Believe in the Power of Dreams

Well now that our stupid vacation is over…

Ever have a dream? Martin Luther King, Michael Phelps, Pinocchio, Aerosmith- they all had dreams. Well I have a dream too. Like most people (this is Leigh Anna by the way) I have a dream car. Now some people like fast cars like a Corvette or a Mustang. Some like Vintage cars like a Charger or El Camino. Some even like ugly cars like a Gremlin. I want a DeLorean. You know the Back to the Future car, I want one always have always will.

What would you do if your dream was within reach? Well mine is. On eBay right now there is an auction for a 1981 DMC-12 DeLorean. The auction is at $5,600 right now. Here’s the best part- the car is here in Denver. Take a look at the auction. That’s a pittance- others in California are going for 29, 30,000$! And I’d have to fly out there. This one is here right here. What do you think, do you think I should buy it? I say yes! Jared is totally ok with it, in fact he seems to be more excited than me- however, Joseph is holding the deal up and even has trouble believing that I’m serious about buying it. Every time I try to broach the subject with him he rolls his eyes and I explain my perfectly legitimate plans to acquire the car, he then refutes them one by one. I have thought of buying it anyway and asking forgiveness later. It’s right under my nose. Plus it would be cool to get it in time for Jared’s birthday and for the anniversary we didn’t have this year.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160272551490&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:MOTORS:1123

Leave your comments and help convince Joseph to let me live my dream!! I’ll let you drive it!

World tour Part IV

By now you are probably sick of reading about our trip to NY and really could careless about it. Well the good news for you is the following story does not take place in NY…mostly.

Ah so we arrive at the Rochester airport in time. We go through security and lounge around waiting for 4:50 or so when our flight was supposed to leave. We get near 4:40 and something is suspicious- there is no announcement of boarding and there seems to be something afoot. We get word that there is no crew. Ok fine, so we wait. Well eventually the crew comes strolling in and we’re like ok good- we can still make our layover in Detroit. We only had a half hour gap to make our connecting flight. Well as they’re doing the pre-flight check they find some sort of minor mechanical problem. The flight is delayed- so now we are faced with a conundrum- will they be able to get us to Detroit in time for us to make our connecting flight? They say there’s a 50% chance we make it but cannot guarantee anything.

Well Annie and Diana being the eternal schemers, decide to see if we can stay in NY an extra night rather than risk going to Detroit. William and I just practiced Thriller, which we are very rusty at apparently. Finally the word came down, they booked us a hotel right by the airport in Rochester so we were staying 1 more night. Which means Pageant, Part II.

So we went down to rent a car (everybody claimed they were out of cars) except for National who quoted us 40$ for a car but then ooops it looks like were out of the 40$ cars and all they had was 60$. Fortunately (sic) the guy upgraded us to a SUV (with gas at 4.25$ this was not an upgrade) but we weren’t going that far. So we’re back in the car, back at Palmyra, back at Pageant. I gotta say I was too thrilled with seeing the Pageant again because it was a “good 1 time thing.” Everyone got excited when the rotary club potatoes went BOGO, but it was odd to me because here were these people who’s ancestors threw out the Saints in the first place making a ton of money off of us and yet, as Nephi would say, “we suffereth it.”

I took Joseph during a calm down walk during the Pageant but he never went to sleep. Annie had to miss part of the last Pageant because of Joseph so it was my turn. So the Pageant was good but there was a bunch of Antis yelling at us. Whatever.

So then we went back to our NWA paid for hotel- a Marriott. Far and away the best hotel we stayed in, including Niagara falls. The pillows….yum…the beds soft. The problem- by the time we got back from the Pageant it was 12:30 and our flight left at 5:30. That’s only about 5 hours for you keeping score at home. So we “slept” an dragged our beds out of bed at like 4:30 or something awful like that.

So we get through security (flagged again for additional screening by the airline!) and get to our gate. Seems like this plane works, has a crew and is not over booked. So we fly to MN without further delay.
We had like an hour or so in MN before our connecting flight to Denver. By now everyone is exhausted and we all want to get home. I wanted to go badly. Very badly. William had tickets to see the Rockies in a luxury box so he had to get home. Within 20 minutes of our flight an eerie foreboding swept across the terminal- an all too familiar feeling. “Attention NWA passengers to Denver…we have overbooked this flight. Would anybody be willing to take a later flight for $300 in credits?” Would we? Annie was all over it and so was Diana, but then I got torn, do I want to stay or go home? I raced and checked the paper Minnesota Twins v. Texas Rangers 1:10 Metrodome. Yikes! We gotta stay I’m giving up my seat! Diana was none too pleased as she wanted the credits (which I would gladly give up if I could) but I wanted to see the Twins. I was beating myself up for potentially missing the Tigers I sure wasn’t missing the Twins. So I 180d and decided to give up our seats to the later flight. Originally they had us on a flight at 2:00, and as compensation they had us in First Class. Ah but the game starts at 1:10 theres no point staying if not going to the game. So I convinced annie to take the 4:50 flight so we could watch the twins. She agreed, and gave up her dream of first class.

