The Trip of a Lifetime. The Beginning :Loading Up

The Trip of a Lifetime

On July 21, 2009, we drove to Rupert, ID.

July 22 - rented a U-Haul trailer, loaded it and our pickup with furniture from Mom Garner's home and headed East to take it to Karlene and Doyle. Spent that night at Rawlins, WY.

Crazy Horse Monument and Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

The Trip of a Lifetime

July 23 - Got to see the Crazy Horse Monument and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. The Black Hills are full of Ponderosa Pine trees that have black bark. Sturgis motorcyclers were gathering for their big rally in another week. Lots of black leather everywhere. I want to go back to the Crazy Horse Monument in 20 years and see how much more they've gotten done.

Niagara Falls

The Trip of a Lifetime

July 24 - (As Andrea Parrish says, Pie and Beer day... you know, Pioneer Day)We traveled 11 hours through South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and into Illinois. We stayed at Rockford, IL.

July 25 - Another 11 hour drive through Indiana, Ohio, a corner of Pennsylvania, and stayed at Buffalo, NY.

July 26 - Spent the entire day loving Niagara Falls and loving Dennis for bringing me there. Walked into Canada and were so disappointed that they didn't stamp my Passport. Sooo AWESOME!!!

Palmyra, NY

July 27 - Spent most of the Day at Palmyra, NY, where the Prophet Joseph lived. We walked in his steps. We got to see his home, the Sacred Grove - that is huge and where the Cicada's were singing to high heaven, the Hill Cumorah (the Pageant had been the previous week but the missionaries were still pumped), the Grandin Press where the Book of Mormon was first printed, and got to do initiatories at the temple there. Many of the temple workers remembered Dave and Elaine, who were there last year and wished they'd come back. Then we drove 5 more hours through New York and New Jersey and arrived late at Karlene's where she had a hot pie coming out of the oven for a great midnight snack.

Karlene's and New York

The Trip of a Lifetime

July 28 - We drove Karlene's cute little Lexus sports car into New York. We got to see the sights and went to Canal street to do some fun shopping, finding great bags for all of us girls for a great price. We got to see "Wicked" on Broadway that night and have been listening to the music on CD or in our heads ever since. We LOVED it!!! We were able to eat Dim Sum - an oriental dish that looks like won tons but are steamed. We were able to eat four different skins with four fillings. It was great.

July 29 - got to have a down day, doing laundry and resting. Karlene fixed Aebleskivers with apple syrup and drove us out for some really fun food. We got real New York style pizza and an Arugula salad with huge slices of Portobello mushrooms and big slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.We got to experience 100% humidity for the first time. The windows steamed up on the outside of the house. In the car we had to use the wipers to clear off the steam that formed. When it finally rained, it was warm rain. I loved the adventure of it. It was foggy just like Roosevelt in the winter, except that it was so hot it felt like a sauna.

Philadelphia

The Trip of a Lifetime

July 30 - We were able to drive Karlene's little sports car into Philadelphia. We saw Betsy Ross's house where she rented rooms for living and for her millinery shop. Then we got on an open top bus and took the tour to see the town. What a great history with cool quaint looking homes. There were tons and tons of rows of apartment buildings that were all built the same but each one was decorated uniquely with different colors, wood workings around the door, etc. The highlight of the day was that we put the top down on her car and drove back to Karlene's with the top down, cool air coming from the air conditioner, hair blowing in the wind, warm and humid sunshine streaming down.

July 31 - We were able to stay just a little longer at Karlene's. She and her family were getting together in Phoenix for a family reunion. Dennis got up early to take them to the airport, where they missed their plane. They decided to stay at the airport rather than come home since they'd just get home and have to turn around and go back. I'm anxious to see Karlene's pictures of when she gets her bathrooms remodeled. She's putting in the most gorgeous white marble floor and shower with a wonderful claw foot soaking tub. It should be about finished this weekend.

Washington, D.C.

