Catching up with the Ainges

Well, it seems like we slacked a little bit on the blogging while Adam and I were home for the summer. Mostly we just went to school and worked, but now we've left for our next adventure, so it seems that we have some catching up to do. First of all, for those who don't know still, we are expecting a baby boy on December 9th. We're having a little bit of a hard time picking out a name, but we are so excited for him to get here! Unfortunately, because of the prego situation, I won't be able to stay with Adam the whole time he's doing his internship, but given the current going-ons in New Orleans, I might be happy to leave early!

We left last Wednesday to come out, and moved in on Saturday as scheduled, but on Sunday we were told to evacuate because of Hurricane Isaac, so we packed up and now we're back in Texas. Turns out, being stranded in a hotel is worse than driving across the country. This drive was definitely a little less exciting than the one to Mass. The first day we mostly drove through Indian Reservations, which wasn't too much to see, but was kind of interesting. They have so much empty land that they don't seem to be doing anything with. Most of the residential areas were small mobile-home communities in the middle of nowhere, without any farms or livestock or anything around them, just empty desert. We also saw quite a few guys just walking down the side of the road half-dressed. Then we went to Four Corners, which is on the Navajo land, and was not exactly what I expected. The monument is surrounded by shopping booths where Navajos were selling jewelry and, you guessed it, Navajo Tacos.

The next day we drove to Oklahoma City. The route basically follows the old Route 66, so every time we pulled over somewhere we saw really cute old motels, diners and gas stations. We also saw a lot of run-down, closed-up buildings and billboards that had started to decay and fall apart. It was actually kind of sad to see all the businesses that no longer existed because of the new freeway, but it was really fun to see the ones that are still thriving. One of those is Pops, which is like a little diner/gift store. It's famous for the variety of bottled soda they offer, most of which I had never even heard of before, so of course we got some. Like my Mitt soda?

 We made a couple random stops on the way out just so we could get out of the car and walk around. This was at some historical old town just outside of Dallas. Adam really made himself at home.

We took another two days to get to our apartment in Kenner, LA. Once we left OK, the humidity really hit us. I've never really been somewhere so humid before. Even last semester on the East coast and even D.C. were nothing compared to the South. It just slaps you in the face every time you step outside. And the bugs, ugh. I don't know what kind they are, but we saw tons of these little guys mating everywhere! We'd pull over and they'd land all over the car. 

Driving through Louisiana was crazy. We were just driving on a normal road, with trees all over, and then, all of a sudden, we were in the middle of a swamp! And, we saw our first wild alligator! Too bad he was dead on the side of the highway.  Guess we still need to go on a swamp tour to see some live ones. We also saw quite a few smaller lizards, which made Adam really excited. They just crawl around outside our apartment, and we even spotted one in the chapel. Guess even lizards go to church in Louisiana. Our ward seems really nice, and we have a good mix of other students and locals with cool accents. It looks like a fun place to live, and we can't wait to leave Texas to get back there.

The Long Drive Home

Seeing as we had to drive across the country anyway, we decided to take a little detour down to D.C. After all, who knows when we'll be on the east coast again? (Our excuse for all of our adventures). On the way down, we made sure to go through Amish country, and I have to say I was very excited to see real live Amish people.

We tried driving through Lancaster first, but soon realized that we needed to go more to the countryside to find them, so we drove to Bird-in-Hand and saw tons of them! Those Amish are so cute with their little buggies and hats and suspenders.

Most of the pictures I took were as we drove by, which is why they're kinda fuzzy. They don't like you taking pictures of them though, so I figured I had to do it as we drove so they wouldn't know about it, and then they couldn't be mad at me!

Pennsylvania was beautiful and full of green hills and trees. The more we drove, the more we found there are a lot of green places! Basically Utah and the midwest are just severely lacking. As we drove down the freeway, all we could see were trees everywhere. But then we came around a curve and BAM! D.C. temple right in front of us. Pretty cool to see.

We only had a couple days to see D.C., so we only really got to see the National Mall area, but with all the Smithsonian museums, that still left a lot to see! We spent the whole first day and part of the second looking at museums, and then walked the loop around the mall to see all the monuments, the White House, and the Capitol.

As you can see, D.C. is a little bit sweaty. We Utahns don't fare so well in that kind of humidity, I guess it takes some getting used to.

The best picture we got of the White House was actually taken from the Washington Monument, because when you go up close, you're stuck behind a fence with a bunch of shrubs and can't see much.

At the capitol we stumbled upon a Herman Cain rally, which was surprisingly entertaining. He used some very descriptive words when talking about Obama and liberals. Like, "dumb" lol.

We stayed with Adam's great-aunt Clara while we were there and she was such a great hostess. We would go out to stay with her again right now if we could!

After leaving Virginia, we met some very interesting people in West Virginia. A lot of them looked like this guy...who is sitting on the porch of a gas station. Quite the looker, huh?

