NAUVOO!

Last week Troy and I had the opportunity to drive to Nauvoo. We started our journey Thursday morning around 10:00 am (an hour later than intended, I call this Helgesen time)We drove through Wyoming on I-80 and came upon a traffic stop (not jamb, it was stopped) We were stuck there for 2 hours, which was fine we just got out of the car and visited with the truckers and travelers around us. When we were finally able to move again we saw that the delay was caused by a semi that had caught on fire and they had to just let it burn itself out. Finally back on the road (three hours behind schedule) we continued into Nebraska. If any of you have taken this route you will know that there REALLY is NOTHING to see! We didn't reserve a room for Thursday night because we weren't sure how far we would drive, so around 2:30am we finally pulled over into a rest stop just outside of Omaha to get some sleep. I couldn't sleep for very long. Once I was able to stop thinking that we were going to be murdered at a rest stop in Omaha I did fall asleep, but then the cold hit me, I tried to wrap up in a shirt, but it didn't help I was SO COLD! I woke Troy up and we continued on around 5 am. We then stopped in Iowa at a diner for Breakfast. Can you say REDNECK country. Neither Troy or I had been through Iowa so we waited for the sun to come up so we could see what it looked like. It was as I thought, CORN! We did however find the little white gothic house that is in that painting with the farmer holding a pitchfork with his wife! We reached Nauvoo around 11am Friday morning and yes we were both pretty stinky and tired. I talked the Hotel into letting us check in early so I could shower and clean up before we went site seeing. We started out at the Visitor Center, watched a film on the history of Joseph Smith and Nauvoo and then decided to go to the Carthage Jail. As with most tours this also started out with a short film, I thought it was interesting that the jail was actually more like a house. People had actually been living in it until the church bought it in the 1940's. The bullet holes are still there for you to see and the missionaries do a great job at explaining just how the event unfolded. You can actually imagine how chaotic that evening must have been for the four men and the family of the jail keeper. Because everything closes around 5 we decided it was time to get dinner. We ate at a Buffet in the Hotel Nauvoo! It was a Mormon buffet, I'm talking green bean casserole, cheesy potato buffet. They did not have green jello though (Troy pointed this out) It was pretty good! After dinner we decided to go see the sites that never close such as the temple grounds, the point on the Mississippi where the exodus took place, the cemetary, memorials and the Trail of Hope. This is a trail of plaques that have memories of pioneers engraved on them. It puts into perspective just how much they gave up for their religious freedom. I think it was more of a trail of tears, but they call it hope so...! We woke up the next morning and spent the whole day walking from site to site in Nauvoo. We actually started with the Joseph Smith homes. These are all owned by the Community of Christ church. The tour guides are very nice and polite, but lack something in their visitors center. It's not real inviting or informational, it pretty much is a desk with a gift shop, a big difference from the LDS visitors center. This tour went through the Homestead, the Mansion, the Nauvoo House and ended in the Red Brick Store where many important events took place. We then went to the Blacksmith shop where we found out about a little play called Rendevous. Part of the fun of Nauvoo are the older couple missionaries. They are so excited to be there and really enjoy telling you about Nauvoo. They put on a musical comedy called Rendevous every night, its pretty funny, if you're there I highly recommend it! At the end of the day we had visited about 30 historic buildings and loved every one of them. Its amazing what these people were able to just leave behind and WALK to the SLC valley. We left sunday and headed into Missouri. We stopped at the Liberty Jail and ended our trip in Topeka to visit with Kurt and Melissa. I made it in time for the Fantasy Draft, was able to see Kurt's school and Troy even became friends with Elle and Kohl ( they were afraid of him when we first got there) He had to sew up one of her princess costumes before they could be friends, I can't wait until they move back to Utah, actually until ALL my family is back in the same state, I really miss everyone! We had an excellent vacation and are already wanting to make plans to take our kids back so they can see and feel the history of Nauvoo. Here are some pictures!


This is Troy standing in the stopped traffic


This is Iowa...its pretty compared to Wyoming and Nebraska!

This is the American Gothic House!

This is outside of the Visitors Center in Nauvoo


This is at Carthage Jail

This is one of the many rooms the four men were kept in at Carthage


This is the room where Joseph and Hyrum were killed, the window at the left of the bed is where Joseph fell out.

This is the point of the Exodus on the Mississippi river


This is the cemetary where Joseph, Emma and Hyrum are burried

This is the printshop were Troy's ancestor worked with John Taylor for the Times and Seasons newpaper

This is us at the Browning Home in Nauvoo


We looked up were Troy's ancestor lived and when we drove to that location this is what was left. I'm thinking they may be in the process of restoring it.

This is our hotel the Mercantile

And of course the Nauvoo Temple!