.Barack, Backroads and Byways.

Last weekend was presidents days weekend and I was lucky enough to have been invited on a road trip! Which looking back is the first real road trip I have ever been on. We had a destination, sort of, and really no set plans after that. It was Lexi, Lindy, Karolin, Ethan and myself. We headed off to Granny's house (Lindy and Lexi's Grandma) as that would be our "base". We then took daily trips from there. The first day we were off and looking for a park, but before we found that we came across "The Oldest Grotto in the United States"! Well, that sounded like something we should stop and see, so we headed on up the mountain to find it! When we first arrived it was just an absolutely huge pillar with a very gold and creepy statue of Mary on it. Her eyes followed you, much like the Monalisa. We then headed down the path and there was statue after statue. They included different "milestones" in Jesus' life, several saints and then some other random statues that made really no sense at all.

After we were about half way through the park, we discovered a huge pool. I immediately thought to myself, Wishing Well! But then read a sign stating "Please no money in the pool". So that was out. I then wondered if maybe they preformed baptisms in this pool? That was until Karolin pointed out just how deep it was and Ethan was contimplating a cannon ball. It was none of the things I thought it was, and I don't think that this pool was the "Grotto" either. We then moved on down the path. We came to a line... a line of silence. First of all, it is hard enough for me to be quiet when I am with this group of people. Second of all, when you tell me I have to be quiet, it is much more difficult to do so. Once we crossed that line, we saw it. It was a cave, full of candles, with stadium seating I might add! People were there, praying I suppose and having not nearly as much trouble as I, keeping quiet.

We quickly scurried past the people and up another path. There was a medium length stairway that Lindy instantly ran up and began jumping with pride, like Rocky, from the movie. However, now that we look back at this moment in our photos, it looks very sacreligious and like Lindy is mocking Jesus hanging on the cross which is the statue right at the top of the stairs! When we realized how bad it looked, it made it all the more hard to remain silent and not laugh. :-X We quickly finished with our photo ops and semi-ran back down the path. Once we crossed that line I just had the urge to scream "I CROSSED THE QUIET LINE!" But you'll be happy to know that I did not fulfill that urge.

So after seeing the pool, the cave and many many statues, we have come to the conclusion that GROTTO = JESUS PARK.

We all had such a great time on this trip. It is really going to be hard to leave in a month, knowing what wonderful friends I have here in New York. Although I hope that we can keep in touch, sharing many more road trips and laughs. I just want them all to know just how special they are and how much they will be missed!
There is much more to this road trip than I can write about at this moment, but to see the photos you can check out my facebook. If your not my facebook friend, you should be. If you don't have facebook, get it!