#33 - A round-trip through upstate New York and Canada

​We docked in Brooklyn, and after sorting out the rental car at the airport, we drove north to New Paltz, NY to spend an afternoon & evening with Tera’s sister.  This past week has been spent travelling to Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, onward to Niagara Falls, next to our friend’s lake cottage northeast of Toronto, then back into New York to visit our friends in Potsdam, followed by one final evening in New Paltz. Today we head to back to the city for an evening flight to Salt Lake City where we will be reunited with our two college kids, and where we plan to settle down for August and September.

​Highlights:

1. Seeing Expat friends in their own cultural habitat
2. Sacred Grove and other church history sights in Palmyra
3. Impressive Niagara Falls
4. Lake fun in Stoney Lake with the Hodges
5. Reuniting with the Carls again
6. Escape Room in Cornwall, Canada
7. Roomy American mini-van

 
Lowlights:

1. Rainy evening for the Hill Cumorah Pageant

​(Click below right to Read More and see Pictures . . . .)​

Highlights:

1. Seeing family and expat friends in their own natural habitat – One of our favorite things to do during our travels is to visit with our friends, away from our expat lives, in their base-country homes.  It is relaxing and refreshing to put away our busy sightseeing hats, and be with people we know and love and accompany them to their favorite local places and activities. During this trip, we got to see Tera’s sister Amy in her New York country house (the first time we had visited) and the Hodges in their lake cottage at Stoney Lake in Canada, and the Carls, our good friends from both Brunei and NL, in their 100-yr old Potsdam home.  We feel very fortunate to know and be related to such gracious and hospitable people.
2. Sacred Grove and other church history sights in Palmyra – It was our family’s first visit to Palmyra, New York which is an important site in the history of the LDS (Mormon) Church.  We were able to see the Smith family farm, and the Sacred Grove, and the EB Grandin printshop (super interesting), and Hill Cumorah.  We had tourist experiences and spiritual experiences there.  For me, being there on site brought church history to life and since our visit, I’ve been reading and learning about early church history like I haven’t been inspired to do before.
3. Impressive Niagara Falls– Niagara Falls did not disappoint.  It is an amazing site, and in addition to marveling at the falls themselves (the largest waterfall by volume in the world), we did some of the touristy activities like the iconic boat ride into the mist of the falls, behind the falls tunnel walk, and whitewater rapids boardwalk – which were all worthwhile.
4. Lake fun in Stoney Lake with the Hodges – We knew the Hodges family from our time in the Netherlands. They have since moved to Italy, but spend every summer at their lake cottage on Stoney Lake. We were lucky to visit them in their Italy home last month and to finally spend a few days with them at their cottage this month. Susan was an incredible hostess and cook, and we were the lucky recipients. We enjoyed playing at the cottage, swimming in the lake, kayaking and canoeing around the island, building forts out of dead wood on their miniature family island, waterskiing in rather windy and choppy lake waters, reading during rainstorms, and watching movies on their recently acquired newly installed projector screen.
5. Reuniting with the Carls again – Our family is tied to the Carl’s family in significant ways. Emily and Anna have been closest friends with their 2 daughters Alena and Marissa for the past 10 years, and Tera and I quite enjoy the parents, too. We lived and worked with them in Brunei and the Netherlands. We visited them when they lived in Chengdu, China. We have taken trips with them over the past 3 summers: Scotland then Iceland and then Yosemite. And now we were visiting them this summer in their new home in Potsdam, NY. It was a lovely reunion, and we went out for a great lunch at one of their favorite local diners, a staple of eating establishments in the upper New York area.  We also had some water time on a local river and explored some of their hometown haunts.
6. Escape Room in Cornwall, Canada – The Carls had been our escape room buddies in the Netherlands, so we travelled back across the border to a well-reviewed escape room in Cornwall, Canada.  We divided up into 2 rooms: one for the adults and one for the kids. The kids successfully exited without a single clue, and with 15 minutes to spare. The adults meanwhile needed two clues, and only had 5 extra minutes. They were great rooms with interesting tech, and clever and varied puzzles to solve: fun as always. We really, really like good escape rooms.
7. Roomy American mini-van – It was such a pleasure to be back to a spacious American mini-van. The amount of luggage space literally dwarfs the European cars, and not having to worry about a roof carrier for hauling our luggage around, gave us peace of mind for the week.  Yes, we probably used more gasoline, but we were certainly more aerodynamically efficient, and more comfortable inside.

Lowlights:

1. Rainy evening for the Hill Cumorah Pageant – Our excitement to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant (a live outdoor theatre spectacle with a cast of over 700 people) was slightly dampened (pun intended) by the rainfall which began right about the time the show started.  It wasn’t heavy enough rain to drive anyone away, but it was hard enough to bring a fair amount of discomfort, especially because both Megan and Jacob wanted to sit on my lap for warmth. I found myself counting the scenes before the show over, rather than enjoying each one. I’m happy to have seen it, but I’m not as happy to have seen it in the rain.