Family Awesome

Maddy watching the game from the box....

2011-03-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is our darling Maddy - playing as a goalkeeper for her High School team. So far, they haven't been scored on, but she hasn't had to save too many......they have a fantastic team, and the ball rarely passes the half-field. It's been so fun cheering for the same school that Scott went to back in the day. Go Blue Devils!

Maddy also has the great opportunity to guest play for a Las Vegas team this weekend - they are flying her down there and everything! She's nervous, but we have complete confidence in her abilities....

2009-08-05T17:52:00.001-07:00

I'm at the Pirates game in Pittsburgh, PA. It's 8:51pm and I have 403 miles to drive tonight. Glad it's already the 7th inning!

The Home Stretch...

2009-08-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Monday and Tuesday of our trip were dedicated (mostly) to visiting the significant Mormon historical sites. We had a very nice time visiting the sites we'd heard about so many times, but it was a bit much, or maybe at the end of the trip, for the kids. As always, they gave us a little perspective. See Jake below, thoroghly engrossed in the history...

Hill Cumorah landmark

Joseph Smith family log home, Palmyra, NY.

The bug Jake caught in Palmyra, NY, and then brought into the car. His sisters were thrilled.

Upstairs in the log home. There were 2 of these beds for 6 boys in the Smith family, so when the guide asked us if we had questions the only question was about which end of the bed the older kids slept on, and if they ever bumped their head on the slanted roof.

Brick hearth which served as a hiding place for Gold Plates.

The sacred grove was a very quiet, beautiful place. We we mosquito buffet, and I'm still scratching. (This is where Joanna hits me for being irreverent). We enjoyed it very much, other than the mosquitos.

After feasting on the history of the Palmyra sites, the kids enjoyed the scenery around upstate NY:

From Ny we headed West to Kirtland, Ohio. I wanted to be in at least one of these roadside pics, but made the kids cry when I wouldnt let them onto the offramp, so we took a 2nd picture.

Somewhere in PA we hit a bug that exploded a glowing goo. Lighting Bugs!!! So we pulled over to hunt for one.

The bugs were plentiful, and we needed a leg-stretch anyway. Sophie caught one that blinked while on her finger. She named it Flinker, and then set Flinker free.

This was our 175th stop of the day, a nourishing meal before bed.

Tuesday, we visited Kirtland, OH. We have the GPS map on my phone and are deciding how far to go that night. We really enjoyed the burger place.

The first Mormon temple, built in the 1830's. It was way bigger on the inside than we had thought. The guide dispelled the old story about the women crushing their china dishes into the mortar to make the building sparkly; as it turns out they just crushed up the remaining panes of glass. Same sparkly effect, but not as good a story. The building has two main floors with what are essentially chapels in each, and the 3rd floor has a bunch of classrooms. The belltower was another floor+ above that.

Newell Whitney store, one of my favorite sites. Whitney was an early Bishop in the church, but also one smart businessman, with an ashery, a trade-shop, store and foundry to his credit.

Sawmill, powered by a shallow-water wheel. Very cool!

In true Purves style, we finished off our trip with a ballgame. We watched the Indians get clobbered at home in Cleveland by the Twins. That makes us 0-3 for home teams on our trip. This was a great ballpark, with a whole house of good seats. Since the Indians are so lousy and it was a Tuesday night game, we got great seats. Jake almost had a foul ball!

Funny picture: this was taken to show Lilly's new collection - ballpark earrings. But if you look in the bottom right you'll see the 13-year old hands of Maddy, texting away during the game. Busted!

Sophie "Peanut-Lips" Purves

Wednesday morning, after a solid 7 hours of kinda-sleep in a small bed, we're all very sad that our adventure is ending.

Cleveland Airport, Sophie and I crying.

That's all folks! And what a trip it was!

August 1-2, 2009 - Oh, Canada!

2009-08-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

It's morning on the 8th day of our trip, and we're in Kingston, Ontario. We're feeling it. Joanna and I ran over to the laundromat and stayed close so nobody would hoark our clothes, eh. After laundry, we returned to the motel with a nutritious breakfast for our youngins'.

