Go East young fam! (Days 24-28)

Day 24

Sunday, August 4^th 2013

Today we got to drive through New York, the land of highway robbery. At least if you're hauling a trailer.

We were going to see the Statue of Liberty and New York City, but after much researching and hearing horror stories of $80 tolls and no places to park an RV unless you wanted to pay another $80 (and the Statue of Liberty was booked all the way out to October and you couldn't even bring little ones under 4 to climb to the top anyways), we decided to forgo the city.

Even so we still got stuck paying a $37 toll going over the Manhattan bridge. Ugh... at least I got a picture of New York City in the distance and am pretty sure that the tall skinny looking building in the far right of the picture is the Statue of Liberty. =P

Through terrible traffic and tolls, we were more than happy to leave New York and get into Plymouth, Massachusetts late that night. 

We reserved three nights at the Pinewood Lodge so we could keep the RV there and drive around with just the car. We found this to be much easier than trying to find a place to park a travel trailer.

Our sweet girls are such troopers sitting through the long hours of driving! 

Day 25

Monday, August 5^th 2013

Another train ride, but this time to Boston Massachusetts.

It's been a lot of fun doing the train rides as we all get to sit together and the girls can move around a bit more than when in their car seats.

Boston is a beautiful city, very clean with lots of greenery. The old buildings and history the city is built upon is so cool.

We went to James Hook and Company for lunch. Caleb had been there once before when he gone to a renewable energy conference in Boston. Fresh lobster, a crab cake and my favorite – clam chowder. Yum!

Then we checked out Faneuil (pronounced like Daniel with an F) Hall. It was the Town Hall were many Patriotic meetings were held in the 1700's.

We pushed the girls in the double stroller all through the city and took a break in a pretty park while Juliet took a nap. 










Ellie had fun playing at the playground and then wading through this big fountain that was only about a foot deep all around. 





It was designed to be a kids pool during the summer and then an ice rink during the winter. What an awesome idea!

We headed back to the train for another fun ride. After loading back up into our car we headed out to explore the historic waterfront of Plymouth. 

Enclosed in a granite memorial structure lay Plymouth rock with the date 1620 engraved upon its surface.

The story behind the rock was very interesting. People aren't sure Plymouth rock was the actual first place the Pilgrims landed, and it wasn't until 1741 that the rock become labeled as such stating “It is the fact that they [the Pilgrims] landed – and remained – that matters, not where they landed. Yet it is no bad thing for a nation to be founded upon a rock.” 

How true that is, and Biblical! The symbolism of God being the rock and cornerstone of our lives is what gives us purpose in life and keeps us steady through all the ups and downs we face.

Our country has some amazing history and its been an incredible journey to revisit many of these sights. So much of what founded our country was based upon Christian principles, yet you never see or hear the details pertaining to some of these important individuals' faith and belief in God which shaped the choices they made. Much like the Pilgrims in their escape from England to find a new land where they would have the freedom to worship God as they saw fit.   

What happened to the freedom of speech to cause these details to be so carefully hidden? One doesn't have to share the same beliefs as that in history for it to be retold.

Just some thoughts that have been on my mind as we explore the United States.

Day 26

Tuesday, August 6^th 2013

We had a relaxing morning before taking off in just the Excursion to explore Cape Cod. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and a perfect temperature. 

The girls had fun playing on the beach with Juliet splashing in the water and Ellie making sand angels or what she called “Ellie's.” 





The sand there was very coarse which was actually very nice as it didn't stick to everything and brushed right off.

We checked out Provincetown and walked through the crazy little tourist town there. 

The streets were packed with people and the stores had $150 shirts to look at or a stuffed opossum playing the banjo. It was fun though and we even got to try a lobster roll.

After walking through town, we checked the other side of the beach overlooking the Atlantic ocean and watched the sun set in the distance. So beautiful!

A lovely way to end another day of our trip.

Day 27

Wednesday, August 7^th 2013

Today was a BIG driving day. From Plymouth all the way to Buffalo, New York, we covered the distance so we could check out Niagara Falls in the morning.

We had done the math and realized we would spend just as much money in gas to avoid toll roads in New York (plus an extra 2 hours of driving) then to pay them. 







So, more tolls. 

Oh joy.  

We took a break at a service stop as they call the rest areas off of toll roads. 

We tried to facetime my sister Sarah but we've had such terrible wifi it just wouldn't work.

We continued on until we found a nice Walmart in the city of Niagara Falls.

For dinner, we tried Panera Bread for the first time. There was one only like 10 min. away from where we lived in Washington and we wondered why it had taken a road trip and over 2500 miles later to try one out. 

It was fantastic! Great healthy food with a pretty good variety from smoothies to specialty sandwiches and salads to pastas. We had always thought it was just a bread and soup shop. Definitely recommend their food! Though a little more pricey since it is a fresh and healthy alternative.

Day 28

Thursday, August 8^h 2013

Hello Niagara Falls! An amazing sight to see for sure! I personally love waterfalls and Niagara Falls is made up of two different huge falls. 




The first is the traditional one we all see in the pictures which is called Horseshoe Falls. 







The second waterfall is called the American Falls.

The only thing about Niagara Falls is that on the American side, we see the backside of the waterfalls while if you're on the Canadian side, you would be able to see the front. 

It was slightly disappointing to not see the full magnificence of the falls before us (though still an amazing sight), so we made up for it by taking a trip on the Maid of the Mists. 

This is a ferry boat that takes you right inside the ring of Horseshoe Falls. 






Everyone was given a big blue poncho, even the kids, before we set off to experience Niagara Falls up close and personal.

We putted along peacefully as we passed the American Falls. A light mist passed over us as we chugged along, and then suddenly, we hit a deluge of rain. The spray from Horseshoe Falls as it collided with the river sprayed so much water you could barely look up at the magnificent waterfall towering before us. So incredible!

On the road again, we passed through Pennsylvania and into Ohio. 

Everything has looked pretty much the same along the eastern side of the country. Still lots of green forests on both sides of the road. And those corn fields are as usual the predominant crops we see. =)

Another night at a Walmart in Toledo, Ohio is where we set up camp for the night.