Odometer: 149653
Distance So Far: 4935
Days On the Road: 20
Final Stop: Victor, NY
In preparation for a big week, Dono and Olya also boarded a plane to the East Coast! Donovan also got to take a ride in a tricked-out all terrain wheelchair. On the downside, he got stones in his kidneys instead of pebbles in his wheels.
From Mom
Today we met up with Dono, Olya and their neighbors Brook and Charity Williams. We went to the Hill Cumorah and climbed up to the Angel Moroni monument and toured the visitors center and then went to the Grandin Book Store, and to the Sacred Grove. We were very surprised to meet Elder and Sister Bednar as they were walking in the Grove. They stopped and shook hands with all of us and it made us all feel so good! He will be dedicating the Visitors Center tomorrow. It was so cool to be there with Dono and have him tell us all the things he had worked on. He met up with several co-workers and got to visit with them for a while. Guess who else came to the Visitors Center while we were there? Rick and Michelle Capps! We got to stop and talk to them for a while. So cool! Then we went to dinner with Dono & Olya and the Williams, but poor Dono is still suffering with kidney stones. Dad and Brook Williams gave him a blessing and then they started the 1.5 hour drive back to their hotel in Syracuse.
From Dad
September 20
We have been waiting for the opportunity to hit a Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast this trip. Usually our hotels serve breakfast, but today was the exception. And it was just across the road from the hotel. Check that one off the list. I’m sure we will take more opportunities. [Editor’s note: Nevermind that there’s one in Eagle Mountain, it tastes better on the East Coast]
We met up with Donovan and Olya, and their neighbors, the Williams, at the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center. As we pulled up, we could see Elder and Sister Bednar giving a tour for some local VIPs. We went inside and were looking around, and Brother and Sister Williams saw some relatives from Salt Lake. Just moments later, Rick and Michelle Capps, friends from Fernley, NV walked over to us! So many people we are seeing in New York that we know from back home!
The Visitors Center is really beautiful. A lot of changes have been made to the building, and to the Hill Cumorah in general. All of the grass and performance area have been removed and native vegetation planted. (Donovan helped do some of the planting, along with commissioning the statues and paintings inside.) One of the really interesting items is a tactical 3D display for the blind, so they can feel what the paintings look like. Everything inside the Visitors Center is meant to be touched, including the statues, which are a representation of Christ visiting the Americas as recorded in the Book of Mormon.
From there, we went over to the Sacred Grove, and as we were going in, Elder and Sister Bednar were coming out. So we stopped for a couple of minutes and talked to them, before spending a little while in the grove. The Visitor Center at the Grove has a wheel chair with big balloon sand tires. We put Donovan on that and pushed him along the trails. His power chair would not have been able to negotiate the tree roots and rough terrain, but this one did great.
Then we went over to the Grandin Bookstore in Palmyra and took a tour on how the Book of Mormon was printed.
We went to dinner together in Victor, a few miles away in Victor, at an Italian restaurant called Otto Tomottos. It was pretty tasty.
Now it was pretty late, and we still had laundry to do. So we found a 24-hour laundromat and spent a while doing that. At least in a laundromat you can do all the loads at one time.
Another late night before getting to bed!
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