Three Gals in a Van (+ 8 kids)

Day 21--New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island The guys left early this morning in a torrential downpour.  Heather was meeting Shanon and me at the train station in New Jersey and it's a pretty sketchy area, so we were trying to get there as quick as we could.  But quick is not how you get anywhere in New Jersey, so we were about 7 minutes late getting her.  Poor Heather standing on the street corner, so obviously out of place.  She jumped in, we put the GPS on "GET US OUT OF HERE" and headed towards Connecticut. Once out of the city, we drove through some beautiful areas where the celebrities live because no one in their right mind (with the right bank account) would live in that mess downtown, right?? We picked a location and headed towards Newport, RI.  I came here in 2014 and fell in love and was so excited to see it again. And then it rained.  Rained SO much.  It was foggy and cloudy and you couldn't see much of anything.  We crossed the bridge over and ate

Day 20--New York City I have been mentally prepping myself for this day since we started the road trip. In 2014, I came by myself to NYC with a friend and it was SO overwhelming.  I didn't really enjoy the city and I haven't been that excited to return, especially with my kids.  But, it's a must-see as long as we are out here. We arrived to New York on the train from New Jersey and I took a deep breath as we stepped out from the subway tunnel.  It's go time! The look on the kids' faces were priceless!  All the sounds and smells and people just hit them smack in the face.  They wore the exact same face I did 5 years ago. We sorta had a plan before arriving, though not a very good one.  The subway system takes some time to learn and the streets are overwhelming.  So our first stop was FAO Schwartz Toy, which was unplanned, but it was good to get out of the throngs of people. Next stop was Rockefeller Center and the Nintendo Store.  Josh has been so excit

Day 19--New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey We had to wake up early to get everything ready to hit the road again.  First, we had to pack all the camping stuff back into the top carrier on Shanon's van.  Heather is staying in downtown Manhattan and meeting us out in Newark on Tuesday, after the husband's leave, and so she can't haul her camping stuff around.  Plus, we needed the guys to help us put it back on top. Then we had a whole list of things to clean before we checked out and got to church at 10 am. Plus repacking everything.  It was a busy morning. Church was held at the Whitmer Family Farm, where Joseph Smith did a lot of the translating of the Book of Mormon.  That was pretty neat.  There were some eclectic people in the ward for sure! After church, we looked around the property a little bit--it wasn't open for tours yet--and then hit the road to get to Newark, New Jersey for the night. We stopped at a waterfall overlook near Ithaca, NY but other th

Day 18--New York After another long night, we woke up and packed our bags.  We were all meeting up at a farmhouse the church owns about 20 minutes away before heading into New York City the next day. Check in wasn't until 2, so we just hung around Sampson State Park.  The girls found a playground and they kept themselves busy for hours.  We just sat around on park benches and chatted.  It was so nice to have a down day where we didn't have to do anything or have anywhere to be. At 2, we went and checked into the farmhouse.  It was just like staying at a grandma's house.  It has five bedrooms and three bathrooms plus it is right on the lake, so a lot of water activities.  There is a whole camp associated with it, so plenty of activities as well.  It'd be perfect for a few families to stay a week and have fun.  Our overall assessment was that it was a lot of work for just one night.  But it was for the experience. Everyone met up and we ate pizza and let all the k

Day 17--New York After a really long night, we decided to go into Watkins Glen with the Daniels.  They have a really pretty state park just out of the town that had a gorge we could hike through.  When we arrived, the guy at the entrance said they'd be opening it in 20 minutes. Huh? A horn blared and we started down the hiking trail.  It was SO muddy and there was water everywhere.  They had been hit with a lot of rain and they had to close the trail because it was so wet and muddy.  But it was beautiful.  I'm glad we went. After we were done hiking, we were sitting in the pavilion when we noticed that there was a Young Women's Girls Camp going on.  What are the chances?  We talked to the leaders for a little bit and found out they were from Pennsylvania and their bishop had given them all the money for the boys and girls because none of the boys wanted to go to Scout Camp. Awesome. :) We decided to head up and do the church sites that we