Day 8

Day 8 - January 7, 2009
Palmyra

Day 8 was probably one of my most favorite days of my trip. I took lots of pictures to share my experience with you.

We first went to the Hill Cumorah. We went to the Visitor's Center there, but did not attempt the actual hill because of the snow. There is a beautiful statue of Moroni at the top.

We then headed to see the Palmyra Temple. The gates were locked, so I didn't get a very good picture.


Palmyra Temple


Heather and Sophia
The temple is located very close to the Smith Family log cabin and home.




Matt, Wes, Kate in upstairs of Smith log home

Bonnie and Kate outside of log home (visitor's center in background)

The Smith family frame home is just up the road a little from the log home. Alvin started the construction of this home before he died (for his parents).



Matt and Heather's family in the Sacred Grove

I have to admit that the Sacred Grove was very special. It was all sorts of reverent, since nobody else was there except for us. We didn't spend a lot of time there because the kids were tired and we ended up carrying all of them.

Wes liked the barn

Kate did not

We then headed to the E.B. Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was first printed. This was one of my favorite places that we visited. Some of the original paintings that are found in the Book of Mormon were there.

Wes and Bonnie in E.B. Grandin building

Sophia pictured with E.B. Grandin because they have the same birthday

Whitmer farmhouse (where church was organized)

We didn't realize that there was so much to see in Palmyra (and surrounding sites) and arrived at the Whitmer farm after visiting hours. I definitely could have spent another day in Palmyra.

We then drove home (quite a long drive). Matt came with me and we talked about all sorts of stuff. He started talking about kissing and how many people each of those in our family had kissed. We speculated about Chavonne (because we'd never actually asked her). Matt called her and had a lengthy conversation about kissing with her. Hmm. The things we talk about...

Day 7

Day 7 - I'm on a roll and it's only 10:39

I ate more cereal with Heidi, got a tour of Horseheads and Elmira (since it was dark when I rolled in on Day 6) and got to see all of the houses that Jim and Heidi own. I bet they would be great landlords! We dropped sweet Brooke off at preschool and she let me take a picture with her. I know she missed me when I left, because I sure miss her too. Visions of the July 6 roomie reunion dance in my head...

Brooke McDermott and Me

I called Matt and Heather who hit the road early that morning and figured that if I headed north, we'd hit the junction below Rochester at about the same time. Well, we were close. I hit the freeway and sped up a little, and came up right behind them. I followed them all the way to Niagara Falls.

May I interrupt myself again and say....HOLY CRAP!

Niagara Falls is SO cool. I'm so going back again in the warm weather. I want to go out in that little boat thingy and wear that plastic poncho thingy and just have a warm experience!

Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

Matt and Sophie getting geared up to go out into the wet coldness

Matt & Heather Bailey Family

Kate and Bonnie

I was going to use this to get a better look, but couldn't figure out where to put my quarter.

This is as close as I've ever been to Canada - but they wouldn't let me get closer...

We had dinner at a buffet somewhere in Buffalo and spent the night there (not at the buffet). We were all THIS happy to get some food in our bellies.

Day 6

Oh, what the hay!

It's only 10:30...let's do another day...YaY!

Day 6

was a trip to New York with no Garmin lady to help me out. Thank goodness for Mapquest, eh?

I had the COOLEST opportunity to visit some of my bestest friends who live in NY!

I first drove to Cooperstown, NY (the home of baseball) where I saw Jenileehee and Seth Iverson. They have two beautiful daughters. Jeni gave me the grand tour of town, (which ended up being fantastic because I wouldn't have known how to get out of town otherwise.)

May I interrupt myself at this point and just tell you how beautiful New York is...even in the bleak midwinter...

Jeni and Seth are my friends from the Logan University 42nd ward where they took care of me, played volleyball with me and made sure I didn't get into too much trouble!

Jeni took a picture and promised to email it...but I'm still waiting. I'll post it when I get it.

After having a nice visit and lunch with the Iverson clan, I headed toward the NY/Pennsylvania border and stopped in Horseheads (isn't that a great name for a town?) where I stayed with Heidi and Jim McDermott and their three kids. Brooke even let me sleep in her bed. Jim was embarrassed because Heidi fed me cereal, but I was just loving life!

