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We are loving our time in NYC, when I left off last, we were leaving Goveror's Island.....
After we got off the ferry, we decided to go to Greenwich Village.
I am amazed at how each part of NY, has it's own vibe, treasures and parks to enjoy. We walked all around before settling in at Washington Square Park to do some people watching. That place is like a circus with all it's performers! WOW! Well, this people watching, turned You Tube video making! First, watch this slideshow. See all those photos of the kids and Natalia walking by a video crew? I'll explain in a sec.
So we were watching this dancer, and Destiny said mom, she reminds me of something I was watching on Instagram. Here let me show you, this photographer is amazing.
So she gets out her Instagram and shows me this Insta famous photographer named Jordan Matter, who is known for his 10 minute shoots. So we watch a few of his AMAZING stuff and put phones away and keep chatting. Suddenly, Destiny GASPS.... THERE HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Seriously, what are the odds that we were just talking about the man behind the camera, and here he is beside us in the park.
NUTSO! After a while, he came over to us and asked if we wanted to be part of his You Tube shoot. Um, YEAH. 
So this heartfelt shoot is all about Evan Ruggerio, dancer and cancer survivor, now living and dancing with one leg. He was offering free tap lessons for this shoot, so we all hopped out there to help.
It was a blast! Destiny went first....and then was interviewed by the local news.
Then Avery.....
If you want to see the girl's tap lesson video, it's on the vimeo channel: www.vimeo.com/rvoilers.
Here is their free style video:
Tylan decided they needed a boy out there, so he volunteered. When we found out they had a men's size 14 tap shoe, you better believe I bee-lined it for Dale!
If you want to see Tylan and Dale's tap dance lesson video, go to www.vimeo.com/rvoilers
Here is there free styles, CRACK ME UP! The crowd went wild!
In the end, Paxton and I watched, because so many other people wanted a chance to dance, but it was SO AMAZING to see so many Ferguson's and Miss Natalia out there!
I will blog the you tube video when it comes out, so you can see the final product. All that dancing had everyone starving, so Natalia wanted us to taste something fun called Pommes Frites...aka fries with cool tipping sauces.
We are walking over 20k steps everyday and it makes us STARVING at weird hours, and sleepy. So after we ate fries and NY pizza, because hello?! What else do you eat at 10pm, we knew we needed to get to bed!
Good night, everyone. See you again tomorrow for our LAST DAY in the Big Apple! This was a day that memories are made of. :)
Hugs, T P.S. Since I blogged this, Jordan has posted his You Tube video. I have posted it below! Can you spot all 6 Ferguson's?
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Day 2: We are getting better at this whole subway thing.  Did you know you can only swipe your Metro card 4 times? Yup, we had to have 2 cards so the other 2 people could get through. Oh buddy, that tooth has GOT TO GO in a New York minute! Dale says if he gets it out in the next few hours, he can get a special treat.  Sweet Natalia took some days off work to show us around, and has been the most excellent host and city guide! Today, she sent us on ahead to the 9/11 memorial site and the ferry over to Governer's Island. She was running all over town, gathering her favorite NY treats for our picnic lunch there! HOW THOUGHTFUL!!!! 
 The memorial is so beautiful, and our emotions were overwhelming. I was physically ill when we left, just taking it all in and feeling the extreme loss of life. The waves in which it the tragedy happened, people on board gone in an instant, people in offices losing their lives, jumping to their deaths? Rescue workers lost as they tried to save others, their oxygen tanks beeping haungtingly in the wreckage, it's just heart wrenching. Seeing all those names? The squares were massive towering buildings once stood, people bustling in and out, going about their days. Wow.  Slideshow:  St Paul's Chapel, and Trinity Church played a major role after 9/11, and usually they have the church open for you to walk through and see some displays, but it was under construction. We still went in the chapel and enjoyed the courtyard and cemetery paths. Look whose tooth is OUT! He picked a chocolate milk tea from the street cart. Destiny, of course, picked out a Bubble Tea. Avery and Ty wanted a hot dog to share, because they were starving and were going to pass out if we didn't. Riiiight.
