30-July-2023-Sunday
Another great day in paradise. When we got to Rutland, there is were three cars in the parking lot, but no one had a key. That seemed strange and it cut down my practice time. Oh well. I do need to bite the bullet and borrow the keys and practice at the church.
When we arrived at the site, there were many people already there. The Ewers were busy and Dede and I got out and each took a group of people. Until we left at 3:30, we usually had 4 separate groups of people, sometimes two groups combined. By the time we left, it appeared to be slowing down a bit. We wanted to get out so the Ewers could do as many tours as possible. This is really their last chance before they leave Tuesday morning for home. Yesterday and today were really busy. I suspect it will slow down until Friday when it picks up again. I love it when it is busy, but as I mentioned yesterday, I fear that we do not give people the time we love to give them as we are worry about catching the next group. It was nice to have Ewers backing up today. Not sure what will happen next week with the Ewers gone. We are not scheduled to go in until 3 pm, but we may need to go in earlier if it is as busy as it was today. We will see what happens. We expect it to be busy the first 3 weeks of August and then slow down until the end of September or first of October when the leaves begin turning and the peepers start coming in. So much to look forward too.
31-July-2021-Monday
A long day. We had our devotional this morning. Hard to call it normal knowing the Ewers term as Site Leaders will end at midnight tonight. They have been so kind and good as leaders and they will be missed. Buswell's had the training this morning and then Ewer's took the second half. Sister Ewer had some nice thoughts about how we become closer to Christ at the site and other shared thoughts also. Then President spent a few minutes to tell us the spiritual guidance they have received in the past few months leading up to today. I must admit, I have learned so much from this experience. When I first heard the announcement, I could only wonder how could they leave the mission. Now I can only think, how can I learn to follow the Spirit in the same way as they have done. What great examples they have become to us.
We came home and Dede cooked. We had the Ewer's over for dinner and then all the missionaries for a dessert after the dinner. We also had the late shift, so everything had to be done before 2 pm when we left. Dede is amazing. I worked on my review.
It was a slow day at the site. The Buswell's had 7 people this morning and so we had 30 minutes to catch up. It has been whirlwind and we have not had much time to connect. The Buswell's are such good communicators otherwise this next period would be so difficult. However, with their openness and our combined experience, this should work out well.
We had 7 people also, but short visits. Then true to form at 5:55 we had a family of 7 come in from Pittsburg (originally from Cache Valley.) We told them we had a hard stop and gave them the fastest, quality tour possible. What a wonderful family. Unlike last Saturday, I felt like we covered the important parts of the tour and although we spoke quickly, we did not kill the Spirit. God is good. We were home by 6:50 and Dede had dinner on the table by 7:00 and the Ewer's arrived and we began eating at 7:15. Not too rushed as the missionaries all showed up right at 7:30 and we enjoyed a wonderful hour together. The evening ended with Elder Buswell giving a thoughtful tribute to the Ewer's with pictures and poems. He is so good at this. God is good.
1-August-2023-Tuesday
Dede and I have been married for 43 years today. Thank you Dede for reminding me this morning of this wonderful fact. It seems we are often traveling on our anniversary and I surely do not do enough to remember my wonderful wife.
We had the morning shift and were lucky to have two groups of 5 each. My group wanted a 30 minute tour and so we had an enjoyable time. Dede took a group of members through who had no desire to hear anything, so she gave a short description of the monument and they were off. Luckily we had a group of 8 come in around noon who wanted a full tour and were so enjoyable to have. Regardless of what we do, some groups are so much easier than others to feel the Spirit in the tour. I think there is a great difference in how tired people are and how much they desire to learn.
We went over to give the Ewer's hugs as they were packing up to leave. We needed to get out to pick up Anna who was flying into Boston. The Buswell's were kind enough to send this wonderful photo of the Ewer's waving goodbye in front of the welcome sign for the site. It is hard to describe how much we will miss the Ewer's. Perhaps more important to measure the impact that they have had on Dede and me. They are very wise in the way they handle life and we have been able to learn from them. We are so grateful.
