Molly & Ben

Fall is starting and it’s fun to see the leaves start to change. This is my favorite time of year and we are in a great part of the country to see it all. I actually look forward to the driving days. It’s stressful but once you are on the road, the views are amazing. We listen to audio books and talk. It’s nice 🙂

Our Thousand Trails membership allows us to stay up to 2 weeks at certain RV parks which is awesome, but… these parks are usually an hour or more from the major cities. We were about an hour and a half away from Boston but headed out to make a day trip out of it.

Our first stop was lunch with an SEO friend. It was fun to meet locals and get some ideas of fun stuff to do in town.

Harvard college was just a few miles a ways so we went and walked around on campus. It was a really fun vibe! How cool would it be to go to college here!

We messaged a couple from the ward that went to Harvard and they told us to go to Burdick’s for drinking chocolate, which is a lot different than hot chocolate. It didn’t disappoint!

USS Consitution

We then made our way downtown to the USS Constitution. This is an old renovated ship from the late 1700s actually named by George Washington himself. Crazy how big it is. People would spend months on board and sleep in really uncomfortable hammocks.

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Since we didn’t get enough sweets at Burdick’s, we went to Mikes Pastries which both Ben and I have been to before but it’s SO GOOD!

This place is amazing and a must see when in Boston. It has some of the best pastries you will have in your life (no joke) The lines are usually out the door, and I can’t help but love the string they tie the boxes in.

We knew we wanted a Canoli, brownie, lobster tail, and something else. The lady helping us referred some really great choices. We asked which one she liked the best and she said this raspberry mocha cake thing. We wanted to be polite since she had helped us so much so we said ok. I was skeptical because I usually don’t get anything like it but Holy Moly it was good!  If I find myself at Mikes Pastries ever again I will for sure get the same thing again.

Quick tip, if you are in line and know what you want to get, just head to the left side of the store close to the counter. They will ring you up there. A local gave us that time and it saved a bunch of time.

Honk Festival

Since we loved Boston so much, we decided to go again the next weekend! Ben had a meeting and I ran errands but we went to something called The Honk Festival.

We both went to one back in Austin but it wasn’t like this one! It’s pretty much a festival of random marching band members that graduated college, but who still love to play. They deck themselves out in random colors and have funny band names. It’s a fun atmosphere and we recommend going if one is coming to your town.

Palmyra New York has a special place in our hearts. Being members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, we hold high respect for this area as it holds some historicly important events.

In 1820 a boy named Joseph Smith was instructed my heavenly messengers and directed throughout the years to restore the church of Jesus Christ. Palmyra is were Joseph grew up, where the gold plates were located, and now where a temple stands.

Learn more about The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

Bens has visited this place many times but it was the first for me. We started out by taking the tour of the Smith farmhouse which was reconstructed from letters and old foundation. They even recreated the room where Joseph was visited by the angel Moroni!

Next we had some time to walk through the sacred grove where Joseph was first visited. No one was there and it was a beautiful time of year. The spirit was strong as we walked. I love the gospel.

Next we went and visited the Temple grounds where work for the dead is performed. Some of the nicest Elder missionaries were there.

After spending some time in the visitor center, we made our way to the Hill Comorah. This place is special as this is where the angle directed Joseph to find a hidden ancient manuscript made out of gold and metal plates.

Not knowing exactly where the plates were buried, they have monument that explians how the church was restored. As we looked closer, it said Sept 21st was the day that Joseph was able to take the plates. It was Sept 21st, 2018! The exact same date! How cool is that?

Learn more about The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

The fun didn’t stop there! We actually went into the town of Palmyra and visited the building where the Book Of Mormon was printed.

Both Ben and I served missions for the church, this book is very special to us. I served in West Virginia, and he served in the Philippines.

I may have geeked out a little bit while I was there. The visitor center missionaries went through all the hardships and trials it took to actually print the book. But the Lord’s work went on!

So happy that Ben and I could share this experience together. We appreciate and respect what the early saints went through and hope that we can build the kingdom as much as they did.

Learn more about The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

After Niagara Falls, we settled in a fun campground called Ta-Ga-Soke which is just east of the Oneida lake.  Ben and I couldn’t believe how much this place felt like a beach town! Crazy to think this will all be covered in snow in a few months.

We moved in Monday and noticed there were a bunch of RVs and trailers but… we never saw anyone walking around! Turns out, it’s more of a weekend getaway and on Friday a flood of people came in.

That Friday night we wanted to get some food in the closest town and as we drove out of the park, our transmission started acting up. It wasn’t connecting or going into gear. We were able to get it back to the RV park fine but ended up calling a tow truck to haul to the nearest Hyundai Dealer. It wasn’t hard for them to figure out we needed a totally new transmission. YIKES! That is an expensive mistake! Turns out the way we were towing it across the country is awful for the transmission and this 2015 Hyundai needed a totally new one. We prayed really hard that the warranty would cover it and guess what? It did

 phew…

Because our car was out of order, we decided to walk 3 miles to the beach. The weather was super nice, and we ate at a local restaurant and I had the best-shredded pork sandwich of my life!

Because we needed stay an extra 2 weeks, that gave us plenty of time to check out upstate NY!

First off, we stayed in a fishing town and every day, people would be fishing for these huge salmon fish and they looked about 2 feet long! There seemed to a “fisherman etiquette” that everyone would follow because fish lines were being crossed all the time.

We went to a restaurant, close to where this picture was taken and wanted to get some fresh salmon but guess what? They didn’t serve salmon! They said that most people in the town were sick of it, and the restaurant would have to buy FDA approved fish which wouldn’t be from the river. Kinda funny, a salmon fishing town that doesn’t serve salmon.

Local Hiking

We decided to ask a few locals what was a good hike to go on and they recommended one a few miles from town. It was a gorgeous night and couldn’t have picked a better view.

