"it doesn't matter where we're going cause we don't know where we are"

This past week Morgan had Wednesday (Veteran's Day) off and because of his work schedule he was also off Friday so he took off Thursday and we had a 5 day weekend on our hands! The title of this blog seemed to be our theme for the trip as we aren't the best trip planners and just kind of go wherever. We were following our GPS (thank heavens for GPS; how did anyone ever get anywhere without them??) and it told us to turn left and Morgan started protesting, I then said to him "it doesn't matter where we are going cause we don't know where we are." Morgan thought that was so funny and we laughed about it for a while.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

First, we headed up to NYC; destination WICKED on Broadway. Eva & Nathan gave us money for Christmas to go to Wicked and it really was "WICKED" I loved it! Everyone should at least listen to the music, it really is awesome. Wicked is the pre-Wizard of Oz story about how the wicked witch of the west came to be. The music is incredible and Morgan loved it too. Can I just tell you that NYC is CRAZY!! Super tall buildings, narrow streets, millions of people, taxis, and garbage! It is an impressive city, but I can't imagine living there. We were trying to find a parking garage and found one so we pulled in a little bit to look at how much it was and we couldn't get out so we just parked there for $33...yikes!! Luckily it was right by the theater and a block from Times Square which is a sight that everyone should see once! It's pretty cool! That night we stayed with one of the missionaries Morgan served with in the Philippines.

HUDSON RIVER VALLEY

The next morning we decided to go through the Hudson River Valley toward Albany, NY. It was beautiful!! The trees still had a few colorful leaves and it was just a great drive. We stopped at the West Point Military academy, Lyndhurst Castle, the town of Sleepy Hollow (the birth place of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow), Philipsburg Manor, FDR's house and presidential museum and a Vanderbilt Mansion. My favorite was the Vanderbilt Mansion built in the late 1800's and it had all of the original furniture in it. The grounds were amazing and the house was unbelievable. This drive is something we definitely want to do in the spring or summer!

Vanderbilt Property; they had 700 acres of beautiful forestry property overlooking the Hudson River.

Fredrick W. Vanderbilt Mansion

Philipsburg Manor; 300 year old house, mill, etc... built in 1750

BOSTON, PLYMOUTH ROCK, CAPE COD

Friday we headed toward Boston and I decided that I love Boston! It is such a clean, beautiful city. Most of the architecture is red brick, colonial era and I just loved it!! We walked around a beautiful park and then went to the harbor. After Boston we headed toward Plymouth, MA and that was pretty cool to see. This is where the pilgrims landed in 1620. It was pretty cold and really windy so we didn't stay long and headed to Cape Cod. Supposedly Cape Cod is a pretty tourist centered place so most everything was closed for the season, but we touched the Atlantic ocean and saw some pretty sights before it started pouring rain. Saturday morning we woke up did a little more sight-seeing and headed back home.

Plymouth Rock

Isn't this a cool picture. I took it at the park in Boston

The Atlantic Ocean! It was windy and cold!

Boston park; the bridge was really quaint with light posts on either end and the leaves were still really colorful there.

This is also at Plymouth Rock looking out into the Atlantic Ocean; I got this beany in New York City for $5 and Morgan really likes it so he insisted I put a picture on the blog ;)

Overall we drove 1,300 miles and went through 9 states!! You can't do that back west ;) Love the east coast and had a great vacation.