Nauvoo, Missouri, Fort Riley

Well, we are back from our visit with Maren! It's crazy... it seems like I waited sooo long for us to leave, and then the whole thing was over before I had a chance to blink!!!

I left Wednesday morning to make the long trek to G-town with 4 kids. We made really good time - only 5 1/2 hours and one bathroom break! I dropped Austin off at his house in Sigurd for the school year (we will miss him) and then continued on to my mom's house in Fayette.

Thursday, I got up my early got everybody re-packed and dropped the girls off at Grandpa Reed's and Grandma Josie's house. I was really sad to leave them, but they were soooo excited! Then Ady, my mom and I headed for the SLC airport. Ady, was really excited for her first plane ride.
It was a REALLY small plane.

Maren met us at the Kansas City, Missouri airport when we landed. We loaded our stuff in her car and drove all night to Nauvoo. We really didn't even get to see much of the scenery on the way because it was dark!

This is the sight that greeted us when we arrived in Nauvoo, Illinois around midnight:

So, of course, we had to stop and take a picture! Then we headed straight to bed at our room at the Hotel Nauvoo.

We stayed two full days and three nights in Nauvoo. It was so pretty and green. It would have been really hard, as a pioneer to leave such a beautiful place and travel by foot for three months to dry, ugly Utah. I would have been pissed, when we finally entered the Utah valley and they said, "This is the place!". I was not to crazy about the humidity. It does wonders for natural curly (frizzy) hair (that was sarcastic).

Carthage Jail

The room they were being held in. Joseph Smith was shot and fell out that window.
I think it is more than a little weird, and morbid that we are standing there smiling for a picture.


The Mississippi River at the end if the Trail of Hope

The Trail of Hope (Parley Street)

This is the road the saints took to leave Nauvoo and cross the Mississippi River into Iowa.

The Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds.

My mom caught a frog (after almost stepping on it). It peed on her.

Me and Maren are dorks.

Ady dressed as a pioneer

The Mississippi River - I love all the water lilies!

Sunday, we spent all day driving across Missouri, and halfway across Kansas, in the rain, to Maren's apartment in Junction City (near Fort Riley). We drove through Jamesport , Missouri (an Amish community), but didn't stop because everything was closed for the Sabbath. We also stopped at Adam-ondi-Ahmen. It was so pretty, peaceful, green, and humid. Maren, my mom, and I were a little concerned about there not being enough bathrooms for everyone when the saints come back. We may have many talents (mostly talking, and acting goofy), but wilderness survival is not one of them. So we staked our claim early - a spot close to the bathrooms! Sorry! The rest of you are out of luck. Good luck building a latrine!

A Missouri road sign

I found it really ironic that all these horses and carts were parked in front of a gas station!

Our land claim at Adam-ondi-Ahmen

Adam-ondi-Ahmen

A random High School sign in Missouri. I am pretending to be a Midget.

Our first night in Kansas, Maren and I decided that Ady needed to experience fireflies. There is a cute little meadow filled with prairie grass and a few trees behind Maren's apartment, where they like to hang out. Only problem was, they were all the way on the opposite side of the meadow! The meadow isn't so cute in the dark. We about broke our necks trying to walk across. Then Maren casually mentioned that she hoped that there wasn't any ticks or snakes. Ady and I quickly decided that we really didn't need catch a firefly. We were perfectly happy watching them from the landscaped lawn. There is a reason that we live in the city. The most wildlife we can handle is the occasional dead cockroach on the backyard patio.

That night we experienced our first Midwest thunderstorm. It was crazy!!! There was lightening popping everywhere, the whole sky would light up! The thunder was so loud that it rattled the windows. And it rained, and rained... poured. The only time I have experienced rain like that was in Phoenix during the summer Monsoons. Only this lasted all night, and not even a puddle formed because the ground soaked it all in.

Because of the storm, we were all a little sleep deprived the next morning. So, we didn't do to much. We drove around Fort Riley. It is really pretty, and the old stone building are really cool. We went to the commissary and I bought each of my kids a set of dog tags - the boys had specifically requested them before I left. We ate lunch at Famous Dave's, and went to see a movie - The Time Traveler's Wife.

Tuesday morning, Maren drove us to the Kansas City airport. We were all really sad to leave her! I hate that she has to live so far away!!! But, I was also really missing Brian, Brylee, Alysa, and my bed!

Wednesday I drove back to Vegas. Why does the trip home always seem twice as long? My dogs were really excited to see us, and I suspect Brian might have been too. Now, I am ready to get the kids back in school, and settled back down into our routine after a crazy, hectic summer!