New York, NY Days 1 & 2

I have wanted to go to New York ever since I was a freshman in high school. More specifically, being the theater nerd I am, I wanted to watch a Broadway play in New York. This dream of going to New York and my wish of watching a play on Broadway have lasted for 30 years...until this year when they FINALLY came true! 

The Salmon High School Music Department goes on a major music tour once every four years. 8 years ago, I went to Seattle when Ammon played with the band. 4 years ago, they went to Los Angeles & Disneyland, but the twins were in 8th grade at West J, so none of us went that year. And this year, the music group went to New York! Last year, when the destination was announced, I immediately told Mr. A that I wanted to be a chaperone. Thankfully, both Jonah and Micah were in choir this year, so they both got to go. Kanyon was also in band, but he opted to not go (it was rather expensive, and they had to do fundraising and he wasn't interested in A. being in New York and B. raising and spending money to go there). Jonah, Micah, and I all worked on fundraising efforts, and we also made payments all year. It was a sacrifice at times, but well worth it! I committed $500 to each of the boys, and they each raised about $500, so they only had to pay out of pocket another $500 each. All of my fundraising (volunteering for events) applied to their fundraising accounts as well, so I was responsible for my own account entirely. I was so grateful to be able to make payments to afford it. It was awesome to have it all paid off before we even went!

Salmon has Spring Break the last full week of March, and our trip started the Wednesday night before Spring Break and ended on Sunday night. We were gone 4 days (2 days travel and 2 days there), but the students only missed one day of school, and I only had to take a day and half off work, which I was grateful for. Although we didn't leave until late on Wednesday night, I took Wednesday afternoon off because I needed to get a COVID test taken before we could board the airlines (our travel company required it). I was the last person to take the test, and luckily I passed! Our group of 56 included 38 students and 18 chaperones (the most adults I've ever had on a high school trip before). It was such an amazing trip! In fact, it was my favorite trip I've chaperoned yet, and I'm SO glad I had the opportunity to go! I'm going to document it in two different blog posts; with a 100 photos on each to summarize my incredible trip.

DAY 1

We all met at 11:30pm on Wednesday, March 23rd at the high school parking lot, and a charter bus drove us from there to the Salt Lake airport. We left Salmon at midnight (of now Thursday the 24th) and drove through the night. Sadly, hardly anyone was able to sleep on the bus ride, because of the poor driving skills of our driver: he drove on the shoulder, he randomly swerved in between lanes, he jerked the bus to take exits, and we almost collided with other vehicles several times. It was very scary! I, however, had taken steps prior to our departure so that I could sleep on the bus: I had soaked in the hot tub, drank nighttime tea, and took 2 ibuprofen PM--so I actually did sleep on and off the whole bus ride; I would just get momentarily awakened whenever the driver swerved or jerked the wheel. Once, when I was momentarily awakened, I saw that we were driving off the road and I loudly swore and instead of getting back onto the road, the driver turned around to see what I had sworn about! Crazy stuff! 

Most of the chaperones were sitting in the front
of the bus on this portion of the trip, and could
see all the swerving and shoulder-driving. The 
students at the back felt all the jerking and the
constant vibration from driving on the rumble strip.

We had a pitstop at a truck stop in McCammon in
the middle of the night, which I slept right through.
This photo was time-stamped at 3:30am, & I
have no idea who took it using the camera on my
phone, but they did while we were stopped there.

We were all very glad to be alive when we arrived in Salt Lake the next morning at 6am. Our flight from Salt Lake to New York didn't leave until 10:30, so we had about 4 hours in the airport. After making it through security, and eating breakfast, several members of the group were finally able to take a much-needed nap. Micah, me, and Mr. A were the last ones to go past security because Micah accidentally left his wallet with his I.D. at home--except at the time, he had no idea he'd left it home. Because he's now 18, he's required to travel with I.D. Although I asked both boys before we left if they had their I.D.'s, and they both said yes, he still inadvertently left it. He was detained going through security since he didn't have it on him. Mr. A and I sent everyone else to the gate, and we waited by security for over a half hour while Micah was stuck there (so it was a good thing we had extra time before our flight!). I called the bus driver who checked the bus for his wallet, I called my father-in-law to check the contents of my car (which was parked in the high school parking lot near his work), and I called home to have Kanyon check Micah's room. All 3 calls ended with nothing found. I thought maybe he left it at the truck stop, but he said that he hadn't bought anything there. Security officers talked to me--they needed physical proof that he was my son, but nothing on my phone would count, and since we were 6 hours from home, that was impossible to produce paperwork that morning. So instead, Micah had to go through a whole interview process with security officers in a room, and they had to call a number to verify who he was, and he was finally able to make it through. While I waited with Mr. A, I was making back-up plans to have my sister pick him up and take him to my mom's for the weekend, just in case he couldn't join us--which would've been SO sad, because he'd have to miss his hard-earned trip and we couldn't get any refunds for his portion at that point. I was beyond grateful that he was able to join us, but there were still foreseeable problems in the future: his vaccination card was in his wallet and we had to show those at Broadway plays to get in, and we didn't have the extra time at the airport before our return flight and he'd have to go through the same time-consuming process again which meant he might miss the flight home. He had no idea where his wallet was, but it was important that we didn't give up the search for it. Josh was still driving bus at that time, but I texted him and told him to call me as soon as he was done, which he did. I told him about the whole situation, and he drove home right away, and searched all of Micah's room. He finally found the wallet in the pocket of the pants Micah had worn the previous day. He took the wallet into town, and paid to have it overnight Fed-Ex'd to our hotel in New Jersey. What a relief! 

