Growing up ain't easy

Boy, am I tired! Today we focused on looking into housing, financial aid, and school for Melissa. And we did laundry, too! We drove by several apartments/houses that we saw advertisements for. One apartment seemed particularly appealing, so we have an appointment with the landlady tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day at the mall, shopping for clothes Melissa will need for her job this summer, as well looking for a dress for her for Liz's wedding. It's amazing how few dresses, blouses, etc. are available in red. Shopping is exhausting, but we managed.

For Family Home Evening, we asked Liz and Jacob to join us at the hotel pool. Then we went out for pizza. Very family kind of day. More to do tomorrow.

Weren't we just here?

Back in Rexburg tonight, in the same hotel we were in a few days ago. We went to church with Jeannine, then headed back on the highway from Provo to Rexburg. We'll spend the next couple of days helping Melissa gather information, make contacts, etc. for coming back to school here in the fall.

Since we spent the last few days driving in Utah, and since this is my blog, I get to take a moment to comment on how much I dislike Utah drivers. Now, there are bad drivers in every state, and lots of drivers all over do things that I dislike. But it just seems that Utah has the highest percentage of anywhere I know where: almost every driver I saw during a 1 hour period was on the phone, some even texting while driving 80 miles/hour; highway speed limits within the city are 65, and that's still not fast enough for most drivers; they tailgate like crazy, some to the point where I can't see the front of their car in my side view mirror -- while going 65 miles/hour; more than any other location I've seen, they are more likely to cut you off, to speed up when you put your turn signal on to pull into their lane in front of them; or to come up on your tail, speed up and pass you, pull in front of you, then slow down. Basically, the drivers in Utah just seem extra competitive, rude, and in a rush. To them, everyone else is just an obstacle.

For this, and other reasons, I don't mind visiting Utah, I just wouldn't want to live there. One of the other major reasons is the weird juxtaposition of good and bad. That is, there are so many good Mormons (and so many church buildings), but there are so many don't-care-anymore Mormons, but also a ton of people who go way out of their way to prove they're not a good Mormon or any other kind of Mormon. I remember when I was in college, I used to look forward to going back home to California, where there seemed to be a lot fewer people who smoked, and where there was no smoking in restaurants! At least now smoking is not prevalent in public spaces, but there's still plenty of it.

Then again, I may have a prejudice as seeing it as the headquarters of the Church and unfairly holding it to a higher moral standard. Except the driving. There's no excuse for that.

Graduation Day!

A momentous day today. Melissa graduated from high school! After Honduras, Wasatch Academy was such a blessing for her. She really got to shine. In fact, she received an award for being so coachable and with such a great spirit for her school. All the teachers and administrators we talked to just love her and her contributions. We really are proud of her! It was an emotional day for her. Excited about her accomplishments, ready to just be done and out of there, going to miss friends, uncertain about the future. We're just glad we could be there with her.

We got to Mt. Pleasant, Utah yesterday evening and had dinner with Melissa in the dining hall. Then we enjoyed fine arts performances. Liz and Jacob drove down from Rexburg and joined us there. Melissa excelled in 2 dance numbers. Then Liz got permission to stay with Melissa in her dorm room, and Jacob slept on the floor of our motel room.

Oh, yeah! I forgot to blog last night! I missed a day. Too much excitement late into the evening, I guess.

Today we enjoyed the baccalaureate and a brunch, followed by the graduation ceremony. They had a guest speaker from India, a scholar and inspirational speaker. For each student, they said how long they've been at the school, where they were from, where they will going after this, and a brief quote from an instructor. For Melissa, they insist on saying that she is from Honduras, but the principal didn't say "Tegucigalpa." I think he was afraid of mispronouncing it. Again, they said nice things about Melissa and her infectious enthusiasm.

After graduation, we drove to Provo and had dinner at Bombay House, an Indian restaurant, with Chris, Stacie, and Chelsea Gardner; Don, Jeannine, Hillary Whittaker (and Hillary's friend); Liz and Jacob; and our former-intern-in-Honduras friends, Joseph and Andrea. It was a great way to celebrate.

Now it's off to bed, so we can go to church with Jeannine in the morning, then drive to Rexburg again.

Fiberless West of the Rockies

We just don't get it. For days we have searched the major grocery stores and there are 2 things we just aren't finding: salad bars and bran muffins. Lots of fried chicken and double chocolate chip muffins. We figure there must be a lot of people out here without enough fiber in their... lives.

Today we drove from Rexburg to Salt Lake City, stopping off in Pocatello to search for bran muffins and to mistakenly buy lunch at a Chinese restaurant. No bran muffins, not even at Food 4 Less. And the Chinese food? Uhm... Corn starch and soy sauce surrounding canned vegetables and crispy noodles. Ugh.

The highlight of the day, though, was stopping to visit Paul and Janean Justham and their kids. Paul is one of my best friends from college, and we only get to see each other now and then. The kids are bigger... and there are more of them! We were so impressed with how intelligent and polite they were as we joined them for family dinner. Afterwards, we were treated to a mini-talent show. Luke, age 3, sang (actually sang the lyrics!) and danced to a Beatles CD. And Parker did his Thriller dance. It was loads of fun. Mary and I were like the aunt and uncle who came over to get the kids all fired up just before bedtime, then take off. We had a great time with a great family.

The Son-in-Law To Be

Today we are in Rexburg, Idaho. We had the wonderful opportunity to see our daughter Liz, and meet her fiancé Jacob and his family. In addition to spending a little time at Liz's apartment, we went over to Jacob's house and had dinner with his parents and sisters. It was a very enjoyable evening with a wonderful family. I see how much Jacob and Liz are good for each other, and I'm happy for their choices to get to this point.

No photos today. But for more info on the betrothed couple, see http://jacobandlizaregettingmarried.com/.

This was a short visit, but we'll be back next week.

