AKA Our July/August Roadtrip. Boy was it a whirlwind! A fun whirlwind, but a whirlwind nonetheless.
Our first stop was the first Johnston Family reunion (Robert's mom's side). Planned and hosted by Robert's cousin Julie Moore in Snowflake, AZ Pioneer Day weekend. We stayed a half hour away at my sister Christi's home in Pinetop, AZ.
We made sure we celebrated Grandma Myrlene Johnston's birthday as part of the reunion. Such a fun lady!
And we went to the Snowflake rodeo.
It was a WONDERFUL weekend. It was so great getting to know family that I unfortunately haven't been able to spend much time with in the 5 and a half years Robert and I have been married. Can't wait until the next reunion :)
Next we drove to Mesa. Clearly, Mary was bursting with excitement.
With only a few days in Mesa before the next adventure I made sure to schedule gatherings. Easier to see lots of people when they're all in one place.
Monday night was dinner with my family. They're some of my favorite people.
Tuesday and Wednesday nights we got together with many friends. Thursday we visited my Grandma Hall and then got ready for the next leg of our trip -- Christopher Creek.
Robert's Grandpa Richardson built a cabin in Christopher Creek 10 or so years ago. He built it big enough that the whole family could gather there. This occasion was the Richardson Reunion planned by Aunt Shauna. It's always so fun.
After a fun "Get to Know Your Family History" game Robert's mom put together, we played this random minute to win it style pasta pick up game.
Family night where we all took turns acting out well-known family stories.
And of course, Grandma Peggy handed out presents to the little kiddos.
The whole gang that made it this year. We missed Mark and Shelli's family, Uncle Brian, the missionaries, Terrel's family, Jamie's family, and Jesse.
I'm so grateful to be a part of this family! Then after church and a family testimony meeting on Sunday it was back to Mesa to leave our kids with Robert's parents and we were off to Boston where Robert would be presenting at the JSM (Joint Statistical Meetings) conference.
Funny story: getting from the airport to our hotel was interesting. We were lugging around all our luggage, we weren't used to Boston's public transit system or the Boston area, and it was dark. At one point, we were supposed to walk a couple blocks from a subway stop to a bus stop but kept getting turned around and lost. Out of nowhere Robert desperately needed to eat a sandwich he had packed. He would not continue until his sandwich was eaten, sat down on the side of the road and ate. After we finally made it to the hotel Robert admitted that maybe the situation flustered him a bit more than he wanted to admit and he had to cave in to his habit of nervous eating. Silly Robert! Anytime he seemed out of sorts or nervous about something for the rest of the trip I would say "This man needs a sandwich STAT!" and we would both start laughing.
Each day we were there we planned an activity that was specific to Boston. Tuesday we road the Swan Boats in Boston Public Garden. It was a fun little ride. And with the tickets only $3 each, it was great with us being on a strict budget.
Between arriving late the night before and then having to be at the conference bright and early for a breakfast with all the BYU alums and affiliates, we were beat by that afternoon, so we laid down in a shady, grassy spot in the gardens and took a quick snooze before making our way back to the conference.
A guest pass to the conference costs $50. Like I said, we were on a strict budget, so we didn't want to pay for me to get a badge and figured I would sneak in to Robert's presentation. But for lunch we wanted to attend the EXPO at the conference. Turns out I needed a badge for that so we went and asked if we could get some sort of discounted badge since I wouldn't be attending any other part of the conference. The lady printed out a badge for me for free. She started to say we needed to keep it on the DL because she's not supposed to do this, just as her manager walked up. She told us to shush, handed me the badge, and quickly shooed us away. Thank you lady who cannot be named!!
After the conference we went to get some hot chocolate that was recommended to us at a place down by Harvard Square, L.A. Burdick. We got hot dark chocolate. The texture and thickness of the chocolate was divine, but (and this is coming from someone who loves the bitterness of dark chocolate) it was too bitter to finish the whole thing. I imagine it being like what black coffee tastes like. I would love to go again and try just the regular milk chocolate.
Then we moseyed over to Harvard. We noticed people touching the toe of this statue.
And when I say people, I mean A LOT of people. A constant line of 50 or more. Curious what the story behind this was I googled it and the first thing that came up was a blog that said:
"1.) DO NOT under any circumstances touch John Harvard’s foot.
