A New York Birthday

For Kyhle's 26th birthday this year, his mom got him tickets to go see his two favorite bands, The Head and The Heart and Death Cab for Cutie! The cool part--it was in Rochester, New York! About a week before our trip, Kyhle totaled his car, so we had a rental car for a month to give us time to buy a new one.  At first we were bummed about the timing, but it turned out perfect!  We piled the miles on a rental and didn't have to worry about all the wear and tear of the 22 hour round trip drive on our own car.  Plus, the insurance paid for a luxury rental, so it was extra spacious, leather seats, and had a quiet cabin while on the highway.

The concert was over Memorial Day weekend, so we had an extra day for drive time and play.  We loaded up the car, took the dogs to Kyhle's mom's house and headed out early in the morning for the 10 hour drive to New York.  On the way there, we drove through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and then New York.  In Pennsylvania, we took a little detour to go check out a park called Presque Isle and see Lake Erie, which is where we saw our first of many lighthouses. It was a gloomy day, but the beach was beautiful! It was completely empty, so Kyhle and I took off our shoes and ran around in the sand and acted like two kids young and in love. :)

We arrived in Rochester just in time for the concert, and luckily our tickets included close parking.  The concert was on a beautiful college campus, at an awesome outdoor venue.  It was drizzling rain, so lucky for us, we had seats under the covered area.  I'm not a huge Death Cab for Cutie fan, but I really enjoy the Head and The Heart, as this was our 2nd time seeing them.  We got there just in time and enjoyed a fun night together listening to some awesome music.  Kyhle was like a kid in a candy store--so excited and singing along to every word!

The next day, we didn't really have any plans, so we took a while at the hotel deciding if we wanted to head home or find something fun to do.  The something fun we decided on? Niagra Falls! On our way, we made some pit stops along the Great Lakes Seaway to tour some more lighthouses.  There are 27 total lighthouses, and we were able to get to 9 of them. As we were driving out in the middle of nowhere along this Seaway Trail, we suddenly passed a tiny ice cream shop on the side of the road with the cutest little setting.  Obviously we had to turn around and get a little treat. :)

 We then made it to Niagra Falls! Amazing doesn't even begin to describe it.  I wish I could put in to words the experience we had there.  The crowds were insane, the lines were miles long, and the falls were incredible! We did the Maiden of the Mist tour and it was such a fun ride! You can feel the power of the water underneath the boat, and get completely soaked as they get closer and closer to the falls.  Everyone on the boat was laughing an clapping because it was just so exciting and cool to witness.  Definitely worth the wait, and by far one of the coolest things we have ever done. 

 

After Niagra, we decided to start the trek back home to stop halfway in Cleveland, Ohio.  On the way, we took another country road that led us to our second favorite part of the trip, and a perfect ending to a perfect day.  We arrived at this lighthouse in Barcelona, New York that sat on top of a hill overlooking the lake at sunset.  

After driving through some pretty sketch areas, seeing some scary run-down homes, and starving until we could finally find a restaurant for food, we made it to our hotel in Cleveland.  I don't know if we had ever been so happy to see a big comfy bed (that we didn't have to share with our dogs), and we passed right out.  We woke up early Sunday morning, stopped at Bob Evans for breakfast, and drove the last 5 1/2 hours home.  We had such an incredible trip, one that we still talk about often.  We hope to make it back to the north east to see more of the lighthouses on the Seaway Trail, driving up in to Maine, preferably in the fall.  We were so grateful for the opportunity to take this trip, and we love doing road trips together.  Thanks for another fun, successful vacation, love!

Missionary Memories

Kyhle's brother Saxon served a two year mission for our church in Santa Rosa, California.  Kyhle and I had the opportunity to go out to California with Kyhle's mom to pick Saxon up when he finished his mission.  Kyhle served his mission from 2007-2009 in LA, and so we decided we would leave a few days early and visit LA so Kyhle could show me the places he lived and introduce me to some of the families he served.  My brother Ryan lives in Thousand Oaks, just south of LA, so we were able to stay at their house and have special time with my brother's family.  They had been having a horrible drought in LA for months, and of course, the two and half days we got to be there, it poured the entire time!  

We didn't let the rain stop us from getting out and seeing as much as we could.  Our first stop as soon as we got our rental car was at the LA Temple.  I had driven by it before, but I had never gotten out and walked the grounds.  What a beautiful setting!  Lucky for us, the rain stopped just during the 20 minutes we were at the temple.  Isn't that awesome?  As soon as we got back in the car, it started sprinkling again.  It turned in to a total down pour after we left the temple, so we just stayed in the car as we drove around through Beverly Hills and Westwood, saw a little of Bel-Aire and UCLA's campus.  Then we headed down to USC to see Kyhle's first area, and then on down to Thousand Oaks to Ryan's house, where we spent the evening and had dinner.  

On our second day, we drove through beautiful Topanga Canyon, Calabasas, and went to Will Rogers beach in Malibu.  We then took the PCH down through the South Bay, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and ate lunch in Laundale at tiny hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant.  We made our way to North Torrance, stopped and did a little shopping at Target, and went on to San Pedro.  In San Perdo, they have the Korean Friendship Bell, and a really cool aquatic center.  Saturday evening, we went to Bell Gardens, and visited an old Bishop of a ward Kyhle served in, and his family, the Gallindos. We had dinner at a cool restaurant called The Elephant Bar, and then went back to Ryan's house. 

Our third day, we met Carly, a girl Kyhle taught on his mission, at a fun pizza place called Pieology.  It's like a Subway, where they have small pizzas, and you go through the line and tell them what toppings and sauces you want.  We then went back to Ryan's house and spent the rest of the day with family and hanging out with the kids.  We had so much fun having that special one-on-one time with Gwen, Zach, Annie, and Tori.  

Early Monday morning, we flew up to San Francisco and arrived at the airport shortly after Kyhle's mom.  It was time to pick up Elder Saxon Porter! We drove from San Fran to Santa Rosa and got checked in to our hotel.  We had a few hours to kill, so we all took a nap and then freshened up before going to his mission president's home.  When we arrived to the President's home, they opened the door and yelled for Saxon.  It was so cool getting to see Vicki see Saxon for the first time in two years.  They had a testimony meeting that night with the missionaries who were going home, and there was one other family picking up their daughter, as well.  It was a beautiful testimony meeting, filled with lots of funny stories and many tears shed.  

Tuesday, Saxon wanted to show us as much of his area as possible, and boy did he! We drove all over northern California.  We saw the beautiful vineyards in Napa and Sonoma, visited families in other areas he served, and had dinner with one of his favorite families in Vacaville.  We did a total of 6 hours of driving on Tuesday, and saw a ton of beautiful California's county side.  

We flew home Wednesday morning, and had quite a long layover in Las Vegas.  We were so grateful for the fun filled days we had in California, rain and all.  We were especially grateful to Kyhle's mom for helping make the trip possible for us, and to my brother and sister-in-law for letting us stay at their home.  Welcome home, Saxon!