Well, we figured out a way to use up those airline and hotel points that we didn't get to use in 2020. We planned an epic summer adventure and kicked it off in the middle of June. Here we are headed out to Washington DC!
Tuesday, June 14 2022
We arrived pretty late at night. So, we couldn't rent a car, because the rental companies were closed. So, we uber'd to our hotel in Alexandria. We got a good night's sleep and woke up to a sunny morning and took the hotel airport shuttle back to the airport to rent our car. Then we started on our adventure. We headed off to our first stop in Harmony, PA, the Priesthood Restoration Site.
Wednesday June 15th-
We got to the Visitors Center in the late afternoon and went on the tour. The Sisters knew Cali and we had the cutest one take us on the tour.
We started the tour by walking down to the homes of Joseph & Emma and the Hale house.
We learned about their lives here in Pennsylvania and the work that took place here. It was really special being able to be there and see where it all happened.
And this was the first of many "Sister Selfies"!
After the tour, we went off on our own to see some of the other monuments and special places on the property.
Restoration Monument
McCune Cemetery
Then we played with the exhibits in the Visitors Center-
Then we took stroll through the Sugarbush Grove. This is where Joseph & Oliver went to pray about the authority to baptize.
We finished our visit with a quick drive across the street to where Joseph and Oliver baptized each other in the Susquehanna River.
It was such a neat experience and I am so glad I got to do this with these guys!
So, then I thought, for some reason, that it was only a 30 minute drive to our next stop, Karen Byars's house in Rochester, NY! More like 3 HOURS!! I guess I did not double check that one. But we made it to her house safely! At 11 PM, instead of 8 PM, but she was up and waiting for us and ready to party! She is awesome!
Thursday June 16th
The Day we got to see Cali!
We got to sleep in a little and visit with Karen some more, while she laid out some breakfast for us. Then we headed to the Smith Family Farm!
These are all of Cali's peeps and we were so excited to meet them all!
It was THE hottest day of the year. So hot and humid and the bugs were out in full force. But we had to check this place out! First, we got a tour of the Smith Family house.
This is the room where the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph. Such a cool feeling up there!
Then we took a walk to the "Frame House". And got a peek at the temple along the way...
The threshing barn and the "frame house". So many events happened here on this property. Challenges and miracles. This family did everything they could to keep the plates safe.
Then we took a long, peaceful walk through the Sacred Grove. Jeremy wanted to make sure we went through all of it. And the bugs wanted to eat my ears off!
It was such a neat experience and Jeremy also spent the whole time trying to find the original trees, that were there when Joseph went to pray.
We went back into the Visitors Center to cool off and got to see Cali's MTC Comp, Sister Jensen!
After the Sacred Grove, we headed into Palmyra for some lunch. We found a yummy little pizza place and watched the clouds gather outside and the wind blowing. The new broadcast on the TV in the pizza place announce that we were on a tornado watch! Yay!
After lunch, we headed over to the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center.
This place is awesome! We did the whole VC tour and met the cutest Sisters!
The clouds opened up while we were inside and dumped a ton of rain and hail! So, we weren't able to hike up to the Hill.
The rain stopped and we went over to check out the temple.
We just walked around outside and took in the view...
Such a special & pretty place.
Then we drove by Cali's house!
We had some time to kill before our last tour of the day, so we decided to go check out the Eerie Canal!
Then it was time for the best part of the whole day and trip!
A tour of the Grandin Print Shop with Sister Laumea and Wilson!
It was so awesome to see her!
The tour was awesome. This is such a special place and it is so special to Cali.
We were the last tour of the day, so we got to take these Sisters to dinner!
And Jeremy tried a famous "Garbage Plate".
It was such a fun-filled and absolutely Spiritual day! I'm so glad we made the effort to come here and experience these special places and see our girl. It wasn't as hard to say goodbye as I thought it would be. She was killing it out here and was surrounded by the best people. I am so grateful that she got to have this mission experience.
See you later Sister Wilson!
Friday June 17th-
Goodbye Rochester! Hello Buffalo, Niagra Falls & Lake Eerie!
We were going to stay one more night at Karen's, but decided to get on our way and experience a little more of the area while we were there!
So, we said goodbye to the wonderful Sister Byars and headed North!
First stop, Highmark Stadium, Home of the Buffalo Bills!
After playing at the Team Store, purchasing some shirts and using the bathroom, we headed off to:
It was such a beautiful day! Check out the Rainbow Bridge-
Brody was very apprehensive about this, but we had to get tix and jump on the Maid of the Mist and get closer to these giant waterfalls.
We got front row seats and it was amazing! We all loved it!
We walked into town for lunch after visiting the falls. We found a cute little pub and I was not feeling awesome. Brody was super tired from not sleeping well. Him and I both passed out while Jeremy got us safely to our hotel in Eerie, PA! I woke up long enough to watch the scenery from Niagra Falls to Eerie. It was absolutely beautiful and now I want a house on the lake in PA.
