This year for Spring break we planned a trip up to the northeast to learn about church history. Our trip changed every day, but we rolled with it and were able to see most of what we planned. We had the van packed Wednesday night and picked the girls up early from school on Thurs. March 12. There was no school on Friday. We were planning to at least get past Chicago, but go further if we could. We made it a few hours past that so nice to get some miles done. As we were driving we realized that Mark didn't have his coat, only a hoodie. The weather was supposed to be pretty chilly in most of our areas. Lucky for us, the hotel we booked was about 1/2 mile from an outlet so we went to Bass and got Mark a coat on clearance. (And a few shirts)
We continued on to Historic Kirtland on Friday. We started at the temple, but it was closed due to COVID-19 which we will be talking about a lot more later. We still enjoyed walking around and seeing the outside. Stinks for Mark though, because this is his 2nd time there and both times the temple was closed. We then went to the other historic sites and learned quite a bit about the early pioneers who lived there and gave so much for the Lord. We were there till 6 when they closed and learned the next day that they didn't open again because of the Coronavirus.
 |
| The Kirtland Temple |
 |
| Enjoying the grounds and getting out some energy |
 |
| Newel K. Whitney store |
 |
| Inside the store |
 |
| The Ashery |
That night we had super yummy pizza at Bigga Wood Fired Pizzeria. The girls loved watching it cook in the brick fireplace.
We learned that all the temples would be closing after Sat so called and made appointments to do baptisms and a session. We left Kirtland at 6:30am so we could make it to Palmyra in time. Our original plan was to see Niagara Falls on the way up to NY, but we decided to see it on the way home since things were closing rapidly. We started at the Hill Cumorah and checked out the visitor center. Then we drove to the top and saw the Moroni monument. Some of the girls were courageous and rolled down the steep hill. The last time we were in Palmyra was in 2011 and the girls were much smaller and didn't remember it. We checked into our hotel and then went to the temple with Adriana. It is a small temple and wasn't too busy. It was so nice to be there in the peace. One of the windows also looks out to the Sacred grove. After the temple we went to the Smith family farm and toured the cabin and house. Before we left, we watched the movie about the couple that was called on a mission to Palmyra in 1915. It was originally a 5 year mission that turned into 20 years! They helped restore good feelings with the people in the area and acquire the Hill Cumorah and other land the church wanted to buy in addition to the Smith farm.
Mark and I went back to the temple which was also so nice to be in the celestial room and think of how far things have come since Joseph restored the church. Then we went back and got the kids and went to the Grandin Bookshop where the Book Of Mormon was first published. They showed us all about the old type printing press and how books were made. They also have an original copy of the Book of Mormon there. Afterwards we had dinner across the street at Mark's pizza. And it was delicious!!
 |
| Hill Cumorah |
 |
| Going to the temple with Adriana |
 |
| The Smith Family farm and 'Alvin's' tree |
 |
| John found a caterpillar and was very intrigued |
 |
| Grandin Printing Press |
 |
| Excellent stop for dinner |
 |
| Our hotel stopped serving breakfast so we went to get a few things and found it to be much more difficult than we thought! |
On Sunday we had our own little church in our hotel room. Then we had some quiet time at the sacred grove. We split up and the older girls got to have some time alone to read or write or just think. It was chilly, but a nice peaceful morning. We also drove to Fayette, NY to see the Peter Whitmer home. It was closed, but we got to walk around the grounds and explore in the woods behind the home. We also went back to Hill Cumorah to do another roll and checked out the temple. Even though everything was closed, we enjoyed the outdoor parts.
 |
| The Sacred Grove |
 |
| Smith family farm |
 |
| Smith home |
 |
| Smith log cabin |
 |
| Peter Whitmer home in Fayette, NY |
 |
| Mark and John on the Hill Cumorah |
 |
| Roll, roll, roll |
 |
| At the bottom of the hill with angel Moroni in the background. |
 |
| Palmyra Temple |
Because things kept getting worse with COVID-19, we decided we better just come home and cut our trip short by 3 days. We had planned to go to Cincinnati to see all the Buskens, but will have to do that another time in better circumstances.
We did still go to Niagara Falls on our way back home and it was beautiful! We were sure to load on the hand sanitizer and tried not to touch much... except for John, he was all over and hard to stop. He did get sanitized.
We started on the US side and then went into Canada to see the falls from the best spot. It was beautiful to see in person and the pictures don't do justice. We learned that about 30 minutes after we got into Canada they closed the border to non-Canadians. We barely made it in! It was a great breather on our long drive home.
 |
| From the US side |
 |
| Seeing Horseshoe falls in Canada |
We made one more stop on the way home to the John Johnson home in Hiram, OH. It is about 45 min. south of Kirtland. It was also closed, but we enjoyed talking about what happened here and seeing the grounds.
 |
| John Johnson Farm |
We made it home on Tuesday night so it was a whirlwind trip and we saw a lot in less than 6 days! As we traveled more things were closing. Restaurants were only doing carryout the last few days of our trip. Luckily we had snacks that made us through. We also finally found a loaf of bread the last day so we could make sandwiches as we drove. We brought one loaf, but it was gone after a few days and we couldn't find more. We are so grateful we could do this trip and see and learn so much. We are grateful to be home and are now self quarantining ourselves.