As you walk into Harvard Yard, take in its classic beauty, and reflect upon the centuries of history it has witnessed, you may find yourself drawn to a rather iconic statue of John Harvard, also known as the ‘Statue of Three Lies.’ Lest you be unprepared I shall verse you in these lies: 1) John Harvard was NOT the founder of Harvard, he was merely a donor, 2) Harvard was NOT founded in 1638, it was founded in 1636, 3) the man portrayed in the statue is NOT John Harvard… its some rando. All things considered, I personally feel that a fourth lie needs to be added to the list. This lie would be 4) touching John Harvard’s foot is NOT a good idea. I mean, go ahead and rub it for good luck…. Just don’t ask me to shake your hand afterward."
And why would you not want someone to shake your hand afterward? Because it's also a tradition for each student attending Harvard to pee on the statue during their schooling there that tourists then line up by the busload to touch. Yuck!
Weird traditions aside, Harvard is a beautiful place.
For dinner we got some of the best clam chowder I've ever had!
On our way to the chowder place we passed the Boston Public Library. We hadn't planned on visiting there but had heard cool things about it so we figure we'd walk through it on our way out. We went through the back entrance and at first we were very underwhelmed because it looked like any other library, but figured we might as well walk through it anyway since it would take us to the side of the street we needed to get to anyway. Thank goodness we did! Once we got to the main part of the library, each room we entered amazed us with breathtaking, historic beauty.
It just goes to show you can't judge a library by it's back entrance ;)
When we discussed what we'd like to do while we were away from our kids, one thing we kept coming back to was going to see a movie of all things, haha! And Tuesday nights the theater closest to our hotel runs a special of less than half the regular price for tickets. Score!
Wednesday was Robert's presentation. It was so fun to be there for it. I am so proud of him!
Robert was the last of 3 speakers in his session. I felt bad for the speaker before Robert. There were 10-15 people in the audience through all of the first speaker and most of the second speaker. In the last 5-10 minutes as the second speaker was wrapping up his presentation before Robert was going to start, another 20 or more people trickled in to hear Robert. Robert says it's because his topic is interesting. I think it's because Robert is awesome.
Here's the last 10 minutes of his presentation (it's all I had room for on my phone). It's above and beyond anything I even slightly understand, but he looked cute and professional saying it, and everyone was very impressed by it.
After Robert's presentation we went to the Boston Tea Party Museum. It went above and beyond what I was expecting. You reenact all of the events surrounding the Boston Tea Party. First you start in the courthouse where Samuel Adams gives his speech.
After being briefed on a few colonial interjections - "Fie!" "Well said!" and "Here, here!" - Samuel Adams gave his rousing speech and we stormed to the boats to throw the tea into the harbor.
After storming the boats, we headed inside where they have one of the original tea crates. They then played movies of the reactions to the destroyed tea. From villagers to letter conversations between the King of England and Samuel Adams to the Revolutionaries preparing for the Battle of Lexington and then the battle aka "the shot heard around the world." It ended with everyone singing along to "My Country Tis of Thee." I was crying like a baby! I left feeling so filled with American Pride.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel. We got the cheapest one we could find within an hour by bus of the convention center. It was good for the money, and mostly clean except for these dirt hand prints on the ceiling...
Thursday
Thursday was the day we had decided to walk the Freedom Trail. It's a 2.5 mile trail that ends at the Bunker Hill Monument. We were already pretty tired from all the walking around Boston we had done the previous 2 days. We had already seen a lot of the beginning of the trail when we went to the Swan Boats in Boston Public Gardens, and we wanted to not be too tired to take all of the stairs to the top of the monument. So we started at the end of the trail and hit some of the sites backwards.
Views from the 4 windows at the top. I'm not sure which direction is which.
This is a grate that covers a hole that goes clear to the bottom of the monument. When Robert got to the top he was standing in the middle of it without realizing it. He squealed like a little school girl when I pointed it out.
The USS Constitution and museum
Ferry across to North End
Old North Church
Anyone I talked to about Boston said one thing we had to do is go to Mike's Pasty and get a cannoli.