Our next tour stop was the Gateway Arch. You ride to the top in what are basically tin cans, which made big guys like Adam feel a little claustrophobic. He had to hunch a little to keep his head from bumping the top.

We ended up with a couple extra hours when we got to Kansas City, MO, so we thought we'd see what they had in Independence. We found the Community of Christ HQ and temple, so we went in to get a little tour. Their beliefs are very interesting when you think about how they are a split from Mormonism and still have the Book of Mormon as scripture.

We also found Liberty jail, which is inside of a visitors' center. This is the actual jail, but it's mostly been rebuilt because it was all made of wood, so it was in pretty bad shape.

Everywhere we went that day, people kept asking if we were there for the temple open house. Being the good Mormons we are, we didn't even know a new temple was open there ;) but we figured we might as well go while we were there, so we drove over and took the tour.

Once we got through Missouri, we were in dreary Kansas, so the rest of our trip was pretty boring, but we finally made it home!

A Whale of a Rock

You can't go to Massachusetts and not stop by the Plimouth Plantation. It was just like you would expect. Log cabins, dirt floors, and people with funny accents. We went with some friends (Josie and Taylor) to check it out. 

 After visiting with the pilgrims and learning all about their struggles to survive, we stopped by the Native American camp around the corner. It didn't take long for us to realize that it was a miracle that any pilgrims survived and that if we had to go back in time we would sprint to the Indian camp. They had huge structures built in an oval shape, a fire in the middle, and animal skins for warmth and comfort. They even had a separate summer homes for when it was hot outside. As you can see from the picture we even got to try out the canoes. We didn't get far and you can tell Jenn has no idea what she is doing (look how she is holding that oar...what is it a guitar?)

Drum roll please....ta-da!!!

Plymouth Rock! I know, I know...pretty amazing. This is picture is really close to actual size. When I was a kid in history class, I always pictured something more similar to pride rock from the Lion King. Not even remotely close. They have it gated off, not because it needs to be protected, but because if they didn't some toddler might pick it up and throw it into the ocean. Or maybe it would get really windy and blow away. Unbelievable right? I knew you would like it.  

After the rock we had the opportunity to board the Mayflower 2. We spoke with a crew member that insisted on calling me Angus because I was tall. He said that we were made of wax and somehow that was what made me so tall. I wish I could remember the details, I think he may have been on to something. 

 The next stop was Cape Cod. We originally had planned to stop at some beach along the way but ended up at the very tip of the cape. One more advantage of off-season travel: No Traffic. Most people said that it could take hours to make it to the end but we did it in less than 2. I saw my first live whale (from a distance using some strange woman's binoculars thanks to Taylor). The beach was beautiful and there were very few people. Too bad the water was so cold or we could have enjoyed a nice swim. I guess it never really warms up though.

 On the way home we drove through Provincetown. It wasn't until later that we found out it is the homosexual capital of the Northeast. Apparently we missed something...although there were a lot of subarus. 

 The next big adventure was New York. We were pretty nervous about where to stay and how to get around. We stayed for 3 three nights in a cheap hotel in Brooklyn. This was after weeks of searching for closer/nicer hotels. It was almost impossible to find rooms for cheaper than $250/night and that was a little more than we wanted to spend, so we decided we'd stay farther away and take the subway. After I got off work on Thursday and a little tired/frazzled from New York driving we arrived at our hotel. We stayed across the street from an abandoned building (or at least it look that way..there were probably some homeless people crashing there). The hotel was small but surprisingly clean. 

 We used the subway everywhere we went. What a great deal! It was like $30 bucks per person for unlimited use for 7 days. We definitely got our money's worth. There were a few funny ads on the subway, the one above reminded me of my dad. The first day we stopped by the today show. It was very exciting to see Al and Ann in person. I don't think we got to be on TV though. We didn't wake up in time to beat the crowds. 

 Here we are at the Statue of Liberty. We didn't get to go up, it was under construction (sort of a theme for our travels).

Again, more construction at the 9/11 Memorial. Still, it was very neat and helped put in perspective the number lives lost and the impact it had on the area and the world. 

 Time square was crazy. So many people and so many lights. We tried to eat close by but everything was at least 3 times more than normal. We stopped by the M&M store, Hershey's, and a few other places. Central Park, FAO Schwartz, and Coney Island were a couple other stops. 

It has always been a dream of Jenn's to go to a show on Broadway so, we went to see Mary Poppins. It wasn't exactly what we were expecting because it was so different from the movie, but it was a very good show, and the Bert was awesome. The only problem was the seats were all about 6 inches from each other...not a lot of leg room. It was really enjoyable though. 

Me and Jenn at the Top of the Rock (roof of the 30 Rockefeller building).The building in the back is the Empire State Building. 

One of the last things we did while in the Boston area was go on a whale watch. It was the first trip of the season and so we were lucky the see whales. They weren't very active but we did see 4 humpback whales. It was hard to believe that something that big was swimming around us. 