Heidi was one of my very first roommates at Snow College. She went to be a nanny in NJ, and we lost her forever...Just kidding, she still comes back to visit! In fact, we planned a roomie reunion while we were there!

Bonnie & Heidi

Day 4 - 5

Okay, remember how I vowed to get this done? I know, I know, you've been in suspense for a month now just wondering how my trip went...
Well, I'm starting to forget all the minute details, so these should start getting shorter...maybe just the pictures???

Day 4 led us to Boston, MA. Heather, Sophia and Bonnie took off in the very cool Jetta with Garmin lady as the navigator. Matt stayed home with the twinners.

Here are some of the highlights:

We parked under Boston Commons and saw people ice-skating at a rink there.

We visited Paul Revere's grave and somebody that was related to Mother Goose.

We saw Cheers...only I know it wasn't the real one because it wasn't in a basement. I am so smart.

We saw a random protest march in downtown as we were walking the Freedom Trail. I was too surprised to remember to take a picture.

I bought a "B" touque because I forgot my hat...I pretended like it stood for "B"onnie.

Paul Revere statue.

We went into the church where Paul Revere showed his signal (one if by land, two if by sea) I think it's just to the left of where the picture is...

We visited the USS Constitution which is nicknamed "Old Ironsides". I always thought it was because it was made of iron...not so. (Heather stayed in the Museum with the baby, so I got a very flattering self-portrait with the lifesaver behind me with the name of the ship.)

I need to spend another day in Boston when it's not so freezing cold.

We wore that cute baby clear out.

Our last stop was the Boston Temple. BEA-U-TI-FUL!

Day 5

was supremely uneventful. I took a nap, went to church (not in that order) and just did absolutely nothing. Actually, that is not true because if my memory serves me, I was introduced to North and South on Day 5. Sigh... AND I was too tired to watch all 4 hours, so I only watched two and then the suspense was killing me until Day 8!!

I did learn a life lesson in Relief Society and since it was the beginning of a new year, I made a goal for the year to speak well of others. I have flubbed up a few times already, but am determined to do better.

Okay, so this post was not very interesting...but I've got to get this written down or I'll forget that I even went to New England!!!

Day 3

Day 3 - January 2, 2009 (Don't anyone faint now because I didn't wait a month to post this...I've vowed to get this done so I can post more recent adventures.)

Fortunately (for you readers), day 3 wasn't as eventful as other days.

I did wake up early to drive Marlene to New Haven to catch the train, but the rest of the day was slower. I was tempted to go and pick me up some cute, smart Yale guys, but then realized they were on break from school...darn.

I picked up my rental car on day 3, which was ironic since I really could have used it the two previous days, but it sat in Matt and Heather's driveway pretty much all day the day I picked it up.

The majority of the day was spent just riding around Wethersfield and Hartford just enjoying the New Englandness of everything. Old Wethersfield was really pretty - the houses were just how I pictured New England.

We also got to see a lot of sites in downtown Hartford including a big umbrella outside of one of the big insurance company's buildings. Which brings up the question: "How protected do you feel when you're underneath a big red umbrella?" Wes's face tells all.

I don't even remember which building this was...some museum maybe? I took a picture so that I'd remember to look up Anna Tuels when I got home because they brought up the question: "Who is Anna Tuels?" Who knows? Not me. Still.

We parked at the State Capitol building and walked down to the free shuttle bus from which we saw many great sites.

Wes wore my Berneita Johnson touque. It was a little big, which brings up the question: "If a hat is too big for your head, does it still keep it just as warm?" If you're riding on a free shuttle bus in downtown Hartford, the answer is yes.

Heather packed Sophia around in front of her and my task was to push Wes in the stroller. We asked Kate if she wanted to ride, but she would have none of it.

We saw the State Capitol, Samuel Colt and Katherine Hepburn's graves and visited Matty at Trinity College.

Kate managed to get a phone line stuck in her hair in Matt's office. There are a lot of questions that could be brought up at this point. The one I will pose is: "Does everyone stop to take pictures of their kids' mischievous acts before getting the kid out of the predicament or punishing the child?" I hope so.

Day 2

If I keep this up, you're going to be reading about day 10 sometime next year...