Note the dried slobber:

That's right - Tim Horton's donuts! What other way would you start a day in Canada?

Munch, munch, wimper, munch...

And for lunch - Ketchup and Dill Pickle chips! Joanna is demonstrating how you feel after eating Ketchup and/or Dill Pickle chips.

Ontario is where Joanna and I served as missionaries for our church (1991 - 1994). For the kids it was a lot of driving and listening to mom and dad tell the same old stories, but with sites. For us it was a sweet trip down memory lane. This is a nasty old rooming house I lived in in Trenton, Ont. We climbed the 3 flights of stairs. Our resident manager at the time was an old biker named Harvey "not-so" Smart - he was a violent, foul-mouthed, retired member of the Satan's Choice. But he loved us and we loved him.

My best haircuts were all in Canada, and all by old Portugese men who used this warm shaving cream and a straight razor to chave your neck and side burns. So I postponed my cut for our trip and Joanna took this picture. Naturally, the barber was a young Armenian who used cold alcohol and a straight razor... But he was an artist - best cut in years. And nothing makes you feel more like a man than to have your wife take your picture in the barber's chair.

Joanna's favorite lepruchaun, John Doyle, and his family. Richmond Hill, Ont.

I wish I could post the smell instead of the picture. Try to imagine sweat, curry, roach spray and sour Canadian cigarette smoke combined. Brought tears to my eyes, and a little shock to the kids' system. This is an old apartment building in Etobicoke where I spent a lot of time as a young missionary with a much smaller belly.

My first apartment - Etobicoke, Ont.

Joanna and I both had fond memories of eating out at Swiss Chalet. Not sure why we had fond memories - it was the worst meal of the trip. Jake and Lilly show their love for the special "Chalet Sauce".

Swiss Chalet gave us all the "Bob & Doug Face" - YUK!

Saturday night was our hardest hotel-find yet, with a rowing tournament booking up St. Catherine's. We had to drive 40 mnutes backwards to find a Motel 6 in Hamilton. They left the light on for us, but what a dump.

On Sunday we attended church in St. David's where Joanna lived for about 7 months as a missionary. She caught up with a few old friends and then we headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Niagara-on-the-Lake is like Carmel-by-the-Sea, hence the many hyphens and gardens. Lilly and Jake demonstrate the sarcasm they have learned from their mother.

The sign tells the story of how American forces occupied this spot and as they retreated they burned the town to the ground. U-S-A, U-S-A!!!

We coaxed Sophie into the middle of the street for this pic; a risk well worth the picture.

Off to the falls! If Niagara-on-the-Lake is like Carmel, then the town of Niagara Falls is like carny-row at the State Fair. Lots of souvenirs, bong shops and smell.

The Falls are amazing, breathtaking, spectacular and awesome. For about 5 minutes.

The kids were more interested in swimming at the Lake (Ontario) so we found the best spot possible for a swim. Sadly, the beach was very rocky and there was a lot of litter and slime, so we skipped rocks instead. But it was a nice break from the road (with more road ahead of us).

This is where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario, and the fort on the other side is New York.

We loved Canada, with the memorable visits and great donuts. We were all glad we took a couple of days to see this part of the world. After Niagara we crossed back into the US and headed to Rochester, NY, our next stop.

Friday 7/31 - Cooperstown to Canada

2009-08-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning in Schenectady, NY, which is a nice place to leave. Back into the car! Although Joanna wanted to have a nice breakfast with eggs and toast, we had to settle for Dunkin' Donuts, which are on about every third corner.

The Hall of Fame is a hard place to get to if you're a ballplayer, and almost as hard if you're a fan. Cooperstown isn't near anything, but the drive was beautiful. It rained all morning so by the time we arrived the town was clean and fresh, just for us.