While we waited, some of us played a game I'd brought called "Not Parent Approved". It was so much fun, and Frances and I were laughing SO hard! After the game, everybody rested before we had to load the plane. I dressed for comfort, since we were basically traveling all night and all day--I've never looked more ridiculous traveling, but I've also never been more comfortable! I wore my fleece hooded-nightshirt, stretch pants, and socks with slip-on sandals.

Gina and I were roommates on this trip

The room I was in charge of chaperoning was these 4:
Jonah, Nathan, Erik, and Micah. They were a great group!

We were assigned seats alphabetically by last name, so Jonah and Micah sat by their cousin Annika. However, they originally only reserved a block of 50 on the flight--but there were 53 flying together (the 3 Zenders had made their own flight plans and didn't fly with the group), so they put 50 on one flight, and 3 on a separate flight. Apparently, me and the 2 Turners were the last 3 alphabetically and would've flown separately, but the travel agent was able to squeeze us on the same flight as everyone else, but we were way in the back and separate from the rest of the group who all sat together in the middle of the plane. I sat next to a lady who was delivering a puppy to their new owners, and the puppy was in a tiny bag tucked under the seat by her feet, which was so interesting. We had a direct flight, which was nice, and I dozed off and on in between watching some movies. Overall, it was a decent flight!

Overlooking part of the Great Salt Lake

The Salt Lake valley by the Rocky Mountains

Such an extreme change in the terrain!

Farm fields look so cool from above!

We arrived at Newark around 4:30pm. Several people had checked luggage and instruments, so we had to go to baggage claim and wait for them to arrive, then we got on another charter bus and headed to our hotel in Teaneck, New Jersey. We got everyone checked into their rooms, and pizza was ordered for the whole group. Because there were some large groups meeting in the convention rooms downstairs, and our group's rooms were spread across the 4th and 5th floor of the hotel, I offered to have the pizza delivered to mine & Gina's room as a communal gathering spot. It worked out great--and after all the kids were done eating, several of the lady chaperones stayed and we talked and laughed about the previous night's bus driving escapades, the music group, and mom stuff. It was so wonderful! It was one of my favorite memories from the trip!

DAY 2

Each morning, we met at the lobby downstairs right by the Starbucks shop inside the hotel. They had amazing Chai, and since I'm not a morning person, it always started the day off right for me! We received breakfast bags to go, and ate them on the bus each morning as we drove to New York. Our bus had the capacity for 54, but our group was 56, which we didn't realize we wouldn't fit until we all climbed on that morning. Our bus driver was WAY better than the one who picked us up in Salmon; he knew his way around New York, and did a great job. Thankfully, we were assigned the same bus and driver for our entire time in New York. He said we could get a bigger bus to accommodate everyone, but it wasn't as nice. We voted to just keep the bus we had--although it was 2 seats short, it was very nice. The people with the skinniest of butts usually paired up 3 to a seat for the next 2 days.

I was SO excited to get my first glimpses of New York as we approached it. Thankfully, John Logan and Frances Mueller had been there several times, and gave us lots of information about the buildings we saw and the districts we drove through. 

Our first stop was the 9/11 Memorial Museum. We walked around the area, and got to see the WTC Oculus & Transportation Hub, One World Trade Center, the two reflection pools at Ground Zero, and the Survival Tree before our tour of the Museum began. It was a beautiful day, and the sights were awe-inspiring and reflection-inducing. 

The Oculus & Transportation Hub is home to 12 Subway lines, is connected to all the buildings on the WTC campus, and has several retail stores inside. The incredible design of steel ribs reaching up and out is symbolic of a hand releasing a dove. A really cool fact is that it is aligned with the sun's solar angles every September 11. Every year on that date, from 8:46am (when the first tower was struck) until 10:28am (when the second tower collapsed), the central skylight (as seen below between the two rib sets) fits this alignment, and the Oculus floor is washed out with a beam of light. 

