This is a very late journal entry starting Tuesday, Feb 28, the day we finally take off from Salt Lake headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Tuesday- Feb 28th:
We left the house finally about noon- heading for St. George, Utah. We got one house away when I told Craig to stop.- I had to find my cell phone. Back in the house Meredith, Natalie & Ethan are watching. Ethan's question to mom, Meredith, when we stopped, and the car door opened- "Is Canada only one house away?"-- Cell phone is found, and off we go- we are on our way.  Now we make it to 21st South and Bangarter when Craig realizes that he had forgot to pack his good black shoes- so we turn around and head back to Meredith's again. I also remember of a bag that is needed along with my winter boots. We get home to surprised family members, we grab the missing items and stuff them into an already packed car and we leave once more!  This all took about an hour! So we are already an hour behind on our schedule! But travel is good and we make it to Paul and Martha Carroll's in Richfield, Utah in good time. There is some snow but roads are clear. Our visit with Paul and Martha is short but very sweet and all to soon we are back in the car headed to St George, Utah. We soon discover that we left behind the anniversary book the children had made us at the Carroll's, so its turn around once more and retrace our steps. Book back in hand we head out again. Again we see God's blessings as we travel, Outside of Cedar City, Utah we see large black storm clouds between us and St. George. Yet as we near them they break apart and all of us on the road travel on in safety. Those storm clouds ended up in the Salt Lake Valley area which got really snowed on that night.  We arrive at Jerry and Jeri Jo Cox's around 7:15 pm, tired and hungry. The tank of gas was all but gone, but we did get good mileage- we travel 370 miles on that tank of gas.
Jeri Jo has made a delicious minestrone soup that we all enjoy. We talk and visit and reminisce about the past until after 11pm, I'm exhausted but was so very happy to spend even this short time with my foster brother and his wonderful wife.

Wednesday- Feb 29th:
We are up bright and early 6:00 am for me and Craig shortly thereafter. A quick shower and breakfast, reload up the car, get gas and we are on the road again. We didn't forget anything and don't have to backtrack for anything! We are headed to Albuquerque, NM.

By 10:00 we are in Flagstaff, AZ. We have passed the Vermillion Cliffs and some beautiful scenery. We grab a quick bite and get gas. Our elevation at one point was over 7,200 feet- a definite difference from Salt Lake City. Most of our travel has been on 2-lane roads today, but now we rejoin  a freeway.
Late that night we pull into the Holiday Inn Hotel in Albuquerque, NM. We grab a bite, and go to bed. My feet are badly swollen from inactivity- just sitting all day in the car. We resolve to stop more often and give me a chance to walk around for a few minutes. I also find that with effort I can put my feet up on the dashboard of the car, that seems to help also.

Wednesday, March 1:
Its up early and get ready to go, our goal is to get to Kansas, Oklahoma to Ray and Roberta Crabtree's.
 We delay our start just a little as we find the Albuquerque Temple. It is so lovely below a cloudless blue sky. We walk inside and talk to the brother at the recommend desk. There are 3 stakes in the city, and more in the surrounding areas.  As we travel we check in with family at home on our cell phones. Then its Oklahoma bound for us!

March2-3
We arrived late that night on the 1st. Ray and Roberta meet us to guide us into the very rural area where they live. The area is called the Illinois River Ranch. It's beautiful to be in the back woods. They have raccoons, squirrels, a bear and other assorted animals nearby.  We enjoy not traveling for a couple of days. It's been a few years since we have all seen each other and we talk and catch up for 2 days. We are out of contact with family at home, by phone, during this time, but we have prepared them for that. On Saturday, we empty the back seat of the car and Ray and Craig repack, its so very much better.

Sunday, March 4th
Ray and Roberta lead us out of the Illinois River Ranch and back to paved roads and we are on the road again. We drive to Littlerock, Arkansas where we stop to attend Sacrament Meeting. Its a beautiful sunny, windy day. Its nice to see something as familiar as an LDS Chapel. This is the Benton Ward, and today is their Ward Conference. The meeting was wonderful. The talks by their Bishop and Stake President are timely and very spiritual.  Afterwards lots of folks, including the Stake President come to see who the new missionaries are. When we tell that we are on the way to our mission, traveling from Utah, the #1 response is- "If you're going to Canada, what are you doing in Arkansas?"  But we are very glad for the opportunity to have met with some truly wonderful Saints.
After Sacrament Meeting, we bid farewell and head for Bowling Green, Kentucky and Dian (Tune) Lopez.  Once more we arrive in the dark, but have a wonderful visit with Dian, and her 2 daughters. Dian puts us up for the night.