The Hall of Fame is a magical place. Most people were wearing their home teams' shirt or hat (or both), and you got a feeling of awe and love for the game from everyone. There is an introduction video in a theatre that showed many of the classic moments in baseball history, like Bobby Thompson's homer and some World Series finishes. At the conclusion of the video the music to Take me out to the Ballgame started and this old volunteer couple came in and led everyone in singing. From there we went on the tour of the museum (2nd and 3rd floors).

Babe Ruth's $2,620 contract to play for the Red Sox:

The "Record Room". Jake and I are standing with the greatest Home Run hitter of all time. I had to correct a few people when they suggested that the record was somehow tainted. Idiots.

Jake with a uniform worn by Willie Mays.

At the end of the 2nd floor is a locker room with a stall stocked by each team. The uniform was worn by Tim Lincecum on his 18th win last season. The 2 helmets were worn by Bonds on #'s 755 and 756. The ball on the chair is the ball that broke the home run record. The jerk who donated it carved an asterisk into the front of the ball.

Lilly didn't make the first class, I guess...

Sophie and the Babe.

Cooperstown is on the short list of places to return to. The Hall was pure magic, and the town - which we didn't tour - was like something from a movie. All the little shops had names like "Triple Play Diner" or "Squeeze Play Collectibles"; even Louisville slugger had a store there. There were some beautiful old B&B's right downtown. I'd suggest 2 nights at least.

But all good things must end, and we had places to go. So back into the car and up to the Great White North. We crossed into Canada through the Thousand Island area - again, as beautiful as you can imagine with little islands, bridges and wildlife. Another good place for a summer home! We landed in Kingston, ON, just east of where Joanna and I served as missionaries 16 years ago. Tomorrow we'll visit the sites where we lived.

The sun set on us as we arrived. Oh Canada!

Thursday 7/30 - Boston to Maine to NY State

2009-07-31T20:11:00.001-07:00

We woke up in Somerset, MA and began Maddy's quest for the perfect Boston Creme Pie (for breakfast, of course). Thanks to Google, we found it at Lyndell's bakery (http://www.lyndells.com/). Rather than buying a few pastries like normal folks, we bought a whole pie, a half gallon of milk and broke out the paper plates/cups in a nearby park. Maddy was thrilled with the results!

After pie-breakfast, we headed north through New Hampshire.

We went to Maine with the intention of taking this first picture and turning around, so we could say that we'd been in Maine. But we cruised in a few miles to York Harbor and absolutely fell in love with the Maine coast. We stayed a few hours, which was a long time considering our goal of getting through New Hampshire, Vermont and into NY State. Maine was incredible!

The water wasn't quite as cold as Northern CA ocean water. But it was chilly.

Our future summer home:

The Nubble Lighthouse, on it's own little island.

Back to the car and farewell to our beloved Maine!

And then we did this for about 6 hours...

And some of this...

Lots of this...

It was mostly dark through New Hampshire, which on Route 9 was one long, long series of rolling hills and green forrest. Nice, but a couple hours would've been plenty.

Green Mountain State? We thought that was NH! Unfortunately, our prolonged stay in Maine meant that we cruised through lower Vermont in the dark - boo hoo! We could tell before sunset that the mountains got higher and the space more open, so we're guessing it was pretty and there were a few cows and ice cream lovers. Wilmington, VT had a beautiful little downtown that Joanna may take me back to (yeah, antiques).

We got as far as Schenectedy, NY where all 6 of us crashed in a Holiday Inn, with Lilly and Sophie volunteering for floor duty. ZZzzzzzz...

Boston, Harvard, and Fenway Park!

2009-07-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

Our first stop in Boston was leaving Boston for Cambridge and Harvard. Again, suprised by how old all the stuff was. Buildings constructed in the early 1700's, enormous campus and muggy weather. The statue is John Harvard, the plaque was so impressive I had to include it.

We bought tickets to the Old Town Trolley, which was a very good move. We saw all the sites and the drivers were great tour guides. We were amazed to learn all the things that Paul Revere did other than take midnight rides. Boston is a beautiful city, very clean, and sooo much history.

The Old North Church from the other side of the harbor.

We toured this WW2 Destroyer that is mothballed next to the US Consitution - Old Ironsides. The kids thought the ship was cool but the sleeping quarters were a little tight.