Other stops on the walk back to South Station
Our good friend Ty lives in Boston but was out of town for most of our stay. He got into town as we were leaving so we met at the station for a bit and played cards. Robert and I like Monopoly Deal if you can't tell.
And after staying the night in the airport (which sounded a lot more fun beforehand than it actually was) we were on our way back to Mesa.
We couldn't wait to see our kiddos. The girls one request of a present to get them from Boston was fancy lollipops.
And the day after getting back to Mesa we drove back to Santa Cruz.
It was a trip for the record books. We even caught ourselves saying, "Remember when...yada yada yada" and then realize we were talking about something that had just happened a week earlier that same trip. But oh the many priceless memories that were made!
And HOLY HONK this was a HUGE blog post! I think I need to take a break for at least a couple of days and... I want to say something exciting but let's be honest I'll probably just clean the bathroom.
Peace out folks!
Our first stop was the first Johnston Family reunion (Robert's mom's side). Planned and hosted by Robert's cousin Julie Moore in Snowflake, AZ Pioneer Day weekend. We stayed a half hour away at my sister Christi's home in Pinetop, AZ.
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| Lazing in the hammock at the Alder home. |
We made sure we celebrated Grandma Myrlene Johnston's birthday as part of the reunion. Such a fun lady!
And we went to the Snowflake rodeo.
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| Goofy girls! I wonder where they get it?... |
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| It couldn't be from me. Could it? |
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| Just a candid shot of one of the meals. |
It was a WONDERFUL weekend. It was so great getting to know family that I unfortunately haven't been able to spend much time with in the 5 and a half years Robert and I have been married. Can't wait until the next reunion :)
Next we drove to Mesa. Clearly, Mary was bursting with excitement.
With only a few days in Mesa before the next adventure I made sure to schedule gatherings. Easier to see lots of people when they're all in one place.
Monday night was dinner with my family. They're some of my favorite people.
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| These two -- Annabelle and Mary. They're best friends. |
Tuesday and Wednesday nights we got together with many friends. Thursday we visited my Grandma Hall and then got ready for the next leg of our trip -- Christopher Creek.
Robert's Grandpa Richardson built a cabin in Christopher Creek 10 or so years ago. He built it big enough that the whole family could gather there. This occasion was the Richardson Reunion planned by Aunt Shauna. It's always so fun.
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| These 3 girls were talking about their "loves" AKA boys they're going to marry. They're only 4 years old, people! We're in REAL trouble when they and the other 2 cousin girls this age reach teenage years. |
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| I've grown accustomed to how much all of the girl cousins of all ages fawn over our girls, but I was surprised to see that the boy cousins did the same thing with James. Here he is sleeping with Ryan (who then fell asleep too a few minutes after taking this picture). The whole weekend he was either with Ryan, Wesley, Daniel, or another cousin. It was so fun to watch. |
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| The cute little girlies in their PJs from this past Christmas. |
After a fun "Get to Know Your Family History" game Robert's mom put together, we played this random minute to win it style pasta pick up game.
Family night where we all took turns acting out well-known family stories.
And of course, Grandma Peggy handed out presents to the little kiddos.
The whole gang that made it this year. We missed Mark and Shelli's family, Uncle Brian, the missionaries, Terrel's family, Jamie's family, and Jesse.
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| We were completely giddy about going on this kidless adventure. It was a much needed getaway with my love |
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| We played several different card games on the flight until the man in front of us got angry because apparently we were putting the cards down too hard. What a drag! :) |
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| Got some great pizza for lunch during our layover in the Nashville airport. |
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| The great view out my window as we landed in Boston |
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| We made it! |
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| Robert's first ride ever in a subway. He was speechless. |
Funny story: getting from the airport to our hotel was interesting. We were lugging around all our luggage, we weren't used to Boston's public transit system or the Boston area, and it was dark. At one point, we were supposed to walk a couple blocks from a subway stop to a bus stop but kept getting turned around and lost. Out of nowhere Robert desperately needed to eat a sandwich he had packed. He would not continue until his sandwich was eaten, sat down on the side of the road and ate. After we finally made it to the hotel Robert admitted that maybe the situation flustered him a bit more than he wanted to admit and he had to cave in to his habit of nervous eating. Silly Robert! Anytime he seemed out of sorts or nervous about something for the rest of the trip I would say "This man needs a sandwich STAT!" and we would both start laughing.
