Great Ladies Great Places Roadtrip

OK, so I finally posted the pictures and narrative from the Great Ladies / Great Places road trip. Each day is a new post. There is alot to look at, but worth it. Enjoy!

Day 2 - North Platte, Nebraska to Columbia, Missouri

We left North Platte, NE early in the morning. We traveled through the rest of Nebraska into Missouri. We encountered more rain and even some hail. The scenery was beautiful. Conversation great.

Crossing the Missouri River

Scenic Beauty

Welcome to Missouri

The Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri

Liberty Jail Visitor Center

The original key to Libery Jail

The replica of Liberty Jail. It was a very moving. The Sister Missionary that did our tour was fantastic. We were the only ones on the tour.

After Liberty Jail we continued on our journey to Columbia, Missouri. We were able to video conference with all the kids in Karen's front room. They were all happy to see us.

Day 3 - Columbia, Missouri to Columbus, Ohio

We decide to stop at the St. Louis temple and the Arch since we are driving right through St. Louis. We had a great time finding gas stations while needing a potty break. We enjoyed the neighborhoods and construction that St. Louis had to offer.

After driving the scenic route, (I don't think there is a no-scenic route) we found the St. Louis temple. What a beautiful building.

Cherranne, Tiffany and me at the St. Louis temple.

A magnolia blossom on the temple grounds. You will note the rain drops on the petals and leaves.

Me and the Arch. Very cool place. There is a whole museum below it. We decided to go to the top rather then look around. Karen was very smart and stayed on the ground.

My foot in the Mississippi. Jason told me when I was there that I HAD to put a toe in the Mississippi. The water was warmer then the air.

A ferry docked by the gift shop on the Mississippi

St. Louis from 630 feet up. You can see the Cardnial's stadium. Also, on the left is a cirular hotel. That is where Jason stayed when he was a flight attendant and had a layover in St. Louis.

The view that got my stomach hurting. You can see both side of the bottom. I really should not have looked straight down. I could barely walk after looking. Cool picture though. That's the Mississippi at the top. That is the same spot I put my foot in.

Tiffany and Cherrane in the "pod" we rode to the top of the arch and back again. It was so teeny. We laughed all the way down and were very short on oxygen.

The bridge we took to cross the Mississippi out of St. Louis and heading toward Columbus, Ohio.

As we are driving across

The Waffle House at midnight. We were so tired and not even in Columbus yet. We eat omelets and laughed and we were ready for the last hour of our drive.

Day 4 - Leave Columbus, Ohio for Northern Virginia

We leave Columbus, Ohio for Karen's parent's house in Northern Virginia. Very scenic the whole way. Of course, it was raining.
We stopped in Wheeling, West Virginia for a nature call and somehow I took like 20 pictures of this tiny place. I will only show you now the very cool old bridge. There is a limit as to how many cars can cross at one time.

We started the day in Ohio. We crossed into West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. We were able to visit with Karen's sister and her adorable kids. Then off to the Mello B&B. Karen's mom had made us a great dinner of lasagna. I took a long candlelit bath and enjoyed sleeping in my own bed and room.

Mello B&B and my room

Our relaxing this night was much needed and long appreciated.

Day 5 - Washington DC

I was so looking forward to seeing Washington DC. It was so great. You can not see everything in a day, so here is what we visited.
Our day in DC. This sign describes the weather perfectly. It rained on us most of the day. We were so wet by the end. We still had loads of fun and saw a whole bunch of places.

Traffic into DC
Our first stop was Arlington Cementary. None of us had ever been. We visited JFK and RFK markers, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and walked around looking for the 9/11 marker. We spent a couple of hours here.

Rows and rows of white headstones. It is very overpowering in person.

JFK and Jackie's markers along with the eternal flame. Cherranne is a huge Kennedy fan, so she received permission to lay the flowers.

When we got to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, they were just laying a wreath. We watched the ceremony. It was beautiful. Very moving. I was crying by the time "Taps" was over. The Tomb is guarded day and night. The pictures shows the wreath, the Tomb, and the guard.

