Road Trip Day #5 - Chicago, Kirtland and Toll Roads!!

Let's just say that we probably passed through about 10 - 15 tolls today! So annoying. Terrill and I were discussing how much money it would be to put in the infrastructure to have all the machines and manpower running the toll booths and we were wondering how long it would take to pay it all back with the meager .60 cent toll we paid! The only way to figure out this equation is if we knew on average how many cars came through each day. We will research that and get back to you :)

We spent the night in Chicago! In the morning we started the day off with a run. Terrill wanted to show me some of the sites near Navy Pier so we ran there from the motel. Then we wanted to find the GIANT silver bean in the middle of Millennium park. After running 4.5 miles and talking to 3 people we found it! After we found the bean and took some pictures we started to run back to our hotel when I am sorry to say I started to doubt where we were going and if we were at all close to our hotel (sorry Terrill). So I asked someone and sure enough we were about 7 blocks in the wrong direction, but it was great because it tacked on another 1 miles to our run to make it a total of 5.5 miles!! Yah!!!

Navy Pier

View of the city from the pier

We found the bean!!

Yikes

Wait for me Terrill!!

At 9:40 on the dot we left for Kirtland. Needless to say we had some hold ups along the way, which included traffic and the lack of being able to find a place to eat in Gary, Indiana (that place is super ghetto!!) We finally broke down and stopped at McDonald's/Dairy Queen.

We arrived in Kirtland at 5:30, just as they were starting a tour. We first watched a cool video about the prophet Joseph Smith and what was going on in Kirtland at the time of the establishing of the church. We then had the nicest elderly missionaries teach us about the various points of interest - Newel K. Whitney store, Joseph and Emma's living arrangements, the school of the prophets, and the saw mill. It was fascinating to see how they lived back then. They told us that Kirtland was the place where the most revelation has ever been given to the church, which to me is so cool! It definitely gives you a greater understanding and appreciation for what the saints endured, being able be there today!

The school of the prophets where much revelation was given to the brethren of the church.

Joseph's original table

Beautiful Meadow!

Now we are in Buffalo, NY. We saw a lot of fireworks during our drive. Happy 4th of July everyone!! Tomorrow we are headed to Palmyra and Niagara falls, we are stoked!! We will end up in our new place of residence, Langhorne, PA! Yah!!