Washington DC

One of the places I really wanted to visit whilst in America was the White House but of course whilst we happened to be there they closed the building for visitors for three months!  After hearing about that disappointment it gave us more time to focus on all the Smithsonian Museums.  I thought the Smithsonian was just one historical museum of America but in actual fact it is a group of museums and galleries with all various types of of history and art.  No way did we have time for all so the older ones chose places to go and off we went exploring.  We started at the Air and Space Museum which had alot of interactive things to do which was great for the children and it was great reading about all the history especially the moon landing.

We visited Smithsonian Institute commonaly referred to as the Castle,  American Art Museum,  American History and Natural History Museum which probably tired us out alot. I couldnt believe how many people were visiting all these places espeically on a week day.  Obviously there was alot of tourists and school groups but it just seemed like thousands and thousands of people coming and going, it was a little overwhelming at times.  I thoroughly enjoyed the American History Museum and learning more of their history and seeing all the dresses most American Presidents wives had donated for display.  I was really excited to also see some church history included due to the major role it played in settling the west of America.

Later in the afternoon we visited near the Capitol Building and walked passed the White House (or as close as we could get anyways) then onward up to Abraham Lincoln statue and a chance to rest in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.  Unfortunately the Washington Monument was under reconstruction so there was alot of scaffolding out and around but the monument still looked magnificient especially towards the end of the day.

 

One huge day for some of our little people but one to remember.

Before we left this area we had a day visiting other historical places around Virginia such as War Memorial Monument and down south a little to view some of the Civil War history. There was a small hope we would see some war reenactments but unfortuntely we were visiting the wrong time of year.  We also had an afternoon visiting the George Washington Estate and learning some more history.

  

On the last night we did a driveby the Washington DC Temple....gorgeous at night time!

East Coast of America!

So on Monday the 29^th April 2013 we made it all the way to the other side of America.  We stopped at Wilmington North Carolina for a chance for everyone to have a dip in the water!  It was an amazing feeling to think we had done it!  Jason had been amazing driving all that way without having any accidents! 

In Wilmington we caught up with a friend of Jason’s, Shane Baptista, that he knew from his mission when they stayed in a flat together in Johnsonville NZ.  They weren’t companions but did a lot of work together so became close. We had a great meal with him and his wife Kimberly and her 3 children.  Shane has 2 children as well with another woman.  We had a lovely time catching up and getting to know family.  Jordyn got along really well with their number 2 daughter, Olivia.  I really enjoyed learning about their family history and life together and enjoyed seeing around Wilmington.

Then onwards and upwards.  So many places to visit and see especially alot of historical places.  Our destination was a small place on the map called Falls Church Virginia where Jasons Aunty Dale lives.  Small place on the map but one big area!   It was a very populated area being quite close to Washington DC!  It was soooo lovely catching up with family.  Dale and Jason were talking and reminiscing for ages about old times. Dale took us to a place called Jasons Deli which was fun and introduced the children to artichokes... no one really converted to that taste!  We visited her work at Trader Joes which quickly became our favourite alternative supermarket and then we were able to have dinner with her gorgeous children Jeremy 18, Gabe 15, and Solomon (Zollie) 9.  Greg Brown the childrens father also popped by at the end of the night and joined in the fun, laughter and talking.

Attening Gabe's school production of Hamlet!  She was amazing!!!

We were able to stay 4 nights with Dale which was lovely to get to know everyone a little better but it was also fablous as a base for us to travel into Washington DC!  

You got any Caaandy??? – Memphis Tennesee

After Texas we drove onto Memphis Tennessee which of course is famous for Elvis Presley and Graceland which is the mansion he built and now stores quite a lot of memorabilia about his life and career.  We drove straight to Graceland and toured around everything that was free because for all of us to go through the actual house would have been over $200 and we don’t really love him that much to go through – heck most of the children don’t really know who he was!  However the commercial area around the house was done really well so we got to watch quite a few movie snippets about his life and see a lot of his possessions like two planes and heaps of cars that he owned.  It was actually quite surreal being there.