Scat Happens

Today was hiking day! Actually, we started out doing our favorite thing: lying in bed, talking, laughing. Then we made another nice breakfast. (I tend to overcook the bacon. Sorry, Mary.) Then we drove up toward the ski resort and turned off onto a road that goes to campgrounds. We started walking along the dirt road, but turned off to expire other areas. All along the way, we tried to identify the tracks and the scat that we saw. We figured we were seeing signs of deer, elk, moose, cattle, as well as people, horses, and dogs. Corny, I know. 

But, oh the sights and sounds! The mountains and rocks, the aspen and pine trees, the snow and the creek! We both found it so exhilarating. Mary was even skipping and singing! We played in the snow, even though it was pretty slushy! There was just enough sun that we didn’t freeze our damp derrieres. 

We finally saw some wildlife: a mama moose, and then her calf! We tried to get photos, but they were both pretty shy. I finally convinced to pose for a picture. She told me: “This IS my best side!” 

We rented a couple of videos and had another home-cooked meal (thanks, Mary!). As much as we’ve enjoyed visiting the church history sites, it’s been nice to just hang out and enjoy the great outdoors. It’s been refreshing and uplifting. (Don’t let the title of the blog fool you!)

Indoor Vacation Day

Today was a relaxing type of vacation day. We got up a little later than usual, and made French toast for breakfast. Then we just hung around the apartment this morning.

We got a phone call first thing this morning from the property management company, returning my call from yesterday about not having any blankets. We had also discovered that the TV Dish network wasn’t really working – just shopping channels. I suspect because the account was on hold. And, yes, we did get a little chilled last night without blankets! The property manager apologized profusely. It turns out we were put in the wrong condo – that one wasn’t intended or prepped for occupancy! So we ended up spending the morning hanging around waiting for someone to prep a room in the building next door and come give us a key. So we finally got the keys and moved over. This place has the same layout, but the furniture is a bit nicer, the TV works (and there’s even a VCR/DVD player), and the bed has blankets and a comforter! Unfortunately, there’s not very good Internet access. But at least there’s wireless at the condo office, which I can pick up down the hall.

But it wasn’t too bad hanging around. We woke up with a couple of inches of snow outside, and it was kind of cozy with the gas fireplace. The photo is the view outside our window this morning. Lunch was a salad that included some of our leftover chicken and asparagus. Then we went to the grocery store to buy more food for home-cooked meals. On the way home, we drove around town a bit to look at some of the vacation homes and cabins. It snowed off and on throughout the day, and warmed up just enough to melt a little each time it stopped snowing. So we watched a movie that was in the closet and had a steak dinner, while doing laundry, too.

But the real highlight of the evening was coloring Mary’s hair! How many husbands would help their wife color her hair? Well, I’m the best free hair coloring assistant Mary’s got. Maybe it’s a strange kind of date night/Family Home Evening, but it was fun!

Just Us and the Outdoors

We left Lander, Wyoming this morning (hint: if you're ever in Lander, I highly recommend the new Holiday Inn Express, which has a new Safeway right next door), and drove to Driggs, Idaho. We're staying for a couple of days at a vacation rental one-bedroom condo (thank goodness for off season) on the state border near Alta, WY. They call this area "Wydaho." We saw such a variety of scenery, from desolate sage brush and rock to snow-capped mountains. While we were surprised by how beautiful much of the East and Midwest is, we still love the West. The mountains and meadows of the Teton National Park are just breathtaking. The town of Jackson Hole is similar to, but even more touristy than West Yellowstone (how many things can you do with antlers?). We saw a couple bison in the distance, and a mama moose and her 2 calves just outside Jackson.

The condo is quite nice, and is fairly well furnished and supplied with cooking utensils, etc. The one thing they forgot is blankets. I guess we'll just have to turn up the heat tonight. We had shopped at Safeway in Lander, so we had our first home-cooked meal in nearly 3 weeks. We even picked some sage by the side of the road and cooked our chicken with it, but it turned out to be pretty bitter. But the asparagus! Mary is such a good cook.

It's nice and quiet here, nestled among aspens with a creek running outside the balcony. As far as we can tell, we're the only ones here, at least in this building. We're not even watching TV! That's probably because the Dish network on the TV seems to be set up on a minimal account - nothing but shopping channels. So we'll enjoy the great outdoors, if it doesn't rain and snow too much.

The fun part about this location is that it is near Grand Targhee Resort, where Mary used to come ski when she was in Ricks College. Fun memories for her, beautiful scenery for both of us. The Tetons are amazing.

Here is a selection of some of today's photos:

Last Leg of the Pioneer Journey

When we left Scottsbluff Nebraska this morning, it was windy but 72 degrees. When we got to Casper Wyoming, it was raining and in the mid-40's. As we drove to the handcart visitors' site at Martin's Cove, the rain was mixed with snow. And we're in the middle of May. It helped me understand how much the weather can change on you in this area. Wyoming is a mixed bag: rolling prairies, long straight stretches of highway, lots of pronghorn antelope and cattle, coal mines and oil wells, desolate high prairie, huge rock formations like molten lava pimples on the earth's face. (I should write travelogues!) It's just funny that we have been in cold, stormy weather a lot more on this trip than we expected.

We visited both Martin's Cove and the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater river. Both have visitors' centers about the handcart pioneers. The first one focuses on the Martin company and the second on the Willie company, since they are located where the main rescue of each company took place. Martin's Cove is also where they have youth handcart treks. It has become so popular, they are expecting 26,000 youth over this next season. These youth treks have been referred to as the "Second Rescue," comparing the physical rescue of the early pioneers to the spiritual rescue of youth. The site was part of the largest ranch in Wyoming, until the owners provided part of it to the church for historical restoration. This photo is of the Sweetwater river near Martin's Cove. It's a peaceful, sacred place.

