Good friends, tough trip, and Boston

This morning we got ready for Church, making it all the way there from its peaceful parking lot where we had spent the night. We went to the whole thing with the Gurneys, and it was very, very nice. Afterwards we went to their house. What a great house, and a great backyard. It was a short strip of a deck, etc. and then became as steep hill with tons of trees, vines, etc. It was heaven for the kids. They played and had a great time. They loved it. The Gurneys had a BBQ for us, and we just visited and had a nice time. The kids loved playing with their kids. We felt so at home, and like we had always been together. 

When it was time to go I saw the kids were having a hard time. I also really struggled, not wanting to go. We had felt such peace there. Such welcome and love. After spending so long out and about feeling like we were on our own and trying to figure out how to do what we wanted to, it was a surprising needed relief to be with someone who cared about us, who helped us, who knew what to do and where to go. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay with them forever. It was a delight to be with them, and tough to leave. But after a while we just needed to leave. I thank the Lord for good friends. I am grateful for the Gurneys.

We started our drive to Boston. It went well. We went through such beautiful countryside. I loved every place we have seen. We live  in such a beautiful country. I am amazed at all the things I see everywhere.

The drive there went well. Sadly, as we neared Boston we had problems with our vehicle, and could not make it into Boston, or to our hotel. We tried to cancel that reservation, but it was too late at night. I am still not sure if we were charged for it or not, I need to try to figure that out. Instead we found another hotel a few miles away and stayed there. It was nice enough for us. We slept well.

6-10-13

The next morning we rented a car. They dropped me off at the archives. I searched for a long time for the journals I was looking for. The archives thought they had the journal of Josiah Quincy that I was looking for, a man who said he kept detailed journals and who had seen the Joseph Smith papyri just months before Joseph Smith died. But it turns out that they had the journals of his father for that time period, not for him. We tracked it down and learned that about 100 years ago they were still in the hands of his descendants. It seems most likely that they still are. However, we are not sure. I will need to check with Harvard and see if they have them, but my guess is that they are in a private collection and we won’t be able to access them.

Then I looked for the journal of Charles Francis Adams, the traveling companion of Josiah Quincy. I found the journal pretty easily. Quincy had reported that the visit was in April of 1844. I went through Adams’ journals, and found that they didn’t visit in April. I called John Gee and double checked that it was the correct date. He looked it up, and Quincy had said that was the time. As I kept going in Adams’ journal I finally found an account of the visit in May of 1844. I got the account and found it useful. All in all it was a productive time in the archives.

Family at Paul Revere's grave

Family at Ben Franklin's memorial

Family at the Old South Meeting House, where the Boston Tea Party began

Then I walked forever to catch up with my family. I found them on Boston’s famous freedom trail. When I finally found them we just kept going on the trail. We went to lots of cool places, such as Paul Revere’s house, the church where the signals were shone, and the bay of the Boston Tea Party. Incredible history. So much fun to be part of it. We had a great time together.

We hightailed it out of Boston. We had to get the rental car back by 6 pm. We got it there at 6:02, and were okay. Then we loaded up in the motorhome and headed out.

I walked past the memorial for the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing

Family at Paul Revere's house

Paul Revere Memorial outside the church

The church where the lanterns gave the signal

same church

By now the car problem was solved and we were able to leave the Boston area. We decided to drive to where the basketball hall of fame was and stay the night there. I looked up a Marriott there we could stay at. It sounded great. But we drove around and around, in a bunch of circles, and couldn’t find it. I eventually learned that it is under construction, and won’t be finished until August. We eventually found one even closer to the hall of fame. They upgraded me to a double suite, so we all fit in. This was nice since it was raining very hard. We had a great night’s sleep.