Day 2 - Bonnie's Super New England Trip

I think I mentioned that Marlene and I spent the night in a hotel in Brooklyn. It couldn't be too bad...the Cosby family lived in Brooklyn right?

Let's just say this: I've never shared a hotel room with a strange black man before*

That being said...

We slept in a little, but were still up at about 8:00 (6:00 a.m. Utah time.) We said good bye to Rob and Krysten and got on the subway once again.

Our first adventure of the day was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm completely enamored with bridges in general, but the story of how the Brooklyn Bridge was made is absolutely amazing.

Let's just say this: it is stinkin' cold up there on that bridge in January. I thought we must have walked about 2 1/2 miles, but looked it up upon returning home found out it's only 1.3 miles across.

Look really closely in the background and you can see the Statue of Liberty in the Harbor.

We stopped and took pictures along the way and my friend told me I'd better be careful because I looked like a gangster... (notice the one glove - the other is probably still riding the subway to and from the JFK airport)

Marlene and Bonnie on the Subway - we are pretty much pros now, so anybody that wants to come next time...we know exactly where we're going...

Bonnie at Grand Central Station

We caught the subway to Grand Central Station and bought tickets for the Metro North to Connecticut. We got on the train at about 12:00 p.m. and got to Connecticut sometimes after 2:00 p.m. Matt picked us up in New Haven (that's where Yale is...)

We headed back to Matt and Heather's house, ate a quick bite with the kiddies, punched Joseph Smith Memorial into the Garmin and were off again. We called ahead and made sure that the visitor's center was open. It wasn't, but the nice missionary said we could knock on his door and he'd give us a tour.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of the countryside since it soon got dark. In fact, I didn't even realize that we went through Massachusetts and that New Hampshire was a stone throw's away pretty much the whole way through Vermont...I am so observant. I was just sticking to what the GPS told me to do.

Joseph Smith Memorial was awesome! I wish we could have gone in the daytime, but they still had Christmas lights that were lit up when we got there - beautiful!

The nice missionary gave a great tour and we were joined by some people from Russia. He explained very well who Joseph was and what we believed and even gave them a Book of Mormon in Russian.

The missionary who gave our tour purposely placed us in the pictures so that we could see Christ, us, Joseph and President Monson. Pretty cool.

We headed back and when we got to the end of Vermont decided maybe we should try to find somewhere to eat. A little note about New England: I could only read the signs from the highway and try to decide for myself if certain towns were good places to stop. There is no indication of light or life from the viewpoint of the freeway because of all of the trees.

Let's just say this: we chose poorly.

We got off in a place called Putney, VT. We even found restaurants in the GPS and decided there must actually be life amongst the trees. We missed a turn and well...we got very, very lost. (Yes, Heather, we were lost in your car in a strange place.) The British Garmin lady turned us onto a dirt road, then another dirt road, then another. After about the sixth turn, we decided she didn't know what she was talking about and we used some common sense to get us back to a real road. I will never trust "the lady" again! Well, I probably will actually, but I was somewhat fed up with her "recalculating".

We did finally find a Subway that was open (Yay for authentic New England food!)

We even drove through Brattleboro, VT, which Marlene informed me was the headquarters for something about dairy cows. She'd heard of it, I hadn't.

We made it back safely to the Bailey home, exhausted and happy as ever!

*Note about the black man - Marlene's friend Krysten is dating a guy from Connecticut. He picked her up at JFK that morning and they spent the day in NYC together. Since they obviously couldn't have shared a room alone together, they were happy to let us share the room and have a couple of chaperones. They were glad that they didn't have to drive all the way to Connecticut that night. We were glad we didn't have to take the subway, Metro North and car all the way to Connecticut that night. It worked out nicely.

Bonnie's Big Trip - Day 1

I recently went on a big trip to visit Matt, Heather and their kids and to experience life in New England. I solemnly swear to give a full narrative that may bore you to tears. If that's the case, just look at the pictures as they will give you some idea of where I went. In order to keep it shorter, I'm breaking it up into days. (Author's Note: Day 1 was a LONG day, so beware...)

Day 1 - December 31, 2008

The cheapest flight that I could find was the redeye from SLC to JFK in New York. Shannon very willingly gave me a ride to the airport very late at night and the plane left at 12:05 a.m. The flight only had 3 or 4 empty seats. Luckily, one of those empty ones was right next to me.