Sophie and Joanna fell in love with this townhouse across from Bunker Hill.

Jake and Maddy were the only ones with enough energy to climb the 294 steps to the top of the Bunker Hill memorial (a small Washington Monument). Maddy did calf-lifts on the way down because she is worried that she's getting soft on this vacation. I quit after 75 stairs because I was soft before the trip.

One of the highlights of our trip: Fenway Park! We all loved the park, Yawkey Way, the die-hard Sox fans and the hot dogs with peppers and onions. We ate big, cheered for the Red Sox and sang Sweet Caroline with the crowd. We witnessed 3 homers over the green monster (we were straightaway center field) and a Red Sox loss to the A's. That makes us 0-2 for home-team wins on our trip, so we can expect the Indians to lose next Tuesday night. But that was probably going to happen anyway...

photos by: Jake

Days 4 & 5 - NYC to Plymouth Rock

2009-07-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

We started on the Staten Island Ferry to get a view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the city. Sophie the packmule.

It was a clear day, so Lady Liberty was beautiful.

For scale, the twin towers were about twice as high as the dark, square building in the center of this picure - from the ferry.

We found the financial district - great balls!

The front of the bull was ok, too.

On the subway again...

Probably the best thing we saw in NYC, Dana Barrett's apartment. No marshmallow mess, but you could still feel the evil of Zool. Thank you Ghostbusters - America's heroes.

The Dakota, where John Lennon was murdered - smile kids!

Jake is really into Natural History and the Museum was right up his alley. This ancient statue was his favorite exhibit.

After leaving New York, we headed through CT with a stop in New Haven to see Yale University. It has beautiful old buildings dating back to the 1700's, a creepy old Skull & Bones building and very clean bathrooms. Go Bulldogs!

No pictures of Rhode Island, its just too small. Weird. Almost the last stop of the day, Plymouth Rock. Beautiful site, cool rock, lousy chowda.

This is the rock. Checkered history, broken in half and put back together, moved and moved again; easily the most exciting rock ever. Pilgrims were awesome, too.

Off to Boston for more sites and best of all - Fenway!

Day 3 in NYC - a Wicked Day

2009-07-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

We got up late again. We attended church across the street from Juliard - we all quit singing the hymns just to listen to the people around us.

Afterwards we walked down Broadway where we saw Wicked!

We visited the Hershey and M&M stores. Joanna contributed $40 to the purse black market (she tells me that I could've done better - you're wlecome, babe). From there we crossed to 5th Avenue to the American Girl store (Saks was out of our league). And then the clouds rolled in. In 2 blocks we were soaked through our clothes!

After the rain let up we went to the subway, which smelled even worse than usual, and were joined by a dozen of NY's bravest because of a subway fire. So out the door we went... Back to 7th Avenue and onto the A Train, north to our cozy apartment near Central Park West. Rich and Donna had homemade sloppy Joe's on homemade buns waiting for us! After dinner Rich taught the kids to make pretzels!

Day 2 in NYC - Yankees Stadium & Empire State Building

2009-07-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

We saw Derek Jeter and Mark Texiera hit homers in a loss to the A's. The kids learned a few things in the bleachers when A-Rod struck out... Classic moment at the Empire State Building: we got in the elevator on the 80th floor that takes you to the 86th floor observatory and my pocket got hung up on the emergency button, setting off the alarm. Then the elevator dropped about 10 feet (1 inch, but it felt like 10 feet) and we all screamed.
After we walked outside into the wind, we turned around and said, "Where's Sophie?" She was around the corner, next to the door - glued to it. We pryed her off, made the loop around the building and got right back off!

The Purves' Take Manhattan!

2009-07-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

We arrived in NYC on 7/24/09 and our very gracious hosts (Rich & Donna Ostrom) took us to their roof for a view and then to Time Square for a slice. The roof made us a little uneasy, espcially when Rich tried to pull me to the edge, and it's only 37 floors up - I cant imagine how the Empire State Building will freak us out...