This 2009 Thanksgiving we find ourselves in a nice hotel room in Newport News Virginia. The adventures! We left home last Thursday, St. George, Utah, amazingly close to our goal departure time, and we drove solid through the night and into the next day. Utah, Colorado, Kansas... We both rested only about 30 minutes around 3:20 a.m. and enjoyed about 30 minutes of the car not moving. Pushing on, we finally caught up to my parents in Independence, Missouri at the visitor center built by my Grandpa Chris! It was fabulous and fun to be there with Mom & Dad! We decided to take the 13 mile detour to see Liberty Jail. We were all pretty tired and when they sat us around the outside of the jail in the dark room enclosing the original jail, I think 7 of the 10 of our group fell asleep briefly! It was amazing to realize that Joseph Smith had actually been in this jail cell, he walked these steps and greeted the jailers in a polite way. He escaped from this jail months later with help of his jailers and returned to his home because they couldn't prove him guilty of any crime. It was a humbling, beautiful beginning to our trip! From there... on to the Golden Gate Bridge in St. Louis (the other side of Missouri!)! That represents a lot of miles from home! We made it to the bridge just after it had closed so we didn't get the tour, but we parked in a fishing area on the banks (literally with our tires in the water!) of the Mississippi! I loved watching my little ones run under the trees up the hill to the Gateway to the West! With the help of our new fancy GPS gadget... we had our own private trips over the bridges of the Mississippi - two unintentionally! The first one was a crowded, missed turn. The next was over a separate, empty bridge, a private trip just for us, and then after a trip to Guitar City to buy a traveling guitar for C, we crossed yet a third bridge over that mighty Mississippi in the dark! It was beautiful! I write tonight from a hotel room so I can't post pictures, but I will when we return home!
The next day we woke to find ourselves in Illinois then through Indiana and on to Kentucky! We met Jed at a school there just an hour early to watch his game at 2:00! Perfect timing! He won and had a great game! There was only one other couple there to cheer our team on and so we were grateful to be there to cheer them to victory!
That night we pushed forward to Lexington, Virginia another 6 hours! We arrived there late, and opted to keep J with us at the hotel to take him early the next morning for church. We were all pretty exhausted! Morning came quickly. I pressed shirts as B ran J to his 'mod.' We opted to attend a 9:00 ward so we could sight see in the afternoon. I am grateful to have young people who are willing to meet new people! That afternoon we opted to go to the Stonewall Jackson Home in Lexington. He was an amazing leader in the civil war on the side of the Confederates. He ate little meat, worked hard, and prayed to God. He taught at the near by Virginia Military Institute and in the church. He studied scriptures morning and in the afternoon. He would rise early and take walks around Lexington, returning for scriptures with his family promptly at 7 each morning. Mom said that she read that this general had to be removed because his prayers kept the South from loosing. He was shot by his own men after a trip to the front lines one night around 9:00 p.m. He was shot in the left arm, and died a few days later.
The next day J had classes early so he stayed back at his mod, and we drove to Washington D.C.. We had a fabulous tour of the United States Supreme Court (miracles we all got in even though we were told we would only have room for four of us!) followed by a tour of the Capitol. That day it was raining and we walked from Union Station. Due to the height of our car, we parked with the tour buses in Union Station. The capitol shuts down at 4:30 p.m. and they were ushering us quickly out the nearest doors after our tour. B loved the Supreme court. He would love to go back there! The Capitol was amazing! We were told ahead to arrive early, but due to the scheduling of our tours we didn't have any time between the two! We are grateful to our Senator Hatch for arranging our tours at all! We knew we wanted to see the monuments, however had a bit of frustration about the order of events. My little ones were hungry and a bit tired. We started walking towards the monuments, but it grew dark quickly and was raining. We determined to find something to eat, well sort of - some got a roll left in the car and a cheese stick before they ran out. Then we drove closer to the Washington Monument. The GPS system is an amazing blessing! Not even a worry! When we made a wrong turn, or missed it, it quickly reroutes the route around another way. We laughed as we did circles in downtown Washington D.C. in the raining dark! Finally we found a parking place closer, and walked to that amazing 555' 5 1/8" pillar dedicated to Washington's memory! The top of the pillar is the tallest point in D.C. where the sun hits first on an aluminum roof with inscriptions on all four sides. Read this link about the East side inscription: LAUS DEO. Translated: Praise be to God! The inside of the Capitol contained many religious paintings, including the inside of the dome of the capitol with George Washington surrounded by angels. Wow! The reliefs in the walls of the Supreme court include many religious leaders including Moses and the 10 commandments, a vital law for life! It has been an amazing trip!
