Grandin Printing Press, Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove, and Sea Breeze

 The Grandin Printing Press is a neat place to tour.  The amount of work that went into printing the Book of Mormon was incredible. It was really neat to hear the sister missionary talk about all the steps and people involved and how the Lord prepared a way from the way for the Book of Mormon to come forth. From the location of the shop so supplies could be easily delivered to the shop having the most efficient type of printing press.  It was a really interesting tour.  Lydia and I missed it back in 2016 because she was really sick so I hadn't been since 2003 and it was really nice to go again.  Once our tour was done we discussed what job we would have wanted in the process and I decided being the one to emboss "Book of Mormon" on the binding in the gold leaf would be the best job. 

Some of this ink (under a lot of layers) is from the printing of the Book of Mormon. The church built the visitors center around the existing building which is really cool. 

My preferred job 

We drove over to the Palmyra temple after that and took a nice walk around the grounds and then had a picnic lunch.  We had such mild beautiful weather, it was so nice to be out.  Lydia and I were walking together and were a little behind the rest of the group and when we got to the far side of the temple we looked over the grass/woods and it occurred to me that we were looking at the recreated homes/The Sacred Grove.  It is so cool to think about Joseph Smith's experience in the woods there and to be standing on dedicated temple grounds.  

I love that these windows are designed to look like the Sacred Grove 

Looking towards the Smith Farm/Sacred grove 

We enjoyed the tour of the Smith homes.  There were a lot of people at the Sacred Grove which was fine but it was busy.   Many people came this week because they hoped to go to the Hill Cumorah Pagenent but of course that was cancelled because of COVID.  After touring the homes we split into small groups and spent some time in the grove.  Jared and I ended up together and loved the peaceful feeling there.  It is really nice that even if there are a lot of people on the site you can find space for yourself.  On our way back we did pass a few people pondering and many of them were reading verses or talks or listening to things and it made me wonder what they chose to listen to while in that special place.  Jared and I listened to the song "My Own Sacred Grove" as we walked back to the visitors center.  I am so gad we could go on this trip this year but that it the real message to take away.  That God/Christ will talk to you wherever you are. 

Really fun to then look towards the temple from the house site. 

That bedroom! 

This tree has a story.  It is believed to be as old as Alvin Smith.  It was a common practice to plant trees in memory of loved ones who had passed away and so as this tree is old enough to fit in that time frame the tour guide mentioned the connection. 

We stopped for some ice cream at a local dairy in Pittsford (it was good but not as good as Moo Thru here) and then headed over to a local water/amusement park.  Mark's brother David was traveling with three teenagers and wanted to be sure they had some fun outings as well.  It was a cute little park and we spent 4 or so hours there.  There were about 5 slides and a lazy river.  The water park closed at 7:00 while the amusement park section was open until 9:00 so we stayed in the water area till just before 7:00 and then spent just over an hour riding rides.  Lydia had really never been on rides like you find at an amusement park and I was happy to see her so willing to try rides with Jared.  We started with the swings that take  you up high and after that Mark and I were done.  We both ended up with headaches and just followed Jared and Lydia around the the rides they wanted to try out.  They had a blast and it was a great way to end the day.  

In order: Mark, Jared, Lydia, April 

Its fun how they are facing each other in this one