We made it to the Finger Lakes region and the local KOA. With a view of the putt-putt golf course and a family of Mormon tent campers beside us, we decided to spend as little time as possible at the campsite. We took the bike down and started to explore the Finger Lakes region. It was remarkably beautiful countryside- long, narrow lakes dotted with antique stores, quaint towns and wineries. It was also perfect motorcycle riding country. We did a wine tasting at Bully Hill Wineries (the story is that the Taylor family sold their winery to Coca Cola and with the sale, they lost the ability to use their name on any of their own wine. So their motto is: They can take my name, but they can’t get my goat.We did a bit of exploring in Rochester. It was interesting to see Rochester as a tourist rather than as the dreadful location of yet another business meeting. We found a bunch of great ethnic/funky restaurants and some charming old neighborhoods. We had a wonderful dinner at a Thai restaurant (Esan on Park Avenue) and met my old co-worker, Ann and her husband,Buddy for a dinner in an Italian dive. And, we fell in love with Canaudaugua-beautiful old Victorian houses and a quaint little downtown area.
As we were reading about the area, we discovered that Palmyra, NY was the home of Joseph Smith- of LDS Church fame. We both knew a bit about the "Church of the Latter Day Saints" aka Mormons- but visiting this place was a real eye-opener. We started at the Visitor Center in Palmyra, NY . We were greeted by "Sister Martin" who appeared to be lobotomized (a bit like the movie, "The Stepford Wives"?). She brought us into this large room with a 12 foot statue of Jesus and told us that we were going to hear "our Savior talk to us". After hearing Jesus talk, we were swept into a room for a movie about Joseph Smith, the founder of the religion. Evidently, one of their fat cats came from Disney and he created a Hollywood quality movie (and interactive display) to tell the story. After the movie, Sister Martin gave us her personal testimony that she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he talked to God and Jesus and received the "Book of Mormon" at the "Hill of Cumorah". Here's the Cliff Notes on the story: Joseph was a troubled young boy- concerned with all the divisions of the church back in the early 1800's- so he asked God for guidance. God and Jesus appeared to him to tell him that he should start a new religion- restoring Christianity to the true church. To get him started, an angel called Moroni appeared to him and told him where to find the buried "gold books". Joe found the books and translated them- telling the story of 'his people" (more on them later). With this story of the restored church and the "Book of Mormon" (a companion to the Bible), he started preaching to the folks in NY- who promptly ran him out of town. They beat him up and ran him out of every town he tried to settle. Somewhere between New York and Salt Lake City, Utah, Joe lost the gold books, but was able to start the Church of the Latter Day Saints.Well, this story was just too strange...so we decided to explore a bit more. We found a bookstore where John promptly bought a board game for us to play in the motorhome- "Mormon-opoly". The object of the game is to build as many churches as possible in order to build the Kingdom of God. Instead of "Go to Jail", you have "Go to Spiritual Darkness". "Home" is now called "In the Beginning" and the cards say things like, "You are building the Kingdom of God. Collect $50 from each player".
Then, we hit the motherlode: we were there at the once a year "Hill of Cumorah" pageant/play. With a cast of over 700 volunteers all in full costume, they stage an outdoor 90 minute play telling the story of the Book of Mormon. The basic story- this tribe of Israel was told by God to build an ark and sail to America and lead a dutiful, God-fearing life (a modified Moses/Noah story). So, back in the time 400 BC (long before Columbus or the Vikings), these folks sailed over from Jerusalem to America and built their society (No mention of American Indians who were already here, but then we always ignore the Indians). After Jesus was crucified, he 
made a cameo appearance in upstate New York to tell them to keep up the good work. They wrote the story of their people on gold plates and buried them. About 400 AD, they had split into two warring tribes and killed each other off- leaving absolutely nothing behind (except the gold books, which, of course, Joe lost). Now, if the story isn't strange enough, they've done this pageant with huge special effects- volcanoes, earthquakes, Jesus descending on a wire from 30 feet in the air, a huge Hollywood 10 level stage. And, before the show, you are personally visited by one of the 700 actors to talk to you about, guess what, the Mormon Church. John called it "trolling for souls". They were relentless. Sign-up cards for a personal visit, referral cards for your friends. We were able to snag a “Book of Mormon”. Being gypsies came in handy when they try to pin you down for that “at home visit” with a missionary. What we can't figure out is that this strange church has some very successful followers (the president/founder of Marriott Corporation, the Osmonds...)
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