Boston, Mass

Ron served his mission in Boston, Mass from 1974-1976. 

He returned in 1978 by himself for a visit. 

32 years later he returned again, this time with Karie.  

Jerry and KayLynn Todd (Ron's cousin) moved just a few weeks ago to that area and they were wonderful hosts.  We explored everything together! 

The Todd's live in Hampton, NH 2 miles from the beach. 

Ahhhhhh, check it out...

 The Todd's are renting this beautiful home, fully furnished...trees all around

 From the curve in the driveway you can see the detatched garage as well

 Long driveway before it curves, nice and secluded

 3rd floor has 2 rooms - our bedroom suite and...

 a family room with a great place to set up the laptop

 Our wonderful hosts, Jerry and KayLynn Todd

We had soooooooooooo much fun with these two!

 We especially loved this rock beach a few miles from their home.

Wish you could hear the sound the the water made as it rippled across the little rocks. 

We brought a few small rocks home for souvenirs - hope that's legal. 

They didn't stop us as we passed through security at the airport.

Ron 

From the waterline looking up the rocks

Karie

The weather was fantastic during the entire week. 

It got rainy and cold the day after we left - we were blessed.

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We were able to find a few homes where Ron stayed as a missionary.
Good thing he brought pictures because sometimes the address wasn't enough.

 Braintree, Mass

 Norwell, Mass

 The church in Laconia, NH
He was able to go inside and find the phone list which included a family he baptized over 34 years ago - who now have 9 children!!!! Wow!

Fitchburg, Mass
They always lived on the top floor

 Church in Cambridge, Mass (by Harvard) that is under reconstruction

Mission home with 13 bedrooms, however it's no longer the mission home.
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Plymouth Rock
The rock itself is rather small, but it is a historic place!

 The monument built around the rock

The Rock - 1620

 Mayflower II

Karie and Ron
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Joseph Smith's Birth Place
in Sharon, Vermont

 Wow, the church does a beautiful job of purchasing, building and taking care of this site.  The church owns over 400 acres there and believe me, it's out in the boonies.  There is lovely music coming from the woods.
The directors home is on the left and the visitors center is on the right and there are 3 missionary couples who volunteer their time.  A chapel sits adjacent to this site as well.
You can take a walk (or drive) down behind this area to foundations of homes owned by Lucy Mack Smith's family.  The foundation of the home Joseph Smith was born in is slightly to the left of the monument.

The top part of the monument weighs 40 tons and is 38 1/2 feet high to represent the number of years Joseph Smith lived.
This monument has been here for 105 years, since the centennial of his birth.
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Boston  Temple

 These are the stained-glass windows in the Celestial Room, back of the temple

Beautiful as usual!!!
We walked all around.  It's absolutely gorgious!
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Walden Pond
It truly is a beautiful place, a little over run with tourists.
Did you know a pond has NO inlets or outlets, this one is rather large.
We walked all the way around it!

The foundation of Thoreau's cabin where he lived for 2 years.
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Minute Man
The first shot of the revolutionary war took place here in Concord, Mass. 

 This monument represents us facing the British across the river.

 Karie and Ron on the river

 KayLynn and Jerry on the river

 So true, if you can read the words.

This monumnet represents the British

Many sacrificed for us and we are THANKFUL!
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Mount Washington, New Hampshire
No sales tax in New Hampshire but they charge for other things...
It cost $47 for the 4 of us to DRIVE to the top of Mount Washington.
Mount Washington is the tallest point in New England at 6,288 feet.
We were fortunate to have a good view. 
Some people come and stay for days hoping for a good view. 

 At this location they measure the winds and the fastest winds recorded has been 231 miles an hour.  It wasn't too windy that day.  It was only 44 degrees in September.

 This train takes you to the top but that would have been almost $250 for 4 people.
We drove.

 Beautiful view!

 The colors were turning!

This was another hill with beautiful colors.
We drove and drove and there was beauty everywhere!

See!
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The Trolley Ride in Boston

Actually this was taken while we were driving.  Bridges are everywhere!

Typical downtown

Lots of historic buildings

 Yum!

 Harbor Cruise

 USS Constitution
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Newburyport, Mass
Ron served in this area but he had a P.O. Box and there was no way after 34 years that he could remember where he lived - everything has changed so much.
This area was dilapidated when he was there and was beginning to be restored. 
We loved it!

 You can dine at the top of this historic light house, romantic dinner for 2.

 I thought this shop was so pretty

 Look at the name of the boat on the harbor - the spelling is almost right.

 Just sitting and watching the boats

 ...and then we heard this long horn and wala... the bridge opened.

 Nice square with shops everywhere.
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Fun Stuff!!!
Here are a few more pics...

 Some houses are so close to the road.

 The entrance to Dan Brown's (the writer) house.  Very festive

 We love this porch.  It was right on the ocean.

Just one of the many interesting houses

 This light house is in Maine and is on an island.  You have to take a bucket to get there - no visitors allowed.

 Another beautiful site - they were everywhere!
We plan on going back - there is so much to see and
we want to visit with the Todd's again!