Time to make our ferry over to Governor's Island to explore...   Governors Island is a 172-acre island in New York Harbor. Governors Island’s fortifications were an integral part of the former harbor defense system of New York, dating back to the War of 1812. Today, the National Monument offers visitors an important look at the area’s military history and impressive period architecture, as well as incredible views of the New York skyline. From 1776-1996, Governors Island stood as a silent sentinel in New York Harbor, and provided protection of the ideals represented by the Statue of Liberty across the bay. Castle Williams was built between 1807 -1811. Construction of the walls and gate of the existing Fort Jay were completed in 1808 to replace a series of earthen forts built in 1776 and 1794. Castle Williams was designed and erected under Colonel Jonathan Williams, Chief Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the first Superintendent of West Point. Considered by some the Alcatraz of the East Coast, Castle Williams served as a prison for Confederate soldiers from 1862 – 1866. The U.S. Army ceased operations there in 1966 and turned the island over to the Coast Guard, which closed its facilities on the island in 1997. In 2003, the federal government returned Governors Island to New York State and City. GIPEC now owns 150 acres of the island and the other 22 acres are administered by NPS. The City’s first project includes creating a 72 to 87 acre mega-park along the southwestern end of the island, giving the public the most direct view by land of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor.  The boat ride over was short and sweet, but what a great way to get around! Once you are on the island, there are restaurants, a bar, a walking path that takes you around the island, and some big hills to explore. We followed the path over to the big round building that acted as the jail for a while.      We wandered around in awe of the old beautiful dorms, and homes with wide front porches that all sit empty, barring a few art gallery exhibits. Sad that people can't come restore them and make them a home again! Once we crossed under the arched building, we were in the newest developed part of the island with playground, hammocks, walking paths, a huge observation hill and more. Really neat! Slideshow: What a great place to see Lady Liberty from. And the kids thought the slide section of the playground was SO COOL! They have the biggest slide in NY there, at 57 feet! Everyone but daddy had a turn.   Slideshow:  Natalia called and said she was on the island and ready to meet us for our picnic lunch!  She brought the most AMAZING things! This sandwich is called a banh mi. Oh my heavens! It's sweet, it's smoky. It has fresh flavors of cilantro and cucumber and carrot. The bread is perfectly chewy! Drooling.  The bagel like thing is called a bialy. It has more of a bread texture then bagel, and is very soft. They cram it full of an everything cream cheese and it is FOODIE PARADISE!
And a crazy, cool treat: Pickled Pineapple! Tasted like cinnamon red hots in pineapple with some cayenne pepper heat after. So good and so good for you to eat fermented like this!  Pickled Mango! Tasted just like fresh homemade applesauce, except mangos. Not mushed up. Anyhow, it was lovely!  We wandered around some more after lunch, even finding an old abandaned movie theatre and a gorgeous church All of a sudden we realized what time it was, there were only 2 ferries left for the day. We barely made it to the 5 ferry and even though we ran like Home Alone movies, and still, they were shutting gate. We JUST made it and they were nice and let us in. The people behind us weren't so lucky.....they have to wait an hour for the 6pm ferry, last of the day. Day 2 in the city isn't near done yet, but this blog is FULL and it's starting to act up on me. So alas, this post is to be continued another day....... The city that never sleeps has SO much to offer! Come hang out and read some more next post. Hugs, T 
We woke up with nervous anticipation for the BIG city we were about to tackle for the first time.
NEW YORK CITY! Here goes nothing... Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore! 
Made it in to RV park without much hassel.
