A day with Bob & Marie and an evening with the Stocks family

Glenn & I caught the frontrunner train at 7.30am this morning - this train is clean, fast, comfortable & has free WIFI... Nothing like Australian railways! We raced to get into a 9am session at the temple - an eyeopener for me. Bob & Marie then took us around salt Lake city on a personal "groeners" tour :-) We spent the entire day with them - how did they cope? They kindly dropped us off at a restaurant where we organized to meet elder stocks and his family. Dinner was such a lovely affair - reminiscing about Australian mission and new beginnings. I really enjoyed having fun with Cody's sons (grandma time)

Antelope Island, Pool, Aussie Dinner

After an early morning walk around the block (3 miles), we headed off with Sue and Alan to Antelope Island, where we managed to spot Buffalo.  Not a big herd, but a few dotted around here and there.  Antelope Island is surrounded by Salt Lake, the views are absolutely amazing.

We had a bit of fun with the buffalo, trying to get them to come close enough for a photograph, but not too close that we would have to make a run for it to the car!

Then we visited Sue and Alan's son and daughter-in-law's house - the most magnificent home I have had the priviledge of being inside.  They were kind enough to let us swim in their pool and simply relax for a few hours in the sun.

From there we came home and got ready for the big dinner with our Aussie Family!

Josh came and picked us up in the 'fun bus', or 'bongo bus' or 'terrorist vehicle' - depending on who you ask! There were nine of us in the bus and we met Bob and Marie at the restaurant, making eleven Australians out for dinner. (Josh's wife Emma is American, but for the sake of the blog, she is Australian).  It was an all you can eat meal, with the waiters coming around every two minutes or so, offering more meat straight off a skewer - they cut it and you grab it.

After two hours of eating, we settled in for dessert - well only some of us :-)

Josh took us on a night sightseeing tour in the 'fun bus' of the many sights between Salt Lake City and Kaysville, where we are staying, with a stop off at Bountiful Temple.

Another late night, and an early start booked in for tomorrow.  Good night all.

Chicago, Cleveland, Salt Lake City

We woke at 4am (2am SLC time) and caught our flight from Chicago to Cleveland with a hot chocolate and a packet of m&ms for breakfast :-)
We arrived at 11am in SLC and were greeted by our wonderful friends Sue and Alan (my missionary son's grandparents).  We have spent the day relaxing with them, trying to keep myself awake.  We looked around Bountiful (which is where they work in the temple).  Had a little bit of supermarket shopping along with medication for my flu!
The rest of the afternoon has been spent trying to organise what we will be doing over the next week, before we travel down to Las Vegas.
It is sooooo lovely to be in a 'home' - not a hotel.

More driving :-(

Today we left niagara falls and drove our hire car to Cleveland. It was a humid but overcast day, a good day for traveling I guess because it means we didn't miss any sun. When we finally arrived we were both tired and hungry. We found out that we were supposed to return the car that morning - only five hours late.! So we got Charged an extra day hire and we had filled the car with petrol, but then realized we had paid for petrol up front and they wouldn't refund the amount :-( On a positive, we had a lovely dinner and we had our first evening of just relaxing together without hurrying to go anywhere. We start tomorrow at 4am aargh :-)

Canadian Niagara Falls

Today we got the chance to travel over the border onto Canadian soil.  It was a three minute walk across a big bridge and 50c to get back to the USA.  We got a new stamp on our passports for the effort.

We both agree that the Canadian side is much prettier, greener gardens and generally more picturesque than the American side.  No wonder our tour guide kept bagging the Canadians last night. :-)

Our lunch was right at the very tip of the horseshoe falls - it really was amazing.  A photo of our view is below.

We were both brought back to earth this afternoon, when we had to find a laundromat and do a couple of loads of washing.  Two hours later and very tired, we plodded back to our room for a nap.

Emily under the falls!

view from our restaurant at lunch :-)

I think I have had enough of waterfalls for now....