One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt WTC complex. It has the same name of the north tower that fell on 9/11. It is now the tallest building in NYC, USA, and North America. When it was built in 2012, it surpassed the height of the Empire State Building: the previous-tallest building in New York. A large spire was added to the top, making the building reach its height of 1,776 feet: the same number as the year the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed.

The two pools with waterfalls on all sides of them at Ground Zero are at the same locations that the Twin Towers once were. The memorial was completed in 2011: 10 years after the fatal day. Large bronze panels around the perimeter of the pools are engraved with the names of all 2,977 victims that died on 9/11. The memorial is titled "Reflecting Absence". It is such a peaceful, reflective memorial. One cool fact is that a single white rose is placed in the name of each victim's birthdate every year since 2013, and there is at least one birthday every single day of the year.

The North Tower site.

a close-up of the cascading water at the 
North Tower site

Do you see the white rose? It's that person's birthday.

The Survivor Tree is located on the Ground Zero complex between the North and South Towers reflection pools. It is a Callery pear tree that was discovered in October 2001 at Ground Zero with charred bark, burned and broken branches, and snapped roots. It still had leaves on it, though, and showed signs of life. It was transported to a nursery and was carefully tended to for several years before being transplanted back at the 9/11 Memorial site in 2010. Every spring, it blossoms--the only tree on the complex like it--and its presence shows its resilience to the events it suffered. It was just starting to bud out, so we were there a few weeks before it completely blossomed. The protection fence around it was covered in yellow and light blue ribbons to show support of Ukraine, who was currently under attack by Russia.  

There was a little vendor pop-up booth on the Ground Zero complex and I bought a few magnets for my fridge at home (it's covered in souvenir magnets from places we've traveled to). I was completely caught up in a mentally reflective zone that I didn't even notice Pat Reagan taking this picture of me! 

As I was walking around, I noticed a plane flying above in 
between two of the nearby high-rise buildings. I can't imagine
what it was like to witness the actual events of 9/11.

There's an Instagram page called "People of New York" where random people are photographed, and they tell their individual life story. When I was walking to the South Tower site (after purchasing my souvenir magnets), I caught John A standing by it, in a similarly reflective mood. The image instantly reminded me of a "People of New York" pose, so I instantly snapped one of him. 

The South Tower site

John A and I have chaperoned many music trips
together. I'm so glad to be friends with him.

We all gathered back together at the south entrance of the 9/11 Memorial Museum because we had tickets for a certain time to enter together--it was a separate entrance for groups, in order for us not to have stand in the line at the main entrance, which was nice.  

John Logan, Whitney Sapp, Frances Mueller, and myself

We went on our own self-guided tours of the museum. You enter above ground, and then head underground to the exact sites where the north and south towers once stood and the area in between. There are two large areas, and several exhibits downstairs. It was a very raw experience walking through it all. I spent some time in the Memorial Exhibition, where photos of all the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center were. The photos of all 2,983 victims covered 3 walls, and in the center was a small dark room where short video clips and photos of the victims were played on the wall screens as audio recordings of surviving members of their families told stories or recount experiences with them. It was very sobering. In the Historical Exhibition, there was a giant timeline spread out along the walls as you walk through with explanations and artifacts of the events that happened by the minute that fateful morning. Watching the videos and seeing the artifacts and photos took me right back in time to that day. None of the students in our group were born before 2001, so it was shocking for them to see so many artifacts from a day in time they'd heard so much about. In the current Temporary Exhibit, information about the terrorists and the hunt for Bin Ladin was on display. I learned so much that I hadn't known before. It was terrible to read about the plans that Al Qaida had made in advance to attack America. It was a solemn, somber experience for me going through all the exhibits, processing and re-processing the events of that day. I cried a lot as I reflected on the victims and their families and the survivors and what they went through. 

"The Last Column" was the last part of the WTC 
removed from the recovery site in May 2002. It was
from the South Tower. It is now placed in front of 
the slurry wall: a concrete retaining wall originally
built in the 1960's to hold back the water from the
 Hudson River as the WTC site was excavated. Even
after the towers collapsed, the slurry wall remained.

I was apparently the last one in our group to leave the museum.
I cried my thoughts and feelings to Frances as soon as I came out.

Group Photo at the 9/11 Memorial Museum

After we left the museum, we got on our bus and drove around the city, sight-seeing for a bit as chaperones Frances Mueller and John Logan shared with us their knowledge of buildings and history. It was fun to see more of the city than we thought we'd be able to. 

Check out that viewing platform jutted out from the skyscraper. 

The USS Intrepid museum--aboard the WWII ship.

The New York temple!

The building where John Lennon was shot.

The Met--the gargoyles along the roofline are so cool.

