Sunday, July 8, 2012

Day 23: Kirtland Should Have Been Called "Land Of The Heat" [July 7]

Ben's Blog: Day 23
Well, I woke up in one of the worst hotels ever. After a night of bad sleep. Oh well. At least we got out of there as soon as we could in the morning. We had a ten hour drive in front of us, with one tour stop on the way. Our last church history stop of the trip. Kirtland.

The traveling was enjoyable enough. The usual humdrum. I've started playing Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time to pass the trip. My parents must be proud of me...

In Kirtland we visited some cool places. The first was a church tour, through historic Kirtland. Lots of interesting things. Old houses and such. I've decided I want my house to have old fashioned windows. (With warped glass and everything.) The other place we went in Kirtland was on a tour of the Kirtland Temple. That was amazing. Really cool building. And impressive when you think about the conditions under which it was made. So. That part was cool. At least the buildings were air-conditioned. A nice change from the excessive heat and humidity... I hate humidity, I've decided. And heat. I think I'll move to Antarctica when I'm older. Study penguins.

The rest of the trip consisted of Kimberly screaming, Chris and Jonathan fighting, and an insane amount of toll booths. Seriously. There were like fifteen! Way too much money. Thank heavens it wasn't mine. (Not that I actually have money.)

Our final stop was Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where our cousin Sarah lives. We'll be staying there 'til Tuesday. WE'RE FINALLY HEADING HOME!!!!!! YAY! I mean... ummm... yeah. We're on our way home. Cool.

Really, I probably could have one into more detail about Kirtland, but it was yesterday, and all I remember is the heat. So that's all folks!

-A Couch In Milwaukee,
Ben

Day 22: The Miami Hotel [July 6]

Ben's Blog: Day 22

(July 6)

*sigh* What did we do today? I really can't think... wait... It's coming to me...

We stayed in a really nice place called the Miami Hotel. May I just say, the pillows were super comfortable. Real classy joint. I got a good night's sleep for once. I was even tempted to steal the pillow when we left. I didn't though. Sadly.

Our first stop was The Hill Cumorah (another church history stop). They have this really cool pageant every year, so of course we timed things just right, so that we missed it. Of course. Darn it.

Then we drove past the Palmyra temple. Man, it was small. After that we saw the Smith Family Home, the childhood home of Joseph Smith. It was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Kinda confused me. Like Narnia almost, but not quite that incredible.

After the home, we saw another one of the homes (ugh... that sounded weird) on the property. And then, it was time for the sacred grove. Man that place was peaceful! It was like, really, really cool. All quiet like, and you just felt happy while you were there. I really enjoyed it.

After the sacred grove, we saw the building where the Book Of Mormon was first printed (yeah, today was a huge day for church history...) We got to tour the building, and see the stuff they used to print books. That was nice. I decided if I lived back then, I would be a typesetter (I think that's what they were called), the guys who put the text in blocks for printing. I'd pick that 'cuz I can read backwards and upside down, and the job requires dexterity, not physical strength.

Then we saw (pause for effect)... NIAGARA FALLS!!! I swear, I always read that Ny-uh-garr-uh. It was quite humid, and rather warm. I enjoyed feeling the mist from the falls (man, I use the word 'enjoy' too much). And then we had to walk back... which was exhausting. Then we circled around whatever town we're in now, trying to find a place to spend the night. Word to the wise: Never spend the night at Lighthouse Inn. You pay way too much for way too little. One room, two small beds (small as compared to a queen-size), a small bathroom, and, free of charge, the complimentary smell of old, stale cigarettes. Mmmmmm.... not. So. I had one of my worst nights of sleep, because I was hot, and dehydrated. Not fun. Not fun at all. Didn't even have wi-fi, as far as I'm aware. Plus the iPad was dead, so I couldn't even write this until the morning of day 23.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Day 21: In Which We Discover That Mother Cannot Navigate [July 5]

Ben's Blog: Day 21 (July 5)
Ah... Sleep is wonderful. As are showers, air conditioning, and food. Breakfast was Cheerios with bananas. Mmmmm... I don't care if my grammar sounds bad.

Today we went on more or less a driving tour of historic Boston. Mainly because:
a) Boston is largely one-way streets, and therefore impossible to navigate.
b) Even if Boston *were* navigatable, (that's not a word...) my mother is a terrible navigator (At least according to my dad.)
c) We were tired.

We did however walk to one site, which was Bunker Hill. There was an obelisk monument, which means to say that it looked almost exactly like the Washington Monument. Tall and pointy. With way too many stairs. So of course, we climbed to the top. Twice.

[Truthful Interjection #21: Okay, okay. We only climbed it once. But it felt like TEN times by the time we were finished. My family is not as in shape as they should be.]

