Day 11 - New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island

So we got lost this morning trying to get to the Statue of Liberty and GoogleMaps didn't help. Actually it helped us get a little more lost on the New Jersey turnpike. We ended up an extra hour in the car instead of the 15 minutes it could've taken us to get there. But we made it and it was terrific! We boarded the ferry in New Jersey and went to Ellis Island first. Beautiful place. The kids were really interested in the lists of names of all the people who came over. We found some of my ancestors names on the giant wall! It was so awesome!

Then we took the ferry to Liberty island, the kids picked up a packet for the Junior Ranger program and we set off to learn about Lady Liberty. The little tidbit that we all found interesting was that they ran out of funds for the base o the statue so Mr. Pulitzer (from the Pulitzer prize) started to raise funds and take donations. The donations amounts were mostly made of 25 and 50 cents and $1!! They made the goal needed just in time, as the statue arrived from France. Such an incredible story, everyone should know it.

We drove out of New Jersey, through New York and Connecticut and into Rhode Island where we are staying the night. Tomorrow we head to Maine, just in time for the wedding rehearsal & dinner...although we do hope to arrive earlier in the day.

September 11 Memorial on the New Jersey side, this was a very emotional spot to stand. Names of the people who were lost in the attacks line the walls.

My maternal family "The Pugh Family"

My paternal family "Rudolph Dahl and Valpuri Kyyhkynen Dahl"

New York City background

 The statues of liberty

 The kids taking their pledge to help conserve national parks