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| The convention center where the conference was held |
Each day we were there we planned an activity that was specific to Boston. Tuesday we road the Swan Boats in Boston Public Garden. It was a fun little ride. And with the tickets only $3 each, it was great with us being on a strict budget.
Between arriving late the night before and then having to be at the conference bright and early for a breakfast with all the BYU alums and affiliates, we were beat by that afternoon, so we laid down in a shady, grassy spot in the gardens and took a quick snooze before making our way back to the conference.
A guest pass to the conference costs $50. Like I said, we were on a strict budget, so we didn't want to pay for me to get a badge and figured I would sneak in to Robert's presentation. But for lunch we wanted to attend the EXPO at the conference. Turns out I needed a badge for that so we went and asked if we could get some sort of discounted badge since I wouldn't be attending any other part of the conference. The lady printed out a badge for me for free. She started to say we needed to keep it on the DL because she's not supposed to do this, just as her manager walked up. She told us to shush, handed me the badge, and quickly shooed us away. Thank you lady who cannot be named!!
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| Officially badged! |
After the conference we went to get some hot chocolate that was recommended to us at a place down by Harvard Square, L.A. Burdick. We got hot dark chocolate. The texture and thickness of the chocolate was divine, but (and this is coming from someone who loves the bitterness of dark chocolate) it was too bitter to finish the whole thing. I imagine it being like what black coffee tastes like. I would love to go again and try just the regular milk chocolate.
Then we moseyed over to Harvard. We noticed people touching the toe of this statue.
And when I say people, I mean A LOT of people. A constant line of 50 or more. Curious what the story behind this was I googled it and the first thing that came up was a blog that said:
"1.) DO NOT under any circumstances touch John Harvard’s foot.
As you walk into Harvard Yard, take in its classic beauty, and reflect upon the centuries of history it has witnessed, you may find yourself drawn to a rather iconic statue of John Harvard, also known as the ‘Statue of Three Lies.’ Lest you be unprepared I shall verse you in these lies: 1) John Harvard was NOT the founder of Harvard, he was merely a donor, 2) Harvard was NOT founded in 1638, it was founded in 1636, 3) the man portrayed in the statue is NOT John Harvard… its some rando. All things considered, I personally feel that a fourth lie needs to be added to the list. This lie would be 4) touching John Harvard’s foot is NOT a good idea. I mean, go ahead and rub it for good luck…. Just don’t ask me to shake your hand afterward."
And why would you not want someone to shake your hand afterward? Because it's also a tradition for each student attending Harvard to pee on the statue during their schooling there that tourists then line up by the busload to touch. Yuck!
Weird traditions aside, Harvard is a beautiful place.
For dinner we got some of the best clam chowder I've ever had!
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| YUM! |
On our way to the chowder place we passed the Boston Public Library. We hadn't planned on visiting there but had heard cool things about it so we figure we'd walk through it on our way out. We went through the back entrance and at first we were very underwhelmed because it looked like any other library, but figured we might as well walk through it anyway since it would take us to the side of the street we needed to get to anyway. Thank goodness we did! Once we got to the main part of the library, each room we entered amazed us with breathtaking, historic beauty.
It just goes to show you can't judge a library by it's back entrance ;)
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| The view out the front entrance of the library. I took several similar pictures like this. Old (the church) right next to modern (the skyscraper). Boston is the perfect patchwork of history and modern day. |
When we discussed what we'd like to do while we were away from our kids, one thing we kept coming back to was going to see a movie of all things, haha! And Tuesday nights the theater closest to our hotel runs a special of less than half the regular price for tickets. Score!
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| Subway on the way to the movie. |
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| Robert said that he'd rub my feet through the whole movie if he could pick and pick "Guardians of the Galaxy." So that's what happened. Little did he know that that's the movie I would have picked any way ;) |
Wednesday was Robert's presentation. It was so fun to be there for it. I am so proud of him!