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We even went to a harvest Festival in a near by town! It was small but still a fun little local giveaway.

One huge benefit of us staying another few weeks is we get to see some church sites! Stay tuned!

Niagara Falls in an interesting town…

It felt like an old run down and outdated Las Vegas. Sorry if you live there but we were really shocked how expensive everything was, but also old.

We got to Niagara Falls and stayed for just one day. Long enough to check out the town and experience the falls. We started off with the tower which had some amazing views of both the American side, as well as the Canadian side. If you have a choice between the two, see the Canadian side.

Then headed to the instructional movie. I think that’s where things turned weird. The movie was from the 70s and really shaky. There were times both Ben and I had to turn away. It mentioned the Indian bride who ran away from her arranged marriage and decided to kayak over the cliffs. Now she is a protector of the waves and decides who to keep alive and who should fall victim to the falls.

But this video just talked about people over time who went over the falls. Some lived some died. It made me angry that people would even toy with something like this!

Dare Devil Museam

Right next to the movie theatre was a Dare Devil Museum. We thought it would be like “daredevils though-out time” and talk about people like Evel Knievel but nope… just more gumballs that pushed their luck going over the falls. It seemed about 60% of anyone who tried died.

Some guy tied an anvil to his feet so the bottom of the “barrel” would be heavy and keep him upright. His plan didn’t work out so well as the only thing left of him when they opened it up was his arm. 

Oh! And if you decide to take on the falls, know that you will be fined 25K on the American side and 10K on the Canadian. Just so you know. 

To the Falls!

We walked alongside these beautiful falls and really couldn’t believe the amount of water falling down. The closer we got, the more weirded out I became. Seeing the fast water going over the cliff with just a small wire fence keeping people from their mortal peril, was enough to freak me out. We were going to do the boat tour the next morning but to be honest, I wasn’t excited about going. I mentioned my feeling to Ben and since it was $25 a person, and he had already been, he didn’t object.

So for dinner we went to outback stake out and ordered a way too expensive bloom-in onion. You win some and you loose some.

Crossing the Boarder

Crossing the border back into the USA was definitely harder than getting into Canada. Which I can appreciate. It was around 9-11, and we were young people driving an RV. We had a border patrol search our RV, and as he opened up our closet, some of my “unmentionables” fell out. I was slightly embarrassed but also thought it was a good story. He didn’t try to pick them up (hehe)

We were asked to wait as they search our lower compartments and we were out of there within an hour and a half. Not too shabby.

Ben had been to Toronto before but I had never been so we decided to make it our northern location. He had some work-friends he wanted to meet and did some fun things while we were in town. Crossing the border wasn’t bad, it was coming back in that was a headache (which will expound in the next post).

One thing that really stood out to us was how crazy the drivers were! There was a bunch going on that week like an airshow, Comicon, and a sports game so possibly lots of people in town but wow… it was stressful driving around.

Really close to our RV park was an Islamic temple which we were able to tour inside. So intricate and detailed. Amazing art people can do.

Play Day!

There was a world famous airshow happening downtown Toronto so we found a good spot to watch the planes do their tricks. They did shapes with clouds and different figures right over our heads! There were even older planes that would dive bomb from super high up and pull out just above the water. Man, these guys are talented.

After the show, I was able to meet up with some mermaid friends and take a Aquamermaid class. It wasn’t great but was fun to get in the water and swim.

That night we went and had dinner with some work friends of Bens. One worked at Inkbox just next door so after we ate, we toured his place which was amazing! If you haven’t heard of inkbox, they do temporary tattoos that come off in about two weeks. They look really professional and super eco-friendly. Big things are coming from this company.

Last Weekend in Toronto

We had one more weekend to do something fun so we checked out the local calendar and read that a Buskerfest was happening!

busk·er/ˈbəskər/noun

1. a person who performs music or other entertainment in the street or another public place for monetary donations.

It’s a festival with tons of street performers doing tricks everywhere all afternoon. It was worth it and I would go again. The only thing that bugged us was HOW LONG the performers took to do anything. Like, they filled 90% of their act with dumb jokes and their final trick lasted about 5 seconds. Maybe I am just impatient. The picture above was my favorite act. The Busker even had a good message at the end rather than ” I do this for money so please donate.”

There were others that were really funny and you could tell they were professionals. Not just amateurs.

We also had time to stop by some local graffiti walls. We LOVE graffiti art and appreciate it when a city allows local artists to beautify some brick walls.

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Thanks Toronto! You guys are as nice as they say. Back to the USA!

Michigan was surprisingly beautiful in the summer. Usually when I think of that state it’s covered in 3 feet of snow 10 out of 12 months of the year. But wow! Both Ben and I were really surprised.

We stayed at the Hungry Horse which was a really well done RV park. It had a lot of families there and in activities. I could see why people would want to live there during the summer. They had a pool, hiking trails, movie nights, two playgrounds, a basketball court, and even a bounce pad. The staff was really friendly and helpful. It was September at the time so they had fun fall activities like a hayride, and spook alley for Halloween. The season closed in September but the celebrated it anyway. I’m not complaining!

We decided to check on trip advisor for some fun things to do and we came across a little Dutch village. There were great reviews so on a rainy way, we went.

Dutch Village

This little place was fun for kids. Not sure if we would go back but decided to make the best out of it. The workers were young but very informative. We learned how the wooden shoes were made, and a fun tale of a boy who stopped a dam from breaking.

Not sure how people could walk in these…

I’m Not A Witch!

To put everyones mind at ease, I was weighed and tried. Not a witch.

The time we had in Michigan was much needed. The drive from Texas was long but beautiful and we are getting the hang of this lifestlye.

Also, I found that tiny spaces get messy real quick.