Great Lakes Vacation

Last week Ryan and I set off on a whirlwind adventure to see the great lakes, church history sites, and Ryan's mission.  We covered 1,900 miles in 7 days!

1st Stop = Chicago, IL

We stopped in Chicago for breakfast at The Yolk with one of our friends from Logan, Brandon, who was there on a business trip.  Breakfast was amazing!  I got banana's foster crepes and Ryan got cinnamon roll french toast.  This is now one of our favorite places to eat in Chicago.

 

2nd Stop = Shipshewana, IN

This is a darling Amish town that was actually part of Ryan's mission.  We stopped here for some good old fashioned lunch.  The roast beef was so tender and they had delicious homemade peanut butter that was blended with marshmallows.  So far we have really enjoyed the food... Haha

3rd Stop = Cleveland, OH

We checked out Lake Erie and then spent the night in Cleveland.

4th Stop = Kirtland, OH

We went to see the Kirtland Temple and the Newel K. Whitney store/home.  It was really neat to be in two sacred places so close to each other.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain so I don't have any pictures but the temple was beautiful.

5th Stop = Palmyra, NY

Tuesday evening we did a session at the Palmyra Temple.  This temple has some amazing stain glass of the first vision and of trees from the sacred grove.  However one window is left clear so that you can look out into the sacred grove from the temple.  The temple actually sits on the original property the Smith family owned.  

After the temple we went to the Hill Cumorah.  Again, what a sacred place.  I wish I could describe these places better but no words come to mind.

 

Wednesday morning we spent about an hour in the sacred grove.  There was such a feeling of reverence in there.  It felt so different than any other forest I have been in.  We were indeed walking on hallow ground.

 After spending time in the sacred grove we toured the Smith Family homes and the original Book of Mormon Publication site.  I can't even fathom that about 24 hours we stood where so many angels have visited, including Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

6th Stop = Niagara Falls

These falls are incredible!  I am so glad I had the chance to see them.  We started on the New York side and walked through the State Park there.  However, you can't really get a good view of the falls because this is the side that the waters drops off from.

  

So we headed out to the observation deck (the green tower in the background of the first picture) and the views improved.

Since I am traveling with my sweet husband who is very interested in power electronics we had to check out the visitor's center for the New York Power Authority.  I have to admit it was pretty neat and the center was very well done but I think Ryan enjoyed it just a little bit more than I did!

Nikola Tesla was the man responsible for the design and was one of the first people to start experimenting with wireless power.

When I could finally pull Ryan away from all the neat toys we drove across the bridge into Canada.  We spent the night at the Marriott there and the views were spectacular.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone.  We sat and watched the falls for hours! The Canadian sides definitely has the best views, but as Ryan said the U.S. has the usable side.  

The view from our hotel room.

The view from the room at night.  They light up the falls and the colors are always changing.  Needless to say I was pretty excited about this portion of the trip!

7th Stop = East Lansing, MI

We left Niagara Falls Thursday morning and drove through Canada (passing Lake Ontario) to Michigan.  We stopped in East Lansing to see Ryan's first area from his mission.  I got to see his apartment, the mission home, and Michigan State Campus.

8th Stop = Grand Rapids, MI

This was Ryan's last full area of his mission.  We met up with a family from the ward there for dinner.  It was so nice to get to meet them and to get a glimpse into this part of Ryan's mission.  

9th Stop = Hart, MI

We spent Thursday night and Friday in Hart.  This was Ryan's second area.  We stayed with Pat and Bill.  Ryan introduced Pat to the gospel and since then we have stayed in touch.  Ryan flew out for their sealing and they came to Utah for ours.  Friday morning we went our to the grave of one of the ladies Ryan baptized on his mission.  Next we went to visit a family that Ryan became really close with.  They fed us a great Mexican Lunch.

That afternoon we headed out to Lake Michigan and the lighthouse at Little Sable Point.  Of course we climbed the 130 stairs to the top of the lighthouse!

That night Pat and Bill had organized a pot luck at the church in Hart so that Ryan could have a chance to visit with the Branch members there.  It was so nice to be able to meet everyone all at once.

10th Stop = Traverse City, MI

This was Ryan's third area.  We stayed with a sweet lady, Marilyn, who saw it as her calling to be the missionary grandma.  

11th Stop =  Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and Green Bay

Sunday morning we began the long drive home.  We headed home through the upper peninsula of Michigan.  This path allowed us to see the last two Great Lakes, Lake Huron and Lake Superior.  We also stopped by Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI before arriving home in Milwaukee.