Phew! But getting in was a WHOLE NOTHER STORY. This RV park is in NJ, and on the harbor. It's basically a parking lot. We have to go around the back to park the encolsed trailer since there are no pull through spots big enough for our rig. We head down and there is this SUPER DUPER tight, sharp left turn, like 90 degrees with a truck on one side, a concrete hill in front of us with a telephone pole and a RV to the right of us. Dale slips past with 3 inches to spare on either side after some backing up and changing trailer angle. The RV owner came out to help AND make sure his mirror didn't PING off! ;) I don't know how he does it, but praise Jesus, HE is the driver not me. 
We walked the 5 blocks to the train and took our first subway ride ever, and then off to the big city to meet our friend and business partner, Natalia, the NY dancer!
The concentrated amount of people when we first made it out of the subway scared us a bit, like oh no, is this going to be how it is the whole time? We did the 2 x 2 x 2 buddy system and pushed through, literally. Politely. ;)
Natalia had us wait in Bryant Park while she took the subway to meet us and show us around the city sites.
She's here! It's off to see the library and the Ghost Buster Lions.....
Slideshow:
Natalia took us all over the city, hitting the highlight real! Off with a BANG!
Rockefeller Center, Lego store, American Girl Doll Store Slideshow:
We went in and out of some of the most BEAUTIFUL churches!!!!
We also went by Tiffany & Co, Trump Tower, and the Home Alone hotel! 
Slideshow:
We were STARVING by this point, so Natalia took us down into a subway that was full of shops and restaurants so we could try the infamous Chick N Cone, and of course we had to stop for our newest obsession, BUBBLE TEA!
OH MY WORD, sweet waffle cone with savory chicken was DIVINE! Get the mustard BBQ, it's for sure the best!
Re-fueled and back into the city!
Central park is HUGE! LIke way bigger than you will ever believe from Home Alone and Elf. Bahahaha! I am serious though!
The kids played on the rocks, the swings and Natalia took us all on the oldest Carousel in NY....
So, Broadway is sorta a big deal in the Big Apple. So we knew we needed to see a show, but woah was the cost high.
How big of a deal? Like new shows going for $500 a ticket a big deal! Like Lion King 20 years later, still $200 for the super duper, nose bleed, cheap tickets. There is something called a Ticket Lottery you can play every day, unfortunately we didn't win any of them, BUT, Natalia took us down to Broadway, and we went from theatre to theatre, enquiring about their last minute tickets. ROCK STAR friend right there! Thank you Jesus, one of the main ones we wanted to see, had availability in the nose bleed section. The more Natalia talked about her friends coming to visit and living on the road in the RV, the nicer the guy got, and the better the seats we were able to access for the same price. We got to see FROZEN!!! YAY! :) In the end, we got amazing seats to the left and right of the theatre, Dale and Pax on one side, Destiny, Ty, Avery and I on the other. We couldn't see the very very edge of the right side of the stage, but wow, it was amazing! 
I had NO idea they used such amazing special effects in these gigs. WOW! I mean it was phenomenal. I had chills and sweetie Dale even got teary during one of the big songs. (shh, he doesn't want you to know that part) Outfit changes, sparkling diamonds dripping from the stage and everything frozen like crackling ice, it was SO WELL DONE!