I learned more about my ancestors there, especially at the Willie site. They were already closed, but a senior missionary came out and invited us in to their visitors' center. It turns out that her husband and I are cousins. We are both descended from Peder Mortensen (he is my 3rd great grandfather). I come from the oldest son, and he comes from one of the younger sons. Peder and his wife and 8 children were baptized in Denmark, and decided to travel to Zion. As they were leaving, the mission president called the oldest son, Morten, to serve a mission. Of course, the family needed this young adult to help with the journey. But the mission president promised the family that if Morten stayed to preach the gospel, the rest of the family would be blessed and would reach Salt Lake City safely. The family went on, taking a ship to America with many other Scandinavian and British saints, then the train to Iowa. Apparently, they were a family of means, but had shared so much of their money to help other saints make the trip, they found they needed to travel with the handcart companies. Thus, they were put in the Willie handcart company. One of the problems was that Peder and one of the daughters were both handicapped and had to ride in the supply wagons and then in the handcarts. Despite all the difficulty and privation, the whole family made it safely to their destination. The oldest son, Morten, finished his mission, took the ship to America (even getting married on board ship), and joined his family 3 years later. I'm glad that sister missionary invited us in and spent time with us.

I also found a Robert Whittaker in the Martin handcart company of 1856, who died in Wyoming. That is the name of my great grandfather, but they are not the same person. My relative wasn't born until 1857.

We listened to our church history podcast on the trip. They pointed out that the Martin and Willie handcart companies were tragic, but an anomaly. Most of the 60,000 LDS pioneers traveling in handcarts and wagons during that great migration arrived safely.

After having driven more than 3500 miles since we left Arlington, and having visited most of the major church history sights, it would make sense to finish the trip in Salt Lake City, including the "This is the Place Monument." But our plans include visiting our kids, so we turned off the Mormon trail and headed away from Salt Lake, on our way to see Liz in Rexburg, Idaho.

This pioneer journey has been a fascinating and moving trip, and a real privilege to share the testimony, heritage, and blessings of the restored gospel.

One Day, One State

Wow, what can you say about driving all day, from the eastern edge of Nebraska to the western edge of Nebraska? It was like... driving all day. We took turns driving and napping. We admired how flat this state is. We listened to part of "The Horse and His Boy" (Chronicles of Narnia) on CD. We stopped for lunch at a Runza. We saw a few interesting bluffs. We saw lots of cows. We stopped at a couple of historical markers. We stopped at a little store and gas station for snacks. (No, really, these ARE the highlights!) The wind was blowing pretty hard the whole time, but it was at our back, which may have helped gas mileage. It occurred to me, going 65 miles per hour down a paved highway, that we were going farther in 1/2 an hour than the pioneers did on a good day!

For most of the trip, we traveled alongside the Platte river, just like the pioneers. At one point, we left I-80 and followed highway 26 northwest, to keep following the pioneer trail. Actually, we saw one sign that said we were following the Mormon Trail, Oregon Trail, California Trail, and Pony Express Route all at once. We took this detour off the Interstate to more closely follow these pioneer trails, and to put us on track to go to the Mormon Handcart Visitors' Center in Wyoming tomorrow. One geographical highlight that we enjoyed following this route was Chimney Rock, famous landmark for all pioneers making this trek. So, yes, I had to get a photo.

For dinner, we went to a local steakhouse here in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Somehow, it just seemed appropriate.

It rained all day. But it was nice to watch the Missouri river flow by outside our hotel window. Once we got out the door, we enjoyed a visit to the Kanesville Tabernacle. Kanesville is the pioneer name for what is now Council Bluff, Iowa. After Brigham Young went to Salt Lake City, he only stayed for a few months, then turned around and came back to Iowa. He and the apostles that were here prayed about what to do about the church leadership and received the revelation that they should reorganize the First Presidency, with Brigham Young as President. They decided they needed to have an assembly with as many of the saints as they could fit into a hall. Problem is, they didn't have a hall. So they built the tabernacle, a 40 x 60 log structure in just a few weeks, then packed 1000 or so people into it. There President Young was sustained.

When we visited the tabernacle and its visitors center, we also learned more about the Mormon battalion. My great-great grandfather, William C. McClellan joined up with the battalion. He didn't make the entire journey to California, but got assigned to help care for the sick and hurt, and spent the winter in Pueblo, CO. Eventually, they head north and met up with the Mormon trail and followed the saints to Salt Lake City. Then he turned around and went back to "home" to Iowa to help his family and earn money for them to travel to SLC. We learned other things about in a film about the battalion. We grew up in Sacramento and learned all about Sutter's mill and Mormons and so forth. What we learned that no one ever told us before is that the members of the Mormon battalion that started the work on the mill stuck with it and finished the job even when all the other workers went off in the search for more gold. When the contract was done, they turned their backs on the search for wealth and headed back to join their families. Finally, when touring the tabernacle itself, the senior missionary asked if anyone could play the organ. They had a restored 150 year old (or so) organ and offered to let someone play it. So I took him up on it. Another couple that was there was so touched by the playing, they told other people in the visitors center about it, and said it was the best part of their visit. Those people then requested I play a hymn for them. It was kind of awkward, but if it helped them get into the spirit of the place, okay.

Later we went to the Winter Quarters temple and did an endowment session. Strangely enough, we were asked to be the witness couple. And I ended up sitting next to that senior missionary we met at the tabernacle. The temple has a similar layout to other small temples, including Medford. But what stood out with this temple was all the amazing stained glass. The picture here is one example.

For dinner, we went to a Mongolian barbecue. It was fairly good, and a nice change. Now, it's off to bed, because we have a big drive ahead of us tomorrow.

Jumping Off Points

There's something oddly symbolic about it: we finally received our Oregon license plates by FedEx today. So I put them on the car... in Kansas City, which is next to Independence, which is where so many treks west on the Oregon Trail started out. Surely you remember starting each game of Oregon Trail by outfitting your wagon in Independence! Mounting my Oregon plates at the start of the Oregon trail before heading west. Deep.

We then left the Kansas City/Liberty area and headed northwest to Council Bluffs, Iowa and Winter Quarters on the outskirts of Omaha. We started our visit here at the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters. It's a beautiful visitors center next door to the old Mormon Cemetery and the Winter Quarters temple.