So Diana, William and Joseph took off for home while we stayed, just the two of us. I had a backpack full of books which everyone asked if I wanted to send home. I declined. Big mistake. So then we decided hey since were in Minneapolis why not go to their famous landmark- the Mall of America!

Quick fact-did you know the Mall of America doesn’t open until 11 am? Yeah me neither. We got to the Mall via train (a thrifty 3.00$ roundtrip for 2!) at 9:30 thinking the mall would open at 10. It didn’t. By the time the mall did open it was almost time to get back on the train and head for the world famous Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

The Mall of America was underwhelming although maybe it was because a) we were so tired b)I had those books and c) it wasn’t open yet (we went inside the mall but all the shops were closed) Frankly the Mall wasn’t that big. I imagined miles and miles of retail but really it wasn’t that much bigger than our Colorado Mills. We ended up buying some clothes for Joseph (whom we truly missed as I do now) and a couple of ties and an ornament.

Then it was onto the main event- Twins- Rangers-Metrodome.

Now I don’t know about you out there but watching baseball inside is just not Christian. We descended the train and got our tickets in the “cheap seats.” One good thing about the Metrodome is the cheap seats are general admission so we could sit pretty much anywhere on the top- I liked this idea. So we bought our tiny tickets with a huge receipt/stub and went into the Metrodome. Now having been spoiled by the best baseball park in the world, we both thought the same thing upon arriving on the concourse- Weird! Weird. It’s almost as if a different game started with baseball and evolved on a different path and arrived at something that closely resembled baseball but not quite. Weird. Astroturf. Designated Hitter. White ceiling (difficult to follow the ball on a pop up) fake dirt. Weird. The game was enjoyable but not the same. The Twins actually ended up losing 1-0 but the twins pitcher pitched a 1 hitter- the 1 hit being a home run, and he got the loss.

It was weird being inside and watching baseball but it really made the trip for me. Now I have seen the Twins- just as I was worried I wasn’t going to make it to a road game this year.

So then it was back to the airport for the last time (?) a bad omen- on the train to the concourse the power shut off and the train stopped moving and the doors sealed. Well we finally got there, had us a California Pizza and got on board the aircraft. Then an announcement… “We have overbooked this plane would anyone be willing to give up their seat for a $300 voucher?” Well my hand shot up right away, but Annie gave me a scathing look. The Flight attendant came by and asked if I wanted to give up my seat, I hesitated then finally relented- “No. I want to go home.” So we did.

Live From New York

Part III- Got a Barrel?

So after all the church history we could handle- it was time to head into another country. I told you it was a world tour, not just the US. So we headed off to Niagara Falls, Canada. We had a large Hotel Suite right up against the water (well as close as you could get anyway) Upon arrival we straight to the Hotel which was easy to see but hard to get to. Immediately upon crossing the border, it became apparent to me that Niagara Falls Canada resembled Las Vegas. Hotels, Casino, just the overall tourist vibe, it just seemed like Vegas. And for the record, I hate Vegas.

But our Hotel was nice. We paid extra money to get a room with a view of the falls which I guess some people enjoyed- I ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room because I was indifferent to the falls view. Joseph and William joined me as well. So after unpacking our stuff we headed up to the Manager’s reception (lame) and William played a hunting game. Later I got confused by the French signs and ended up in the girl’s bathroom. No one saw me fortunately, but it was still embarrassing.

Then we headed down toward the falls, which we thought would be a quick walk down the hill from our hotel- only the hill was really steep and there was no pathway. The only easy way to get down was to take the little tram that was 2$ each. So we thought ok we’ll walk down. Well you have to walk down the entire freaking strip! It was a good 30 minute walk before there was a place down.

