Palmyra, New York

My original plan was to head out to Utah from New Jersey the Monday after July 4th because Jerry was going to be traveling all week anyway.  But when we realized where he was traveling -Rochester, NY,  I wanted to go there so we could see Palmyra, which is only about 30 minutes from Rochester.  And we weren't quite ready to say good-bye to Jerry yet.  The driving distance to Utah from Rochester was a couple hours less than from New Jersey, so at least it wasn't adding time to the BIG trip, so I packed up all our stuff and drove up to Rochester, NY on Wednesday.  It was a long 6 hr drive that included crying and fighting children and throw up.  Yeah, lots of fun.  Made me super excited to drive across the country. haha.  Luckily the 6 hour drive to upstate New York got all the bugs out. We met Jerry at the hotel that night and drove around a bit and got some dinner.  

We stayed at a pretty nice hotel that was set on a golf course and spa in Rochester for the first 2 nights.  Which is great, until it comes to the breakfast.  They only options for breakfast was room service or eating in their expensive restaurant.  No thanks.  So we went el cheapo and drove to McDonalds and ate there.  

Then we went shopping at Target.  Funny how I really love shopping at Target, and it makes me feel right at home.  We spent a couple hours there.  I know, kinda pathetic.  At least my kids love it there too.  Next we grabbed a quick lunch and went back to the hotel to swim.  AWESOME pool!  We swam for quite a while.  When Jerry got back after working we decided to drive into Palmyra and see some of the sights that night, then we wanted to go to the Hill Cumorah pageant on Friday.  Yes, how lucky were we that he was scheduled to be up in Rochester the week of the Hill Cumorah pageant!?  We first went to the temple.  It was just beautiful!!  It's very neat to see the subtle stain glass windows of the temple that show a grove of trees, symbolic of the Sacred Grove.  Here's a cool little fact - The temple is built on land that was once part of the Smith family land.

I LOVE these beautiful girls!!

At the Palmyra, New York temple

After the temple we drove to Joseph Smith's log home.  It is a replica of the actual home that Joseph Smith grew up in, but built in the exact same spot, and the exact measurements.  The guide said, maybe it's off by an inch or two. (-:  I am utterly amazed at how small it was, and how they all fit there.  It was a very warm day, and there were even fans plugged in to get the air moving.  I can only imagine how hot it got for them - plus I didn't have all the clothing on that they would have worn.  Wow. 

As you walk from the Smith home towards the home they moved to, you can see an awesome view of the temple through the trees.

This was the bedroom of Joseph Smith's parents, Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith

The center of the home, the kitchen

This is the upstairs bedroom where Joseph and his brothers slept.  It was in this room that the Angel Moroni visited Joseph.

The Smith Family home that Joseph's brother Alvin built.  Joseph lived there with Emma before moving West.

 Then we walked to the Sacred Grove.  You can definitely feel the Spirit as you walk through the Sacred Grove.  No one knows for sure where it was that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, but the whole area is amazing to know it really happened there.

Walking toward the Sacred Grove

The fence leading to the apple orchards

The Sacred Grove

 

As we were talking with some of the missionaries at the Joseph Smith home they asked if we were going to the pageant that night.  We had planned to go on Friday, the opening night, but he said we could go Thursday night and see the dress rehearsal.  Basically the exact same thing, but without the huge crowd.  It was a no brainer!  It worked out perfectly.  We were able to drive there, get GREAT parking right at the visitors' center, and walk around for about an hour before the show started.  We grabbed some dinner and got some pictures with a lot of the cast that was walking around.  I have wanted to go see the pageant for so long.  It was wonderful.  The kids really enjoyed it too.  It is something that the kids still talk about now.  

    

Standing with Mormon before the pageant.

Ready for the pageant to start

 Friday morning Jerry went to work and the kids and I hung out at the hotel until checkout time, then we went to the store to get some snacks for our "big" trip coming up.  Then we went to check in to our new hotel.  During the week, while Jerry was working we got to stay in the hotel he stayed in, for work, but on the weekend we had to get our own hotel.  Needless to say - this new hotel was not NEARLY as nice as the first.  Probably one of the smallest hotel rooms we've ever stayed in.  The whole room, including the bathroom was easily smaller than one of the kids' rooms, here at home.  Somehow we made it work and we all fit there - with one queen bed, and all the kids slept on the hard, uncomfortable floor.  Sorry guys:(.

When Jerry got done working Friday we went in to Palmyra again because we didn't get a chance to see the visitors center or the Angel Moroni monument on top of Hill Cumorah.  We drove through the town a little bit first.  It's pretty interesting to note that on each of the 4 corners of the main intersection on Main Street is a church, each of a different denomination.  I think it's quite symbolic of the many churches that Joseph Smith was studying, and trying to decide which of the churches was the true church, when he went to pray in the Sacred Grove and received the answer that none of the churches were true.

This was the best picture I could get to show all 4 church houses.

We grabbed some dinner in town then went to the Grandin Print Store.  This is where the Book of Mormon was very first published.

 

Next we went to the Martin Harris Farm.  He mortgaged his farm to pay for the publication of the Book of Mormon.  It was a beautiful, huge farm, and a beautiful home.

Jerry and Sydney at the Martin Harris Farm.

Martin Harris' home.

Next we headed over to Hill Cumorah to see the visitor center and Angel Moroni monument.  Unfortunately we got there to late to see the monument.  They had to close the road that leads up to the monument at 6 because of the pageant getting ready.  We still had a great time looking at the visitor center. 

All the kids at the Christus inside the visitor center.

Miniature model of the land that the Smith's owned - present day, so it includes the temple.

The kids also got some wiggles out by running around and rolling down the hills.

    
 

 On Saturday we contemplated going to Niagara Falls, but I was planning to go Sunday on my way to Utah, and the kids actually chose to go back to Palmyra again.  So in the morning we hung out in Rochester and did a little shopping, then after lunch we went to Palmyra - it's only a half hour away.  We went shopping at the church book store there in town, and got some delicious ice cream.  Then we thought we'd give the Angel Moroni monument one more shot.  It was really cool being able to see it.  It is up high on the hill, so you look down where the performance is.  Once again, we aren't sure exactly where the Golden Plates were buried, but it was somewhere on this hill/mountain.  It was awesome to be there.  

Jerry, Rebecca, and Hayden on top of the hill.  You can see all the chairs set up for the pageant.  It was the middle of the day and people were already reserving seats.  I'm so glad we went Thursday night.