To Boston

Yes, it has been awhile since I updated this and I know that "you all" have been anxiously awaiting an update. The parenthesis should give you a clue as to where we were when I started this. But I will tell you all about that later.

For other news of importance: the house sold and closed on Nov. 7. So we are currently homeless, except the trailer.

Now back to where we left off - oh yes, we were still in New York.

We took a day and went to Boston. This is a close up of some leaves on a tree that we saw on the way there. You can see how some of the colors blend on a single leaf.

This is the tree at a distance. There is a type of oak that turns only on the outside and the inside will still be green. They really get pretty.


The first day, after driving there, we went to the Minute Man Battle Road. It was a very cold day and it kept trying to rain. But we did walk some of the trail. This is the road that the British took from Lexington to Concord. This was also some of the road that Paul Revere took. Note the rock walls made when the fields were cleared. Sometimes there are pole fences on the top of the rocks. You can see the building on the right. This is the Hartwell tavern that was there at that time. Pics of it are following.

The family lived here also. The next picture is of Captain William Smith's house, just up the road a ways.
The next picture is of one of those "pretty" trees at the site where Paul Revere was captured by the British. He was disarmed and then released.

This is the Old North Bridge where the fighting began. On the other side you can see the monument to the Minute Men. It is the following picture. Unfortunately the picture is not real good as it was getting late and the light was not good.


This is looking back east. You can see a marker directly to the right of the monument. Some British soldiers are buried here. There is also a house to the right that was present at that time. All along the road there were homes. It must have been frightening for them as the British were making their was back and being fired on by Minute Men, some of whom were their friends and family members. The British would have been destroyed by the more than 5,000 Minute Men, who had come from surrounding towns, if Lord Percy and 1,000 men, along with two cannon, had not met them at Lexington.

The next day we went on into Boston. The wind was blowing some and it was cold. Even though it was sunny, the sun just doesn't shine much between those high buildings. Several of the historic buildings would have been torn down back in the late 1700's if it hadn't been for some wise people who wanted to save them for the future.

There is a well marked, red brick, freedom trail. We picked up a book that told about the sites. Buildings also have markers on them. We started at Boston Commons. The first building we saw was the Mass. State House.
This is the burial grounds at the Granary. Several historical people are buried here.

This is a picture of Ben Franklin in front of the first state school. He attended it and dropped out. Some drop outs do okay.
This is the Old South Meeting House. At one time it was slated to be torn down. Canada wanted to purchase it, take it apart brick by brick, and reconstruct it in Canada for others to see. The city decided to keep it.

This is the Old State Meeting house. It was in front of this that the Boston Massacre took place. The second picture is the back and side of the building.


In the North Square is an open area and the following plaque. Across the cobble stone street is the home of Paul Revere. It is the second picture. The house was 90 years old when Paul Revere purchased it. His father was a young boy in France when it was built.


This area still has lots of the original buildings from this time period. The streets are all cobble stone and narrow. They also wind around. At one place, as we crossed the street, there were brass inlays of fish bones, food scraps, etc. It was the area in which the people threw their garbage out the windows onto the streets.

Next is the Old North Church and a statue of Paul Revere.

From the north end we crossed the bridge over into Charleston and to Bunker Hill. This is the Monument on the top of the hill. B climbed to the top and took pictures, 360 degrees.
This is looking back towards Boston. See the white steeple? It is the Old North Church. Paul Revere was on this side watching for the lantern light. The Boston Tea Party took place on the left side of Boston.

I had to put this next picture in for a member of our family. It is in Charleston.
We ended up at the USS Constitution, Old Iron Sides . It is on Naval ground and shown by the navy in period costume.

Are We There Yet?

As the days pass the trees turn more and more. We have seen: green, light green, pale yellow, bright yellow, peach, all shades of orange on into the reds including burgundy. There was one time, close to the road, that the bushes looked like someone had thrown colored confetti. There are oak trees, varieties of maples, chestnuts, tulip trees, beech, and many other kinds of trees all growing side by side. So it makes it very colorful. Below are some pictures that we took. As we drove through the edge of the Catskill mountains it was a little hazy so it doesn't show the colors as bright as they were. There are also some pine trees in the Catskills so you have dark green among all the colors.
We arrived at West Point on October 11 and have been watching color changes here. There were not many trees turning here when we arrived. Everyone says that the colors aren't as good this year.

We stored our trailer outside the post and are staying with our daughter Br. and her family. The next pictures were taken at the area where we are storing the trailer. The third is of one of the hillsides here. A lot of the post is on hill sides like this.

Of course we are having fun with the grand kids.
The kids really wanted to sleep on the trailer. So we put it in a camping spot and spent Thursday night as they didn't have school the next day. I think they had a good time, do you?
The next morning Bu couldn't wait to build another fire. He has learned how in scouts and does a good job.

Their mom came in the morning after we had breakfast. The kids wanted to play on the play grounds for awhile so we let them.

Heading to the play ground. Br and her kids.
Kids in a swing race.
The swingers.
We were also able to go to a full review of the cadets. This is the building in which they dorm. Your can see dark arches at the base of the building. There are about seven of these and they file out of these, about four abreast, for the review. It is very impressive.

This is only about half of the ones on the parade ground. A visiting dignitary road by in a jeep to review them. Then they filed by in squads to salute him and the post commander.

The band marched by to lead the cadets in the review. Our son-in-law is playing bass drum on the far side of the snare drum player. He has just turned the corner so it is hard to see him.

The color guard going by.


One of the units going by.

