Have you been to Philadelphia?
What a wonderful history-rich city!
We saw the Liberty Bell, the Museum of the American Revolution,
the Shakespeare monument,
and chapel where The Sixth Sense was filmed.
Our favorite Philly site was, of course, the newly constructed temple
What a gorgeous, amazing structure!
Just walking around the temple brought inexplicable joy and peace.
Our hearts were full walking around the house of the Lord.
To see Philadelphia properly, one needs at least 2 weeks!
* * * *
This morning we found ourselves in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
It was a blast from the past!
This is where Oliver's life began, and my girls spent most of their
early toddler days with Jimmy, our dog.
Back then, we'd wander the neighborhood;
the little girls are slightly ahead with Jimmy,
and I would push Ollie in the stroller. We'd pick up bugs, collect leaves,
and on cold days, we'd count the cars that drove by our
lonely little street, or wave to the mailman and trash collectors
from our big living room window.
That may seem boring and dreadful, but the more I think about it,
the more I long for those quiet easy days.
They were slow and deliberate. I miss being a young mom.
The house seemed tiny, and it was!
It doesn't look as happy as it did when we lived there.
I kept the bushes cut and planted inpatients
and dahlias in the front flowerbeds.
We painted the door red, and on Saturdays, we'd
cut the lawn or rake the leaves as a family.
We drove past old neighbors and, of course, waved to the goose!
(He's still there!).
Seriously, that goose brought us so much happiness
on those often lonely days in New Jersey days!
Mr. Nielson drove us to where we attended church and blessed Oliver.
We also saw and waved to the old ice cream shop we'd
walk to on Monday nights for family home evening.
We then made our way into the city- the BIG CITY!
Did you know you can't drive in an RV on the Holland or Lincoln tunnel?
Welp, we didn't know.
So we had to be escorted by a NYC cop while traffic slowed.
It was exciting (and a Griswold moment).
We finally got into the city, crossing the George Washington Bridge.
Can you imagine a giant RV driving up and down the streets of Manhattan?
Well, you don't have to imagine it because it happened.
We did it! Mr. Nielson was a fantastic driver!
We drove past the Manhattan Temple.
What a stunning sight!
What peace we felt just passing by!!!
We can all serve together inside the temple in about five more years.
Right now, Lottie is still too young.
Our season will come.
And Lottie counted 23 hot dog stands.
Next time we visit Manhattan, we will spend more time in
Central Park and the Little Nies want to touch the Statue of Liberty
(I guess pointing at her out the window wasn't good enough).
They were too young to remember that we already
How fun to see these sights from years ago, and so bittersweet too.
Tonight we drove into Tarrytown, NY, for some Halloween fun!
