spent the night and then we spent Wednesday at the sites in D.C. This is where my good friend Alisha got her appendix taken out, and Chris broke his leg. A total of 27 hours in the hospital. Thursday New York, not my favorite place to be, too busy, too many people. Friday Boston, I loved Boston. I want to go back and just take in so much more than I was able to. Then to Sharon, Vermont (Joseph Smith was born there). It was so weird to tell people where we had been and to say we were just in Boston. And now we were on the border of New Hampshire and Vermont. Saturday we went to Harmony Penn. and did some stuff there and back to Palmyra, New York for Sunday. We had church in Fayette which is where the church was organized. One of the other chaperons mentioned how lucky we were to have the sacrament just steps away from where the first sacrament was given. Monday and Tuesday we went to Kirtland. I loved Kirtland, just such a great feeling there. Then we headed home on Wednesday. We stopped in Kanesville, where Brigham Young was sustained president, and in Winter Quarters. Then we traveled across Nebraska (Thursday) and Wyoming (Friday) stopping at Martin's Cove. Saturday we came home.
That is pretty much my trip without the pictures. I took over 400 and I don't think you'll want to see them all, I will sort through and pick some of the best ones and post them with more about what we did at each site.