B. and I went north one day and visited the F.D. Roosevelt Museum and toured his home. This was actually the home that he grew up in and then lived in as an adult. The home was added on to after his family got larger. The Library/Museum was built while he was living and he used it as his study and for his broadcasts.


The farm area was interesting. His father came there along with several other Dutchmen. The property was not very wide, so all could have some shoreline on the river, and was two miles deep. It was a working farm.

For lunch we went to the Culinary Institute. It is a chef's school. There are about four restaurants there and the students cook for them. It was gooood.

Niagara And On

We traveled through Penn. along Lake Erie and on into New York. The land is fairly flat. There are still cornfields but also grape fields. It rained most of the day while we were traveling and was still raining when we got to Niagara. We crossed over into Canada before we got to it. It was also getting late in the day and the wind was really blowing the spray and rain. So our pictures aren't the best. Horseshoe fall is very impressive.














The picture to the right is of the turbulence at the bottom of Horseshoe Falls.

When we went to leave, the windshield wipers took about three wipes and then stopped. we couldn't get them to budge and the motor for them was hot. So we shut them off. The rain had let up some and we thought it best that we get back across the border as we would be needing to get parts. Although we had made arrangements to stay further away, we thought we had best find a place close as we didn't want to have to travel far since it was hard to see. After crossing the bridge and going about six to ten blocks, we spotted a vacant half lot that had two tour buses parked in it along with a truck and car hauler trailer. So we pulled in there and spent the night. There was also a garage across the street where we could maybe get parts or find out where to get them.

In the morning, we awoke to sunshine. Yeah, no need of wipers. However, we decided that we had best fix them as we might need them later. After starting the truck, B tried the wipers. The Lord is looking out for us; they worked with no problems. (They are still working fine.) It was early and we decided to go back into Canada to SEE the falls and maybe get better pictures.





























The picture on the right is of American Falls. This is also a sample of how many people are here, even when it is raining. This is October, what is it like in the summer?

This picture is not of the water but was some trees in the parking lot at the falls. You can see some of the colors as more of the trees are turning. As we drove further north, we saw more trees that had started to change colors.

We drove on that day until just past Palmyra, close to Phelps; another small NY town. NY has
lots of small towns too. We have been taking secondary roads most of the way and just go from one to the next with houses along the road most of the way. We stayed in an RV park this night, Thursday, and Friday. We called some old friends from Yakima that live about ten minutes from where we were staying. Howard and his dad were our home teachers when we first moved to Yakima. Deana was one of our kids favorite baby sitters. It was good to see them and that things are going well for them.

Friday morning we went into Palmyra and tried to find our way to the Smith home. One of our clues for getting close to it is the modern Temple. We totally missed it as we were looking at a meeting house on the other side of the road. This is only an example of one of the 'extended routes' that we have taken. (It took us an extra five miles to get back into the US from Canada Thur. morning because we were busy looking at the American Falls and missed our turn just two blocks from the bridge.)

Well, we ended back in Palmyra so we decided to stop at the building where the first Books of Mormon were printed; and maybe we could get a map there so we could find our way. B found this interesting as he worked in a printing shop when he was in high school. We also got a map here so we could find our way.

One never knows what surprises the Lord has for us. We went to the visitors center at the Smith Farm area. As I started to go through the glass door I thought I recognized the woman on the other side. As we came through she greeted us and asked where we were from. As I responded I looked at her name tag and saw that it was who I thought. She then asked our names and I said, "You already know us." She looked a little puzzled and then I told her our names and she was shocked. She called her husband over. Brian were going to school at MSU getting his doctorate when B was finishing up. Joann was my first VT partner after I joined. They also hosted our wedding reception in their home after we were married. We have seen Brian a few times since then but haven't see Joann in years. It was great to see them. Just think, if we hadn't had wiper problems we would have been there the day before and probably would not have seen them.
















The log home is the home of Joseph Smith Sr. The family lived in this house for a number of years. Later Alvin started to build this house for his parents and also for his future family.
When Alvin died the family could not bring themselves to work on it for a few years. they did finish it and lived in it for awhile, then lost it and had to move back to the log home. A friend purchased it and rented it to them where they then lived until they moved from the area.

The log home set inside Palmyra township and the frame house set inside Manchester township. The fence in the next picture is right on the line.

The hill in the background is the Sacred Grove.

The frame house was never completely finished when the Smiths lived in it. The kitchen was the only room that was plastered. The other wall were covered with planks that were not cut off on the edges. In the following picture you can see where strips were nailed to cover these raw edges. In the Kitchen was a soap stone sink with a special feature - a drain to the outside, saving Lucy the chore of taking out the drain water.













The hearth and bricks that Joseph used to hide the plates are in the living room of this home. This is a picture of the hearth.





When you look to the east from the Smith farm you can see the Palmyra Temple. It looks out on the Sacred Grove.

The view from the front steps of the Smith frame house looks towards the threshing barn and the cooper shop. Hiram was the barrel maker. Beyond them is the grove. I took several pictures in the grove but will spare you and only show two of my favorites. The one of the leaves I took because of all the different colors.


























There was a special feeling in the grove. It was also very peaceful there.



From there we went to the hill Cumorah. I had no idea that it was a steep as it is. It is also very narrow on top, about the width of a rode, and then drops of steeply on the back side. The statue of Moroni is different that what we usually see. Here he is holding a book.










We also went to the Peter Whitmer farm. The log house is a replica of the original. I couldn't resist taking this with the little boy in it. He was having so much fun running around and checking everything out.







The last place in this area that we went to was the Martin Harris home. There are no original buildings there but there is a building that we have seen many of in this area. The stones are really close to the same size.