We also drove by a few other places, which I can't remember the names of. Or what happened there. Or why they were significant in the slightest. Oh well. We actually started going somewhere once I took the map from Mom, and started navigating. Hah. Looks like I'm better at something than Mom. (For once.)

Dinner was at Denny's. So I guess technically it was breakfast, but sine we'd already had lunch, we called it dinner. Make sense? I had french toast. And eggs. And bacon. You hungry yet? It was mouthwatering.

Now we're currently on the road, hurtling through New York (The state, not the city, sadly) at 71 miles per hour. Give or take my sibling's cooperation level. (Around 10 out of 100). I managed to post yesterday's entry using the Wi-Fi from a passing motel, but not this one. Guess I'll have to wait until the, you guessed it, hotel. Or motel, depending on prices.

-A Minivan In New York (State),
Ben

Day 20: Fireworks + Pouring Rain = Awesomeness

Ben's Blog: Day 20 (July 4)
Today is Boston day. We woke up early (early for me, anyways). I slept moderately well. Despite the company of the rats, and the small child that came downstairs at two in the morning asking for mommy, I got more sleep than usual. Just a note for future reference. Cheap plastic shower curtains have a natural tendency to move towards you, due to static cling. It's kind of obnoxious, much like a lost puppy. (Not that lost puppies are annoying, just that they drift towards you, and won't go away.)

The countryside was quite lavish. Lots of old, expensive houses. Pretty cool, but way too pricey. The usual mundane drive ensued, involving the average fights over electronics that so often accompany us.

We spent the day in Boston with our cousin Jenny. She's quite the tolerant person. A person of lesser patience would have probably thrown Kimberly out of the speeding vehicle. Or at least dropped her in the water.

Kimberly has reached the "I'm-no-longer-tired-I'm-just-trying-my-best-to-tick-you-off-as-much-as-is-physicallly-possible-without-you-putting-me-up-for-adoption" stage. It's very tiring. My sanity levels have reached new lows. I'm bound to snap one of these days, and go completely 'round the bend.

Boston was really cool though, despite the five-year old. We saw several amazing places, including a pond which I cannot for the life of me remember the name of. It was really more of a lake, come to think of it.

After the pond (my father now tells me it was called "Walden Pond") we went to Kimball Farms and got Ice Cream. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the banana split me and my brothers split (haha, bad pun), because it was ENORMOUS. Seriously, the three of us couldn't finish it... Probably because Chris and Jonathan ate less due to the bananas and strawberries. The ice cream was simply delicious (when is ice cream not delicious?). After Kimball's we headed off to a barbecue for dinner, and then got in place for the firework show.

The fireworks were, quite undoubtedly, one of the most amazing spectacles I have ever laid eyes on. Forgive my use of caps lock, BUT IT WAS FREAKING GORGEOUS!!!! Really, I can't think of a better word than gorgeous... Maybe supercalifragilisticexpiallidocious. (Hah. That word is in the Autocorrect dictionary. And I spelled it right. Double win.) It was kind of cool, because there was like two acts to the whole thing... Everyone thought it had ended... And then came the second round. And the rain! I almost forgot about the rain.

Up until the show, there had been lightning flashing in the distance... Halfway through the fireworks show, as previously mentioned, the storm that had been threatening all evening set in. It was beautiful. Pouring rain, dripping from the sky, and swirling torrentially all around, while billowing blossoms of light boomed across the water. I smiled, I laughed, I almost cried even. It was poetry... Honestly, it was one of the first times I felt perfectly happy and content since the trip has started. I just stood out in the rain, soaking every moment of it in. Literally. Definitely an experience that will stay with me for a long time.

Unfortunately, Chris made us leave prematurely, because he was wet, and as we all know, everything is about Chris. So, I missed the finale, because it happened right as a tree blocked my view on the way back. Jonathan caught a stray parachute from a firework. He was pretty thrilled about that. And then, it was a long, wet wait in a parking garage for millions of people to get out, so that we could get out. Lots of honking involved, though surprisingly not on Dad's part. I think the show and the rain mellowed him out some, because he just sat in our parking spot for a while, not upset in the slightest. After all, we weren't going anywhere. We sat for so long that my clothes more or less dried out... Whoa. That's a long paragraph.

Long story short, we got to our cousin Jenny's fiancé's apartment where we would be spending the night, long after Kimberly and Jonathan had fallen asleep. And there we more or less collapsed.

-Boston, Massachusetts,
Ben

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Day 19: New York, New York (And There It Goes...) [July 3]

Ben's Blog: Day 19 (July 3)
Today was the big day. New York! Woo! Throw confetti! Make some noise! Balloons! One of those little obnoxious things that rolls up and looks like a weird tongue! (Do those even have a name?)