We grabbed our luggage and headed to Boston. We had not accounted for traffic and with a stop at Costco to get prescriptions filled we were a little late picking up poor Anna who was forced to sit in the airport and almost finish her book. I was impressed on how easily we got out of Boston and made our way to Topsfield where we had a great dinner (if one does not count that we bought three dinners and probably would have had sufficient food with two or 1.5 dinners. There was so much food.)
We then drove up to Portland, Maine where Dede had arranged a hotel for the night. It was lovely and easy to access.
2-August-2023-Wednesday. PDAY
What a fun day. First on the list, was a harbor and light house boat tour from the Portland pier. According to the guide on board, Portland's pier area was once a shady (i.e lawless) part of town avoided by everyone. Then a man had the idea of bringing in a large ferry boat that would seat 600 guests and putting a restaurant right on the pier so people would have the freshest sea food possible. The boat/restaurant is still there and the harbor area has become a trendy place for tourists to come and for dinners and shop novelty stores. Both times I have been in the area, there has been a cruise boat docked there, which must bring in 1000's of people each year alone who walk through the area.
I was not surprised to find there were light houses all around the bay. I was surprised to find out how many forts were built in the harbor to protect the USA during the war of 1812, the civil war, and then both world wars. Our guide pointed out that Maine is so far east (and north) that one could reach Maine a day faster by boat from here than anywhere else in the USA from Europe. Thus during the wars, especially the world wars, they wanted to fortify this area and use it to stage out supplies to Europe. They built many liberty ships (more than 250) in Portland that were used in WWll to supply the allies long before the USA committed to the war. One of these liberty ships was sunk by a Nazi U-boat not far from the harbor. In a mere 90 minutes we saw so much and learned so much. We then took time and visited a few of the light houses by land to take more pictures. So here are a few pictures. Starting with the boat ride and the boat we rode on. The third, fifth and tenth pictures are different forts built in the harbor. Some with low cannons ports to allow the bombs to skip along the water and hit the hulls of ships and others set higher to get further range. There was one we visited later that held 12-inch cannons during the world wars. They had a range of 8 miles. One also sees two pictures of the liberty ship memorial along with light houses.
So much to see in Portland Maine. I have to add Maine, because when I hear Portland, I think of Portland Oregon. We finally drug ourselves away to head to Franconia Notch State Park. On the way to our dinner and hotel we passed a few water falls. New England has so many rivers and streams. Some of their streams are bigger than Idaho rivers. The country side is so different here. They do not have the more recent volcanic action we have in Idaho. Rather, the land is old and has been shaped by the ice ages where glaciers sat in the area with about 2 miles of snow and ice which carved off the tops of mountains and created U-shaped valleys rather than the V-shaped ones common in the west. There are new v-shaped valleys as well. The finger lakes of NY and the Lakes George and Champlain were all carved out by these huge glaciers, which also left huge stones behind. I must admit, I am rather glad that the earth has warmed. According to one sign we read, it will continue to warm for 20,000 years before the next ice age begins and in 50,000 years we will have a return of glacier ice. Sounds like a weather pattern that has repeated for many eons.
We visited Sabbath Day Falls, Lower Falls and the Basin in Franconia Notch. All wonderful and a great chance to get out and stretch our legs.
We had such a wonderful day. From the coast to the interior of New Hampshire. We saw, we walked and we marveled in the wonders of God.
3-August-2023 Thursday
We were up early and at the Flume Trailhead at 8:50 am for our 9 am start. Dede and I did this earlier in the year, but wanted to do it with Anna. We will probably send Jon and Shirlee here on Tuesday when we have to work all day. Such a wonderful hike and so much to see. After the hike we headed home for our shift. What a great day. Had a family of 9 that came in, while Dede had a single sister who just needed Dede. Someday I will learn to love and connect with people as well as Dede does.
Pictures from our hike.
What a joy it has been to have Anna visit us again. She brings such a wonderful spirit with her. She also causes Dede and I to look at what is becoming common because we see it daily and once again see the beauty and wonder of life around us. We are so grateful for all of our children and grandchildren. We are excited that Jon, Shirley and Kal will soon be coming. Their support for us on this mission has been so critical. I do not know how people have served missions when family are so dead set against them serving or even just being away. We spent the evening planning what we might do tomorrow. It will be another wonderful day without doubt.