Then during afternoon we went to downtown  Memphis to visit Beale St made famous by its culture and musical variety which is described in a famous song called ‘Walking in Memphis’ by  Mark Cohn  which of course we had blaring on the radio as we drove into town.  I think our children thought we were a little crazy.  However Beale St was definitely buzzing with loads of people and southern jazz music and vibrant people and colours all around and it was only about 4:30 in the afternoon.  There were a small group of boys performing acrobatics all down the street and collecting some pocket money of course but at least they were really great!

We also had a treat listening to some jazz bands in the local park.  That night we ate dinner at a restaurant on Beale St and tasted some real catfish and Buffalo wings.  One great meal!  As much as I enjoyed this day, experiencing a new environment I would feel quite unsafe taking my children down Beale St after 6pm. The caravan park we stayed in that night was pretty rough as well.  I really felt lucky that we awoke safe without anything being stolen!

The next day we attended sacrament in Memphis and this would have to be one of the most memorable and wonderful meetings we have ever attended.  Everyone was just so happy and friendly and of course wanted us to talk so they could hear our accents.  The lady that Michael sat next to at the end of the row even wanted us all to sign our autograph in her hymn book in case we became famous! During the meeting this same said lady who was probably about 65, leaned down to Michael in her southern Tennessee accent said to him “Have ya got any caaaandy?”  He said he didn’t understand her so she had to repeat herself a little louder so even I heard her this time.  Michael replied sorry no…but I have some gum and showed her and she then took it from him and said ‘oh goody’.    I found it a little amusing that there were quite a few gentlemen with Elvis sideburns throughout the congregation and Jason suggested to me that they may be Elvis impersonators for their employment.  And just as he finished saying this, someone walked in very late and he still had all his Elvis outfit on complete with sideburns, hair and open shirt!  It was very difficult not to laugh!

Throughout the meeting there just happened to be 3 musical items (most normal sacrament meetings only have 1 or 2 at the most).  We thought this may be because of all the musical talent in Memphis and how many of the people may have grown up in gospel revivalist churches where they do a lot of singing.  The first two items where absolutely fabulous and really helped us feel the spirit however the last song a lovely sister stood to sing a hymn and it was really really bad.  One of my kids leant over and asked if she was alright….some of the others were trying not to laugh.  It was a tense situation especially when after verse 1 she went onto verse 2, then by the time she went onto verse 3 some of the other sisters in the ward slowly and reverently arose to the pulpit to help her sing the last two verses.  It was actually really lovely to see.  The original singer was very grateful as well.

Definitely one memorable meeting!  

                                                     

Onto the Great Texas

After leaving Arizona it was actually quite boring drive scenery wise compared to what we had witnessed during the past week.  Quite a few flat boring roads similar to some long roads here in Australia.  However it was Raechel who mentioned something interesting that the further south we were travelling she could notice a change in everybody’s accents.  Pretty cool !  Even shop assistant’s from New Mexico sounded different to those from Texas and the states are very close to each other.  Our first stop in Texas was a place called Amarillo which quite a few Texans told is later that it was a pretty daggy place but it was THE best caravan/trailer park we stayed at for the whole trip! $29 for the night with an indoor pool and free breakfast….Bargain! Plus we were the only ones in the pool and spa as apparently it was too cold for everyone else but not the crazy Aussies! We had a great day unwinding and relaxing!

Throughout our stay in Texas, Matthew and Joanna turned 9 so Dad surprised us all with a day at the local Speedzone!  The kids were pumped!  Quite a few rides with heaps of different speeds with various go carts and heaps of computer games throughout the whole place.  Unfortunately there was a height restriction on a lot of the faster rides so Joanna missed out on a few but she kept going around and around on smaller rides with Daniel which was really helpful .  It was also a week day so there was hardly any one there so we were able to run around a little and go crazy. It was Amaze Balls!!!