At this point, my phone died, total rookie mistake! Noooooooo. It does NOT feel safe to be in a strange place with no way to call if we get seperated or lost. I will be packing a battery charger tomorrow! We walked over 25,000 steps today, so as soon as we got home it was time for some doTERRA deep blue lotion for our feet, deep blue pills so we can walk tomorrow, and serenity pills for deep, restorative sleep! More tomorrow, I can't wait!! Eeeek! Hugs, T 
Travel days are usually enjoyable and relaxing, with everyone quietly playing, reading or sleeping as we go. Some travel days are just, well, LONG and BORING! Especially when we get a late start. That happened to be the case as we were heading from Virgina to upstate New York. The RV was stuffy, and the AC units were struggling to keep up in the extreme heat. So, when we started to pass signs for the Hershey Chocolate factory, I looked over to Dale and nodded my head towards the exit. He smiled and a plan was formed. We came to the Hershey's factory last Mother's Day, on our first ever RV trip...we loved their free little Chocolate World ride, and decided that would do the trick to break up a long day. The kids were SO excited to have a break from the road and at such a happy place no less.....  After riding the cute free ride, we went shopping for CHOCOLATE. But alas, after seeing the hour long line snaking around the store to check out, we bailed on our plan. I am not kidding you, peoples carts were OVERFLOWING with candy and chocolate. This was supposed to be a 30 minute break, not an hour long one. Plan B was to go to the Hershey food court and hit up the Bakery. Turns out, that was a smart choice, and one we will do again. Mmm! Fresh chocolate cream filled cookies, iced cocoas and so much more. Each person picked a buddy to share their treat with. See those smiles? Ahh, chocolate makes everything better on travel day.  We hit the road again, and drove until it was almost dark. Once we realized we weren't going to make our destination in time, we pulled over for dinner and hit up a pizza joint we were still talking about from last year....Tedeschi's Pizza in Hallstead, PA. We got another photo like last years, so we could do a side by side comparison of how everyone has changed! :) Pizza hasn't changed a bit, still GIANT, and still delicious! This puppy costs $12 base price. WOW. Go. Eat. Thank me later.   We found a Lowe's to park in for the night, and planned on attending church the next morning with our friends the Vissers. Kristina and I met on the 4 little Ferguson's blog and have been friends ever since. I just had no idea I'd be seeing her several times a year, and our kids and husbands, would grow so close. What a blessing! She is one of the leaders in our doTERRA team now, so we have lots of excuses to go see them. Here is the photo we took of them as we left last year! Aren't they wonderful!? We have a growing, thriving team in their neck of the woods, so we were coming to do some Business Bootcamp trainings for them. We adore helping people grow in their oil knowledge and move towards financial freedom too!!!! Great things are happening in NY! :)  Ray and Kristina always have SUCH fun things for us to do when we come, and this time was no exception!!! First up, a lakeside BBQ, bonfire and fireworks show.... 
   The beauty of New York always takes my breath away, and its so nice and rural too. People imagine it ALL WRONG! We ended the night with fireworks and S'mores! The next day was a scorcher, even for them, so we decided to hit what they call "The Falls." We took a truck and one of those off road Rangers and headed down to the river. We packed up a ton of food, as several of the Visser extended family were joining us, and headed down. We packed cast iron pie irons for Pie Iron Pizza for an easy lunch by the water. I love those things! We use them all the time when we camp for breakfast, grilled stuffed burritos, even dessert. You can use crescents, pie filling and powered sugar and make one heck of a funnel cake like dessert. We only had 6 pie irons, so we got right to work getting them on the fire right away...  There is no sound I love more, then the sound of running water. I have already put in my request to the Father, to be privileged to own such a property someday! What a dream! We just sat with our chairs down in the water and relaxed. The kids had a ball splashing around in the water. Adults too! :) 
  Before we knew it, our days in NY were over. We ate together tail gate style before heading to the final bootcamp, and pulled out the next morning to head to our next stop on East Coast summer: MAINE! I have been waiting for YEARS to go to Maine, like 17 years!   Bye, Visser crew! Bye, awesome NY Edition DoTERRA Dorothy team! Thanks for being amazing hosts. See you next time.... So one of the trickiest things we found about the East coast so far, is the LOW BRIDGES. We found this out quickly as we headed into town to get a new rv tire before we got on the road, and found a bridge that was low clearance. We couldn't go under it. We couldn't go around it. SO what could we do but back up? That seemed simple enough except all the traffic backed up behind us didn't get the memo. Thank the Lord for some nice city workers that came by and blocked traffic with their truck and directed traffic until we could have room to back up.  Phew! This east coast stuff is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure!
Hugs, T |
Tonya Ferguson
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