Winter Quarters was the center of the church after leaving Nauvoo. But there were lots of settlements around the area, mostly on the Iowa side of the Missouri river. As I look at some of my genealogy, I know that we have ancestors who were there, and some who died there. In fact, the mortality rate was very high for the saints who were camped out there, mostly from mosquito-born illnesses and scurvy, and mostly because there were already weakened by illness and malnutrition. But the Legacy podcast we listened to pointed out that it's about more than the suffering and death. There was incredible hard work  to create a well-laid out city in just a few weeks. There was sacrifice to prepare crops and ferries and roads for the emigrants who were to follow.

The missionary who gave us the tour, Sister Mortensen, was very enthusiastic and taught a gospel principle or bore her testimony at every display we stopped at. I enjoyed going back through a second time to read some of the displays. BTW, I can't help but wonder if I may be distantly related to Sister Mortensen. She's from Vancouver, Washington, but she mentioned that her ancestor Peder Mortensen was baptized in Denmark and made the trek to Salt Lake City with a handcart company. Isn't that the same as my ancestor?

Speaking of ancestors, I don't think my ancestors who died in or near Winter Quarters are buried in the old Mormon cemetery we visited. Most of the records I can think of for the McClellan's talk about Pottawatamie county, which is on the Iowa side.

After the visitors center and meandering through the cemetery and around the temple, we checked into our hotel on the Iowa side. It turns out it's connected to a big casino. We didn't visit the casino, but we did check out their several restaurants. We ended up choosing - believe it or not - the place with the buffet. It was so much better than the buffet places in Nauvoo, which reminded us of a Mormon potluck. This place even had prime rib in the buffet! Very tasty.

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention about all the churches we saw in Independence and Liberty the other day. I was joking about seeing so many churches called First Presbyterian or First Baptist, and wondered why they were all called "first." How could they all be first? Does that mean there's a second and a third? And then I saw it: the Second Baptist Church. Made my day.

A Day as a Non-Tourist

We've been on the road for about 2 weeks now. We've eaten in a lot of restaurants (and grocery stores) and stayed in numerous hotels. If you've stayed in a hotel in the last few years, you've probably noticed the little signs in the bathroom that say we can help the environment by not having them wash our towels every day. That makes environmental sense and business sense. I don't get new towels out at home every day! You let them know you'll re-use your towels by hanging them up. If you want them replaced anyway, just leave them on the floor. In practice, though, we've hardly ever found a hotel that follows this practice. On this trip, every hotel has changed the towels every day, no matter that we hung them up as a sign that we wanted to keep using them. Heck, there have been a couple of times when they didn't clean the room -- didn't make the bed or take out the trash or even clean the toilet -- but they changed out the towels. It's hard to be a good environmental citizen when the hotels won't cooperate!

And while I have your attention, let's talk about restaurants. We've gotten used to sharing nearly every meal because portions are so unreasonably large. And I've written before about how much we like to go to salad bars at big grocery stores. Of course, some restaurant food is better than others. But what we're finding is that so much of the restaurant food is terribly salty! It seems they've lost the ability to cook well with herbs and spices, and just add a ton of salt, instead. That's another reason to eat smaller portions, or to get food at the grocery store, even if it's prepared food. So it's taking a real effort to cut back on fat, salt, and big plates of food. But it pays off... on the budget, as well!

We're here on the border between Liberty and Kansas City, Missouri. We happen to be surrounded by shopping centers and restaurant choices! So we've enjoyed a great steak dinner (which we shared) at Longhorn, and Red Robin (saving lunch leftovers for dinner) for gourmet burgers. In fact, today, we decided to take off from tourist stuff or driving, and did some shopping, car washing, laundry, and hanging out. Notice the photos from driving to Haun's Mill and after the car wash. Tonight we're going to plug the laptop into the high-def TV and watch a movie from Redbox at the grocery store.

Ahhh, America. It's all about the options.

Independence Missouri isn't just about Harry S. Truman

When we went to the church visitors center in Independence, we were surprised at how diverse the church history is at the site. On the way to the visitors center, the building that really catches your eye is the temple of the Community of Christ church (formerly Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). It looks like a huge silver candy sort of thing. But this temple is across the street from the visitors center, and their large auditorium and church headquarters is across the other street. Kitty corner is the Church of Christ headquarters, another break-off church. This whole are is considered the temple lot, where Zion will be rebuilt. One of the things I learned at the visitors center is that Joseph Smith designated 24 different temple buildings on the site. The visitors center was nice, with some great presentations, and a very nice sister missionary that gave us the tour. She even said she could tell we were kind and gentle people. We could see how the saints had found a bountiful land. But it was so sad the persecution they suffered here.

We took a walk around the area, including historic downtown. Harry Truman this, Harry Truman that. I guess he was President and all. We were surprised that we ran into other break-off churches, such as the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We saw the spot where some of the church's historical events occurred, such as the trashing of the printing press, although those old buildings aren't there any more. Then we found an italian restaurant for lunch. As we wrapped up our walk and headed back to the car at the visitors center, we contemplated taking a tour of the Community of Christ temple, but decided we really didn't feel like it. Not sure why.

Then we went to Liberty Jail. This is where Joseph and Hyrum and others were locked up without a conviction or even a trial for more than 4 months. They suffered in really awful conditions in the cold, dark, stinking dungeon. The jail site is original, with the visitors center built around a cut-away replica of the jail itself. Seeing this caused me feelings of cynicism about our hard-won liberties. But it's time to move on. Just like we all try to get along with the citizens of Missouri and with the other churches that broke off from ours (although from their perspective, it was the "Brighamites" that broke off from the church as restored by Joseph Smith.

West to Missouri

This morning we got up early and went to church in Nauvoo. The missionaries who work at the Nauvoo area sites have a sacrament meeting at 8:00 before they go off to staff the sites. So we went to that meeting, rather than get a later start to the day. Funny. I wasn't sure if I would play hooky from church on this vacation; but I've sure enjoyed the meetings we've gone to. It also seems a bit incongruous to be learning about the restoration of the gospel, then skip church. Know what I mean? Any way, there more than 350 missionaries, mostly senior couples, and single younger and older sisters. So they have a full house at church! It was fun to be a such a large sacrament meeting and see missionaries and other tourists that you also saw at the sites. Two couple who spoke gave a kind of farewell. I imagine you can call on incoming and outgoing missionaries to speak, and not have not to work to hard on coming up with speakers.