I really really enjoyed the shopping in Dallas as well.  Let me just say Jason is lucky I only had 4 hours there to shop.  Classy, great quality and great price!  That night we had a fabulous meal at Dallas Sweetie Pies where Jason really wanted to show us all what a big steak really looked like and tasted like!  He also mentioned to us that down south in Texas they really loved their three G’s – God, Guns and Gas Guzzlers!  

 

The Amazing Grand Canyon

Monday 22^nd April 2013 we left Utah bound for more adventure and our first stop was at Grand Canyon Arizona.  Just driving towards the National Park were many amazing rock canyons and crevices.  It made you think do we really need to go to the real place?  And the answer of course is YES.  I was overwhelmed!  Lucky for us on the day we visited was free National Parks Visit in all of America so it was a double bonus for us.  There are quite a few entrances into the park and quite a few bus routes to take to view all the canyons.  We had so much fun exploring and trying various photos that would depict us actually jumping or falling off into the canyon. I also enjoyed learning about some of the history of the American Indians from around that area.  We also met some fun German tourists on one of the bus routes and of course they absolutely adored Daniel! 

We stayed at the Canyons until sunset so we could see the amazing effects of colours against the sandy brown of the canyons. It was glorious and we were so blessed to have a wonderful day to witness this.  Unfortunately it got very cold towards the end of this sunset so we packed up and were able to stay in the Grand Canyon National Park.  Such an amazing place that I vote as my favourite thing to see in America besides attending General Conference!

When we did leave the Grand Canyon we were really surprised to see a lot of Elk just roaming the streets around this small town…they seemed really tall – just one of those weird things you see sometimes but I suppose that is what people think when they see wildlife on our roads and highways!

St George Utah

I had mixed feelings leaving Salt Lake City as we had so much fun there and it was really time for us to start our big trek across the country as we could only afford 2 or 3 days stop in the rest of the places we planned to visit.

Travelling south in Utah was absolutely stunning and viewing such beautiful scenery was amazing.  I couldnt believe how high up we travelled before descending down to St George.  The weather was sooooo much warmer there. In the afternoon we were able to visit a few church sites including Brigham Young's summer house.  There was a lot of green paint throughout this home so there is a folk tale that some members believe it was left over paint from used inside the St George temple!  The temple was beautiful and because it was such a warm sunny day, with full on white paint on the outside - the temple looked so bright! There was also 2 different wedding parties walking around as well so that makes it all very special.  The visitors centre there was also great.  We had probably already visited 4 centres and all had something different to offer and sometimes different movies to view containing more history or giving different perspectives about church life.  After walking the grounds we even bumped into someone who served his mission with Luke Howes from Adelaide (who we sort of know).  This man heard us talking and recognised our accents and just introduced himself and couldn't believe it when we said we were from Adelaide!!! Small world.

We spent the first night in St George with Janeal and Richard Monsen who were a senior missionary couple that served in our ward that we got along with so well!  They were in a fabulous housing area with its own pool so we had sooooooo much fun cooling off together and just relaxing!  The Monsens were such generous hosts and wanted us all to fit into their 3 bedroom home and they also had three other family members staying so we were very grateful.  Next day we all went quad biking. Rich had just bought a new 4wd vechile so it was actually heaps of fun as only 20 minutes away there was an excellent track for us to use.  It was very dusty but the scenery was outstounding with mountains and ranges all around.  - The children were even allowed to drive the vehicle  They were in absolute heaven.  It was an absoluetly wonderful day.  We also went to an area where they believe dinosaurs roamed and even left traks???  A little bit of a croc for me really but most of the kids seemed to believe so I went along with it.

