The Drive Home Via Nauvoo

We left Denver early Friday morning to head home.  But of course, heading home didn't actually mean heading home.  Sam planned our route home Via Winter Quarters and Nauvoo.  Don't bother looking at a map -- they definitely aren't "on the way" to Atlanta.  But Sam can make any place on the way.

Winter Quarters was a great place to stop and break up that first day of driving.  The Sister missionary who took us around the visitor center was very sweet and pretended like our kids behavior was normal.  The kids loved the interactive exhibits and learning about the pioneers trek from Nauvoo to Salt Lake, with their stop at Winter Quarters.

Good times.

After the Visitor's Center, we went outside and toured the cemetary and Temple grounds.

We spent that night in a very little town outside of Des Moines.

We woke up Saturday morning and drove to Carthage, IL.

The tour was nice.  I was here with my parents and brothers in 1995 but haven't been back since, and it was just like I remembered it.

Bennett really wanted a picture of him trying to keep the mob from coming into the room.  Cute.

Bennett wanted a picture of he and his brother by Joseph Smith and his brother.

So then Reagan insisted the girls take one together as well.

From Carthage we drove into Nauvoo.  It was a very overcast day, with rain threatening/falling off and on all day.  I had been so worried about it being a miserably hot and humid day, so this weather was actually very nice and much appreciated.  But we were a bit concerned that the pageant would be rained out that night, which would be a bummer since we only had one evening in Nauvoo to see it.

First stop in Nauvoo was the Joseph Smith Mansion house, which is still owned and operated by the RLDS.  We just walked around a bit and took some pictures.

Then we drove down Parley's Street to the spot where the saints crossed the Mississippi out of Nauvoo.

Cal was still asleep in the car, so the next thing we did was drop off Sam and the big kids at the Visitor's Center.  The inside is nice, but what they really loved was the garden full of statues.

They spent a great deal of time re-creating some of their favorite poses, which I remember doing when I came to Nauvoo with my family in 1995 as well.

Cal finally woke up, so we made our way to the Temple.  The Temple had not been re-built when we can here in the 90s.  It is so beautiful, and we loved walking around the grounds (inspite of the hecklers -- I seriously don't get some people).

After some time around the Temple, we headed back to tour a few of the houses and shops along the main drag of town.  We did the printing press, the brick shop, the school, and a few homes.

It was very rainy at this point.  This is the corner where the Henry Miller home would have been.

Inside the John Taylor home.  Cal did not stay behind the ropes as directed, so this was the last house we tried to tour!

That evening, before the Pageant, they had this neat old-fashioned carnival all set up.  We had so much fun participating in all the activities.

Campbell's face in this series of photos is priceless.

Initially she was having fun.

Till she realized she was in dead last.

Then she was heartbroken.

Ah, sweet little girl with a very competitive spirit.

Learning a jig.

Bennett loved pulling his siblings in the handcart.

Elle was determined to learn this rag/knot tying quilting.  I tried to learn too, and then I gave up.

The Pageant was getting started just as the sun was setting.  Such a beautiful backdrop for an outdoor play.

The kids did really well during the pageant and seemed to enjoy it.  I walked around quite a bit with Cal, but he stayed in his stroller the whole time and was pretty easily appeased with snacks.  Good boy.

Sunday morning we woke up in Quincey, IL where we had spent the night.  We made a quick stop at the site of the Lincoln-Douglass Debates.

And then drove on to Hannibal for a quick stop at the Mark Twain sites.  The heat and humidity were seriously stifling that morning, making me so grateful again for the weather we enjoyed in Nauvoo.  I HATE humidity.

Then it was back in the car on our way to Nashville.  Have I ever mentioned that our kids are amazing car travelers?

We crossed some neat bridges and rivers, 

and ended up in Cairo, IL at Fort Defiance, the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  Sam was very excited about this stop, and envisioned us picking up lunch in Cairo and then having a picnic on the banks of Fort Defiance.  But it turns out that Cairo, IL is absolutely the most run-down, crummiest town Sam has ever taken us to.  And Fort Defiance was in a state of total disrepair, covered in disgusting bugs and weeds and grafetti and broken glass.  So the picnic did not happen!

Sam still loved it, or so he had to pretend!

That night we stayed with Mina and her kids in their new home in Nashville which was so, so fun.  Monday morning Mina and I met up with Meredith in downtown Franklin for breakfast before Sam and I and the kids headed out to drive the rest of the way home.  

We pulled into our house around dinner time on Monday night, July 28th.  It was good to be home after having been gone for just short of 6 weeks.  So grateful we made it home safely from Utah/Colorado, and saw some wonderful things on our way home as a bonus!