Last summer, Holly and I had the opportunity to go to Palmyra, NY to be in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. What a great experience! It all started about a year ago...
Holly and I were looking for somewhere to go to celebrate Holly's graduation from high school. I had gone to Europe with Rigby, but the price went up quite a bit since then. We looked into other tours, around Europe and to Hawaii, but hadn't found much that excited us for the price. I got to thinking that a cross-country road trip would be fun. We could make New York City our goal, and stop at several places along the way, including the Nauvoo and Hill Cumorah pageants. When I went on the website for the Hill Cumorah pageant to see the dates, I noticed the link that said 'Click here to apply.' We discussed it, and decided to apply. If we got in, wonderful. If not, no big deal.
We found out we had been accepted on December 6 - 7 months to the day before we had to be at the pageant site in Palmyra. Just the day before, I had talked with my principal and found out that she had been in the pageant years ago. It was exciting to go in the next day and tell her we were going!
We spent the next 7 months preparing. Reading and studying the scriptures to be ready for the performing and missionary aspect of the pageant. Reading and studying maps, travel guides, and AAA books to prepare for the traveling to and from aspect of the pageant.
Once school got out in June, I taught summer school to help pay for the trip. Holly divided her time between the deaf center and EFY. Finally, the date of our departure arrived!
We left home on Sunday, June 30. We stayed in Cheyenne, WY the first night, stopping in Evanston and Little America (love those ice cream cones!).
Monday was a bit longer - all the way to Davenport, IA. We took some time to stop in Omaha, NE, to see the Winter Quarters visitor center and temple. It was amazing to me that the landscape grew increasingly green along the way.
Tuesday we drove to London, Ontario. We stopped at a few turnpike service stations, and even went to a scrapbook outlet store in Ohio. We had no trouble getting into Canada - we both found the right way into Detroit, and looked different enough from those that would do harm to Canadians to be let in.
Wednesday, we ate breakfast at our favorite donut shop - Tim Horton's - and drove to Niagara Falls. We spent the day there, enjoying the mist (both from the weather and the falls). We rode on the Maid of the Mist into the falls, and enjoyed dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Thursday, once we were able to get out of Canada (what an experience... late morning, in combination with dreary weather and cranky border patrol made for an interesting time trying to get out of the country!), we drove just a short while to Canandaigua, NY. We went to the Hill (to make sure we could find it!), as well as the Sacred Grove. Dinner was at Mark's Pizza - yum-o! (We've been waiting 7 years for his pizza! Too bad they don't deliver... to Utah...) Friday we slept in a little, did our laundry and last-minute shopping before we arrived at the Hill in the early afternoon for registration. Pageant fun, here we come!
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