Even though we were only with the Monsens for a short time we felt like we could have stayed there forever and the kids certainly would have loved the pool area to use whenever....but we had loads more exploring to do...Saturday the 20th April we visited Zions National Park!  Some places were off the beating track and therefore not many tourists there so it was great to have some short walks with the children and discover Gods beautiful world all by ourselves.  At some places we just stopped and soaked in the sun and chilled with each other.  These are the priceless moments in a busy life that I cherish and adore!  For the most part of the day we visited the more popular areas and took buses around here and there to visit where we need to be.  Loads more tourists but one can see why when all around. Nearly everywhere we looked there were majestic rock landscapes, mountains and canyons all around. I loved how most of the landmarks had religious names as obviously some of the first people in the modern world to see them were Mormons. We visited an area named Three Patriachs named after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Three huge peaks that looked very similar.  During the day we also had a few walks to view waterfalls and landmarks such as Angels Landing.  Travelling with different aged children we had to be mindful of how far we went but I know Jason would have loved to hike all day...maybe he and I can get back there one day to do just that! 

 

Having a break from hiking - drinking our decaffeinated Mountain Dew...Boy do we miss that stuff!!!

That night we had to have dinner at a places called Blondies!  Just fast food but fabulous quality like most Blondes!!! Then we had the privilege of staying with Darin and Deletha Heaton in an area near St George called Toquerville  where we stayed with their family.  Darin was Jason's mission trainer and I know Jason respects him highly.  It was so lovely seeing them catching up and talking about their lives and families.  Didn't really seem like over 20 years had passed.  It was quite eery that both of these guys were serving as Bishops of the ward.  - Although we didnt really have much time before bed the boys got out their motor bikes. normal bikes AND their quad bikes! Does everyone in St George have quad bikes?  My kids were in heaven and once again the Heatons let everyone drive themselves around SO by the time we all got to sleep it was very very late and sufficeth to say we were a little late for church the next day.  Throughout the whole trip I was amazed at how well the children were happy to attend different primaries and youth classes each week - they did really well. 

Then for the rest of the afternoon we had loads of fun eating and playing games with the Heaton family. Because everyone got along soooo well it was really difficult knowing we needed to go to bed that night and wake up and leave straight away!  Heatons off to school and work ...Ellis's off onto Arizona in our big RV.  We had bonded with another fabulous family and they had been so generous to all of us especially considering we had all never met before...Friends for life who may never see each other again.

                                          It is safe to say that we all loved St George Utah!!!

Other Highlights of Salt Lake City

During the last week of our main stay in Salt Lake we were lucky enough to catch up with Deb and Matt Pope who grew up in Adelaide and mainly knew Jason when he was in the youth program however Debbie is my brother in law's (Andrew Sturt) sister, so really we are related.  They were residing in Provo at the time but have moved now.  During  our visit we met with their 6 gorgeous children and Debbie was pregnant with their 7th...so as of now she has arrived into the world.  As usual Daniel was a little shy at first but by the end of the night didn't want to leave! It was a fun night reminiscing and catching up with fellow Australians (I am glad they hadn't lost their accents too much)

We also had a chance to catch up with Rolf and Paula Lawrenz and their family who had moved to America about 3 months earlier.  The kids all had a blast catching up and playing AFL ...and Paula and I also got a little bit of shopping in which is always FUN. Plus we had the biggest cake for dessert that we have ever seen!!!

During the last week we also tried to get to most of the church history buildings and offices around Salt Lake City. Jason was in his element.  We really enjoyed the church museum and also the Daughters of Zion museum as they gave the children a fun worksheet to fill in and find special items that were placed any where over the three storey museum.  The children decided to make a little race of it - boys verses girls so they had loads of fun skirting around all over.  I am glad not many people were there as we went a little crazy!  There were so many artefacts from early saints who made the trek west from New York State and Nauvoo  all the way to Salt Lake.  Some families even carried their piano all that way!

We had an amazing experience touring the Brigham Young - This is the Place memorial and also his main home he lived in whilst in Salt Lake City - Lion House.  For me I struggle at times with some of the history revolving around Brigham Young and his family but during this week I felt more understanding and felt the immense faith this man had to do whatever the Lord required of him.  Such a great example to me.