Robert was the last of 3 speakers in his session. I felt bad for the speaker before Robert. There were 10-15 people in the audience through all of the first speaker and most of the second speaker. In the last 5-10 minutes as the second speaker was wrapping up his presentation before Robert was going to start, another 20 or more people trickled in to hear Robert. Robert says it's because his topic is interesting. I think it's because Robert is awesome.
Here's the last 10 minutes of his presentation (it's all I had room for on my phone). It's above and beyond anything I even slightly understand, but he looked cute and professional saying it, and everyone was very impressed by it.
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| This is one of Robert's old professors from BYU. He came just to this session support Robert. I'm getting teary just thinking about how great all of the professors at BYU have been to Robert and our family through all of his education. I've gotten to know them a bit more during this conference and also the BYU Institute we got to go to in June. |
After Robert's presentation we went to the Boston Tea Party Museum. It went above and beyond what I was expecting. You reenact all of the events surrounding the Boston Tea Party. First you start in the courthouse where Samuel Adams gives his speech.
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| Our clever Mohawk Indian disguises as we impersonated the Sons of Liberty |
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| They gave us each a characters to impersonate. |
After being briefed on a few colonial interjections - "Fie!" "Well said!" and "Here, here!" - Samuel Adams gave his rousing speech and we stormed to the boats to throw the tea into the harbor.
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| I started the Revolutionary War... Oops! |
After storming the boats, we headed inside where they have one of the original tea crates. They then played movies of the reactions to the destroyed tea. From villagers to letter conversations between the King of England and Samuel Adams to the Revolutionaries preparing for the Battle of Lexington and then the battle aka "the shot heard around the world." It ended with everyone singing along to "My Country Tis of Thee." I was crying like a baby! I left feeling so filled with American Pride.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel. We got the cheapest one we could find within an hour by bus of the convention center. It was good for the money, and mostly clean except for these dirt hand prints on the ceiling...
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| Any guesses?... I try not to think about it. |
Thursday
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| Boston Creme Donuts in Boston... We couldn't resist. |
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| Ever wonder how to make Bostonians disappear? Make it rain. This intersection was packed full of people. Within seconds after the rain started they were gone. The rain only lasted for 10 minutes. I got quite a kick out of it. |
Thursday was the day we had decided to walk the Freedom Trail. It's a 2.5 mile trail that ends at the Bunker Hill Monument. We were already pretty tired from all the walking around Boston we had done the previous 2 days. We had already seen a lot of the beginning of the trail when we went to the Swan Boats in Boston Public Gardens, and we wanted to not be too tired to take all of the stairs to the top of the monument. So we started at the end of the trail and hit some of the sites backwards.
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| Made it to the top! Piece of cake. |
Views from the 4 windows at the top. I'm not sure which direction is which.
This is a grate that covers a hole that goes clear to the bottom of the monument. When Robert got to the top he was standing in the middle of it without realizing it. He squealed like a little school girl when I pointed it out.
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| Robert standing safely to the side of the grate. |
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| These bricks line the Freedom Trail |
The USS Constitution and museum
Ferry across to North End
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| Paul Revere's House |
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| Cool cobblestone street by Paul Revere's house |
Old North Church
Anyone I talked to about Boston said one thing we had to do is go to Mike's Pasty and get a cannoli.
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| Cheesy picture I took and sent to my siblings quoting Master of Disguise "Mama's cannoli is here!" |
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| Fancy dinner at La Famiglia |
Other stops on the walk back to South Station
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| South Station - a pretty impressive building for a subway and train station. |
And after staying the night in the airport (which sounded a lot more fun beforehand than it actually was) we were on our way back to Mesa.
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| Goodbye Boston! |
We couldn't wait to see our kiddos. The girls one request of a present to get them from Boston was fancy lollipops.
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| And they loved their fancy lollipops. |
And the day after getting back to Mesa we drove back to Santa Cruz.
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| This poor teether was more than ready to be done with the road trip by the end. |
It was a trip for the record books. We even caught ourselves saying, "Remember when...yada yada yada" and then realize we were talking about something that had just happened a week earlier that same trip. But oh the many priceless memories that were made!
And HOLY HONK this was a HUGE blog post! I think I need to take a break for at least a couple of days and... I want to say something exciting but let's be honest I'll probably just clean the bathroom.
Peace out folks!
