Will on Cousins & NYC

For the first 1.5 days in Connecticut, we stayed in the Propria Parking Lot, which provided lots of space to run around, but it did not provide electricity or water. Dad loaded some water beforehand and we used our solar power on the roof to continue life as normal. Saturday was an uneventful day; we just drove and relaxed at the trailer. On Sunday, we had the opportunity to go to church with the Campbells. Grant gave a very nice talk on how our choices are often not the options that make us the most happy. He cited a study conducted in public transportation areas, in which 3 groups of people were assigned to either start a conversation, do what they normally did, or not start a conversation. The people who started a conversation were a lot happier by the end of the ride! In Young Mens’, we had a productive discussion about D&C 49-50. The person who gave the lesson prepared it well and was very good at starting discussions. Following church, we went home, ate lunch, and then went to The Campbell’s house while Mom and Dad moved the trailer to the actual campground. Once the trailer was moved, Grant drove us back to the trailer so that we could eat dinner together. After dinner, we played for a bit, and then said goodbye to the Campbells. It was a very nice day. Monday was Memorial Day, so there was no school. Dad and I woke up early to help clean out the residence of a late sister in the ward. We watched Grant march in a parade, and then went back to The Campbell’s house and ate bagels. We played outside for the rest of the day before helping Uncle Stu grill. After dinner, Grant and Sam invited their neighbor, Ellery, to have a war with guns that fire tiny Orbeez. The war was very intense, but Sam, Ellery, and I prevailed in the end. After we finished, we went home and went to bed. On Tuesday, we shopped with Aunt Adrianne for a few hours before the Campbell kids got home from school. Sam, Myra, and I played a hide-and-seek game with the Orbeez gun and then played some baseball. We ate pizza for dinner and then had a pickleball tournament at the top of their driveway. I had to say goodbye early, because we were going to NYC the following morning. The first thing that we did in NY was to hop into our tour guide’s van for a 7hr tour. We saw the Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Grand Central Terminal, Central Park, and Madison Square Garden. In fact, our hotel was just a couple of blocks from the Garden. By the time our tour was finished, it was 7 O’Clock, so we checked into our hotel. For dinner, I ate some ramen from a local shop. It was OK. That was the last thing that I did before I went to bed. On Thursday, we started our day off by getting tickets to MJ: The Musical.

We then went to the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, which was ENORMOUS. We saw a short film regarding how Japanese kamikaze planes would fly into the ship itself, and how the ship survived. After Intrepid, we went back to our hotel, relaxed for a bit, and then went to the MJ show. The show covered every stage of Michael’s life, from early childhood, through the Jackson 5, Thriller, Bad, and all the way to the Dangerous tour. I hope he is at peace now; his life was under constant scrutiny. I didn’t like NY, but what saved it for me was singing along to Billie Jean with the rest of the audience. It was a great show. After they closed with Thriller and Man in the Mirror, we headed to a nearby diner recommended by our tour guide, and then went to our hotel and went to bed. On Friday, we packed up our things from the hotel room and walked to Grand Central Terminal, where our train would arrive at 12:30. Once we arrived in New Haven, Uncle Stu took Myra and me back to their house, where we picked up Sam for his swim meet. After waiting for 2hrs, it was finally Sam’s race. He swam 400 Meters in sub-7 minutes and got 3rd place.🥉

After the meet, we went back to the Campbell’s house and ate a delicious dinner of chicken tacos. After watching some videos of Sam doing funny things as a baby, we said our goodbyes and drove home. Next: Boston, MA. Clinton Overall Rating: 9.3/10. NY Overall Rating: 5.2/10.