Finally...Our Trip! (Part 1)

Ok, it only took me a MONTH to finally get around to posting about our latest trip! Actually, it took me that long to get half the pictures back from my mom. So here goes. BEWARE!!! This will be LONG!!

First, a few stats to summarize the trip!

5 main modes of transportation used (airplane, car, train, subway, and boat)
+8 airports visited (Phoenix, Nashville, Columbus, New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, St. Martin, and Orlando) and 1 passport stamp obtained (St. Martin)
+21 games of cards played
+3 temples visited (Kirtland, Palmyra, and Manhattan)
+45,450,000 gallons of water flowing over Niagra Falls in one minute
+30 minutes in the Sacred Grove
+24 tickets to 3 Broadway shows (Shrek, Wicked, and West Side Story), 18 of which were won thru lotteries
+192 steps to the top of the Statue of Liberty pedestal
+21 pennies Brett put up his nose many, many times
+7 designer purses purchased from our favorite Canal Street vendor
+1 Schizophrenic who decided to strap a fake bomb to his chest causing the complete evacuation of La Guardia airport for 5 hours
+3 new best friends in "very high places" (the cruise Hotel Director, Sports Director, and Head Chef) who all wanted to make it up to us for missing the first three days of the cruise
+12 hours of surfing on the Flowrider
+2 attempts, 1 successful, at sneaking my underage 17 yr old sister into the adult-only dance club
+2 very good hair tips from our new D-list celebrity friends
=8,129 miles traveled and 1 wonderfully amazing trip

Week 1:
First Stop: Kirtland, OH to visit the Johnson Farm, the Kirtland Temple, and the Newel K Whitney Store. It was so interesting to tour the Kirtland Temple, which is now owned by the Community of Christ church.


Niagra Falls: Horesehoe Falls (left) and American Falls (right) during the day, and American Falls at night

We climbed the Cave of the Winds to the base of the American Falls. The water was SOOO powerful and we got SOAKED!!

Seriously, the ponchos did NOTHING! :) Not one dry spot when we were finished.

We were also able to go on the Maid of the Mist up to the base of the Falls. We actually got to stand at the very front bow of the ship! Again, soaking wet!


Next: Palmyra, NY to visit the Sacred Grove, the Smith Family Farm, the Palmyra Temple, the Book of Mormon Publication Site, and the Hill Cumorah. Absolutely WONDERFUL!

Yes we are standing in the pouring rain! Notice our methods of helping Grandma climb to the top of Hill Cumorah.

NYC here we come! We took a 5 1/2 hour train ride from Buffalo to Manhattan. A WONDERFUL change from all the driving we'd been doing.

We made it! Meeting up with my cousin Lauren who lives in NYC at Grand Central and then going to the top of the Empire State Building. What a view!

Most Broadway shows do a lottery for 2 front row tickets for $25 the morning of the show. We were lucky enough to win 8 tickets (just how many we needed) to see Shrek! Notice the faces of us who won, vs those who didn't. :)

Visiting the ever amazing Crumbs Bake Shop! Heaven on earth!!

We were also lucky enough to win 8 tickets to see Wicked (my 4th time!) and 2 tickets for West Side Story. Thanks to Grandma for the rest of the West Side Story tickets. Seeing all these shows from the front row is something I'll never forget!

We attended a filming of the David Letterman Show, and while we were waiting for the taping to begin, a survey was passed around asking for stupid human tricks. Brett wrote that he can stick 21 pennies up his nose (don't ask he knows this!). The next day Brett got a phone call asking him to come audition at the Ed Sullivan Theater! Brett performed his trick for the producer and was told he could get a phone call sometime in the next few months to come back and be on the David Letterman Show. It hasn't happened yet, but I'd really like another trip back to NY.

We took a day to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

We spent some serious time shopping in China Town. Taylor and I are looking a little lost, don't you think?!

The morning we were supposed to fly out from NY to FL to get on our cruise, a man came into the airport with a fake bomb taped to his chest. Needless to say, they shut down and evacuated the ENTIRE LaGuardia Airport. We sat out on the freeway overpass along with hundreds of thousands of other people for several hours and consequently missed our flight and our cruise. Boo hoo hoo! :(

Our ship was at sea for the first 3 days of the cruise, so this is what we did until we could meet up with our ship in St. Martin. Playing cards at our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale and enjoying the WARM beach outside our hotel in St. Martin.


(Week 2 continued on next post)