Philadelphia

The middle of October 2010 (wow, time flies) we went to New York City!  We considered taking a bus or train, but we decided that driving would probably be the fastest way to get there.  NYC is about a 6-7 hour drive from Loft Mountain and Philadelphia is right on the way, so we definitely wanted to stop there.


We left after work on a Monday afternoon and drove to our hotel in Wilmington, Delaware, which is about 20 minutes south of Philly, and much cheaper to stay there.  However, it was a pretty sketchy town.... our motel had bars on all the windows and 3 or 4 security guards on staff through the night.  I'm sure Delaware has some nice places, but that is one place I probably wouldn't ever go to again willingly : \


There's a pretty funny story that goes along with our drive. haha.  Being from Fountain Green, we were definitely not accustomed to toll roads.... and the road between Washington DC and New York is full of them!  And they don't take cards.  So, we had about 8 dollars in cash, and after the first 2 toll booths, we were out of money.  We were almost to Wilmington and we came up to another toll booth that cost 5 dollars.  We scrounged up 2 dollar bills from the bottom of our purses and about .75 in quarters.  We told the toll booth lady that we only had about $3 and she looked in the window and said, "You got any candy?" We luckily had a bag of M&M's that we gave her and dumped all my nickles and pennies from the ashtray onto her desk and she let us go.  As soon as we got into the town, the first thing we did was go to the ATM and get some cash because that was embarrassing!  And the guy behind us was so rude and impatient.  He kept honking at us.  People told me that Easterners are mean, but other than that guy we found that most everyone was actually pretty nice.  Especially the toll booth girl :)


So next morning we left bright and early to head into Philly.  First thing we saw was Lincoln Financial Field where my Eagles play :)

We only had a couple hours to spend because we wanted to have as much time in New York as possible.  So we just did the main historical attractions in Philly.... The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.  Oh my goodness, I was in heaven!  It was so crazy to me that I was in the room where they signed the Declaration of Independence!  I'm such a nerd when it comes to stuff like that.  I really wish we could have spent more time there, and I would love to go back.  It was a beautiful city and there's so much more to see.

We did get an authentic Philly Cheesesteak and it was delicious!

Luray Caverns

So, I'm probably the worst blogger in the universe.  But I am finally ready and able to post the rest of my adventures from when I lived in Virginia.  Next month it will be 2 years since I loaded my car and started the drive.  Most of you probably don't even care anymore, so these posts will probably be more for my memory than anything else :)  The last thing I posted was when I picked Brittany up at the airport and we went to Jamestown.


We got settled into our new room and everyone at Loft Mountain (the name of the area of Shenandoah that we worked at) instantly loved Brittany.... how could you not?!


Our manager was so awesome and scheduled our days off together so that we could travel and hang out together.  Our days off were usually Monday and Tuesday, so most weeks we would go into Charlottesville, VA and go to the singles ward FHE activities on Monday nights.


About every 3-4 weeks we were able to go on a trip somewhere.  The first one was not very far away, but still very cool.  There are 5 main stops inside Shenandoah.  Big Meadows and Skyland are the main places, and Loft Mountain (where we were) and 2 others are smaller stops.  Being park employees, we got a free horse rides at Skyland.  Guests of the park pay about $60 for an hour of riding (which seems a little extreme. haha).  So we went up to Skyland for a ride. Now, I may not be as horse-savvy as most of my family members, but I do like a little more adventure than riding in a straight line and walking extremely slow.  And we were with a bunch of people from Taiwan and they had never even seen a horse, so it was pretty funny seeing them try to ride.

The Shenandoah National Park headquarters are located in Luray, VA.  And if you are a park employee you get a free pass to the Luray Caverns.  They were so cool!  (And getting in free made it even better :] )  We had our cute little headphones that narrated as we walked through the caves.

"The Wishing Well"  

Thousands of people throw coins into to wishing well inside the caves, and at the end of every year they collect the money and donate it to charity.

If you can see on that black sign, they collect like $10,000 each year. 

In the gift shop they had an old car museum, which was way cool.

And outside was a giant garden maze!  We had a lot of fun doing that.  I kinda felt like I was in The Tri-Wizard tournament from Harry Potter. haha.

New computer :)

I got a new computer. As soon as I get all my pictures put back on, I will finish posting about my Virginia trip (it's only about a year late)

I know you're all so excited. haha.