That Monday night in the dark, and rain we toured the Washington, Lincoln (WOW!) and Jefferson Monuments. Finally late that night we found a Marriot Courtyard to lay our heads down! Before we left, we wanted to know where we were staying, but we refrained from making reservations for every night fearing that reservations would limit us from following where we felt we were guided to. This GPS system has a feature that we can ask for hotels close by and then it gives us the phone number. With Heavenly Help, I have been able to find hotels for reasonable rates right when we needed them! This night was no exception!
The next day, Tuesday we opted to visit Mount Vernon, home of George and Martha Washington. It is an amazing place! We toured the home, out buildings, and just as it was time to depart to catch J's game that evening, we found an amazing museum! We had no idea it was even there! Wow! We need to go back! Washington never had any children of his own, but raised two children from his wife's first marriage. Their son was killed during the revolutionary war, and they graciously raised two of his four children to help their widowed daughter-in-law. They depict Washington with Children around him! He was a giant of a man - 6'2" tall and Martha stood 4'11"! A woman dressed as Martha presented a delightful rambling about the "General." She traveled with him during the war, to the battle fields. She describes their relationship as "we were partners in everything!" We loved learning about them! Washington owned an 8,000 acre farm and 316 slaves. We learned much from his personal slave William (I believe) dressed in character. When I asked privately about how the slaves were treated in the Washington home, feeling that they were nearly family - staying together in family units, being saved from being sold out of town away from other family units, and being trusted to run the farm while the Washington's were away... the man answered something about that slaves were certainly slaves, and that if proper respect was not shown, certain "jolts of reality quickly put one back into his place!" Wow. He talked about the slave relationship again in a monologue later. I am not sure I understand, these founding fathers fought Against Slavery, and yet they held many slaves! I am trying to understand. Washington died in his home of a swollen throat with his wife and personal doctor present. We watched just one of the many videos on the Revolutionary war and it was awesome! Literally on the way out the door, I had heard I should ask about their educational lesson outlines. They have an amazing beautiful teacher resource room FILLED to overflowing with teaching aids, books, puzzles, paper dolls, dolls, posters, etc. etc. to teach children to love this great man! We struggled to leave, but wanted to see J's game!
Several traveling hours later, we were sad to miss the game! Traffic out of D.C. was standing still and it took us more than 90 minutes to travel less than 30 miles! We missed the game, literally dropping the kids and B at the door to have them run in to see the team run out the other door under the scoreboard that showed they had won by over 20 points. We heard it was a great game. Especially B was sad he didn't get to see it!
The next day we waited to pick up J from his basketball practice so we could have him with us, scootering along the Blue Ridge Trail overlooking Buena Vista as we waited. B fell, crashing on his scooter, and sliding across the road. His wrist is hurting still tonight. I pray it is not broken. What a year he has had! Then we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Somewhat skeptical about Jefferson's moral character due to rumor of scandal's from the recent writings about John Adams, I didn't know how I felt about this man. Dad was excited to visit his home, and I quickly realized why! This generation of men were men of many trades, just as my Dad is! Jefferson was a self taught architect! He designed, built, redesigned, built, and redesigned his home(s)! He loved to build and invent! His home was amazing! He married Martha Jefferson, who bore six children in ten years, when she died. He was left to raise these children. Leaving the next year to be the ambassador of the USA to France, he was gone for a seven year period. Returning to Monticello where his daughter and her 11 children resided, he always had children around him. He welcomed them! I came out with a different attitude about him! Jefferson owned several farms - Monticello was a 5,000 acre property, and he owned another piece this same size not far away, with other farms lying out further. He owned about 115 slaves, of which he could not figure out how to due way with. Once again, we could have spent days here! We only went to one third of the museum before they were closing. We would have also liked to pick apples at the nearby orchard advertising pick yourself apples, but simply ran out of daylight.
Today, Thanksgiving, we spent in Colonial Williamsburg - The Historical Triangle of America. We didn't realize we would be there all day when we went to the visitor center. They have an entire city built with many, many buildings housing period actors portraying the lifestyle of the revolution. Highlights of today include the 4:00 Gratitude Gathering of several religious leaders, and the singing of Amazing Grace as well as a young flute boy playing several beautiful hymns. We also loved the video shown in the visitor center. We wish we had purchased ahead of time the significant videos from each of these places so we could have seen them prior to coming so we knew more. I suppose we will always thirst for more knowledge. We have learned much this trip!