Monday, March 5th
Our itinerary for today is to get to Columbus, Ohio. We are headed to visit a dear Facebook friend. We are taking her a CD by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  It turns out that she is sick, but we make it a very short visit. Judy, you are the best. We spend the night here.

Tuesday, March 6th
We head to Kirtland, Ohio. We are anxious to see the temple grounds and the LDS Church visitor sites. One of the couple's we met in the MTC is here and we hope to say hi.  We miss the Riches's but enjoy so very much our time in Kirtland. The Temple is not our Church's right now but you can feel the spirit of the area, all the sacrifices that were made to build the first modern day temple. Then we head to Erie, Pennsylvania to see Craig's last uncle- Uncle Don Polyagi. He is very sick and suffering from lung cancer. We have been praying to get to see him once more. When he sees us enter his room at the care facility he is at, he is visibly moved and cries. He can't believe that we would travel all this way to see him. We meet one of his sisters, and some of his nieces- wonderful folks.  Our visit was meant to be very short, but Don seems to need us there, so we spend over 6 hours there with him. He is visibly shaken after a meeting with a hospice company that his sisters have found. He doesn't trust this company and is very upset.  As we visit with him we mention that Craig hold's the priesthood and that he is able to give him a blessing if he desires. He agrees. The blessing given promises peace and love.
When night falls we finally leave for our hotel. We leave Uncle Don with heavy, grateful hearts and we know that he is in God's hands.

Wednesday, March 7th
We head for Afton, New York to visit Phil's parents, the Gregory's. We had planned to spend the night there, but that feel through. They have a lovely house and we enjoy our visit. Then we head back into Pennsylvania for lunch at Wilkes-Barre with Betty Jean Hastings. What a woman, we love her immediately. She is a distant cousin, and has helped Craig alot with his genealogy. We eat a really nice Chinese Buffet, the food was delicious and the washbi was hot!  We had fun taking pictures with her, and even recruited a strange to help with the pictures. She is alone in life, and we wish we were closer in distance.  We now head for Saratoga Springs, NY and for David and Teresa Swick's. They are also cousins of Craigs. But we have visited here a couple times. They live in a lovely community. They even have a couple of horses now. Craig and I pay them, the horses,  a visit on Thursday and feed them some carrots. Teresa cooks a delicious lasagna that we enjoy that night first night.

Thursday- March 8th
 A quiet relaxing day.

Friday- March 9th
 Another quiet day with some genealogy time also. We help David with his computer running some scans to help it become faster.

Saturday, March 10th


We bid farewell and head for Burlington, Vermont. We have a short stop in Moriah Center, New York.
We visit Barbara Urban, another distant cousin that has helped Craig with genealogy.  After a short visit and some pictures we head for Burlington again. Once in town the first stop is at Dakin Farm for some maple sugar candy and some of the wonderful Vermont Cheddar and Smoked Cob cheeses. We are staying with President Fife. His wife is in Florida taking a special class.  We learn about eating vegan and Craig and President Fife talk about their time in the then Burlington Branch now a ward.

Sunday- March 11th
Eating at Al's is not eating vegan, but its ohh so tasty. We go there several times during our time in Burlington. We go to church here. The ward has really changed but still a few old-timers that remember Craig.  Turns out the he is the first member to join the church there and then serve as a full-time missionary from there also. So he is quite the celebrity.