After church we packed up the car again and headed west, crossing the Mississippi river into Iowa. The most direct route took us on smaller back highways. While Iowa is flat, in that there aren't any mountains I could see, I was surprised at the rolling hills. We would drive down long straight roads that went up and down like little roller coasters. After plenty of driving in the on-again, off-again rain, we crossed into Missouri and reached our first destination: Adam-ondi-Ahman. This was revealed as the place where Adam and Eve moved when they got evicted from the Garden of Eden for breaking the tenant rules.

Once again relying on our GPS (having to use coordinates because we didn't have much of an address), we traveled to Haun's Mill. This was where a mob massacred more than a dozen men and boys. Among the victims was my great-great-great grandfather, Tarlton Lewis, who was wounded but survived. His brother Benjamin, did not survive. In fact, I learned on this trip that his wife moved on to the Nauvoo but died there. Getting there was even harder, since the GPS said it didn't have accurate data for these small dirt roads. Actually, they were mud roads, victims of the heavy storms a couple of days ago. Our poor car got covered with mud. I'm glad we have 4 wheel drive. When we arrived at the site, there wasn't much to see: just a post that said Haun's Mill on it. There was also some kind of plaque on the ground, but it was covered with mud and I couldn't scrape off enough to read anything. There was also a path leading down to the river, but it was more of a stream and I didn't want to sink up to my ankles. There weren't any structures to see. But I'm glad I went, and could say I was there. I didn't have any spiritual feelings, being overwhelmed by the mud. But we did have a feeling of peace, almost forgiveness.

We made our way back through the same mud roads and then on to Far West. Somehow we forgot from our study of church history that there was a temple site in Far West. So it was amazing to see the cornerstones at the temple site. In 1838, this was the center of the church. There were about 5000 residents (almost all Mormon), with shops, businesses, houses, etc. Amazingly, after they were driven out by the mobs, the area quickly reverted back to farmland. There isn't much to see in the way of structures, other than the temple site and a Reorganized (Community of Christ) church across the street. What an remarkable and sad part of our history. Such betrayal. Such hypocrisy in a land founded to provide freedom of religion.

After all that, we went to the Comfort Suites in Liberty, and found dinner at the Longhorn steakhouse. Great food! Not a buffet, and really good food. Finally, we soaked in the hot tub. But the most exciting part of the evening was when Mary was getting out of her bathing suit and found a tick on her shoulder! She's happily never had a tick before. So this freaked her out and has her worried about Lyme disease. We certainly hope she doesn't get any illness. But the tick was not very gorged, so we're hoping it hadn't been there long, perhaps just getting from her sweater as she changed clothes. I imagine it joined us during one of our stops, such as Haun's Mill.

Now we just have to get some sleep... trying not to worry about bugs.

Temple Day

Today we had the privilege of attending an endowment session at the Nauvoo temple. Of course, we always love going to the temple, and have tried to go at least once a month since we've been back in the States. But going to the Nauvoo temple was such a blessing. It is absolutely beautiful. They not only restored the outside nearly exactly, but they went to great lengths to re-do the inside as much as possible. They used wooden floors, spiral staircases, and beautiful artwork. Even the celestial room has wonderful color and period pieces of furniture.

After the temple, we had lunch at "Grandpa John's" cafe. Then we took a different wagon ride from the visitors center, and saw some of the back woods, and heard great stories of pioneers. We finished up visiting other buildings we still hadn't seen. One fun place is the family living center, where we saw them making barrels, pottery, rope, candles, weaving, and baking bread. We also went to the Seventies Hall, the first dedicate missionary training center. Again, we found names of some of our ancestors there.

We then had to get back to prepping for our continuing our trip: vacuuming the car, washing clothes, packing the knick-knacks we bought, repacking our clothes, etc. Of course, we had to have dinner, so we had the -- you guessed it -- buffet in our hotel. Certainly not gourmet, but plentiful.

Final Resting Places

It seems much of today was spent considering death. I spent quite a bit of time this morning looking through genealogy for names and dates related to Nauvoo. I especially enjoyed reading notes for Tarlton Lewis and William Carroll McClellan. Both are great great great grandfathers who lived in Nauvoo and made the trek west.

We didn't leave the hotel until nearly noon. We went to the Joseph Smith historic sites, now owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). We visited their old homestead, the Mansion House, the Red Brick Store, and the family cemetery.

After lunch, we drove out to Carthage to see the jail where Joseph and Hyrum were murdered. What I found interesting is that there is a dungeon room upstairs, with a jail cell inside a room with just little slits for windows, but the jailer felt these were honorable men and it was scorching hot in that dungeon room. So he gave the men his own bedroom and he and his wife slept downstairs with the kids. This is the room the Prophet and the other men were in when the mob broke in. We know the story. But it was something else to walk into that room and immediately have a sober and sacred feeling, to see the bullet hole in the door, to see the window Joseph fell from, and the well outside that they dragged him to. It was a strange mix of sadness and joy for such an incredible life and contribution, cut down so young.

After that, and a chili cheese dog at DQ, we went back to Nauvoo and over to the Land and Records Office just before they closed. There I looked up records for the McClellans, Day, Lewis, and Huntsman. I didn't have time to read them, but they copied them to a CD for me. I hope to read through them tonight or tomorrow. From there we went to the Old Nauvoo Burial Ground. I saw the names of some of my ancestors on a list there (including the wife of great-great-great uncle Benjamin Lewis, who was killed at Haun's Mill). But we did not locate any graves of anyone we knew. There weren't many standing and legible gravestones in the high grass, and the mosquitos and gnats were almost overwhelming.

Finally, not wanting to do buffet again tonight (the most common dinner choice here), we got some frozen lasagna and veggies at the grocery store and made dinner in the microwave in our room. We wanted to use the hot tub and indoor pool this evening, but it was just too crowded. So we watched a movie at Netflix.com instead. "The Stoning of Soraya M." Very sad. More death to finish the day with.