Miracles of today include: We learned more than a month ago that the tickets for Thanksgiving Dinner in Colonial Williamsburg were $59.95/person. We have debated back and forth about where we would finally get a dinner today. Upon leaving the 4:00 religious gathering, we determined that several were hungry and it was time to find something to eat, but didn't know where. We walked the journey back to the visitor center to leave the historical recreation area. I happened to stop and ask someone there where they thought I might find sweet potatoes included in the Thanksgiving menu. Tickets to their dinner were sold out, we learned yesterday they only had two left, and those for 11:00 this morning. That would not work for our group of now eleven! The first gentleman had no idea, referring me to another desk. B went to ask, and she suggested the shop just outside the doors of the visitor center - they were serving authentic thanksgiving dinner for $15.95/adult. Wow! We did it! B went before us to see if we could get on the waiting list, to learn they could get us right in! Wow! Wow! Miracles! Dinner was great! The Sweet Potatoes were delicious, and I even chose Sweet Potato pie to top it off! Thanks Heavenly Father for miracles! Another miracle of today was that I didn't even wear a coat all day outside! The 4:00 services, the Shakespeare presentation, etc were all outside, but I didn't even take my coat! We enjoyed Beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day! Miracles! Miracles! Right now it is thundering outside our window. I am thankful for miracles! Thankful for.... Yes Thankful!
The next day we woke to find ourselves in Illinois then through Indiana and on to Kentucky! We met Jed at a school there just an hour early to watch his game at 2:00! Perfect timing! He won and had a great game! There was only one other couple there to cheer our team on and so we were grateful to be there to cheer them to victory!
That night we pushed forward to Lexington, Virginia another 6 hours! We arrived there late, and opted to keep J with us at the hotel to take him early the next morning for church. We were all pretty exhausted! Morning came quickly. I pressed shirts as B ran J to his 'mod.' We opted to attend a 9:00 ward so we could sight see in the afternoon. I am grateful to have young people who are willing to meet new people! That afternoon we opted to go to the Stonewall Jackson Home in Lexington. He was an amazing leader in the civil war on the side of the Confederates. He ate little meat, worked hard, and prayed to God. He taught at the near by Virginia Military Institute and in the church. He studied scriptures morning and in the afternoon. He would rise early and take walks around Lexington, returning for scriptures with his family promptly at 7 each morning. Mom said that she read that this general had to be removed because his prayers kept the South from loosing. He was shot by his own men after a trip to the front lines one night around 9:00 p.m. He was shot in the left arm, and died a few days later.
The next day J had classes early so he stayed back at his mod, and we drove to Washington D.C.. We had a fabulous tour of the United States Supreme Court (miracles we all got in even though we were told we would only have room for four of us!) followed by a tour of the Capitol. That day it was raining and we walked from Union Station. Due to the height of our car, we parked with the tour buses in Union Station. The capitol shuts down at 4:30 p.m. and they were ushering us quickly out the nearest doors after our tour. B loved the Supreme court. He would love to go back there! The Capitol was amazing! We were told ahead to arrive early, but due to the scheduling of our tours we didn't have any time between the two! We are grateful to our Senator Hatch for arranging our tours at all! We knew we wanted to see the monuments, however had a bit of frustration about the order of events. My little ones were hungry and a bit tired. We started walking towards the monuments, but it grew dark quickly and was raining. We determined to find something to eat, well sort of - some got a roll left in the car and a cheese stick before they ran out. Then we drove closer to the Washington Monument. The GPS system is an amazing blessing! Not even a worry! When we made a wrong turn, or missed it, it quickly reroutes the route around another way. We laughed as we did circles in downtown Washington D.C. in the raining dark! Finally we found a parking place closer, and walked to that amazing 555' 5 1/8" pillar dedicated to Washington's memory! The top of the pillar is the tallest point in D.C. where the sun hits first on an aluminum roof with inscriptions on all four sides. Read this link about the East side inscription: LAUS DEO. Translated: Praise be to God! The inside of the Capitol contained many religious paintings, including the inside of the dome of the capitol with George Washington surrounded by angels. Wow! The reliefs in the walls of the Supreme court include many religious leaders including Moses and the 10 commandments, a vital law for life! It has been an amazing trip!
That Monday night in the dark, and rain we toured the Washington, Lincoln (WOW!) and Jefferson Monuments. Finally late that night we found a Marriot Courtyard to lay our heads down! Before we left, we wanted to know where we were staying, but we refrained from making reservations for every night fearing that reservations would limit us from following where we felt we were guided to. This GPS system has a feature that we can ask for hotels close by and then it gives us the phone number. With Heavenly Help, I have been able to find hotels for reasonable rates right when we needed them! This night was no exception!
