The plan was to be in the car and on the road at 7:00am. Well, we made it at 7:53. Not too bad, if you ask me. Although we may or may not have forgotten one thing that we had to go back for . . . What's that saying? If you don't shoot for the stars, you'll never reach the moon? I don't think we have EVER left for a road trip that early in the morning. Ever. We spent the middle of the day in Kirtland, OH. A pair of sister missionaries showed us around the visitors center and the Whitney's home and store. What an amazing time in Church History. Truly remarkable things in the big picture occurred there. I feel like the girls are just getting their very first glimpse of the tsunami of revelation that happened during that time and probably have no clue of the incredible significance of that time. Good stuff. The girls enjoyed it, and Ali acted as our official photographer during the tour. Enjoy some of her finer compositions:
We had two other appointments that day, so we ended up having to put off actually going inside the temple on the Community of Christ's tour for another day. I didn't realize it was such a long commitment--well over an hour. We were hoping to just get a quick glimpse and hit the road. Good thing we only live 3ish hours away. We wandered around the grounds briefly, and Jeff was sorely disappointed that we couldn't find the first geocache we looked for in like 3 years. Well, fortunately, there are many more of those around. :) We'll have to save the tschotchkies for another day.
Our next stop was to pick up a Thule car-top carrier that we bought on ebay for a song. It was, obviously, local pick-up only, and since we were going to be driving within just a few minutes of the owners' home, it was the perfect solution for clearing up the clutter in the car. We're still getting well over 20 miles to the gallon since we picked it up and reshuffled the stuff in the van and the extra space is luxurious. Wahoo!! There's an Outer Banks sticker on it. I guess we'll have to put a vacation there on our to-do list.
Jeff picked up a game on Amazon that led to a hilarious afternoon. Warning: Advertisement!! Each player in Rubberneckers gets a handful of cards. To earn the points listed on your cards, you have to see something while you are watching the scenery (a swimming pool--bonus if there's a slide), see a certain kind of car (a limo, a cement mixer, a convertable with the top down?), or spy another vehicle under the right conditions (get them to give you a peace sign, honk their horn, see them picking their nose, etc.). A fiercely competitive game resulted in Megan getting "bored" when her points didn't accumulate as quickly as Mom's & Hannah's did. We did indeed see someone picking their nose, got a trucker to honk his horn, and saw lots of other really hilarious things too. It really was a great way to get the kids to look out their windows and see the rolling wooded hills of northeastern Ohio give way to the flat fields of the midwest in southwestern Ohio & Indiana. We highly recommend it. Suitable for all ages (ahem . . . including adults).
And the last stop of the night . . . the home of Seth Wanlass in Bloomington, IN . . . of the BYU student ward where Jeff & I met. Soooooooo good to see him and meet the rest of his family! He lived above Jeff's first apartment in Moon Apartments years and years ago. It's such a beautiful thing to see friends after . . . ages and ages and ages . . . and discover that they are still wonderful people with such good in their lives and they are even better than you left them years before.
1 comment:
I was in the Kirtland Stake when I was in school in Cleveland. They had a big to-do when I was there and they got a lot of relics collected - or something like that. It was then that I learned that one of Mom's ancestors, Mary Clark, joined the church while it was in Kirtland. She was from Mentor - which is just on the other side of the highway from Kirtland. The Temple tour will be very important for you to take one day. It is lovely. Also, our Stake farm was the Johnson Farm of Doctrine and Covenants fame. We made the most delicious apple cider there in the fall. I wonder if they would let you come and press apples? Also, there is a beautiful place down the road where they quarried stone that make a peaceful place for a picnic.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful adventures.
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