East Coast Vacation

It's been a long time since I posted anything here. Sorry everyone!! I'll do some catch up over the next few days. But to start I want to share some photos from our family vacation last month. It was our first time in years to take a lengthy vacation. We were gone for 11 days, visited Ontario, New York, New Hamshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and travelled 2400 miles. We had such a delightful time. Here is my travel log and photo gallery.

Niagara Falls, Ontario -- Absolutely stunning! A must see and if you go you must take the Maid of the Mist boat tour. As you can see in this photo it goes right up to the base of the falls. Be sure to wear the rain gear or you will get soaked from the mist!! You don't realize how powerful these falls are until you are right at their base. The second photo is of the American Falls nearby. Each summer night they do this amazing light show on the falls.

Washington, New Hampshire -- Our first Sabbath we attended church at the birthplace of the Seventh-day Adventist church.We got lost on the way because our MapQuest directions didn't realize that King's Hwy from the south is a rocky 4-wheeler road and impassible the last 3 miles. We were so close to the church but we had to take a 45 minute detour around to get there!! :( Autumn thought of an important object lesson: Isaiah 40:3, 4 talks about preparing the king's highway by removing all the stones. Are we clearing out the stones so others can come quickly to the Savior? Or is our inconsistent life putting stones there that force people to take major detours to finally come to Christ? Some might get so discouraged they never come. So let's make sure we are clearing the King's Highway!

The good part is that we did make it in time for most of the church service. Because this church is the original structure built in 1843 with no heat or electricity, they only hold worship services here during the summer. It is a very small congregation but lovely people. All total with visitors there was about 18 of us there. As we sang and listened to an excellent sermon, I imagined being here on Sabbath fellowshiping with William & Cyrus Farnsworth and their families and hearing Ellen White speaking as she visited this place. Beside the church is a cemetery where these pioneers are buried. In the forest behind the church is an beautiful Sabbath trail. It is like having a Bible study and taking a walk at the same time. This was definitely the highlight of my trip!

Lexington/Concord, Massachusetts -- Visited the place where the "shot heard around the world" was fired at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. This is the bridge where Colonial militia men and the British Red-coats faced each other and the war that won our independence began.

Boston, Massachusetts --This is a fun city to tour. We walked the Freedom Trail and toured the Paul Revere house and saw the Old North Church where the lanterns were placed "one if by land, two if by sea".

When we got hungry we went to this awesome vegan oriental restaurant called "Grasshoppers". They had the best food. Check it out if you ever visit Boston!

I guess Autumn was still hungry even after that tasty meal!! Painted cows were all over the city. I don't know what that was all about.

Finally ended up in Boston Commons and the Public Gardens to have a quiet moment with the frogs and mother duck and babies made famous in the 1941 classic children's story Make Way for Ducklings.

Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts --This was my second time here and it is a fun place. The best part is talking to the actors who all portray an actual person who lived in the colony in 1627. They tell you of their trip on the Mayflower and life in the village. It is fun to pepper them with questions about family, marriage, foods they are cooking, their daily tasks, and their religious views (very enlightening--quite protestant and intolerant of everyone that doesn't interpret the Bible as they do). I could listen to their Old English dialect and words all day.
Rhode Island & The Big Apple -- Toward the end of our trip we drove through Providence. This is the colony founded by Roger Williams. Of all the early founders of this country, I believe Williams was the only one who truly understood the separation of church and state and the importance of religious liberty. We can thank him for many of the principles that ended up in the Bill of Rights.
We headed on to New York City, visiting Ellis Island where my great-great-grandfather immigated to the USA from Germany many years ago, and the statue of liberty--the first symbol of democracy and freedom that he saw upon his arrival.

The saddest part of this day was going to ground zero. Looking at that big pit it is hard to believe so many died here. It feels so empty standing there and I could only think of the families of those lost and how they must feel as we approach the 5 year annivesary of this tragedy.

Port Gibson, New York -- I love Adventist history so I was excited to go somewhere I'd not been to before on this trip--the farm of Hiram Edson. It was in this barn that Edson and several millerite Adventist brothers met the morning after the Great Disapointment for prayer and study. Then Edson and a friend walked across the field of corn directly before them (which is still a corn field today) to visit and encourage other Adventists. And it was there in the corn field that he had a revelation--the Sanctuary is in Heaven and Jesus had entered upon His work in the most holy place on October 22. That experience cleared up their disappointment. I understand they are going to have a special commemoration of that experience this coming October 22 here at the Edson farm.

Cambridge, Ontario --Our last weekend we visited African Lion Safari near Toronto. Autumn had been here several years before and it was as amazing as she'd described it. I've never been this close to these animals. It was so fun going through the monkey enclosure. They were jumping on everyone's cars and enjoying a "joy ride". It was a really neat place and all the animal shows were terrific. Another must see place to visit!!

Anne of Green Gables -- I'll admit it. I've always been a fan of the Anne of Green Gables series. Probably because I'm a red head, a writer, and a romantic at heart. When I realized that 80% or more of the movie was filmed in the Toronto area I decided we would have to visit some of the filming locations on our trip. The last Sunday we did. I found the Anne of Green Gables home where all the close-up, outdoor scenes were shot. Considering that the film was shot 20 years ago I was surprised by how much it still looked like the house in the movie. Beside the house is the orchard. (The house seen from across the field is at another location, as this house, surprisingly, sits on a main road. I understand that all the inside scenes were shot in studio.)

About a half-hour away is the bridge scene where Anne almost drowns as the lily maid and where Gilbert later proposes to Anne and they exchange their first kiss. And so I end this travel log, just how I ended my trip ... on the bridge, praying and dreaming of my "Gil" and asking God to be with him right now where ever he may be. Maybe by our next big family vacation, he will be able to join us! :)