About 12 years ago, Elder Perron and I were sucked into our first whirlwind. That was when we drove to Provo three times in 7 days. The first occasion was to attend Ryan and Sahily's wedding and sealing in the Mount Timpanogas Temple. We arrived in Provo for the festivities on a Friday and whirled around in Provo in preparation for the big event and then were sucked into the whirlwind on Sunday to return to Hailey. On Tuesday, that same week, the whirlwind picked us up and dropped us back down in Provo so that the next day, we could drop Josh off at the MTC in preparation for his mission to New Zealand. We returned home on Wednesday and turned right around on Friday and returned to Provo to attend the reception of a good friend of Ryan whose parents are good friends of ours. That is when we were introduced to The Whirlwind. Many times since then, we have felt like we are in The Whirlwind. It seems like whenever we go to Provo, or now Highland to see the kids, we are in a whirlwind while we are there trying to keep up with the grandkids and their parents. But this last two weeks we have been The Whirlwind at full speed.
We were in and out of the whirlwind for 2400 miles according to our car odometer, in 17 days. The Whirlwind began on Wednesday, August 20th when we whirled into Rochester to pick up Ryan, Sahily, Ryan, Riley, Sahily (Tita) and Yanella. Fortunately we have some wonderful missionary friends who drove their pickup there to help transfer luggage. Rochester is about 40 minutes from Palmyra. We had dinner in the crockpot ready when we whirled into Palmyra, got everyone settled in and prepared for the next two weeks of whirlwinding. What a wonderful time we had. Of the 14 days we whirled around, we touched down in Palmyra for 6 days. The rest of time time the whirlwind took us to Toronto Canada where Ryan served his mission about 20 years ago. We attended church with the Pearl, who he taught and baptized while on his mission there. Her husband is the Bishop. She sat with us on one end of our row. Another man sat down on the opposite end of the row, and later we found out that our nephew, Ray Perron, had taught and baptized him about 23 years ago. Ray had served the same mission Ryan did, only 3 years earlier. So we were sandwiched in by two very special people. We spend a wonderful afternoon with Pearl and her husband. You could see the love Pearl has for Ryan and how how happy she is to be with him. We also went to the top of the CN tower. We rode a 55 second elevator to the observation tower of the Canadian National Tower, which was only 1500 feet in the air. Not for those faint hearted, afraid of heights people. Right next to the tower, is the Rogers Center, home of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. Elder Perron, Ryan, Ryan and Riley attended the game that night when they beat the Boston Red Sox in a 10 inning game. Pearl and her husband met them there and enjoyed the game together.
The whirlwind picked us up in Toronto and dropped us off in Palmyra where we did laundry and left the next day for Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Are you starting to see the theme of this vacation?
What can I say about the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum? Even I thought it was amazing. Three floors of baseball memorabilia, everyone's favorite teams and players, more than anyone can see in one day. So the next day found us back at the Museum and the gift store and stores on the street like Mantle's Place and Shoeless Joe's Place and Tin Bin Alley. Purchases there required Ryan to purchase an extra suitcase to return to Utah. That new suitcase weighed in at 50 lbs. at the airport!
We whirled right out of Cooperstown and landed in Lowville, where we spent the night so we could attend the branch we are assigned to serve as missionaries. It was fun introducing everyone to our children and grandchildren. I think our Primary age grandchildren really enjoyed Primary. They were the only Primary age children, except for the one boy whose family are new converts. I think the grandkids liked the one on one attention. Anyway, there were no complaints and they went to their classes without hesitation.
We whirled back to Palmyra and just in case you are thinking that The Whirlwind only does baseball, the last few days of their visit centered around the church historical sights. We walked through the Sacred Grove one early morning when we could be there just by ourselves. We went to the top of the Hill Cumorah, twice and were rained on, poured on, both times. We saw a beautiful movie in the Visitor's Center there about the Restoration of the Gospel. We went to the Peter Whitmer Farm where the church was organized in 1830. We were so close to Sauder's (the store Elder Perron purchases his flour for his famous bread) we stopped there. Sahily loved it. She had arm loads of spices she wanted to take home. That is how the new suitcase got so heavy!
It was Tuesday, September 2nd when Elder Perron and I and little Ryan and Riley whirled into Rochester (again) to pick Joel up. We were so happy to see each other. He has missed us and we have missed him. It was a great reunion. The next morning, the whirlwind took us back to Rochester to drop Ryan and family off at the airport for their return to Utah. The good byes were hard for me. I have missed our family so much! We didn't have too much time to be sad because we picked Joel up and whirled around the church historical sites and then back to Cooperstown for his tour. How fun is that? Twice in two weeks in Cooperstown. Joel loved it. We left the next morning and whirled into Boston and got settled in so we could watch the Red Sox play the Blue Jays (again). This time the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays in a 10 inning game. A little Red Sox shopping, a good night's rest and we whirled into the Logan International Airport in Boston to send Joel back home to Idaho. When I say whirl at the Logan International Airport, I mean whirl. You go round and round and round and finally you are spit out on a street, wondering where to go next.
Elder Perron and I decided we wanted whirl through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont before
touching down in Palmyra. We saw some beautiful country and a few leaves turning the autumn colors. The Easterners call the people who come to look at their leaves, "Leaf Peepers." That's what we were. We spent the night in Quechee Gorge, a beautiful Gorge and surroundings. Then on the Sharon, Vermont to see the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There is a beautiful monument there and visitor's center with a chapel. We attended church there and met some Perron's. We are corresponding with them to see if there is any chance we are related!
We whirled right out of Sharon and touched down in Lake Placid, New York where the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics were held. When I saw the ski jumps, I was terrified. They never looked that big on television. Who, in their right minds, would ever ski off something that high? I have a new found admiration for ski jumpers. We saw the 1932 Olympic skating rink where Sonja Henie won the gold for ladies' singles figure skating. Very cool. Then we saw the 1980 skating rink. This time I thought it looked smaller than it is on television. My visual perception of things must be out of wack due to The Whirlwind! We enjoyed our short tour there and whirled another 5 hours to return to Palmyra by 9 p.m. Sunday evening.
This has been the best Whirlwind Ever! We enjoyed our family and all the new places we were able to see. It's awfully quiet here now and I am getting more excited about coming home than ever before. Having our family has been wonderful and we have missed them. It's time to whirl home and enjoy them some more. We only have about 7 or less weeks here. In no time, we will be home. And then, who knows, probably another Whirlwind Adventure. That's what we do!
We had dinner with some missionary friends last night. They were telling us about a tour group coming to Palmyra. The tour is called the Mystery Tour. People have no idea where they are going when they get on their tour bus. Elder Perron said that we are always on a Mystery Tour, as we never know where we are going either. Next for us will be the Mystery Tour Whirlwind Adventure. I tell everyone that if you ride anywhere with us, it will be an adventure and we never know where we are going until we get there.
So we leave you as we get ready to pick up some missionary friends who are getting their car serviced and need a ride.....to Tim Horton's.....for breakfast and iced hot chocolate! Much love until next time...................