On that note, it's off to bed. We're going to attend a session at the Nauvoo temple in the morning!

Historic Nauvoo

We were such tourists today. We started out at the Visitors Center, and watched an hour-long church movie about Joseph Smith. I wanted to start out the visit with something thoughtful, moving. I all but cried out loud. What an incredible life, what an example. I always felt that he knew so much more than he could tell. And I'm still amazed at how many people, including those who had unique spiritual experiences, left the church in the early days, and especially after Nauvoo. I also have growing respect for Emma Smith. She was a spiritual giant in her own right, and went through so many trials. I don't totally understand why she didn't go west and why she joined with the Reorganized church. Someday I may understand.

After viewing that film we went to find some lunch, which isn't all that easy in this small town. There is a handful of cafes and buffet restaurants (mostly attached to hotels). Some aren't open for lunch, some aren't open for dinner. So it takes a little looking. Then it was back to the visitors center to catch a ride on a horse-drawn wagon to tour the old town. After that, we walked around and visited some of the old or reconstructed buildings and got little tours from the missionaries. After a while, we realized it was time to get some dinner before the "show" put on by the senior missionaries.

The show was a lot of fun - kind of like a roadshow (for those who remember those). It was a nice script, talking about life in Nauvoo and the difficulty of leaving. After the show, we took some pictures of the temple and the sunset. But it was hard with all the gnats and mosquitoes. Even though they drained the swamp to make this town, the bugs that make their living by the river are apparently still a problem.

Now we're back in our hotel, and have to figure out how long it will take us to eat all the fudge we bought at the Fudge Shoppe after dinner!

Driving to Nauvoo

Today was fairly uneventful -- mostly driving. Nearly 500 miles. We left Wilmington right after breakfast and drove west, leaving Ohio, crossing across both Indiana and Illinois. In fact, the "quick route" from our GPS took us across the Mississippi river into Iowa, then south, then back across the river on a very narrow steel bridge before heading south to Nauvoo. Mary's a great driving partner, and we worked well together. For lunch, we stopped in Urbana-Champaign and ended up going to Schnuck's grocery store and shopped at the salad bar and bakery. We enjoy this type of lunch!

The weather has continued to be mixed, but mostly cool, rainy, and windy. At this moment, we're in our hotel in Nauvoo, with storm warnings coming up on the TV, including a tornado watch farther south in Missouri. In fact, in the last few minutes it's gone nuts! Lightning, thunder, rain, and now hail! Big gumball-sized hail! I hope our new car will be OK. Have I mentioned how much we like our car? Toyota RAV4.  It's been very comfortable and efficient.

Just so I can remember, I should mention where we've stayed and how we liked it. When we visited Annalicia, we stayed at the Comfort Suites in Danbury, CT. This was one of the nicest hotels we stayed at in the mid-price range. Clean, well-appointed, nice touches, including Andes mints in the room and real plates and silverware at breakfast. For our visit to Palmyra, we stayed at the Comfort Inn in Rochester, NY. Good price (especially at government rate) and about as nice as I would have expected, not quite as nice as Danbury's. It was about 30 minutes to Palmyra. For Kirtland, we stayed at the Comfort Inn in Mentor, OH, less than 10 minutes away. Unfortunately, we found this to be pretty rundown and cheap feeling. The foam plates and plastic silverware at breakfast were standard, but it just felt limited in its choices, etc. But what bothered me, was that this hotel cost about the same as the really nice one in Danbury, although in quality it reminded me more of a Motel 6. We happened to be next door to a Suite 6 (Motel 6 with a kitchenette). So after our first night, we went next door and asked to see a room. It seemed at least as comfortable and nice as the Comfort Inn, but at half the price, so we checked out early from the Comfort Inn and checked into the Suite 6. In Wilmington, we stayed at the Holiday Inn. I used reward points and stayed for free. We had a very nice room, very comfortable bed, and nicely appointed. They didn't have a refrigerator in the room (which we like for the food we're carrying with us). But when I asked, they brought a refrigerator to the room at no cost. Very nice. Finally, here in Nauvoo, we're staying at the Nauvoo Family Inn & Suites. The room is a good size and has everything we need, at a little less than Comfort Inn price. The restaurant downstairs is buffet style. When we got there we were the only ones there. But shortly after we started to eat, a busload of about 50 young adults arrived. We decided we better get our deserts before it was too late! Good thing. We were amazed at how much some of those young men were eating!

After dinner, we did a load of laundry, and settled in for the night. And wrote this blog. It sounds like the storm is passing now. We still have power. So I may as well got to bed.

I didn't take any photos today. Note that all the photos in this blog are my own. I like my new camera, too. But no pictures today, so that's why I attached a map.

Stopping off to see old friends

A shorter drive today, to Wilmington, Ohio. We stopped here to visit the Crawfords, friends we got to know in Medford, Oregon. We met them when they were a young married couple, and we were a... little older, but still somewhat newly married couple. We all became very good friends. Mary even attended the birth of one of their children.

Now the babies are young women and they have 2 more children. (Daughter #2 is not in the picture.) They fed us and we chatted the evening away. It was a very nice reunion.

The weather continues to be weird or "spring-like." That is, it rained for a bit and was windy, then it was windy but much warmer. Tomorrow is a long drive to western Illinois.

Kirtland

In the past, when I've thought about the Kirtland period of the church, I didn't think much. I knew there was a temple, but it was kind of "introductory," without the full ordinances, and the church doesn't even own it any more! I also knew that some church history stuff happened here. But that was about all the thought I gave it. But after listening to the podcast about Kirtland from the Mormon Channel, and now that I've been here, I have a much greater appreciation of this place.

One of church historians in the podcast, Jenny Lund, likened the periods of church history to growing up, with Palmyra being the infancy and Kirtland the childhood. I extrapolate to make Missouri the middle-school years, and Nauvoo as young adulthood. After leaving Palmyra, Joseph Smith lived here longer than any other place: 7 years. A great many key revelations were given here, the work of translating the bible happened mostly here, the school of the prophets was conducted, 65 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were recorded in this area, and so on. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, as well as angelic messengers appeared. And, of course, the first temple in this dispensation was constructed.

