Roadtrip to Philly!

Greg and I decided to take an extra long weekend over the Columbus Day holiday for a road trip... so we packed up the car after work on Friday and headed to Portland in the rain.  First stop Dimillo's restaurant for a family dinner with the Atwood clan.  We had just spent a wonderful week with Uncle George and Aunt Joyce and Atwood cousins Stephen and Corinne, Angie and Janine and Mike and Cheryl in Acadia.  We all met up with more of the Atwood's in Portland- Judy and Allie and Robert Hamilton for a family dinner!
Wonderful to see so many of us together as we all live so far apart.

After dinner we drove on to Boston where we were staying with the VanDuzer family in Dover Mass.  We got there late but enjoyed a nice visit with Beth and Nate while eating Beth's hot apple pie that had just come out of the oven.  The next morning we all went for a walk on their neighborhood nature trail.  We enjoyed a wonderful visit and some outdoor exercise before sitting in the car the rest of the day.

Greg and Nate


After a very very long car ride through the rest of New England, New York City and the New Jersey turnpike we finally arrived in Philadelphia!  

We headed straight for Penn law school and called Logan to come out of that library!  He did and we parked the car at the church and took a subway to Rittenhouse Square. There was an arts and crafts festival going on in the park and the streets around it were closed to traffic.  We discovered a French restaurant that was serving in the middle of the street so that was fun!

Smiling in the subway. Even happy to be together there!

                          Eating on the streets of Philadelphia!

After our dinner we walked over to Peter and Nikki's apartment to "check in" for our stay.  The Conti-Brown's seemed very excited to have us invade their family room.  We were happy to see them in their new surroundings and grateful for the love and welcome they gave us! 

Over these few days we enjoyed wonderful conversations, games and food!  We just enjoyed being part of the Conti-Brown world for a few days.  Of course the boys loved playing with Greg the most- he won them over with a box of cereal! 

We enjoyed some evening walks across the bridges.  The temperatures even at night made for a very nice stroll. 

On Sunday morning since Logan's student ward (congregation) didn't have church until 2:00 in the afternoon we took a trip to visit Valley Forge.  We picked Logan up at his apartment and drove out there on a beautiful morning.  We stopped first in the visitors center and then enjoyed a drive/walk along the 10 mile loop stopping at the spots below.

Although there are no pictures to prove it, we enjoyed going to church with Logan in the afternoon and a wonderful family make your own pizza dinner at the Conti-Brown's.  Fun family time!!


Logan had to get back to school on Monday but Greg and I enjoyed some tourist time at Independence National Historic Park.  We didn't have a lot of time but we stopped by the Liberty Bell and walked around the streets and park.

We met Logan back at Penn for a Philly Cheese Steak lunch and a visit to Peter's office at Wharton.  Following our visit, Greg and I rented street bikes and rode through the city and down the Schuylkill River trail. What a beautiful ride.  Logan takes this trail to Penn whenever he rides his bike to school.

Smoothies

When we returned from the ride, we encouraged Logan to skip a class and we grabbed an Uber ride over to Franklin Square where we met up with Peter, Nikki, Gabriel and Caleb for a Philly themed game of mini-golf!

"Which way did the ball go?"

Deep conversation on the bridge!

Such concentration!

My personal favorite picture from the trip!

Yes Caleb- it's all the putter's fault!

The Conti-Brown Family-  we just love you!!

Tuesday morning came too soon!  Logan picked us up at Peter and Nikki's and we went to the church to get our car.  After a little breakfast with Logan we said good-bye.  
We drove for about 3 hours to the new church history site of the restoration of the Priesthood in Harmony Pa. along the Susquehanna river.  The site just opened last month so we were very excited to visit!

Statues depicting the visits of John the Baptist and Peter, James and John to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in May 1829

Issac Hale House

Replica of Joseph and Emma's cabin where the Book of Mormon was translated. 

 On the banks of the Susquehanna River

We continued on with our road trip spending the night at Keith and Joanna Dalton's in Ludlow Ma.  Nice but short overnight visit with them then up early to go to the Boston Temple.

We loved our little weekend getaway!  Many thanks to our wonderful friends and family- time with you was the best part of the trip!!