Niagara falls

Today has been enlightening.... We went to church first thing, then hopped in our hire car for a two hour drive to niagara falls. It was such a beautiful day, sun shining no Clouds. Absolutely gorgeous. Went for a walk around niagara falls for a couple of hours. Then had a tour organized for us. We drove in a van with a chauffeur, we were taken to the maid of the mist cruise, dinner and illumination of the falls. Wonderful day for our anniversary.

Palmyra, NY

Today was a day of visiting historic church sites.  We went to the Sacred Grove, saw inside Joseph Smith's original home, and another home of his family.  We then visited the Palmyra temple, and finally the Hill Cummorah and visitor's centre.  Palmyra is the town where Joseph Smith grew up.  Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ in 1830.
It has been a day filled with history and new appreciations of humble beginnings.

I also have the flu again! :-(

Travel in hire car day.

We have had a day spent in a hire car. A four and a half hour drive north, turned into almost 7 hours. It has rained the entire day. We couldn't see anything as we drove as the clouds were so low. Glenn drove exceptionally well on the wrong side of the road ;-) Our accommodation in palmyra is a quaint B&B in a village which Glenn describes as being "caught in time" called Palmyra. The worst thing is we have no Internet - so I'm typing this blog on my iPhone via a wifi near the restaurant we r having dinner at. Looking forward to bed early.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO 3W :-)

Dear Class,

Wishing you a very happy holiday.... Be good for your parents... Have a fun break... See you in Week 2.

Don't forget to keep checking this blog during the holidays too.  Go to our 3W webpage on the school site and click on the link from there.

Love Mrs Williams xxx

NEW YORK, NEW YORK :-)

What an amazing day.  We began with some exercise, breakfast, shuttle service to the SUBWAY (not the restaurant chain, but the train service).  It was very safe, unlike what you read about and see on the movies. 

We got off at the wrong stop, so had to walk a little further than expected to pick up our tour bus, but the detour was worth it - we walked right through the middle of Times Square, which is buildings full of lights, advertisements, extremely large TV screens and in general lots and lots of busy busy streets.

Our tour took us around the city of New York, then on to a water taxi down the Hudson River, and other water courses, past the Statue of Liberty under the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge.  Got back on the bus to visit the World Trade Centre site.  There are two new buildings in the process of construction, one of them is getting built a floor a week!  It will be the new highest building in America, and the third highest in the world!  We also saw the memorial fountains, which are located where the two original buildings used to be.  It was a sobering visit.

When the tour was over, we went out for dinner, bought a new mobile phone, then booked a stage show on Broadway - Mary Poppins.... IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT (even Glenn loved it!)

Finally, we caught the subway back to our hotel (which was a little scary, as it was late at night).  A great day in New York.  Wish we could stay longer.

Fly Fly Fly

Well it is now 10.15pm on Wednesday night in New York City, USA.  But it is 12.15pm in the afternoon back at Nowra on Thursday, so Glenn and I have now been travelling for 23 hours straight.

We are feeling very tired, hungry and smelly!

Our hotel is very nice and we have just ordered dinner, then we are going to crash.

Tomorrow is our Sightseeing Tour day...  Great photo opportunity, so you can all see the sights too.

One day to go :-)

I enjoyed a day with 3W today and got soaking wet when the skies dumped on us, as we ran back to school from a fantastic picnic at Harry Sawkins Park.
Glenn was busy with his 'to do' list.
We have realised that we have to get up at 5.00am tomorrow and leave by 6.00am.  We are visiting our granddaughter before going to the airport.  Have to get one last cuddle in before we fly away.
Very excited about the holiday now.
Good bye everyone, tomorrow I shall be writing this blog from New York!!!!

Two more days to go....

Tonight we are finalising a shopping list for Glenn to do on his day off!  As well as mow the lawns, do the washing, put car in for rego check, clean pool, visit family and pack.

I will go in to work and relax with 3W :-)

Preparing to leave!

Glenn and I are finalising everything now.  Today Glenn learned that we are leaving at 1.00pm NOT 3.00pm on Wednesday.  Glad Bob told us that lol :-)