As we visited the upper room of the Kirtland temple, I was very moved when I contemplated the heavenly visitors that appeared there. What an amazing blessing to have been there.

I was impressed with the number of important figures who joined the church in this area, including Newell K. Whitney and Sidney Rigdon. I was amazed at how some the leaders of the church, who enjoyed such incredible manifestations, could have parted ways with the church later. I learned, from the podcast, that Joseph Smith, when he was dragged from his bed, beaten and tarred and feathered, actually died -- had an out-of-body experience -- but recovered, although he always had scars because of it. As I stood in the bedroom of the Johnson farmhouse, from which he was dragged, and where his sick baby was made worse by the night air and died a few days later, I sought to try to understand that level of hatred, as well as the contrasting level of forgiveness and compassion by the prophet.

After visiting the church's Historic Kirtland visitors center and touring the grounds, including the Newell K. Whitney store (and site of the School of the Prophets), we then visited the Community of Christ (formerly Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) visitors center and toured the Kirtland Temple. A very special place, with fascinating design and interesting history. From there we went to the Johnson Farm in Hiram, Ohio, where the mob event I mentioned took place, but where also a great number of revelations were received.

On recommendation of the missionary couple at the farm, and a local visitor, we finished up the day at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen for good old-fashioned comfort food dinner. The restaurant and gift shop were larger than we expected, but the food was quite good, and yes, run by Amish and Mennonites. It turns out the township of Middlefield is the fourth largest center of Amish in the world. Yep, we even saw Amish buggies on the road. In addition to dinner, desert, and some cookies, I bought a book about the most common questions about the Amish and Mennonites. Mary read part of it to me on the drive back to the hotel. Very interesting.

We finished the evening reading section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants together. Nice day.

I went to Canada today!

The weather last night kept getting colder and colder. On the way home from the Peter Whitmer farm, the rain was turning to sleet and the power was out in many neighborhoods. This morning we got up early to cold, icy winds and snow flurries. But we got loaded up and left on time to go to church back in Palmyra. We only went to Sacrament meeting, in hopes that we would still have time to visit the Sacred Grove. (Remember? It was closed the day before because of high winds.)

Sacrament meeting was nice. It's a large, beautiful chapel, with a sizable congregation. And today's Mother's Day program was nice -- a handful of primary kids sang the obligatory song, and the young men handed out a gift booklet and chocolate to the moms. Then we went and changed in the bathroom and headed down the street to the Sacred Grove. It was open, and we really enjoyed strolling through it. They have paths that branch out throughout the grove. We enjoyed a nice, long walk, contemplating the First Vision that took place there, wondering if some of the trees were old enough to have been witnesses. What a beautiful place.

We would have liked to stay even longer, but it really was cold (upper 30s) and still breezy, so we headed back to the car and continued our road trip.

Since the highway from Palmyra/Rochester to Kirtland/Mentor, Ohio passes not very far from Niagara Falls, we decided to take a detour. But before we could look for the falls, we had to find some lunch. We took an exit near Buffalo, and drove through a residential neighborhood until we found our perfect lunch spot -- another Wegman's supermarket. This place is amazing! In fact, it was hard to make up our mind from among the salad bar, sushi, pizza, asian, indian, soup, sandwiches. In fact, since it's mother's day, they were also having omelets and waffles for brunch. I made a large salad (including chicken, bacon, and eggs) and surprisingly, ate it all. We bought too much, I think, but it was still cheaper than a restaurant, and better than fast food. The other fun part is the cafe seating they had upstairs. We got to relax and eat our lunch, while people watching, guessing who was going to take what, watching old men snitch food from the chinese food bar, or watching the sushi chef make sushi.

Then we finished the trip to Niagara. Crossing the border to get into Canada took a long time because of the lines at the border crossing. We followed our GPS, but it took us to downtown Niagara Falls, not the falls themselves. So then we had to use our own smarts and follow signs! We found the falls alright, but not any parking under $10. We only wanted to be there 15 minutes, and didn't want to spend that much time and money. So I let Mary out of the car and she took pictures while I drove and around and came back to find her. What a tourist spot! A block away from the falls, it was like a little Las Vegas. So then we headed back to the U.S. side. That was easy and much quicker.

As we drove along the New York thruway (Interstate 90), we were impressed by the Service Centers that are more than rest stops, with gas station, restaurant, mini-mall, all without having to leave the freeway and paying another toll.

While driving we listened to the Mormon Channel (radio.lds.org) podcast about Kirtland. Actually, Mary was driving and I slept through most of it. But Mary told me all about it.

We're staying in Mentor, OH tonight. Tomorrow will be a full day in Kirtland, about 3 miles away. Not sure, but may change hotels tomorrow. This Comfort Inn is not nearly as nice as the other 2 we've stayed in so far, but costs just as much. For this quality, we're thinking we should stay in a Motel 6 with kitchenette for less than 1/2 the price.

But, again, we've got to get some sleep tonight.

Hill Cumorah

Today we visited Palmyra. We first went to the Hill Cumorah visitors center. We had a bit of a tour, looked at the exhibits, then headed up the hill to the Moroni statue. It was a great feeling to be there, with spiritual impressions of the reality of what happened there. What made it difficult was cool temperatures and high winds, gusting over 50 mph.

After the Hill Cumorah, we decided we needed some lunch. So we drove into Palmyra village. The printing office where the Book of Mormon was first printed was closed for some kind of filming. So we kept driving to find food. We saw a couple of Mormons (they were in suits, like they came from the temple) at a hamburger/ice cream place, so we stopped there. It turns out that it's a very popular place for Mormon visitors. HUGE proportions. Like I had a burger and waffle fries. They gave me the entire package of the fries. I ate a few of them. We also had an ice cream cone. The small is practically a quart of ice cream, so we got the soft serve and asked her to give us just half as much. It was actually very good!