We finally made it down and saw the falls. Again because of the Vegas vibe I really wasn’t that impressed with them. They were cool but you’re just as well google imaging Niagara Falls. But it was time with my family and a truly scenic place so it was alright. We took a bunch of fotos. Joseph would never look at the camera. We eventually made it down to the horseshoe falls and faced a conundrum- walk all the way back or take the shuttle which lets off right at our hotel. The Waffler on our trip didn’t know what she wanted to do but in the end we decided to take the tram- about 30 seconds long…

We got back and we were going to eat but first I had to charge the camera. So in the data center I went and charged, deciding what to do for the fireworks. They informed me that the fireworks were over the American falls and thus, would not be visible from our hotel room. I shared this news with the ladies and they were none too pleased. Finally we decided to walk back down(!) which honestly this time didn’t seem as bad.

Roles of the Trip
The Bad Driver
The Requested yet Denied Driver
The Waffler
The Baby
The 10$ Sandwhich Man
The Leader
The Navigator
The Brains
The Money
So we got down the hill and onto a grassy spot in front of the Falls. The falls were cooler at night and down here. The Fireworks went off- just as Joseph was drifting off. So he woke up and we watched the fireworks- pretty cool, yet pretty Vegas. It all seemed so…Bellagio. We decided to walk down to the horseshoe falls to see those at night too. By the time we got there, much like our trip to Vegas and Caesar’s Palace, we were exhausted and the tram wasn’t running so it was time to walk back.

Well William “$10 Sandwhich Man” was hungry and so as we got back up the hill he stopped into his second favorite restaurant ever- Subway. Similar to Vegas, the sub prices were touristy, but William was undaunted. He went in and ordered his classic Ham footlong. The guy told him the price and said that you’re in Canada pal, the dollar is worth less (not worthless) here and so the sandwhich was more. A footlong that costs 5$ just a few hundred feet away cost him $10. The Canada guy totally screwed him and tricked him on the conversion because US money is worth more than Canadian- the sandwhich should have been LESS! The Brains and The Money were toot tired to prevent this, so from this day forward, William is $10 Sandwhich Man.

Finally bed time. As we arrived back at the hotel, The Driver was coming out of the shower all clean- rather than put Pjs on, he put going out clothes on. Are you really going out? We all asked, and he was dead serious. While I couldn’t take 1 more step, I guess he was going out for a night on the town.

And he wasn’t the only one-$10SM ($10 Sandwhich Man’s Rap Name) decided he wanted to explore the hotel. This was all going on whilst I and Joseph slept soundly- him in his cute crib and me on both stacks of couch pillows because I was not going to “sleep” on the hide-a-bed. So $10SM went out and got a free game of golf at the arcade, sent some emails in the business center, and hung out. This alarmed his Mom and Her Mom who went out looking for $10SM. He was fine and by the time I woke up he was back in his bed. Perhaps he was out pimping his street cred as a major playa in the Sandwhich Market.

Then we had Breakfast at the little nook which again, had falls views. I kept looking for Superman to show up and in fact, I even pushed a kid into the falls just to provoke Superman to come. Maybe he was busy fighting himself in a Junkyard, but he never came. The food at breakfast was pretty good and I got pretty stuffed. Even Joseph got full. Sadly there was no $10 Subs on the menu…

Then we had to book it to the U.S. side as this was (supposed to be) our last day of the trip. There was controversy of whether we should ride the Maid of the Mist, and in the end The Brain/The Leader (guess who that one is) decided to sacrifice trying to get a Canada passport stamp and go on the boat ride.

By the way the US side was infinitely better. You can get like 5 feet away from the falls- everything was cleaner, more natural and cheaper- they weren’t just pimping out the natural resource and it looked well cared for. We went on Maid of the Mist and got us all ponchos. They even had a cute Joseph sized one which would be even cuter if he was looking at the camera. We got pretty wet and Joseph went from John McCain hair to newborn hair he got so wet- which we didn’t like too much. But he did enjoy holding the rail and trying to squeeze through it.

After Maid of the Mist (the highlight of Niagara by far) we had to book it for the airports. We dropped the first half of our party off no problem. Then for some reason The Requested Yet Denied Driver freaks out on us and practically yells at us- “GET IN THE CAR WE HAVE TO MOVE NOW WE’LL NEVER MAKE IT” (We had like 3 hours or something) Weird.

Famous quotes from the trip
“25, 25, 25 ,25 25”
“Why isn’t Annie driving again?”
“I want some Subway”
“Da-da-da-daaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Man this trip is going to be expensive”
“FOR-EV-ER”
“Do you guys know what a Taco is?”