The Great Lakes Circle Tour was definitely a fun, but exhausting, trip!

Calder Family Vacation

EEEEP! I can't believe it has taken me a month to finally write about our great vacation with the Calder's!

They were able to come visit for a week and even though it was HOT (record setting days of 100+) we had a blast.

Saturday

 The Calder's arrived after two long days of driving and were ready just to kick back and relax.  We had dinner and then headed to UW-Madison to walk around and check out Rhythm and Booms.  The fireworks were great only we tried to take and short cut and got stuck tramping through the woods in a dark with only cell phones as flashlights but we surrived!

Sunday

We attended church and then headed off to drive through the Aboretum.  After that everyone was ready to be out of the car so we head to the Madison Zoo.  Ryan is absolutely obsessed with this guy:

Monday
We drove to Chicago that morning.
First stop = Field Museum
Second Stop = Shedd Aquarium.  We had to wait in line forever to get in but it was well worth the $8!  From hugs aquatic snakes, to sea turtles with injured hind fins, to sea horse and frogs.
Third Stop = Giordano's for delicious pizza 

Tuesday
We woke up early to be to Sky Deck at the Willis Tower before it opened.
Luckily we beat most of the crowds and could zoom right to the top.

After getting our fill of the great views we satisfied my guilty pleasure and hit up the Loft sale

Then it was off to Panera Bread for a delicious lunch and back to the hotel to change for the temple.
Originally Ryan and I were going to do sealings or a session but last minute we decided to stay with the twins and do baptism and boy am I glad we did.
When we got there the temple workers were so grateful to see me and Bridget.  I guess earlier in the day something had happened with their computers and they didn't catch the fact that one of the brethren in a youth group didn't have a current temple recommend.  Unsure of which baptisms he preformed they needed to redo 70 female names that day.  It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have had at the temple in a long time.  To know that some of those women had been so excited for that ordinance and then to have it ripped away a few hours later would be devastating.  I am so grateful we were able to help out even if it meant getting baptized 45 times! This also happened to be the first time I was able to be baptized by Ryan :)
A member from the temple presidency came to thank us and he said something that really stuck out to me.  "It is not often that you have a chance to change someone's eternal destiny.  You have plenty of chances to impact it but few times to change it.  Today you changed eternal destiny!'
Ryan's cousins who lived north of Chicago were able to join us at the temple so afterwords we stopped at Wendy's for dinner.  Ryan's dad convinced one of his cousins to eat a 44 oz frosty and his cousin actually finished the whole thing!  It definitely qualifies for Man vs. Food.
That night was hit the Magnificent Mile.  We went to the lounge at the top of the Hancock Tower, got sundaes at Ghirardelli's, and checked out 'the bean."

Wednesday
We went to Millenium Park that morning to see "the bean" and the buckingham fountain.

Next we checked out of the hotel and headed to Ryan's Aunt's home for a 4th of July BBQ.
Seriously we ate for like 8 straight hours.  I have never felt so full in my life!  But Sheila just kept bringing out more delicious food like fruit platers, chips, homemade ice cream, oreos, homemade caramel popcorn, and the list goes on.  We enjoyed games and good conversation before heading to Milwaukee.

Thursday
aka the Bachelor Pad
We spent Thursday in Milwaukee showing his family where Ryan has been all Summer.
We went to one of Milwaukee's great beaches along Lake Michigan and then headed down town.
We found this amazing BBQ place called Smoke Shack. Seriously it is to die for!  If you are ever in the area you need to check it out.  Then we walked around downtown with mango smoothies from the market.
We finished out tour at the Milwaukee Art Museum.  By sure chance it was still open and admission happened to be free since it was the first Thursday of the month!
We were able to spend about an hour there and then watch the wings close.

Friday
We spent the day in Madison.
First we decided it would be fun to die of heat exhaustion while canoeing on Lake Mendota.
Next we went downtown to tour the capital, see the Veteran's Museum and have lunch at The Old Fashioned.
Finally we admitted defeat to the heat and headed out to Cave of the Mounds to experience nature's air conditioning.
On our way back we drove through the trollway and someone people even bought their own troll souvenirs.
We finished the day with the National Mustard Museum and dinner at Hubbard Avenue complete with duo of silks pie!

Saturday our visitors headed for I-80 W to return home.  It was a great trip and hopefully despite the heat we will be able to convince them to come back!