8 months later....

Wow, I am really bad at this blogging thing. I have so many more pictures and stories to share from my adventure back east.

Unfortunately..... my computer (bless her heart) has died. [How, you may ask, am I posting this then?....I have very kind roommates that let me borrow their computers :)]

She was good to me, and lasted me a long time. I definitely got good use out of her. Then one day a few months ago, she just decided she couldn't take it anymore :(

R.I.P.

Even more unfortunate than my computer dying, is that all my pictures, music, etc. is on there. Thank goodness my computer-genius cousin could save the hard-drive. So one day when I can afford to buy a new computer, I will still have all my stuff. And then I can finish posting all the fun stuff me and Brittany got to do, including: New York, Philly, DC, Dollywood, and our road-trip home, so you won't want to miss it! Hopefully this will happen soon.

The Adventures of Brittany and Jessica-week 1

Wow.... Life is just so much better when you have a friend to do stuff with. And the fact that it's one of my oldest and bestest friends is extra fabulous! Brittany flew in a couple weeks ago, and we've been having so much fun. We went to Jamestown, which is the oldest permanent settlement in America. And P.S. the Disney version of Pocahontas is definitely not what happened. lol. We saw her statue and John Smith's statue looking over the James River.... even though "river" doesn't seem like the right word to describe it. It's more like a lake. I guess I'm just used to rivers being a foot wide, not a mile wide.


So then we headed to Virginia Beach. I've only been to a beach a few times, but this one definitely is numero uno!! It was amazing and warm and the water was perfect and the sand was soft.... Mmmm. It was lovely.

On the way home from the beach we stopped at Yorktown and saw the battlefield. This was the battlefield where America won the Revolutionary war. Then we walked down the waterfront and listened to some performers and saw this old ship.



It was a really great trip. And we have so many more to come!

Monticello

Okay....take out a nickle and look at the "tail" side. See that building? Well, I went there. lol. I never really realized what that building was, but it's Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, and it's really close to the Park. I find Jefferson, and any Presidential history in general, fascinating. So it was really neat to see this.


On the grounds is the family cemetery. Jefferson is buried there, along with his wife, children, and other family members (plus, his best friend). He did a lot in his life, but his grave marker only says "Author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statutes of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and The Father of The University of Virginia".


Speaking of University of Virginia.... it is so neat! The campus is really pretty and old. Charlottesville, VA, the city it's in is way cute too! I love driving through the historic downtown and going to the library and seeing all the old buildings. If I could afford to go to school here (it's super expensive!), I totally would!

I've been going to family home evening activities at the University singles ward. The people are so great, and it's nice to have people my own age and that have my same beliefs to hang out with.

Washington DC--take 2

What are the odds that I run into someone I know from Utah clear across the country on a crowded Metro in DC? Pretty slim to none I would say.... But that happened to me! When me and Sadie got onto the metro to go back to our hotel, my friend from SUU got into the very same section of the train (coincidence?.... I think not!) She was there for an internship for the summer, and told me I could come stay with her for a couple days. So I did. I was able to go back to DC a few weeks ago and see more. Which, buy the way, still wasn't enough time. You could spend a month here and not see everything!

Joy (my friend) worked in the Senate offices and she gave me a way awesome, behind-the-scenes tour of the capital. I saw all the statues (each state has 2 statues in the capital building), the Senate rooms, and sat in the Senate Gallery and listened to a couple of them give speeches. The inside of the dome was very cool.









Joy had to work in the afternoon, so I walked around the city by myself for a while. That was kinda weird, but I felt very independent. haha. I saw the Supreme Court building and I went to the Museum of Natural History and saw the Hope Diamond.


Next was the National Archives, and for some reason there was no line at all. Too bad that didn't happen when Sadie was there with me. You can't take pictures in there :( But I saw the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independence.

Then I went to the Air and Space museum. It was cooler than I thought it would be. There were lots of war planes and space stuff. The Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 capsule, and the actual plane that the Wright Brothers flew for the first time (at least I think it was the real one) were there. Joy met me here and we looked for the bobble-head Einsteins for a long time, but we couldn't find them :(















We walked to the Jefferson Memorial as the sun was going down. It was so pretty to see the city at that time of day. Then we took a taxi back to Joy's. I was so glad I got to go back. I still need to take at least one more trip to see some more stuff.