The Trip of a Lifetime

August 1 - Drove to Washington DC. Seeing the temple appear over the freeway was just as beautiful as everyone described. We were able to do a session at the temple there that evening. It's fun to see how they manage things just a little differently. The next day we were able to leave our truck and trailer at the hotel and shuttle to the metro then ride the subway into Washington DC historical section. We went to the Washington Monument with it's two different colored stones. The White House didn't seem like the White House because the scene we always see is the back of the building. It had gorgeous, green, lush lawns all around with soccer, cricket, and football games going on. We walked past the reflecting pool that Forest Gump walked through. Cute little ducks and geese were very friendly and were thick there. Then we went to the Lincoln Memorial. These are so huge and impressive. The humidity was so heavy that we were perspiring profusely, but no worries, cause everyone else was too. Even our arms and legs got shiny. We got on a trolley and took a tour through the rest of the town. The only places that we didn't get to see was the Smithsonian Institute and Arlington National Cemetery with the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. At Washington DC, my camera 4 gig memory card filled up and Dennis kindly bought me a little 1 gig to get me by until we could download my 350 pix that I'd already taken. He thinks I'm turning into a Japanese tourist.

Time with Doyle and Karen

The Trip of a Lifetime

After seeing Washington, DC, we drove down through Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, to Cary, NC and arrived at Doyle's late this night where they had cookies and fudge waiting for a late snack and visit around the table.

August 2 - They took us to Duke University to see the beautiful 1400 person Catholic Church there. It has amazing statues and stained glass telling all the Bible stories. Duke University also has an incredible garden done by their agricultural college and many donations. I can't even guess how many acres there were of flowers, water features, sitting areas, and landscaped walkways. We got to go to church with Doyle and Karen. They had fun showing off the twins. We also got to see the cute little Raleigh temple.

August 3 - Spent time with Doyle and Karen. We went out for lunch at a Mediterranean place where we ate something tasty and pronounceable. That night they took us for Eastern North Carolina Bar B Q. It is vinegar based rather than the tomato base of Western North Carolina (and the rest of the country). The vinegar was so mild that it made it very tasty. We also had Brunswick Stew which is native to the East. I didn't love it, but it was ok. Hushpuppies were also served and were delightful. Following is an excerpt from a website on Eastern NC BBQ.

Eastern-NC-Style
by H. Kent Craig ©1999

It's easier to be a Master Chef at the New York Academy Of Culinary Arts & Sciences, it's easier to be be a Professor Of Sanskrit at the Sorbone, it's easier to be a Master Steak Chef at Blackie's in DC, than it is to be a Master BBQ Chef Of Eastern-NC-BBQ. That's because Eastern-NC-Style BBQ is plain whole-hog pork meat, with just the tiniest bit of vinegar-based "sauce" which isn't a sauce at all, applied as a moistening agent. Eastern-Style BBQ is usually one of two grades; either excellent, or close to inedible. When you have a fine-chopped (almost to the point of being ground at times, without use of a mechanical grinder) plain meat dish, with just enough vinegar "sauce" to wake up your tastebuds and nothing else, the meat, the grade of the meat, how the pig is butchered and prepared, the pain-staking slow-cooking process, everything culminates to when it hit's your tongue with either an "ahhhhh" or a "yecchhh!".

Most times Eastern-Style is served with cole slaw, as a side dish if served on a plate, or atop the BBQ itself if served in a sandwich. Craig Claiborne, the former NY Times food critic and a converted fan of NC BBQ, often said an Eastern-Style BBQ sandwich, with the astringency stress of the (usually slightly hot pepper flavor but not much) vinegar sauce balanced with the cool blanche' of the cole slaw made such an Eastern-NC-Style sandwich a true delicacy, an epicurean delight.

When and wherever Eastern-Style NC BBQ served, in addition to cole slaw, two things are also invariably served with it, those being sweetened ice tea so strong as to where a cup or pitcher full of melting ice won't dilute it much, and "hushpuppies". "Hushpuppies", again, seem to be a peculiarly North Carolinia' culinary invention, though, equally again, even though I've never found them for sale at any restaurant outside of North Carolina, one would have to think that fried cornbread balls, which are all that hushpuppies are, would be almost universal in taste appeal and popularity. Hushpuppies are merely cornbread-dough-batter elongated "nuggets" about the size of a small cheese stick, deep-fried very quickly in a super-hot greasebath, which gives them a flavorful golden-brown crust with a yellow and equally flavorful soft middle, and are as or more addicting than great BBQ by themselves.