You can tell in the picture below from our rosy cheeks and watering eyes that it was cold and windy out on the sea. Luckily we didn't get sea sick though. It was sad to see those around us throwing up over the side of the boat. Of course, before we headed back home to start packing for the trip home the next week, we stopped by Mike's for some cannoli and a lobster tail. Jenn wouldn't have it any other way. 

Let's go to Canadia, eh?

So we may or may not have spontaneously decided to go to Canada just for the sake of going to a new country and using my new passport. We're probably living as close to Canada as we ever will be, so we figured, what the heck? So we went to Montreal.
Even though we knew that they speak French in Montreal, we didn't really realize how French it would be. I don't know any French, and even though Adam took a couple classes in high school, he can only remember a couple phrases. But we thought, hey, it's Canada, they'll all speak English right? Well, we thought wrong. Even the border guy barely spoke English, and we couldn't understand half of what he said. The next morning our hotel's breakfast was in their restaurant, and our waitress didn't really speak English either, so that was pretty interesting. Plus it wasn't quite as easy to navigate as we'd thought. We're so used to using Adam's phone for internet everywhere we go, but guess what? No service in Canada. Oops. Guess that's what we get for being spontaneous!We still got to see some pretty cool stuff though. We went to the Notre Dame Basilica, which was gorgeous. It was so big and ornate, and a lot cooler than the little English churches we've gone into in Boston.
Another thing that's really cool about Montreal is they have this underground city. You go down into the subway system, and there's a ton of interconnected shopping malls and food courts that are all down there. And the cool part is that each section is designed by a different person, so they were all decorated differently, and a lot of them had chandeliers and things. It was really interesting.
Another thing about their subway system, other than obviously being a little cleaner and nicer than some others, is that the trains run on rubber wheels, not metal tracks.
We went to Chinatown, and it really was like stepping into another country. It's shaped in a square, and each side of it has a little entrance gate. Once you walk in, everything is in Chinese. Some stores had signs in French too, but those didn't do us much good either lol. It's not really a cool place to go shopping or anything like that though, unless you're looking for weird Chinese food. It's really just where all the Chinese people live. But it was definitely very ethnically different and fun to walk through.
We saw this sign on our way out. I'm pretty sure that sign says Ray Lamontagne...ok ok it says Rue de la Montagne, but close enough right? I mean Adam loves the guy enough that I can play along.
Yay for visiting new countries! It was only a short visit this time, but next time we go to a new one, I think we'll be a little more prepared :)

Maine Lobster and Dead Authors

We decided to take a little drive up to Maine, eat some fresh lobster, and see what there was to see. Turns out there's not much north of Massachusetts. First we went to Portsmouth, NH, which was a pretty cute little town. There's a bunch of cute little shops, and it definitely has that old-town New England feel. Plus, they had a kitchen store where Adam FINALLY got the grapefruit knife he has always wanted. You just can't keep a boy away from his grapefruit...
Next we headed up to Portland, Maine; where we found none other than the Polar Express! I always thought that was in like, the North Pole, or only came around on Christmas Eve or something. But, apparently, it's in Portland. Who knew? Anyway, it was just this random train that you could pay ten bucks to ride like, a quarter of a mile on, so we just walked through it to check it out. There wasn't a whole lot in the area, so after exploring for a bit we headed on down to York, Maine.
We found a cute lighthouse and a great shore. Adam and Taylor got a kick out finding creatures and going as far out to the water as they could. I really enjoyed the view. It was a nice day, and the sun looked so great shining out from behind the clouds. It was just beautiful! It would be a great place to come stay for a couple weeks in the summer and just play on the beach.For dinner we went to a local lobster place and I got...drumroll please...lobster nuggets. If you know me, then you know that lobster + batter + deep fried = perfect! Man, those things were deelicious. And now, I can officially say that I've eaten real, fresh Maine lobster in Maine. Woot woot!
Our next adventure led us to Lexington and Concord (said: conquered; I know, Massholes haven't ever heard of phonetics). We figured we should probably some of the sites that are so close to us and we've grown up learning about.We went to Minuteman Park and the bridge that's famous for "the shot heard 'round the world." Mostly, it was just a statue and a bridge in the middle of a field. At least it was pretty though!
After driving around the town a little bit and drooling over all the houses we wished we could have, we drove to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where they have a hill full of dead authors. Notably: Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and Hawthorne. It sounds a little strange, but cemeteries are actually a tourist attraction around here. I guess when you live in such an old place that comes with a bunch of dead people. Some of the headstones are really cool, like the one above, but most of them look like this.
Then we drove by Walden Pond, which was really gorgeous. I can see why someone would want to write about it. I guess in the summer people go there for canoeing and swimming, but we thought February might be a little early for that...brrr.In Lexington, after driving around and seeing some more fields and statues, we went to the National Heritage Museum. We assumed it would be about the history and things that Lexington is famous for, but mostly it was just Masonic stuff, since the local Freemasons own the museum. It was still interesting though, even it it wasn't what we'd expected.