4-August-2023-Friday
A busier day at the site. Not overwhelming, but steady. I had two familial sisters who have come out for a wedding. They did not appear to be overly active, but they surely believed in the church and the prophet Joseph. One had read "Saints" and I was delighted how much she had gleaned from its pages. I think they went away refreshed. I had two leaders from the girl's camp and they were just fun, if not a little more than exhausted from girls' camp. Dede took through a mother with three children 9 and under with a friend. The children were active to say the least and Dede did such a great job with them. Sometimes, I feel like running away from such situations as they can be hard. But this is what Dede has trained herself to do for a lifetime and she just loves these children and teaches them. I am so impressed, but still tempted to run away.
It was a rainy day which changed our plans slightly, but we were so blessed. We drove up to Burlington in heavy rain and went to the Causeway (old rail bed) which connects the mainland to the Island. It was constructed as a train line and is now a bike and walking path. The amount of water pouring along the trail before we got on the Causeway was significant from the recent rains we had just experienced. However by the time we started walking the rain ceased. There were an amazing number of frogs on the path out to the Causeway. They would leap for the streams running along side the road as we approached. All sized and varieties. We had significant amounts of rain and on Sunday, we would see the results along the roads as we went to Rutland. I think even the Vermonters are feeling like the floods of Noah are upon them. Out on causeway in Lake Champlain over which the Causeway ran it was pleasant. The mosquitos which had been so thick before getting out on the water were ferocious but were missing on the lake. Poor Anna was the primary target. She really took a number of hits for the team. We walked 1.25 miles out and back. It was good to stretch our legs. We then headed to see the fossils at Goodsell preserve. However on the way we found a great pub/restaurant and stopped to eat. The food was great and it was busy, so a bit slow, but it was nice to have a moment. We then headed to Goodsell about 45 minutes away and enjoyed viewing the sea fossils for the last 45 minutes of light. It was interesting, sometimes they were easier to see the fossils in the rocks through the lens of the camera than in real life. Having the stones wet, made it harder to see, but it was fun. Obviously a few pictures are in order. What we were seeing were plants and small animals from a shallow pool near a a tropical island so many years ago. Had we not had help finding them last trip, we would have missed most of them.
5-August-2023-Saturday
We took Anna to Rauner Library to handle the 1830 Book of Mormon. Unfortunately it was closed on Saturdays during the summer. This is not on the WEB site. Our next destination after shopping and getting gas, was to take her to Saint Gaudens. This is a National Historical Park featuring the work of one of America's most famous sculptures Augustus Saint_Gaudens. They have replicas of many of his famous works and it was enjoyable viewing them. The area feels very peaceful and I thought it delightful. The feel is akin to what one feels at the Joseph Smith Birthplace. I do not think it is as powerful, but I think God dedicates the efforts of people who want to bring beauty to this world and so one feels the spirit in numerous places. I have shown some pictures from here before, but I really like his work, so I will show a few again.
In the afternoon shift, we were quite busy until about 4:30 when three young ladies came into the site. They were not members and wanted to spend 20-25 minutes with us. No one came in after them and they stayed a long time asking questions about the church. I think they were mostly interested in how members live their everyday life and Dede was superb in answering them. What a wonderful relationship Dede can develop in such a short time. These were great young woman who fill me with hope for the future of the world. They do not have all the laws and rules we know in the church. It is so great that we are now studying Acts and Paul's letters. He makes it so clear that people will be judged by the law they have, not the law others have. These woman were trying to live to the best of their knowledge and the spirit that surrounded them testified of this. This week has been steady, but not as busy as last. Dede and I wonder if people are getting back to school or at least pre-school activities and August will be slower than July. We will see.
We came home and picked up Anna and headed for dinner. Knowing the ice cream shop would close before we were done eating, we stopped and ordered a Sundae which we split between the three of us. Roasted Coconut Ice Cream with hot fudge is such a great appetizer. We then went and ate at the Thai Restaurant. So good.
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