So we finally clam this mystery person who’s name rhymes with Bannie down and convince her we have time to make our flight. But first we have to stop by the airport and get gas. So I gas up the Van whilst TRYDD goes in to go pee- Lo and Behold they have, what else, a Subway at this gas station. We were all hungry- especially $10SM (guess what he ordered) so we ordered a sandwhich each.

I think actually riding a subway to a NY Deli, then riding another Subway to a meat plant and so on to acquire the ingredients to make the sandwhiches would have been faster. $10SM tried to use his Sandwhich cred to speed the guy along but seriously this dude took like 30 minutes to make 2 Subs. I thought about kicking him an extra $4 to make thing go along faster but I didn’t think I could live with the burden of being $10SM2.

Finally we made it to the airport. You’d think our trip ends there, or that there is a paragraph that says and then we flew home without incident- but you’d be wrong…

Part Deux

Part Deux- “I knew it and I knew that God knew it…”

Next up on our world tour was Palmyra, New York/Church History sights. After staying the night in Newark, NY (not NJ) we cruised into Palmyra at about 9:30 or so in the morning. Earlier we’d received a hot tip about eating at the Chill and Grill in Palmyra. But first as we arrived in the town we saw the Book of Mormon Publishing house, which is where we would get our first dose of Hermanas. I had already been to the Book of Mormon house in Nauvoo so I was a little skeptical. Just as they were about to start our tour, in walks a very large crew of Pageant ground’s crew, making out tour quite full.

They walked us into the building and you could immediately tell it was a special place. Not only could you feel the spirit but there was further miracles explored. We saw the bookstore where every book was white and paperback except 2- the Biblia and the newly finished Book of Mormon which sold for $1.24 which was a chunk of change back then! This was somehow very cool, and I thought of the sacrifice it must have been to buy one, especially when not too many people could read. I call your attention to the story of Parley P. Pratt and his experience with that old 1830 edition.

Anyway I’d have to say that among the church history sites, I would rank the Publishing house first or tied with the sacred grove. It took almost 3 years to publish the first edition of 5,000 copies, and they couldn’t just produce 1 sample. The miracle of the Book of Mormon should not be taken lightly. We also saw where they printed them on huge sheets which they later folded into 8 sections (pages) and then they had to tie it together. My HP would disagree, but printing was a huge job. Huge. So what I’m saying is read your BOM everyday!

Afterwards, we went up to “4 church corner” perhaps the corner that started it all, in his words “ 5 Some time in the second year after our removal to Manchester, there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists, but soon became general among all the sects in that region of country. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying, “aLo, here!” and others, “Lo, there!” Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist.
6 For, notwithstanding the great alove which the converts to these different faiths expressed at the time of their conversion, and the great zeal manifested by the respective clergy, who were active in getting up and promoting this extraordinary scene of religious feeling, in order to have everybody converted, as they were pleased to call it, let them join what sect they pleased; yet when the converts began to file off, some to one party and some to another, it was seen that the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more bpretended than real; for a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions.”

Then we headed up to visit old Alvin’s Grave. It was hard to find because the cemetery had a weird layout but eventually Stanley got his picture taken with it.

Afterwards, it was on to the Joseph Smith farm and the sacred grove. Ponder this for a moment- they showed us the house where Moroni came to visit Joseph to tell him about the plates. They always show Joseph in his bed asleep and shielding his eyes at the Angel- Alone. However it is almost impossible that Joseph was alone as his 4 brothers were also in the room. Never thought of that. Always assumed he was alone. But that almost makes it even cooler. The house was tiny- hard to believe 11 people lived there, but as the guy at the barn said, “everything they did was hard back then.” Some of the tour was overcome with the fact that they were in the same room where Moroni once stood. Chilling.

Returning to the narrative… “14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the awoods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a bbeautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to cpray dvocally.”

As we moved between various Hermanas, soon it was time for the main event- the Sacred Grove. Joseph was getting a little cranky but even he had a certain degree of excitement. In the end the serenity of the grove would allow him to sleep in the shady woodlands. To summarize the grove- there are only a handful of places on the entire earth where we know Jesus has personally visited- even fewer has the father visited. And even fewer where they both visited at the same time. We know for a fact that this is one of those places. And the spirit manifests this truth throughout. Cool, shady, well preserved and spiritual the Grove was everything it was supposed to be. The power of the place in undeniable, despite the fact that I had never seen it I was able to tell the people of Paraguay about it and the miracle that happened there, and so great is the power they believed me. It’s much better seeing it for yourself.