I attempted to sleep but with little success. So, when I arrived in NY at 6:30 a.m., I was tired and didn't have a clue what to do with myself until my good friend Marlene arrived in the afternoon. A nice New Yorker in a red jacket at the airport kindly told me my options to get to Manhatten. I chose to ride the air train and then the subway. I purchased tickets for both and was on my way with all my luggage. Luckily, I didn't bring much.

The Subway wasn't very crowded at 7:00 a.m.

I admit that I just rode around on the subway for a while getting on and off different trains just to understand the system...and because I was tired. Most people are very nice on the subway, but no one visits with strangers... I followed suit. When in Rome...

My first stop was the Manhattan temple. I called the temple and asked which subway line I should take and the nice sister gave me directions. I wondered then how I would find the temple. I walked out of the station, looked around and lo! there it was right in front of me. It was so exciting - that there was something to tie me to this strange city!

At one point, I decided to get off and just walk around the city. Interestingly enough, I got off at the bus station. I couldn't find my way out, so I stopped and bought breakfast and gave my change to a man asking for money. Other stops included Battery Park with a great view of the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and Trinity Church, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Any picture that I am in was taken by someone who didn't speak much English.

Wall Street and Broadway

My first view of the Brooklyn Bridge

It was cold, so I tried to stay indoors as much as possible. On my way to the Brooklyn Bridge, I stopped and purchased a sandwich at a deli. I asked the man behind the counter if there were any specials and he replied with an accent "I make you whatever you want. What I make for you?" I bought a diet coke to go with my sandwich to see if it would help me stay awake on the subway. I got bored of riding around by myself and figured that Marlene ought to be arriving soon. I called her phone and told her which air train to take and that I'd meet her at the end of the line. When I got to the Howard Beach Station I realized I only had one glove. I lost one on the subway... Sad.

Marlene finally arrived! It is so interesting to see a familiar face in a strange place. It's awesome! We took the subway to Brooklyn and walked to our hotel. Marlene's friend was also staying in NYC that night and we shared a room with her and her...um...boyfriend. Krysten had told Marlene that she'd leave a key for her at the front desk. We talked with the desk clerk for quite a while trying to explain our situation. She finally did give us the room number and we went there hoping that Krysten was in the room. She wasn't. Marlene called and left a message with Krysten telling her that we couldn't get into the room. I finished my diet coke while we waited for Krysten to call back. She did and again said that she left a key at the front desk for us. We talked with the same lady at the desk and behold! there was a key there for us. Amazing. We dropped off our bags and went to tour the town!

First stop: Parisian cafe where no one spoke English. Only Spanish. Lucky I know a few words huh?

Second stop: Rockefeller Center. I wanted to see the famous tree! It wasn't as big as I thought, but it sure had a lot of lights. I jumped up and down like a little kid when I saw it! True story, just ask Marlene. She was probably embarrassed to be seen with me.

We decided that since we were so close and because it WAS New Year's Eve, that we at least ought to go to Times Square and have a look at the 'ball'. We tried to make our way there, but the roads were all being blocked off for the big event. I saw a really tall building that was lit up with red and green at the top and asked Marlene if that was the Empire State Building. We decided to walk that direction to find out. A couple of blocks before we got there, we arrived at a different building which I decided must really be the Empire State Building. I took a picture.

Not the Empire State Building - I think it might have been the Public Library...

We headed on our Times Square voyage once again, finally bought a map to assist us, and after attempting several times to head the right direction and realizing that it was going to take about an hour to get to the entrance, and that we might freeze to death before then, we changed our plans.

We did find the 'real' Empire State Building (It was the one with the red and green after all) and headed to Ground Zero just to have a look.

Good thing I brought along my violin to get money for subway fare huh?

Marlene waiting for the Subway

All we could really see through the construction was the foundation of one of the towers. We went again to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty at night. It was awesome! I think we were the only people there. Krysten had told Marlene that they had fireworks there, but we sure didn't see any people. My hand was frozen as were my legs, so we went back to our hotel in Brooklyn to watch the New Year's Eve party on TV. I know boring huh? We got there at about 11:30 p.m. and I jumped in the shower since I'd been in the same clothes for 2 days straight. I opened the door just in time to hear the countdown.