NH, Vermont & New York (again)

On Tuesday, June 17, David and I started the day by getting our 2nd Shingles vaccine.  The plan was that if we were going to be miserable I had better choose a day when we had a couple of slow days.  Those days were June 17-20.  We hoped we would be camped in New Hampshire, a five hour drive, before we ran out of steam.  As we were driving, we got the news that David’s brother, Keith, who had been battling pneumonia in the hospital was being sent home with just days or weeks to live.  As much as we wanted Keith to be free of his failing body, we are devastated to lose his earthly company.  I spent the rest of the drive trying to arrange for David to go home to Richland.  When we arrived at the RV park I had booked in New Hampshire it became obvious that it would not work for us.  Our RV is 37 ft and the site was 33 ft.  This made me quite angry because I had specifically called them a couple of days previously to MAKE SURE we would fit because I had recently read some reviews that made me concerned.  But, as the malaise from the shot started taking effect, I was also feeling very discouraged.  We navigated to a nearby mall to park while I figured out what we should do.  David and the kids headed out to find food and give me some space to calm down.  I saw that there were other campgrounds near by but it was just past closing time of the offices.  Still, I made a call to a certain campground and left a message.  By a miracle they got the message, had a site for us and we got camped.  Only Zina ate at the mall so we quickly made some shrimp tacos in the trailer and went to bed.

It was a beautiful park.  In the morning, for a while, I thought we should see if we could stay.  As I mentioned before that didn’t feel like the right plan so I asked for a late departure so that we could visit Joseph Smith’s birthplace.  I have always wanted to visit there and see the obelisk from a picture in my early Book of Mormon.  We had a great visit, learning about a miracle that allowed them to receive and raise the obelisk which was made in one solid piece.  It was ordered and got most of the way there but it was so heavy they were having trouble getting it up the hill.  They were about ready to send it to Utah to put in Temple Square and the next morning the ground froze.  They used block and tackle to get it up the hill and then rigged a derrick with a pulley system to lift it onto the base.  It is not secured, it is such a perfect fit that it just stands there, or at least has stood there, for 120 years!  An amazing feat in the early 1900’s! We also took the path to see the Solomon Mack home site and the post road that ran along beside with an old stone wall and bridge.  Then we made the 3.5 hour drive to the campground I thought would be central to several planned activities.

Our arrival at the new RV park was very eventful.  For some reason they had mostly grass sites.  The site they had assigned us had a slight hill to get into it AND suddenly there was a tremendous downpour!  As we tried to get into the site, we got stuck in the mud!  To make a long story short, the owner’s tractor had to pull us out and they luckily had a different site for us.  We babied jack to get camped.  I am pretty sure we just grabbed what was available and went to bed.

Thursday was spent trying to find a mobile RV tech and the part needed to repair the trailer.  The good news is that we got everything worked out. I took the kids to an Urban air for some activity.

Friday we drove to Albany to see the New York State Capitol.  I had been there with Grandpa & Grandma Harris a LONG time ago.  It didn’t really match my memory but it is a spectacular building.  I couldn’t perfectly enjoy it because I was worried about our pre-ordered part coming in.  In the end it arrived, we picked it up, brought it back to camp and got there before the RV tech showed up a little after 5pm.  Dr. Dave’s RV is a husband, nephew, and wife team.  Husband and nephew work on the RV and wife, Sheila, mans the phone and does the paperwork.  Sheila and I gabbed while the work was done.  I am so grateful for how hard they work.  They would really like to get out of the business because it is so physically demanding but they haven’t found a buyer yet.  If they do get to retire, Sheila wants to be a storyteller and go around and share stories about Jesus.  It seems like a fine idea to me.

One of the reasons I wanted to make this trip was to fulfill a lifelong dream of David’s to go see an air show which would include WWI airplanes at the Old Rhinebeck aerodrome.  I had very specifically planned the trip to catch the show.  Earlier in the week we found out the this weekend’s shows had to be cancelled because their paperwork has not yet been stamped for this season.  We decided to go anyway and see the facility and museum.  David saw some of the plane he didn’t get to see in the Smithsonian.  We had not planned to do the biplane ride but when we got there it seemed the thing to do.  Zina REALLY wanted to and David and Will decided they wanted to.  Apparently they were all terrified the whole time but it was pretty cool.  David would have preferred a grizzled veteran to fly the plane but it was a fairly young girl.  The day was very hot so we didn’t hang around after we saw everything.  I had been hoping that they would be doing some practice for the show so David could get some views but that didn’t happen.  Our drive to and from was the scenic route through the Catskills and was very beautiful!

Though in the outskirts of my mission, we were not close enough to visit a congregation where I served so we went to the Oneonta Branch.  There was a sister missionary that had served in the branch two years ago visiting that day.  We didn’t have any similar service areas though she may have known Olivia Galloway.  One lucky thing about visiting that branch was that a brother David conversed with told us we should go to the Joseph Knight Sr. home and the Josiah Stoal (Stowell) homes to learn about the Colesville branch on our way to the Restoration of the Priesthood site.  We stopped briefly on our way to the site and they were not open.  I found their website and it said they would open 2pm to 6pm so we could try again on our way home.  We really enjoyed the Restoration site.  It has changed a LOT since I was last there in 2011. It is well done.  I was not very inclined to go back to the house but David wanted to so we did.  I am SO grateful he pushed for that and I would HIGHLY recommend a visit there for anyone doing a church history tour.  We started at the Joseph Knight Sr. home.  You are supposed to call ahead to let them know you are coming so we did and they were excited for us to come.  When we got there they had just had a bus full of 37 visitors go in ahead of us (including the apparently famous church historian Casey Edwards) so we had to wait for a few minutes.  It is not a church owned site but it is a run by LDS folks.  Our docents were descendants of Joseph Knight, Sr. from Boise.  The Colesville branch met in this home until they moved en mass to Ohio (and then to Missouri.)  The home was purchased and restored by loving members.  We LOVED the tour and the stories they shared.  These men were great friends to the Prophet, Joseph Smith, making it possible for him to do his important work.  Joseph Knight, Sr. made it as far as Mt. Pisgah, Iowa.  Josiah Stoal was the only baptized member of his family but stayed faithful until his death, writing a letter to Joseph Smith in 1843 expressing a desire to come to Nauvoo.

Monday was Cooperstown Day!  Will arose early to prepare! Then we just had to get the rest of the family moving.  We got there at about 10:30.  The small town in the middle of nowhere was SO crowded.  I joked that it was a bit of a religious experience for a baseball fan to visit!  Will devoured every exhibit and the rest of us took in what we could while keeping Zina entertained and cared for.  I have to admit that I was right behind Will in loving the Baseball Hall of Fame.  We lucked out by being there in Ichiro’s induction year.  He has already signed the place where his plaque will go.  We didn’t leave until about 6pm, only taking a small break for lunch.  

As we prepared to leave Davenport this morning we got the news that Keith had passed away.  David will still fly home today but it won’t be in time to say goodbye.  Keith was just the very best person imaginable.  He will be greatly missed.