Well. I wish it was that exciting. Turns out we had only one day to see it. [Song from "On The Town"] Less than on day even. Like half a day. Woop.

The half a day thing kind of upset me... I mean, we spent a week in Pennsylvania, the middle of nowhere, and we only spent like six hours in one of the most famous cities ever? (Okay, we had family in Pennsylvania, I get that, and I enjoyed it. But six hours? Come on...)

Our time in New York started with trying to find parking. Of course. That ate up around half an hour to an hour of our time. Finally we got a place near-ish to the pier. Then we walked who knows how long to the ferry terminal. We took the ferry all the way to Manhattan just so we could see the Statue of Liberty. Then we had to ride back. Time Elapsed: 1 Hour.

Next we waited at a mall while Dad got the car. Time Elapsed: 10 Min.

We got in the car, and drove around for a while, trying to find Times Square. As usual, the GPS was no help. Kept trying to tell us that we were already at Times Square. We never actually got there, just got to glimpse it. Dad was nearing the "Obscenity Fountain" point, as I like to call it, what with all the traffic. So, we drove through central park, and headed off to Mom & Dad's friends, the Clays. They live in Connecticut. (I think.) We'll be spending the night here. They're really pretty cool. They have a nice house to, and internet of course, which is important. At least to me...

So that's where I am now. Feeling somewhat cheated out of a trip to New York... Oh well. I just move there when I grow up to get back at Mom and Dad. (Dad, if you're reading this... ignore my complaints.) And sadly, the only picture *I* got was of Mario's Pizza... And only because it had a picture of Mario on the sign.

*sigh*. Now I'm just making myself depressed. On the bright side, I did see New York, which is pretty cool. One more thing off my bucket list. However I will have to go back, 'cuz riding a New York Taxi is also on that list. Come to think of it, riding a Taxi in general should be on there...

Final thought of the day: If you have a piano, love it well, and take care of it. A dusty, out of tune, piano is not as fun to play as a well-loved one.

-Somewhere In Connecticut, (Not sure where...),
Ben

Day 18: Cheese Steaks!

Ben's Blog: Day 18 (July 2)
I apologize for yesterday's silliness, and today's lack of punctuality. (I'm writing this a day late again...) Today was Philadelphia, on a monday. I think I'll just make a list of the necessary things I did.

1) Saw the Liberty Bell
2) Viewed Independence Hall
3) Broke Traffic Laws
4) Ate a Philly Cheese Steak

[Truthful Interjection #20: Apparently if you ask ten Philadelphians where the best cheese steak can be found, you'll get ten answers, and three fist fights.]

The cheese steak was good, but I felt terribly fat after eating it. However, it did its job. I wasn't hungry at all for the rest of Philadelphia. (Not sure if was full, or just scared I'd be offered another cheese steak if I said I was hungry.)

Um... Our tour guide for Independence Hall was hilarious. I can't really remember the jokes well enough, and those that I can don't make sense out of context.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures. I kind of didn't take any. Mainly because I was too busy enjoying the scenery. I'll try and document future places better.

That's all I have the memory to write about. Anything else would probably be made up, or highly sarcastic, so goodnight!

-Pennsylvania, (Well, Actually Connecticut Now)
Ben

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Day 17: Sunday...

Ben's Blog: Day 17
Sunday again. It always sneaks up on me. Hate when it does that. Well, since it was sunday, we had church. Pretty sure not many of you care about that, so I'll just say it was very spiritual, which it usually is. After church was lunch, and then the afternoon. Not much happened. I went on Facebook for a while, and that was about it for the afternoon. 

Also, yesterday, the downstairs toilet broke. That was exciting. (Or at least it was the most exciting thing that happened to me yesterday.)

[Truthful Interjection #18: Apparently I forgot Gettysburg and Valley Forge... So um yeah. We went there. That was fun. Also, the "Some Relatives" we stayed with before D.C. were Mike and Edith Hanson. Sorry for forgetting that.]

Are you happy now Mother? CAN I GET SOME PEACE NOW? Sheesh. This is what happens when you make your journal public. 

I'm sure I've forgotten a whole bunch of other stuff, and will get yelled at. Dinner was Lasagna, and it was amazing. Quite delicious. Right now we're downstairs watching slideshows of photos... I really can't see much, mainly 'cuz I'm blogging. Any claims my mother makes about Facebook having something to do with it are entirely false.

[Truthful Interjection #19: Okay, okay, I'm also on Facebook. Sorry, but I have to have *some* social life, don't I?]

Alright... My friend Josh wanted me to show you all how "beautiful" he is... I'll leave that up to you to decide.







(One of those is Josh.) That's all the silliness for tonight.

-Yet Again Pennsylvania, 
Ben