I don’t really need to return to the scriptures here because you should know it by now…but let’s just say- wow. Incredible. Afterwards we crossed the street and went and took some more Stanley fotos at the temple. Joseph was feeling free so whilst his diaper was shed he made the most of it and pooped on the temple grounds. Right in the grass. Now that’s freedom. It was also a nice place to rest because we still had a long evening before us.

After that, we headed the 2 miles to the Hill Cumorah where the plates were found and where the pageant would be performed. The Hill Cumorah monument was cool but not overly spectacular. Maybe I was just tired by then. Then more Hermanas at the visitor center as we watched the restoration video.

After that we were outside “proselyting” with the cast who turned out to be our cousins. So we hung out with them and I even got to touch Wes’s Mullet. That was probably more special that touching the plates! Soon it was time for the show. The show was good, but I thought some parts of it were kinda hokey. Don’t get me wrong the message was cool and the savior parts were quite spiritual but some of the dialogue was unintentionally funny. King Noah: “NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYESSSS!” I still give it like 8 stars out of 10 but I guess Annie and Diana loved it so much they wanted to see it again (see part IV Post Script)

Though it was past midnight our church history experience was not over. (We went home and slept) but then it was on to the Peter Whitmer farm, site of the translation of the plates and the site of the world’s first sacrament meeting. Did you know that on 04/06/1830 Joseph and Oliver were baptized for a second time as a symbol of their entrance in to the kingdom? Neither did I but a friendly Hermana told us that, and was blown away that I would speak Spanish with her, especially after seeing her placa. Again the farm was cool, but I think by this time I was reaching overload on church history. I’m not like anti-spiritual or anything it was just a little much in such a short time. Which I suppose could be the theme of our whole trip.

We're Official!!

Thanks to some major butt kicking by our loan shark Mark we found out Thursday night we were closing on Friday morning!! All I can say is Mark really earned his money. I would recommend him to anyone. He ended the lien dispute by paying the lien out of his own pocket to clear our title so our loan would be approved. He was suppose to be paid back at closing but we are not sure if that happened. Our closing was kinda strange because no one from the seller bothered to show up. Mark our loan guy couldn't make it and our realtor showed up half way through. Closing was much easier and a lot less stressful that I was expecting. Also the stack of paper was really not too big. I think we had to sign more paperwork to put our offer on the house. We had everything signed in 1 1/2 hours.
We owe a HUGE THANK YOU to Holly, Stacey, Our parents, Diana & Andy because they moved most of our stuff yesterday. We have a little bit unpacked but still have 1/2 a garage full of boxes. Stacey unloaded most of our food and played with Joseph which made the day MUCH easier especially since he is getting a new tooth and has been cranky.
Once we finish unpacking we plan on having a Titanic house warming party that you all are invited to. We started planning it this morning and it should be a blast!! Or if you are in the area feel free to stop by anytime. We love company.
Then we get to start the task of taking all the ugly wallpaper down. Anyone needing a place to get their frustrations out is more than welcome to take them out on our wallpaper.

Sad News on the Home Front

Last night we went to a farewell party for our friends Ryan and Amanda Davis and their three cute kids. Ryan was our home teacher for the three years we lived in the Northridge ward. We were so excited to have found a house in the ward boundaries so we could have our beloved Ryan back. Sadly they decided to join several of the other families from our ward Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Decision to move to Utah. It seems like we have lost half of our ward to Utah. In May Adrie Petersen and family left us for Kaysville. The funny thing is she now lives in my sister Donna and Grandparents ward. So hopefully I'll be able to see her on my several adventures over to Utah.

We miss you already!!

Also to add to our sad news we found out today our closing has been delayed because of idiots that can't seem to work together. There is a $6,000 lien on the house. The seller is responsible for paying all liens in our case the house belongs to a bank. They are willing to pay the lien but not until closing. However the title company will not clear the title until the lien has been paid. And to add to the idiocy the loan will not approve until we have a clear title to buy. Our loan shark Mark Hendrickson aka loan broker has been working hard to get everything resolved. Unfortunately he was unable to get everyone to come to an agreement in time to meet the 72 hour requirement to have everything submitted to close by the 24th. The worst part is we have to pay $100 everyday past the 24th we don't close. This is the part that makes us the maddest because we have done everything we can to close on time. We are hoping to close on the 25th but haven't heard yet. We will keep you all posted especially all you that are going to help us move. :)