The next day, Tuesday we opted to visit Mount Vernon, home of George and Martha Washington. It is an amazing place! We toured the home, out buildings, and just as it was time to depart to catch J's game that evening, we found an amazing museum! We had no idea it was even there! Wow! We need to go back! Washington never had any children of his own, but raised two children from his wife's first marriage. Their son was killed during the revolutionary war, and they graciously raised two of his four children to help their widowed daughter-in-law. They depict Washington with Children around him! He was a giant of a man - 6'2" tall and Martha stood 4'11"! A woman dressed as Martha presented a delightful rambling about the "General." She traveled with him during the war, to the battle fields. She describes their relationship as "we were partners in everything!" We loved learning about them! Washington owned an 8,000 acre farm and 316 slaves. We learned much from his personal slave William (I believe) dressed in character. When I asked privately about how the slaves were treated in the Washington home, feeling that they were nearly family - staying together in family units, being saved from being sold out of town away from other family units, and being trusted to run the farm while the Washington's were away... the man answered something about that slaves were certainly slaves, and that if proper respect was not shown, certain "jolts of reality quickly put one back into his place!" Wow. He talked about the slave relationship again in a monologue later. I am not sure I understand, these founding fathers fought Against Slavery, and yet they held many slaves! I am trying to understand. Washington died in his home of a swollen throat with his wife and personal doctor present. We watched just one of the many videos on the Revolutionary war and it was awesome! Literally on the way out the door, I had heard I should ask about their educational lesson outlines. They have an amazing beautiful teacher resource room FILLED to overflowing with teaching aids, books, puzzles, paper dolls, dolls, posters, etc. etc. to teach children to love this great man! We struggled to leave, but wanted to see J's game!
Several traveling hours later, we were sad to miss the game! Traffic out of D.C. was standing still and it took us more than 90 minutes to travel less than 30 miles! We missed the game, literally dropping the kids and B at the door to have them run in to see the team run out the other door under the scoreboard that showed they had won by over 20 points. We heard it was a great game. Especially B was sad he didn't get to see it!
The next day we waited to pick up J from his basketball practice so we could have him with us, scootering along the Blue Ridge Trail overlooking Buena Vista as we waited. B fell, crashing on his scooter, and sliding across the road. His wrist is hurting still tonight. I pray it is not broken. What a year he has had! Then we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Somewhat skeptical about Jefferson's moral character due to rumor of scandal's from the recent writings about John Adams, I didn't know how I felt about this man. Dad was excited to visit his home, and I quickly realized why! This generation of men were men of many trades, just as my Dad is! Jefferson was a self taught architect! He designed, built, redesigned, built, and redesigned his home(s)! He loved to build and invent! His home was amazing! He married Martha Jefferson, who bore six children in ten years, when she died. He was left to raise these children. Leaving the next year to be the ambassador of the USA to France, he was gone for a seven year period. Returning to Monticello where his daughter and her 11 children resided, he always had children around him. He welcomed them! I came out with a different attitude about him! Jefferson owned several farms - Monticello was a 5,000 acre property, and he owned another piece this same size not far away, with other farms lying out further. He owned about 115 slaves, of which he could not figure out how to due way with. Once again, we could have spent days here! We only went to one third of the museum before they were closing. We would have also liked to pick apples at the nearby orchard advertising pick yourself apples, but simply ran out of daylight.
Today, Thanksgiving, we spent in Colonial Williamsburg - The Historical Triangle of America. We didn't realize we would be there all day when we went to the visitor center. They have an entire city built with many, many buildings housing period actors portraying the lifestyle of the revolution. Highlights of today include the 4:00 Gratitude Gathering of several religious leaders, and the singing of Amazing Grace as well as a young flute boy playing several beautiful hymns. We also loved the video shown in the visitor center. We wish we had purchased ahead of time the significant videos from each of these places so we could have seen them prior to coming so we knew more. I suppose we will always thirst for more knowledge. We have learned much this trip!
Miracles of today include: We learned more than a month ago that the tickets for Thanksgiving Dinner in Colonial Williamsburg were $59.95/person. We have debated back and forth about where we would finally get a dinner today. Upon leaving the 4:00 religious gathering, we determined that several were hungry and it was time to find something to eat, but didn't know where. We walked the journey back to the visitor center to leave the historical recreation area. I happened to stop and ask someone there where they thought I might find sweet potatoes included in the Thanksgiving menu. Tickets to their dinner were sold out, we learned yesterday they only had two left, and those for 11:00 this morning. That would not work for our group of now eleven! The first gentleman had no idea, referring me to another desk. B went to ask, and she suggested the shop just outside the doors of the visitor center - they were serving authentic thanksgiving dinner for $15.95/adult. Wow! We did it! B went before us to see if we could get on the waiting list, to learn they could get us right in! Wow! Wow! Miracles! Dinner was great! The Sweet Potatoes were delicious, and I even chose Sweet Potato pie to top it off! Thanks Heavenly Father for miracles! Another miracle of today was that I didn't even wear a coat all day outside! The 4:00 services, the Shakespeare presentation, etc were all outside, but I didn't even take my coat! We enjoyed Beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day! Miracles! Miracles! Right now it is thundering outside our window. I am thankful for miracles! Thankful for.... Yes Thankful!