Central Park

Central Park carriage rides (behind the ehicles)

We stopped for lunch at the Rockefeller Center. There was a food court in the basement, but it was a bit of a maze to try and find it! We all grabbed some quick food, and headed across the street to the Radio City Music Hall for our guided tour that afternoon. It was one of my favorite experiences of the trip to New York. The theater is so grand (the largest indoor theatre in the world) and I once again cried--but this time the tears were from a place of sheer fulfillment. I was so grateful to finally make it to New York and see one of these iconic sights! Our tour guide was awesome and knew so much about the structure. I enjoyed the tour so much!  

The Rockefeller's iconic Skating Rink.

The Grand Foyer.
The original Art Deco style is beautiful!

The stage and surroundings were designed to replicate the Sun.
The gold stage curtain is the largest in the world.

Even the bathrooms were lavishly decorated!

Do you see the sun's rays spreading out from the stage?!
The great arch around the stage is 60 ft. high & 100 ft. wide.
There are no columns to obstruct the view, even from the balcony.

The office in the Roxy Suite didn't have corners!

Roxy's celerity guests signed the book in the Roxy Suite.

After our Radio City tour, we had some free time, and we split up into smaller groups to walk to Times Square. Our group stopped back by Rockefeller Center again, and we got some ice cream in the food court downstairs. I wish the Top of the Rock Observation Tower had been open, because I would've LOVED to see New York from a highrise building! It was my one wish from the trip that never got fulfilled.

One of the art murals on the ceiling as you
enter the Rockefeller Center. 

We walked a few blocks to Times Square. The smell of marijuana was SO thick in the air, but except for that, seeing all the lit-up billboards and characters roaming the streets delighted me. I loved all the sights and sounds, and tolerated the smells. We had some time before dinner reservations, so we spent about an hour walking up and down the streets and in and out of shops. I had so much fun walking around with the group of boys I was with. 

This is where the Ball drops on NYE.

Some of the boys were overjoyed to have
their pictures taken with these characters
(which cost them, of course). It was one of 
Garrett's favorite moments from the trip &
he recounted it repeatedly to the rest of our
group all night with a giant grin on his face!

We ate dinner at Bubba Gump's at Times Square. It was an awesome dinner venue; they'd reserved room for all of us, we had fun waiters, the food was good, and we were able to participate in a trivia contest, too. You could feel the energy in the air!

One of our fun waiters

I sat at a table with several of the other lady chaperones.
We had a hilarious time!

We sang happy birthday to John L, even though his
 birthday wasn't for 2 more weeks.

After dinner, we walked down 44th street toward the Majestic Theatre where our play reservations for the night were. We stopped at Junior's (where lots of people got dessert and ate it on the street) and a small Broadway souvenir shop before heading to the theater. Because you had to show your COVID vaccination card and I.D. to get in, and Micah still didn't have his (it was delivered that evening to our hotel in New Jersey, but we'd left the hotel that morning and hadn't been back since), we pulled the twin trick that John Logan (a chaperone who's also a twin) recommended: Jonah got in line, and after he was allowed in, I took his ID & vacc card and gave it to Micah who was still in line. It worked, and he was allowed in! Good thing they're identical! The Majestic is one of the largest theaters on Broadway. It was absolutely beautiful! Although the theater was large, the lobby was quite small, and we were all crammed in, trying to purchase our souvenir t-shirts and waiting for the theater to open. 

Zach shared his Junior's dessert with us ladies

We were seated as a group on the bottom level of theater towards the back. The balcony protruded out above us, partially blocking the view of the stage, which sucked, but the theater was a gorgeous venue for The Phantom of the Opera! The Phantom was the first professional play I ever watched, and I was SO excited to get to watch it again! I hadn't seen it in the theater since I was a teenager, when I saw it with my mom at the Capitol Theater in SLC. I sat in the back row of the theater with most of the lady chaperones I'd just sat at dinner with. It was SO enjoyable to watch it with people who loved it as much as I did! It was another of my favorite experiences of New York. The actor who played the Phantom was INCREDIBLE! I loved his voice SO much; even better than the original one from the Broadway soundtrack that I've listened to since I was a teenager.

We got back to our hotel in New Jersey around 11:30 that night. It had been such a long day. I stopped at the front desk, and had a fun chat with the hotel concierge. There were 2 other large groups at our hotel the weekend we were there. One of the groups was an adult fraternity of very handsome, well-dressed black men. Their group meetings were held in a room by where we met as a music group every morning before loading the bus, and every night they partied in the lounge by the front door where we came back. As a result, we saw them every morning when we gathered and every night when we returned. As I was waiting for the concierge's assistant to find Micah's delivery, I spoke with several of the guys and the concierge and had such a great time! Thankfully, the concierge's assistant was able to produce the mail and Micah's wallet! Yay! It was a great ending to our first full day in New York.