After Arlington Cementary, we just drove around DC looking at all the buildings and landmarks. The first one we saw was the Jefferson memorial. We didn't get out and walk around, but we did see it from afar.

The Capital Building - This is as close as we came.

After driving around, Karen dropped the three of us off at the corner by the White House. We walked around the block to see both sides of it. Here is one side.

Here is the other. both pictures were taken with the camera through the fence so you can't see the poles. I have always wanted to go to Washington DC and see this stuff. I was in awe the whole day.

This is as close to the Lincoln Monument that we got. There is so much to see and so much walking that it is impossible to do it all in one day.

Here's the Washington Monument. I love how the flags are in a circle all around it.

After the monument we decided to go see some museums. We went to the Castle Smithsonian first. In the lobby of The Castle, they have a set piece from the movie Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian. The set people donated it to The Castle.

The Castle SmithsonianWe went to the Natural History Museum. It is so huge and so full of great exhibits, we could only pick a couple to look at. We picked Gems/Minerals (you know, we're girls and like bling) and then we saw a cool exhibit about bones. Human bones. Very cool. (Unfortunately, no pics)

The Hope Diamond

After the Museum we went to the National Archives. Karen was worried about time and so she went to move the car. She was about 20 minutes to late and got a parking ticket. Tiffany, Cherranne, and I were able to see the Constitution and other original documents from our nation's history. I was a little worried about flashing (with my camera) so I didn't take any pictures. It was very cool.
Then we hooked back up with Karen by Ford's Theater. There were some guys selling knockoff purses on a street corner. Karen and I each bought one.

Our kindly vendors

Ford's Theater

We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe which is a few doors down from Ford's Theater. The music was loud and the food yummy.

Back to the Mello B&B for our last night of separate bedrooms and quiet sleep. Tomorrow we are off to New York.

Day 6 - Leave the Mello B&B, head to Palmyra, NY

After our long a tiring day in DC we left the beautiful Mello B&B and headed towards Palmyra, NY. Along the way we stopped at this quaint antique shop somewhere in Maryland. I even found a little something to buy.

We were going to stop at Gettysburg to look around, but decided to keep going to save time. I saw the signs for it, but unfortunately did not get a picture. We drove on the other side of a river from Harrisburg, Pa. It looked really pretty from our vantage point. We also saw Amish buggies, but again, no picture.(This is Harrisburg, PA)

We eventually crossed into New York. I did get a picture of that!

We traveled on to Farmington, NY which is just west of Palmyra. The motel was not great, but the front desk clerk was friendly. He recommended a pizza joint for dinner. So we went. We had very greasy pizza at a New York Pizzeria in New York.

Day 7 - Church in Palmyra, NY and drive to Niagra Falls

When we left our motel in the morning I saw this nest. The mamma bird had just flown away. You can see the baby's heads above the nest.
We attended sacrament meeting in Palmyra. This beautiful chapel is located across the street from the temple.

After sacrament meeting we walked over to the temple to get some pictures. It is a beautiful temple. The stained glass windows show scenes of the sacred grove. This is the back.

This is the side from the road. There are many trees around. The grounds were just beautiful.

Our first stop of the church tours was at the EB Grandin Printing Press where the 1st edition printing of the Book of Mormon was done. It was an awesome tour with great Sister Missionaries. We learned all about the press and how the printing occured. What a miracle that event was.

After the printing press we drove a short distance to the Smith Farm. Our first stop was the visitor center and then on to the log home.

Then the frame home. We heard the great story of how the plates were hidden and protected from the mobs.

Then on to the Sacred Grove. This was the highlight of my day. The grove is huge. There are paths all around to walk on and get lost in. It was very quiet except that "bees were humming, sweet birds singing, music ringing through the grove...." It reminded me of being in the temple.

On our way out of Palmyra we stopped at the Hill Cumorah. We walked halfway up the hill and decided that was enough. (It is very steep and we were very tired) This is the statue at the top.

After leaving Palmyra we headed to Buffalo, New York. We stayed at a very nice hotel and enjoyed a yummy chinese food dinner.