The drive this morning through Vermont was beautiful!  We were on a 2 lane road so we really felt the joy of the drive versus just being on the freeway.  The scenery was gorgeous, the weather was phenomenal (65 degrees) and we had all the windows down and the sun roof open and the radio blaring and we were all singing at the top of our lungs.  It was a special moment that I will always treasure in my heart--I remember making eye contact with Bryan and thinking....we are so blessed!! We were also all freezing so we had heated seats trying to warm our bums while the rushing air cold our faces. Our hair was whipping everywhere. But it was worth it.  Bryan has loved driving the Equus and I loved his quote today as he passed a car, "the power in this thing is just delicious!"  He has been such a trooper and drive 99.8% of the time.  I drove for a short spell through Texas before the kids booted me out of the drivers seat for failing to go above 88.  Then my driving in Philly also got me the boot from Bryan and relegated to the back seat due to high tension....remember me saying I hated driving in philly?  It wasn't an understatement.

It has been so fun to see the beauty of this world God created for us.  And also to learn about the brave men and women who fought to make this land free and great.  Today we get to go to the Sacred Grove in Palmyra New York, and I am so thrilled to have the kid with us in that sacred place where God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to the boy Joseph in response to his humble prayer and initiated the restoration of Christ's church on earth once again.
  

We stated in Palmyra by going to the Grandin Printing Building and seeing where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed.  Did you know the first books were sold for $1.25?  That was roughly 2 days wages for a working man, so while it seems cheap to us, it really wasn't. The floors in the building are original and I could feel the spirit of the place as we walked where Joseph had walked.  It was astounding to learn about the whole printing process and how laborious setting all that type would be.  But I am so grateful we have the Book of Mormon today as another witness of Jesus Christ.  After that we went to the Smith farm and saw the log house (replica on the foundation) where the angel Moroni appeared and also the frame house (80% original) they lived in for a few years and in which the gold plates were hidden on several occasions to keep them safe from the mobs.

The sacred grove was beautiful and I was glad that we had hours to spare before the pageant and plenty of time to just relax and feel the peace and spirit of that sacred place.  We tried to get some great pictures so that we could send some to Alyson on her mission so she could show investigators pictures of the sacred grove.  But I don't think that pictures do it justice.  You just can't feel the peace and beauty unless you are there in person.  I am so glad James and Abygail got to be there for the first time and I got to share that experience with them. James found a quiet bench on which to read his scriptures for a while and he said that while he read not one person walked past and not one mosquito bothered him. (there were a lot of people in Palmyra since it is pageant time) I was nearing the end of another reading of the Book of Mormon and was hoping to finish it while in the sacred grove, but I didn't do it.  I am still in Ether 12, but I skipped ahead and read Moroni chapter 10 while I sat in the quiet.  

About 6 pm we headed to the dollar general to buy some bug spray and then to head to Hill Cumorah for the pageant.  The Lions Club and Rotary cook food and sell it near the parking lot, so it was perfect to buy dinner there and eat it on our chairs in the few hours we waited until the pageant began (9:15 pm).  They set up about 8,000 chairs and we had seats in the center section near the front.  Karen Toone from our stake was there as a cast member and when the cast comes out about 7 pm to visit with the audience we were happy to find her and take some pictures with her.  Her parents (President Toone) were there that night watching the performance too, so we went and said hi to him.  Protesters lined the road at the back of the grassy area, and boy were they noisy! Their megaphones yelled for hours before the pageant and then again the minute it ended.  Poor Abby did not like that at all. And I felt one of them crossed the line when he yelled that we should all be shot like Joe Smith.  But forgetting the loud protestors who thankfully were quiet during the performance, the evening was fabulous.  The weather was great--cold for us AZ folks.  We were all huddled under our 3 blankets and our 5 seats eventually were reduced to 3 as we snuggled closer and closer for warmth.  The pageant itself was incredible! The cast was huge.  And Abby began beggin almost immediately that our family do it next summer instead of taking a vacation.  The special effects of fire and water are amazing as they portray the stories from the Book of Mormon.  We all especially loved the scenes when Nephi is tied up on the ship and it is stormy, and the destruction that occurred before the Savior appears after his resurrection. It was fabulous that this telling of the stories of the Book of Mormon takes place here on Hill Cumorah where the last Nephite Prophet Moroni buried them in the ground and where Joseph Smith received the agent plates so he could translate them for us to have in our day. How grateful I am that we have the Book of Mormon to read and study the words of Christ.

We had a long drive after the pageant to get to our hotel in Niagra Falls so we bolted the minute it was over so we could beat traffic and get on the road.  Not 2 minutes later Annie exclaims that she can't find her phone in her fanny pack.  James and her had been looking at photos while we were waiting for it to start and now it is missing.  Bryan was NOT a happy camper about turning around and driving back into the chaos to go look for a cell phone.  We were blessed however, that we were able to drive right up to where the seats were and find it immediately in the grass under our chairs and be back in the car and back on the road in about 7 minutes total.  I considered it a tender mercy.  We didn't get to the hotel until about 1 am, so this was our latest night so far.
But it has been a GREAT day!  The Hill Cumorah Pageant is a MUST do if at all possible.  Now we need to go see the Manti Pageant!