New Hampshire to New York

We finally tore ourselves away from the kids on Wednesday. It was really, really hard to say goodby, but it was time. Tuesday I spent a few more hours unpacking with them, we spent the night and Wednesday we were off. Our first goal was Sharon, Vermont, which was the birthplace of Joseph Smith Jr. For Mormons, this is a very interesting place, because he started the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For Non-Mormons, it's still a beautiful, quaint and rural part of southern Vermont. (I took some pictures, but they're on my other camera, and I haven't downloaded it yet, I'll work on that tomorrow).

We spent the whole day driving down the backroads of New England, most of it in full Spring regalia. The trees are flowering, and just starting to have leaves budding out. In some areas it's still too cold, it looks like a winter landscape of stark tree trunks jutting toward the sky, offset by evergreens scattered around them. Most of Vermont was blooming though, with bright purple trees and bushes, and lovely trees covered in white. Did I mention the snow? As we were driving over a mountain pass it started to snow! Nothing that would last, or even stick to the ground very long, but snow nonetheless. The rivers and bogs are a novelty to desert rats like us. We passed rivers, lakes, bogs, and creeks every few miles. This week the snowmelt was affecting the rivers, and the added rain caused flood levels at most of the rivers in Vermont and New Hampshire, so there were even more boggy places than normal, I think. We spent the night on the border of Vermont and New York, in a parking lot. We followed camping signs to an RV park, but it was closed and there was no-one around. They had a great big parking lot in front of their little store, and it was on a 2-lane, fairly quiet road, so we just parked there and went to sleep.

The next morning we had a nice breakfast in the motorhome and set off for Palmyra, New York. We drove through the backwaters of New York all day yesterday, through the canal zone of central NY, and stopped in Saratoga. It was the site of a Revolutionary War battle, and had all kinds of interesting things to see. We stopped at an antique shop that specialized in Revolutionary War items, and the owner George also made great woodsy furniture. He was very chatty, and it took us more than an hour to visit, tour his workshop, see the Fort model he'd made, etc. That changed my plans a little, so we didn't get to Palmyra until today, but it was great fun and we saw some beautiful country.

We stopped at the LDS Visitor's center in Palmyra NY this morning. This is a very important site for Mormons, because Joseph Smith was living here when he had a vision, and that vision started him on a spiritual journey unusual even in the U.S., where religious fervor can be quite vigorous. The Visitor's center explains a lot about the details, which I won't go into here. What I do want to tell you is that they also have an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls. While they do not have any of the originals, due to their fragility, they do have a 28 foot replica of one, and several smaller replicas as well, with some translations. I saw the Copper Scroll, an original, and it is beautiful. They also have items from the Qumron archeological site such as coins, a dagger and several period oil lamps. They are very small and made of clay. It was a great exhibit, I should have the pictures in a slide show by tomorrow.

We drove up Hill Cumorah, and there is a beautiful spire and statue of Moroni at the top. The lilacs were blooming, as well as tulips, daffodils and other flowers, it was a beautiful setting. The grass runs down the hill, Mom and I had to ask the groundskeeper- How do you mow this?? Turns out they use a walk-behind mower, because the slope is too steep for a riding mower. It must be a huge task, the hill has to be over an acre from top to bottom.

The last stop for us was the Smith farm. The LDS church has purchased all the land, built a replica of their cabin on the original foundation and restored the farmhouse they lived in back in 1820-1827 ish. They originally owned 100 acres, with one son purchasing 80 acres next to it. It is so green, with lots of period pieces in the house, barn and cooper's shed, where they made barrels. There is a lot of LDS history connected with the Palmyra area, including the building where the Book of Mormon was first printed, with 3000 copies. It is now printed in 160 languages, and who knows how many books have been printed. The Sacred Grove is where Joseph had a vision, and saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now, I know that many people who read this won't believe this is possible. The great thing about religious freedom is that we are all free to believe what we choose, and for me this is it. No matter what one believes, this area has a great feeling of peace, and there is a wonderful Spirit that resides here. Even nonmembers can feel it. I first went to Palmyra 28 years ago with a friend that wasn't a member, and when we walked into that grove of trees, with the birds singing, and a slight breeze dancing with the leaves, a hush fell over us. We walked along the path, and I finally asked her what she noticed. Like me, she felt something was very special there. OK, let's just call it a great spiritual experience, at least for me. We were there until about 1:30, then it was time to leave for Niagara Falls. More about the Falls later!

The Maine Event

We went searching for the Atlantic ocean yesterday, and by golly we found it! I know it doesn't sound too difficult, but there are so many little roads and little towns along those roads that it was a little tricky. Hampton Beach is only 45 minutes from Manchester, and it's a lovely little town. It was cold and rainy, but we had to see the ocean. I ran down to the surf and stuck my hands in, and boy was it chilly! The waves chased me back up the beach pretty quickly, but now I can say I've been from one side of the country to the other. The wind was blowing so hard that we only stayed out long enough to take a couple pictures, then we found a nice cafe and had some hot chocolate. We then drove up the coast along a little 2 lane road for miles, enjoying the ocean and the 5 foot + waves that the storm was raising.

We stopped in Portsmouth NH to ask for a good place to eat lunch, and learned we were only a stone's throw from Maine. Well, we had to go into Maine, and eat lobster! The menu said the price is based on that day's boat ! I love that we had lobster that had come off the boat that very day, it was great food.

It started raining at 9:00 am on Monday, and didn't stop until late Tuesday afternoon. They got almost 3 inches of rain in the past 2 1/2 days, I wish I could pack some up and send it home to my yard, I don't think they need it all. Tomorrow we are leaving for Vermont. I'm excited about it in some ways, but I sure hate to leave the kids.

Yarn run

I picked up a bunch of pamphlets for local attractions, and lo and behold, the main store for Patternworks is just 60 miles up the road from Manchester in Center Harbor! I've received yarn catalogs from them for years, and had to make the trip. Heather and I drove up through some of the most beautiful countryside during the trip, and then we came to the lake. Lake Winnipesaukee is a huge lake in the center of New Hampshire, with lots of fingers spreading every direction. Center Harbor is just one of many small New England towns along its shore, with quaint old homes, a beautiful old church and little cemetery right between the road and the shoreline.
There is a ferry-type ship that does tours on the lake. I got a picture, but we didn't have time to take the trip. Maybe next time!

We spent over an hour in the yarn shop, it was great! I found yarn and a pattern book to make my son an argyle scarf, some great variegated cotton yarn for me a sweater, of course some more sock yarn, and a couple odds and ends. We wandered up and down route 25, because it follows the lake for miles. I swear, it could have come right out of a Rockwell painting, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

It finally rained today, it's been so warm and clear for the past week, I can't complain. New Hampshire had been 2 weeks without a storm, they were starting to have brush fires. It's hard for me to be concerned, since it hasn't rained at home since the end of March, but 2 weeks for them is a long time.

Tomorrow we are driving to Hampton Beach, which is on the Atlantic ocean, so there will be more pictures! It's supposed to rain, but we want to eat fresh New England seafood and see the Atlantic, so the weather won't stop us. We are having such a good time, I can almost forget that soon I'll be leaving here without my kids. I can't think about that very much, it will be really hard. Mom and I went to church with Heather today, and people were very friendly. It's nice to know she will have a church family here, even if I can't be close, there are people that will look out for my kids.