April 25 – May 7, 2014 | You Can Do It

Hi you all! This is FaithJean. Now we are off to the Big Apple so buckle your seat belts!!!!! Remember how in Washington D.C I wrote that we met up with a couple named Jim and Mari Beadle who we had met in Florida? Well, that was no accident. Since Daddy was having some health problems he couldn’t drive – so we were stuck or so it would seem. Whenever are going through something tough and reach out to God, He always provides you a way out. This time He provided a way out through Jim and Mari Beadle. Jim and Mari are also RVers so they drove our RV for us. This was a HUGE blessing and we are sooooooooooooo thankful for them. So we reached New York and we said goodbye. New York was our 50^th R.V Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God Bless them, they were very loving and compassionate, hopefully we get to see them again on this trip. Thank you God!

So we started our tour of New York with a Yankees’ game. Our Uncle Bill was in New York the same time as us, so he went to the game with us. It was really nice to see him. The Yankees were playing our Angels. The Yankees’ stadium was really new and clean. Chuck said the background behind the stadium looked like wallpaper. He also wanted me to tell you that Mike Trout hit a home run! Anyway, we saw the section of the stadium called Monument Park. It was interesting and cool to see all the famous players. There was also a nice view from Monument Park. Well, the Angels lost, but it was awesome seeing the Yankee field and the Yankees. It’s the experience that counted. The next day we went to a church, five stories tall, on 57^th street in NYC. It was a beautiful church in the inside. It was a great service. It was so cool going to church in the middle of New York. The body of Christ is all over this country, as Mommy says. After church we got ice cream and went to Central Park. Personally, Central Park was my favorite place in New York. Inside Central Park I could barely hear any of the honks! It was a very peaceful place with some cool playgrounds. We also saw some famous places that had been in movies and even though we walked like 2 miles, we didn’t even see the whole park. It was a fun evening. Next we went to Philadelphia with Uncle Bill. In Philadelphia, we went to Independence Hall. Independence Hall was cool and very historical. We also visited the old House of Representatives and Senate House. That was an interesting tour. After that we went to a Benjamin Franklin Museum. It was an interactive museum. Then we visited the one and only Liberty Bell. It was awesome seeing the Liberty Bell for the first time. It was bigger than I thought it was. After the Liberty Bell we had a Philly Cheese Steak. Grace thought the steak was easy to eat and it was good. For me the Philly Cheese Steak was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten!!!!!!! Then after that we visited the Rocky Statue. We ran up the steps, it was fun!!!!!!!!!! Mommy really likes the Rocky movies so that was fun for her. Then we did some crazy poses in front of the statue. There was a really great view on top of the steps. After that we left Philadelphia. Philadelphia has actually been one of my favorite cities so far. It wasn’t too busy, and it was historical.

Next, we celebrated Uncle Bill’s birthday by going to dinner and seeing a movie called God’s not Dead. God’s not Dead was an amazing movie, with great acting, and a great story. I totally recommend it. We went to the Freedom Tower with Uncle Bill. It was so tall! It is so sad what happened on September 11. It was a horrific and terrible event. Near the Freedom Tower there was a Cathedral and it had no structural damage. God put a force field around it so that the collapsing twin towers wouldn’t damage it. Anything is possible with God. They had some exhibits in the church about 9-11 and its volunteers. They used the church as kind of a hospital. In the church they had a prayer session. That was really heartwarming that we can still pray in public in our country. After that we went to the memorial. The memorial was really sad, all those people that died. Horrible. Daddy thought the 9-11 memorial was beautiful. Mommy thought it was inspiring. It just reminds us that every day is special. Afterwards we went to go have lunch at a place Uncle Bill really likes, called Shake Shack. It was REALLY GOOD. Hope thought Shake Shack was yummy! After Shake Shack we walked back to the subway station and said our goodbyes to Uncle Bill. While we were there we visited Times Square twice. The first time we went there with Uncle Bill at night and went to a place called John’s Pizza. It is true New York really is the city that never sleeps!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, Times Square was really bright. The second time we went to Times Square, we went to Hershey’s World briefly and M&M World. We bought a lot of M&M’s at M&M World, and at Hershey’s World we got free samples. Those free samples were good, and the M&Ms were tasty. After that we walked around a little then went home.

We later visited West Point in upstate New York. Upstate New York is beautiful so when we got there we took a tour. West Point is a place that Mommy really wanted to go. It was a beautiful campus with beautiful architecture and cathedrals. It is really well secured. It also has a lot of discipline and interesting programs. After we took a tour we went to their museum and saw a lot of combat artifacts. After the museum we went to get some ice cream at the Ice Cream Shoppe across the street. I have to tell you that is the best ice cream I have ever eaten. It was called Perry’s ice cream. It had all these unique flavors. The guy was really nice and he gave HUMONGOUS scoops. We got 2 big scoops for over 2 dollars. They were delicious. The next day we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Ellis Island is very special to us because my great, great grandma’s family came through Ellis Island before she was born. We went to the museum, and one of the things I learned is how hard and grueling the journey must have been, but how rewarding it must have been when they finally made it there. Then we went to the Statue of Liberty. It was huge!!! Luckily, Daddy got tickets so we can go up to the pedestal. There were a lot of steps, but when we finally got up there it was rewarding. I can’t believe I was finally seeing it for the first time! The view was really nice, and I couldn’t believe how high we really were. Grace thought it was bigger than she thought it would be, and it was weird how they had different models before they finally got to the current one. She also thought it was cool how the maker of the Statue of Liberty also made the Eiffel Tower, and also how they think the face resembled his mom’s face. They had a really awesome museum there too. We also saw some Swat guys protecting the Statue of Liberty. You may think most of the time all we do is sight see and stuff, but actually a lot of times the day afterwards we use as a day to reflect and we are tested on what we are learning at times. Sometimes we also go to a park and play sports or basketball at the R.V. Park. I also enjoy those days. They’re very important when your traveling like this.

New York was amazing and big and we really enjoyed seeing the various things at the Big Apple and seeing it with our Uncle. God has truly blessed us. We will next forget that we wouldn’t have made it to the Big Apple when we did without His blessing of Jim and Mari Beadle. Now it is time to get on the road again!

We have arrived to New York and New Jersey! God placed two selfless Angels in our path – Jim and Mari Beadle. A couple that we met on our journey and selflessly drove our fifth wheel all of the way here from DC so we could continue our journey until the doctors released me to drive once again!

Yankee stadium with my brother who flew out here to be with us!

Yankee Stadium! Go Angels!

Derek Jeter fella – with me!

The church we attended in NYC!

Central Park – such great times!

From Jersey City!

Church that provided love and refuge to so many over the years, especially during 9/11

9/11 memorial.

Ellis Island!

Picks from Liberty Island – both taken from on the Statue of Liberty. In the one you can see shadow of Statue, NYC skyline, and Gia in the small corner in middle of the shadow.

Carlos Bakery – Hoboken, New Jersey. Family watches his show.

All pictures from Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Liberty Bell!

Rocky moment!

God continuing His healing touch! Brief stay in New Jersey hospital. It is a fact, the more I build my Faith and Trust in God, the better I am getting!