Monday-March 12th
It's time to visit cemeteries. I will put flowers on his parents graves today, something I have wanted to do for so very many years. With the directions we have been given we really do find his parents headstone. It requires some clean up, which we gladly do, then we go in search of flowers, and later that day we put flowers on their headstone. Some of the Edwards' are buried in the  Greenmount or Ethan Allen Cemetry. Here we find markers that are overgrown and need care. We spent some time looking for Craig's great grandparents- Henry Richardson Edwards and Asenath Wetherell Edwards. We wander around for 15-30 minutes. I finally feel prompted to stop beside a grave marker that is totally covered in moss. With a little work we soon realize that this is the lost marker. We are ecstatic!
We spend time cleaning markers and getting pictures and feel so good when the job is done.
In the afternoon we go to visit Wilbur and Edie Clark. We have a wonderful visit and catch up on each other's families. Craig and Wilbur worked together at IBM. Then we go pay a visit with Lyle Remmick. He and Craig were in school together. His wife has passed away and he is in the process of moving out of his house into a senior housing facility and we are so grateful that we touch base with him.

Tuesday, March 13th-
 We head for Randolph, Vermont to visit Craig's cousin Al Daubenschmidt. He is all grown up and run's an Italian Pizza etc restraurant. We have lunch there and the food is wonderful. They are suprised and happy to see us after such a long time. Al's wife, Lisa, is the cook and a terrific one at that.  Going too and from their restraurant we see evidence of the immense flooding that Vermont experienced last year.  After lunch we head for Stockbridge to visit Barbara Green another distant relative for Craig. Her house is wonderful and she has a gorgeous large white poodle. Our visit is short but we are glad to see her.

Wednesday, March 14th
 We bid a farewell to Burlington and President Fife- he is so wonderful and was such a gracious host to us.  We head to Concord, New Hampshire. Juanita Martin and her mother Virginia are here. We have a short visit with these sweet ladies. Virginia was so leary to let us take her picture, she had falling recently and her face was black and blue. Juanita helped Craig with some of his genealogy also.  Sure wish we had had more time, they really need help taking care of the state of their trailer, I hope they get it.

Thursday, March 15th
Today finds us at the Boston Temple. Its so beautiful, its steeple is unlike any we have seen on a temple. We are able to go in and do a session, the celestial room is so beautiful and one we will always remember.  We visit with the temple President and his Matron, and tell them how we had gotten a phone call to come there, but that we had already accepted the call to Halifax.  They want to kidnap us, heheheheh. We are staying with Joany's son Kenny. What a wonderful person.  He takes us out on some sightseeing. We are interested in the John Adams plantation, and interestingly enough we find out that back in Salt Lake our granddaughter Mallory was doing a report on  President John Adam's wife Abigail. They are happy to get the pictures we took. That night, Kenny and Kristi, his sister, take us out to a fabulous Chinese Restraunt. They have such a big selection its hard to choose, but it was all delicious and a wonderful evening.

Friday, March 16th
We hug Kenny and thank him for letting us stay and we head for Bangor, Maine. We spend the night here and Craig's cousins  Bonnie and Dave Dunaway meet us at the hotel and then take us out to Captain Nicks for a fish dinner. The Lobster stew was wonderful and the whole meal great. They have several grandchildren with them and we enjoy them so very much. Our journey is almost over, its been long but so full of wonderful memories- so very worth all the hours of car travel.

Saturday, March 17th
Top of the morning, its St Patrick's Day!  We leave Bangor, Maine and head for the Canadian border. We get to the border crossing by about 10:30 am. We spend an hour or more waiting to see an immigration officer about getting our Visas. By the time we finally get the needed documentation and cross over, it is about 1:00 pm (we cross a time zone again also). Our cell phones are not working throughout our drive in New Brunswick we have no contact with family or with mission folks. Finally we cross into Nova Scotia. At one point, Craig looks at me and says, " Someone is praying for us! I can feel it, they are praying for our safe arrival.  Within a very short time we get cell phone coverage again. First call is to President and Sister Robinson to let them know where we are. They are going to feed us dinner so we go to their place first.  They are so very happy to see us and are such wonderful people.  We are able to contact all most all of the children and let them know that we have arrived safely.  Dinner is a mashed potato casserole with scallops Craig is in heaven!!! After dinner they lead us by car to the apartment and to meet Elder and Sister Bauer. We will share the apartment for the next 2 weeks and they train us in our new job duties. We are so tired and ready for bed. Trip is over, but the adventure has just begun.