Watkins Glen State Park, NY

Watkins Glen State Park, NY

Jared suggested that we stop at Watkins Glen Park, in New York, on our way home to WV- and we are so glad we did! The park is a narrow canyon with dozens of waterfalls that cascade down into the finger lakes.  It was about an hour and a half south of Palmyra.  The hike begins with a tunnel through the mountain, that emerges on to a stone stairway that weaves along the edges of the canyon, to the top of the falls.  Fabulous views all along the way-- Here are a few to share...

Thanks Jared...

Palmyra New York

Palmyra New York

 We attended church in the Niagara Falls Ward before leaving Canada, and were impressed with the Canadian Saints Testimony meeting!  We traveled to the USA border where our Military ID's made the crossing easy as pie.  After arriving in Palmyra, we visited the Peter Whitmer Farm.  There is a nice visitors center and missionary home on the site.  The Whitmer home is tiny, but it is where  a large portion of the Book of Mormon was translated.  The next day we attended the Palmyra Temple. Oliver and Brad did baptisms, while Christine and I did initiatory's- we especially liked the blessings of health and strength, which gave us added zip in our daily running ritual.  We visited the Sacred Grove, the Joseph Smith Farm, and the Printing Press, where the Book of Mormon was first printed.  The Erie canal crosses the county nearby and we stopped to take a look and visited with the locks keeper. We stayed in the Palmyra Inn, which is a delightful hotel, full of church members, missionaries and Temple workers. 

The Hill Cumorah

The Sacred Grove

The Peter Whitmer Farm

The Erie Canal

The Palmyra Temple

Upstairs in the Smith Farmhouse, where the angel Moroni visited 3x

The Sacred Grove

The Smith Farmhouse

Printing press competition- fold your own Book of Mormon

Niagara Finale

Finale at the Falls

Overlooking the Falls- Notice the Space Needle in the background- We ate dinner there that night...

Canadian Close-up of the Falls

Remember the movie BIG- We found Zoltar and made a wish...

View from the Space Needle elevator

What a view from the Observation Deck 

Niagara River Walk

Niagara River Walk

We took an elevator down a few hundred feet- and came out into a tunnel and cave to get close to the river- Brad and Oli had a great time making scary noises in the tunnel, much to the delight of the other tourists

 The call them Class 6 Rapids- only a few have survived- but it was soooo tempting to give it a try..

Poor Oli was not feeling well by this point- too many wild rides- 

Adventure Pass

Aero Car across the Niagara River

Our Adventure pass got us into 4 events- unfortunately the "walk behind the falls" was out of order, so we opted for the Aero car- (cable car) across the river.

 I wanted to try the speedboat...

Whirlpool below!

Lake Erie to Niagara Falls

Lake Erie

Which way to Niagara Falls?  

Pit Stop at Lake Erie... 

Niagara Falls, Canada

Arriving at Niagara Falls in the evening after a grueling by the Canadian Border Patrol

Fireworks at the Falls.  It was so misty we could hardly see the Falls, but the seagulls went crazy when the fireworks started. There were hundreds of them down by the waterfalls.  

Maid of the Mist, Canadian Style

Boys in Blue

Up close and personal with the Falls! A drenching experience!

Kirkland

Kirkland

Brad and I picked up Christine and Oliver in Pittsburgh and traveled to Kirkland Ohio.  We visited the Kirkland Temple and the Whitney Store. The RLDS (Community of Christ) own the Kirkland Temple and give tours for $3.  The Temple has been well preserved and their tour guides give an interesting version of historical events in Kirkland.  Our church owns the N.K Whitney store, Ashery and Saw Mill.  There is a Visitors Center 

where tours are given by the missionaries.  

Brad in the "School of the Prophets" room.








Making Waffles!

At the Ashery, owned by N.K. Whitney

The Saw Mill, along with fine woodworking tools for the building of the Temple.