World Tour 2008- PART I

Denver, CO-Detroit, MI- Rochester, NY- Utica, NY- Cooperstown, NY- Fly Creek, NY- Newark, NY- Palmyra, NY- Niagara Falls, NY- Niagara Falls, ONT CAN- Buffalo, NY- Minneapolis, MN- St. Paul, MN- these were the stops on our world tour. Getting in to Rochester was fine but getting out…

Tuesday was a travel day, we arrived (on time) to Rochester from Detroit. We arrived at our pretty nice hotel, Hotel Utica. I think we were all pretty bushed from traveling so we got some Mexican food. Somewhere in this sequence Joseph, wearing socks for the first time in awhile, lost one of his Lightning McQueeen socks (Kachow!) it may still turn up but as of now he’s only got 1.

This is Annie in the lobby of our hotel. Pretty nice for being in the Comfort Inn Family

This is from the lobby as well.

That night was the All-Star game and I intended to watch a little and then go to bed early because the next day was Cooperstown. We got back from dinner and I turned the game on just in time to see Matt Holliday take a pitch and deposit it into the seats giving the NL a 1-0 lead. It looked as if the NL was going to win but the AL tied it up in the eighth. I shoulda just went to bed there but I stayed up and watch the rest of the game which wasn’t over till like 2 am. NL lost again. Again! But our hotel was nice and I did get a little sleep until it was time to get breakfast.

Then it was on to Cooperstown. The Baseball Hall of Fame, which is certainly worth the pilgrimage for all you fans out there! We took a bunch of photos (about 800 total for the trip!) but the video was screwed up so there is little Cooperstown video. Mostly we stayed on the 3rd floor where we took a tour about stadiums and got to see some of the really cool artifacts and the record room. Our own Todd Helton was mentioned on a view, bolstering perhaps his chance at the HOF. We also watched the movie on the 2nd floor and hung out at the Great Bambino room (The King of Crash, The Colossus of Clout) It was cool to see his old bats and a spiffy signed ball. It was certainly enthralling. They also had an olde tyme movie playing about how a certain play would be ruled in like 1860. Very cool. They even had a special display on the 2007 World Series which was cool because it was our own Rockies! Joseph got his picture taken at the exhibit marking his first ever game!



Then we made it to the holy of holies the first floor where all the plaques were. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control we were rushed out of the first floor and so I had to miss the broadcasting/writing wing. But we strolled through the Plaques and took some pictures with a few of the interesting ones. Very cool, certainly a moment of reflection. I enjoyed it very much. The history and the memories was all right there- they even had Tulo’s triple play ball.

Then we had about 10 seconds to explore the town of Coorperstown which really had some amazing shops. We had to miss seeing Doubleday field (and there was a baseball tournament going on too!) I missed out on some sweet shops but in the end I got a pretty good deal on a Slugger bat (though it is engraved erroneously with some other kids name) but it was only $20. Not bad for a fine piece of Ash. We also got 2 HOF plaque postcards, a keychain/ornament, a HOF mini Slugger bat and a tiny cute baseball mitt for Joseph that actually fits him. But we have many memories. I’d say my favorite part was either the World Series exhibit or the Plaque room.

By the numbers:

Hotels stayed in: 4
Cities visited: 13
Movies watched: 5 (the Sandlot, (twice) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters, 13 Going on 30
Money spent: I don’t even want to know
Different Airplanes: 4
Times at the Airport: 8

For some unexplained reason, after that we were rushed out of Cooperstown and we ended up stopping at Fly Creek so Leigh Anna could get a free apple slushy. We stopped and ate and enjoyed the little homestyle mill (where they have excellent Cider- it is very sweet and delicious) We saw Mullet Ducks and ate a lot of free samples of Salsa. It was a good place to let Cooperstown linger over us!

Then it was onto Newark, our Hotel which was about 1.5 hours away. We finally made it there, pretty tired and went down for a nice night’s sleep.

I plan to present our vacation in several parts so it doesn’t look so long. This is Part I. I’ll try to break it up into events- Cooperstown, Palymyra/Church History, Niagara Falls and Post Script. Come back later too for the fotos. As mentioned earlier there are hundreds of fotos so it’ll take us awhile to get through them all. But they’re coming. Also an update on the Thrill the Wedding Video everyone has been clamoring about- I am borrowing a firewire cable from my brother to be able to convert onto youtube. The hardware I have is insufficient and I wasn’t able to get the footage off the camera. Look for that in the coming weeks as well.

Come back soon for Part II.