ROAD TRIP!
In July we went to visit my brother Sean's family in Connecticut...via Niagara Falls. We set the destination in the GPS, hit "Go!" and off we went, on a very scenic route. (We later realized the GPS was set to avoid toll roads, so we were all over those back roads, lol.) We had planned to drive all the way up to the falls in one day and sightsee the next, but about 9 hours into our 12-hour drive Daniel started throwing up--a lot. After the fourth round in half as many minutes, and I only managed to catch the last with a plastic bag, we pulled over to change his clothes and wipe out his carseat. I implored Nathan to stop for the day even though we were short of our goal. We were in the middle of NOWHERE. GPS saved the day! It was so nice to hit "nearest hotel" and get directed to a town just east of us with a hotel, a Wendy's, and a Walmart. Thankfully Daniel didn't have any more episodes, but he did have a high fever that night (yay Walmart for a Tylenol run!).
The next day we headed out again, and just as we crossed the New York border, Daniel started fussing again. Fearful of vomit round two, we pulled over, and a nice man stopped to check on us. When we told him we thought the kids were just tired of being cooped up, he offered to show us the way to a local playground. The boys loved that.
After about 30-45 minutes we headed back on the road and arrived at Niagara Falls mid-morning. We didn't bring documentation to cross the border, but we did go on Maid of the Mist, which I think was way more fun than crossing over.
After we toured the Falls we drove to Lockport, NY to see the Erie Canal. We also did a tour of Lockport Caves, which was pretty cool.
We spent the night in Rochester, NY in preparation for our stop in Palmyra. In the morning as we were eating breakfast, the hotel's fire alarm went off. We evacuated the hotel and the boys watched in awe as two firetrucks pulled in, firemen hopped out in all their uniformed glory, tossed axes and other tools to each other and hoofed into the hotel. We don't know what the problem was, but one of the firemen gave each of the boys a Junior Fire Chief sticker afterwards.
In Palmyra we visited Hill Cumorah, the Martin Harris Farm, and Joseph Smith's homestead, including the Sacred Grove. It was the first day of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, so between that mess and our eagerness to get to Sean's we didn't spend a lot of time in Palmyra.
We finally arrived in Hamden, CT that night. While visiting Sean and Jenny we got to ride an authentic steam locomotive in Essex, CT. That train had been used in the latest Indiana Jones movie, "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", in the scene where Shia Labeouf rides his motorcycle onto the train platform and calls out to Harrison Ford on the train. Take note that Harrison Ford was sitting in car 503 as you look at the pictures...
We also visited Watch Hill, RI, one of Einstein's favorite haunts. The kids rode the country's oldest merry-go-round, made with surplus rocking horses! Then we headed to the overcast & chilly beach. David had never been in the ocean before that time. He had a blast.
They took us to Boston and we walked the freedom trail. We also visited the New England Aquarium. Oddly enough, as we were wrapping up our visit, the fire alarm went off there, too. We quickly grabbed our strollers (which we had checked at the front desk for easier maneuverability) and ducked out so we didn't have to wait an hour just to get our strollers back.
We finished the day in Boston's Little Italy with dinner at a cute little restaurant and pastries from Mike's Pastry!! Yum-O. Thanks for hosting us Sean and Jenny!