After that, we went to the Smith family farm and got a tour of the replica log home and the original frame home. Upstairs in the log home, there was an amazing feeling realizing that the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith there. We were fascinated that the frame home was the same one that the Smith family lived in, then missionaries moved into in 1915 to help win friends for the Church and eventurally reacquire property that belonged to the Smiths or had historical significance. Sadly we were unable to visit the sacred grove because the high winds made it too dangerous, and they closed it. So from there we went to the Palmyra temple, just to walk around. It was a quick walk; the temperature was dropping fast.

Then we drove a ways (30 minutes or so) to the Peter Whitmer farm in Waterloo. We knew that the church had built a replica of the home the church was officially organized in. So as we followed our GPS and the road signs to the site, we were looking for just a log cabin. But there is a visitors center, and chapel there, which look pretty big from the street. There is also an old house next door which serves as a home for the missionary couple and 4 sister missionaries who work in the area and give the tours. And there was the wooden home. We remembered the house from April conference 1980, when one of the sessions was broadcast from that site in commemoration of the 150th anniversary (sesquicentennial) of the founding of the church. It was really neat to get so close to these sites and be reminded of such important events.

After that, on the missionary couple's recommendation, we went to Connie's Diner. Very traditional. Gravy on everything. Not bad. Especially liked the coconut cream pie.

On the drive home, the rain was turning to snow. What a day!

Upstate New York

We're just outside Rochester, NY. Most of today was spent driving. About 350 miles. Mary's back and neck have been giving her problems, so it was kind of hard on her. We took breaks a little more frequently and a little longer. At one point I decided to pull off into a little town and get some lunch. We decided that we had lots of food in the car, and if we just had some lunch meat, we could make a sandwich and enjoy a picnic. But we drove all over these little towns (such as Peckville, PA) unable to find a grocery store! Then, duh! Ask the GPS! It told us some nearby grocery stores! One in the list looked promising, called Wegman's. I had never heard of it, but we had seen a sign a while back, although we didn't see the store because it was behind a hill. So we followed the directions there.

Goodness, gracious, me! What a place. Huge, clean, amazing variety! A little restaurant area, deli, sushi bar, coffee bar, etc. So we bought a couple things (me, pulled pork in BBQ sauce; Mary, neptune salad), and brought in some of our food from the car, and ate in their patio dining area. That's the kind of lunch we like!

Then back on the road with a detour to visit Harmony (now called Oakland) Pennsylvania. There we visited the memorial to the Aaronic Priesthood restoration, and site of Joseph and Emma's first home. It was a touching place to visit. We also went down to the Susquehanna river, to what may have been the spot where Joseph and Oliver baptized each other. Beautiful. We got directions there by the missionaries who were at the memorial site. They were grilling and giving out free hot dogs! They said that they had also given out more Books of Mormon today, along with the hot dogs, than they had all week. What a great idea!

We then got back on the road and drove another few hours to our hotel near Rochester. What beautiful country we passed through! We had no idea it would be this beautiful.

As we drove we listened to some podcasts I had downloaded from the Mormon Channel (http://radio.lds.org), which provided interviews and commentary with historians, talking about Harmony and Palmyra. These both helped set the mood, but provided helpful information and anecdotes.

Tomorrow we plan to spend the day in Palmyra. I hope the weather cooperates. It's stormy and chilly, with some rain, wind, and a bit of lightening. But first, sleep.

Curt and Mary Take Manhattan

An even later night, and quicker blog.

We got to spend most of the day with Annalicia today. We actually slept in -- past 7:30! Had me a fresh waffle at the hotel. Joined Annalicia and a couple of her nanny friends at the famous (?) Eveready Diner. Later in the afternoon, Annalicia was our guide as we bravely drove into New York City. We parked at a garage a ways away from Broadway, but near the Manhattan Temple. So we went to the church and temple building, then took a subway to Times Square. Then we got in line at the TKTS booth. We had a few choices on discount tickets, but some seats and prices are better than others. We ended up getting tickets to "A Little Night Music." Part of the decision was the good seats in a smaller theater. Part of the decision was music by Sondheim. Part of the decision was the draw of star power: Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

We went to Sbarro for dinner. Still not very cheap. Then off to the theater. It was a very good production, with great singing. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury are commanding presences on stage. And yes, it was a beautiful old theater, with pretty decent seats. I surreptitiously took a couple of pictures before the show started.

I might have also liked something with more dancing. But the big shows, Wicked, Mary Poppins, etc. are not available for discount tickets.

Then we walked back to the car, stopping to admire the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts along the way. Amazing city. Broadway and Times Square are wild. Like Las Vegas, which also remind me of Disneyland, only crass. Great day. And thank goodness for GPS.

Our journey begins

Quick entry; late evening.

We checked out of our apartment and left Arlington, VA a little later than we planned (as always). Crazy amount of stuff to pack. Next time we'll pack for 2 weeks, instead of thinking of the whole 6 weeks. We forgot to put our memory foam mattress topper in our UAB shipment to post, so we had to make room for it in the car. When you're leaving for good, you have to take it all. Thank goodness for split folding rear seats. Amazing packing job, if I do say so myself.

Drove about 300 miles today, passed through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. (They make states small in the east.) Spent $29.30 in tolls for roads, bridges, and tunnels. (Compare to: spent $3.00 on lunch.)  The funny thing about tolls: we remember when we were younger, tolls were 25¢ or 75¢ and you would toss the coins into a big basket and you drove past the booth. So I planned ahead and got a couple rolls of quarters for the trip. But now the tolls are between $2 and $9. And they don't seem to like that many quarters!

Currently in Danbury, CT.  Hardly any traffic congestion. Worst was toll booth and just after, going onto George Washington bridge into New York City. Saw the NYC skyline from a distance. The GPS that came with our car was very helpful. We just went where it told us to, and got here just fine. Amazed at how green it is, how many trees we've seen along the way. We expected solid concrete and buildings. Refreshing surprise.

Visited with Annalicia, met the family she nannies for. Had a light, late supper.

Gotta get some sleep now. Happy Cinco de Mayo.