Sorry about the delay, I'm a procrastinator (David is not which is awesome, I need to learn from him). We really did actually go on an entire trip, not just day 1. So we left off at the top of the hill cumorah.

Then we all hopped in the car and drove to the motel that was on our way. That night we looked up church buildings and times for the next day. I forgot about Father's day in the wake of the trip (sorry Dad and David), but the kids at the ward we went to actually did a great father's day program. We were super impressed; they didn't even need prompter posters.

Then we hit the road again so we could stop off at Niagara Falls on the way to Kirtland.

(Disclaimer: I only brought my Ipod here because the camera was dead. On day 2- great planning I know)

Since I couldn't get a passport in time for the trip, we were planning on staying on the American side... that was the plan anyway. But we found ourselves sitting on a bridge going, "Why does that sign say welcome to Canada on it?" and figuring we would be denied entrance and sent back. 

But nope, the Canadian gatekeeper just checked out our licenses and sent us on our merry way. She did however say it might be hard to get back (great, I was imagining a bureaucratic nightmare with hours of waiting when we tried to go back to the US).

But we reasoned that since we found ourselves on the side with the better view anyways we might as well enjoy it. And we did- we found free parking, got soaked on the bow of Maid of the Mist, felt like Pam and Jim from the office... it was a blast.

When I think of it now I remember Nathan yelling at us on the boat over the roar of the falls "Look through the hood! It shields your eyes and then you can see!" Haha, classic.

After we got off the boat we made the trek back to the car and headed back to the U.S. Other than the crazy street maze to cross the bridge it really wasn't all that hard to get back in. The U.S. gatekeeper just had us pop our trunk, looked at our licenses and said that the lady probably let us into Canada so easily because we look so obviously American. (In what way? How do you look American?).

This is how you look American (or just awkward haha)

Back in New York, we hit this really delicious Italian place that was on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives for dinner. It was famous for its lasagna but what really wowed us was this yummy chicken dish. It was breaded with cheese and a tomato on top with a great lemony sauce. We left feeling good and ready to settle into our drive towards Kirtland.

This was the only day we didn't book a hotel in advance, we figured we would drive until we were close to Kirtland since we couldn't tour until the next morning anyways. Nathan and Colleen were the amazing driving/navigating team in the front while David and I were in charge of the snacks. Which actually means we napped...snuggled... and ate in the back. Ha, we really contributed- woops! Here's some of David's shenanigans to avoid the hot sun in the back.

My sweater came in handy to shield us from the sun.

We eventually got off the freeway and drove down this scenic highway that was lush and green with large farm houses interspersed along the way. And sometimes there were amish people outside of the houses. We saw a group of youth playing volleyball outside their church building. The girls were on one side and the boys on the other. It was so much fun to see!

We got to Hiram and got laughed at when we asked around for a hotel. No kidding. A police officer and lady he was chatting with laughed at us outright when we asked where a hotel was when we saw them in front of the station in town square (town square!!! water tanks and gazebos and flags and cuteness).

But when they stopped laughing they suggested a few places and we ended up at the cutest inn, The Red Maple Inn. We were reluctant about the pricing but when we asked the lady at the front desk about a room with two beds she offered us two separate rooms for the price of the bigger one with two beds.

This was out in front of the Inn.

We dropped off our stuff and explored around town a bit. We walked around the historical site next to the Inn which felt church history-esque and then walked around town square. David spotted some fireflies which was fun, I'd actually never seen any before.

Then we headed back to enjoy the nice amenities at the inn and the chocolates on our pillows.

I instagramed David's favorite feature of the hotel: the valet. He immediately hung his clothes on there and reiterated his longing for one in our room at home.

Also at the inn I won the bet I made with David that one of the places we stayed at on this trip would have robes (he loves having matching robes as well). 

Look at this view! This is Ohio for you, it was as lush as New York. At this point I was feeling really sorry for the saints for having to end up in Salt Lake.

And I had to add the beaver I saw from our porch running across the lawn. David was taking a shower and I was inordinately excited about seeing this beaver so of course I had to grab the camera. Everything at the Red Maple seemed so cool- the amish women who cooked breakfast, the library, the cookies up for grabs on the front desk, the jacuzzi tubs. It was awesome and a nice break from the non-stop pace of the three previous days.

Here's Colleen's post about our second day (with way better details/pictures).

Here's day 1 of our trip in Palmyra.