Saturday June 18th
We all got great night's sleep and then had breakfast at the yummiest cafe. We had time to kill before having to get Jeremy to the airport, so we decided to check out Lake Eerie. I heard there was a lighthouse, so off we went to find it!
Found it!
We stopped at a couple more beaches as we headed out of the peninsula and it was pretty windy!
Jeremy saw a guy getting out of his car with a surfboard, so we parked and followed him.
We didn't get to see him surf, but this lake beach felt a little like the beaches back home.
After our lake adventure, we drove to Pittsburgh to take Jeremy to the airport. Boo. We had one last adventure driving through downtown Pitt and it's bridges and rode the incline!
Again, Brody was not stoked on this idea. But was glad we did it when we were all done.
We said goodbye to Pittsburgh and then had to say goodbye to dad when we dropped him off at the airport. So glad that he was able to join us for this part of our trip.
After leaving dad at the airport, Brody and I drove to Washington DC for the last part of our trip! We arrived at our Airbnb pretty late, but it was so cute!
It was a tiny basement apartment that was perfect for the 2 of us. I accidentally blew a fuse when we got there, but the owner came down and got everything squared away. She was so sweet and fun!
Sunday, June 19th-
Time for some mother/son bonding in DC Baby!
We slept in and had brunch at Panera. Then we headed to Annapolis, MD for a tour of the US Naval Academy.
This place is amazing. I had no idea that we would enjoy this so much. They treated Brody as a potential applicant. That was both fun and a little scary. This place is legit hard core.
Meet Billy-
So much history and honor and just really cool stuff, everywhere we went.
Brody loved the architecture.
After our tour, we walked around the grounds and checked out the stadium.
We ended the day watching the new Top Gun movie. It was so perfect to watch it after visiting the academy. And check out the sweatshirt!
Monday, June 20th-
Our first stop of the day was a tour of Arlington National Cemetery. Brody was not excited and could not understand why we were going to a cemetery. But once we got there, and he saw what it was, he totally changed his tune.
Watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown is something that I've always wanted to experience. So glad we were able to see it.
After the cemetery, we headed to the National Mall. We parked right by the White House!
We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting all of the monuments-
Luke asked us to take pics of every Abe Lincoln we saw. We took so many pictures! Here's one of my favorites-
We walked the whole Mall! And with a street vendor smoothie.
We hit up the Hiroshima monument before heading home. So glad we did.
Such an amazing day. And we got blessed with the best weather!
Tuesday, June 21st-
Museum Day!
We started our day with a tour of the Library of Congress.
We took a pit stop outside the Capitol and caught a glimpse of the Supreme Court Building. There were some protestors out, so we kept our distance.
Then we walked a very long way to the Holocaust Museum.
This tour was long, powerful, and so sad. I was exhausted when we were done. We had a nice lunch in the cafe though, after.
Once we were recharged after lunch, we walked to the Natural History Museum for a quick look a round.
Then took a nice walk outside to see some of the cool Smithsonian buildings on our way to the Spy Museum.
We had a blast at the Spy Museum and then had dinner in the basement while facetiming Cali!
We got back to the house late and Brody got his first encounter with alley rats! I don't have a pic. But we will always have that memory!
Wednesday, June 22nd-
Our Last Day! - Not!
We were able to get a reservation to tour the Capitol through Congressman Issa's office. This was the first week of tours since the Covid Shutdown. We were Justin's first ever tour! He was so great! He is such a government geek and was so excited to show us all of the things.
We got a delicious lunch in the cafeteria and that is when my phone alerted me that our flight was cancelled. We were supposed to go turn in the car after our Capitol tour and then head to the airport.
So, we sat in one of the lobbies of the Capitol while I figured out what to do. The first available flight I could get home wouldn't be until Friday morning!! A huge storm was coming. I was able to book the first flight out early Friday morning and was able to get the rental car extended and was able to book a hotel near the airport with my points. Everything worked out.
Now we had some time to kill. So we headed to the temple!
We visited with the Sisters and did all of the fun activities at the Visitors Center.
We grabbed a few pics of the outside of the temple before the rain started falling.
We checked into our hotel, ate a yummy italian dinner and fell asleep to the falling rain.
Thursday, June 23rd-
This is what we did most of the day. Brody was really grumpy. He was hoping to be home.
I was able to get him out of the hotel once the rain stopped. We saw "Elvis" the movie. It was really good, but really sad. We grabbed some pizza for dinner and then got to bed early because we had a super early flight.
Friday, July 24th-
Heading Home!
We made it!
We made our connection in Chicago and made it safely home. It was such a long trip. But it was such an awesome trip! We did and saw so much and I loved all of the time we got to spend together.
