Cross Country in a Scion

On Wednesday, November 28th

we left Boise bright and early and flew to

Chicago, Illinois

Next we boarded a bus 

 

to

Highland, Indiana

(about an hour south)

Here we met a man Matt was buying a car from.

We checked out the car, did all the paperwork

and started our trek back to Idaho

Our first night, Wednesday, we stayed at

the Comfort Inn in Moline, Illinois....

not too far from the Mississippi river

 

 

After a very nice breakfast at the Hotel

we got back on the road and drove

to Carthage, Illinois

Carthage is just a small town of less than 2,000.

There is no Ward or even a Branch

in Carthage.  The Missionaries attend church in Nauvoo

which is about 45 minutes north.

This is a statue of Joseph and Hyrum

(and Steve)

with the Jail in the background

This is on the main level of the jail.

This is the jail cell on the second floor.  It is referred to

as the "dungeon".

 It is very dark with very little ventilation.  

(this picture was taken with a flash and doesn't 

show how dark and gloomy this room really is)

The Jailer was very kind to

Joseph & Hyrum and because the dungeon was unbearably hot

he offered his own bedroom to the prophet and those

that were imprisoned with him.

This is the window Joseph fell from the day

he was martyred.

This is the same window (upper) from outside.

 

We left Carthage after a very moving tour of the Jail

and visitor's center and headed for

Nauvoo.

We asked the Missionary how to get to Nauvoo

and he said:

Drive west until you run into the Mississippi River

then go north...you can't miss it!

Here you can see a tug boat pushing several

barges down the river.

They say these tugs can push barges

3 across and 5 long which is the equivalent to

nearly 900 Semi Trucks.

We made it to Nauvoo and in the Visitor's Center we learned

about a wagon tour we could take around 

the city of Old Nauvoo.

The horses were all decked out with

harnesses of Jingle Bells

which turned out wasn't such a good idea.

This was the first tour with the bells and they were so loud 

it made it very hard to hear the missionary that was

trying to narrate the tour.

We grabbed a few quilts they had available and

climbed into the wagon.

The wagon tour lasted about an hour. As we passed

each house or shop Missionaries dressed in 

period outfits came to the door and

waved at all of us on the wagon.

This is a memorial to thousands of pioneers that did

not survive the trek west.  There is a statue

of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith as they began planning

the exodus across the Mississippi.

this is the place the pioneers crossed the frozen river.

In the visitor's center they are erecting a display case 

for this sun-stone.  It is one of three original

sun-stones from the Nauvoo Temple.

Another one is in the Smithsonian. 

Just outside the Visitor's Center is the 

"Garden of Women"

We could just imagine how very beautiful the garden 

must be in the spring, summer, and fall

 when the trees and planters are all in bloom.

We only had enough time to visit one or two of the shops.

this is the Brickyard where we were given

a commemorative "Old Nauvoo" brick.

At 2:30 we changed our clothes and went

on a session in the beautiful

Nauvoo Temple.

After our session Steve talked to one of the

ordinance workers that turned out to be from Boise,

 and is serving a mission at the  Nauvoo Temple.

We also were surprised to see

Brother Marshall who was the Portland Oregon Temple Recorder

when we began working in that temple 12 years ago.

 He was the one that set us apart.

He is now the Recorder in the Nauvoo Temple.

When we walked out of the temple this was the view.

The statue depicts Joseph and Hyrum's

last ride from Nauvoo as they rode on horseback to

Carthage.  It is the last time they saw the Temple

which was only partially completed.

This was a beautiful scene with the gorgeous sunset

over Old Nauvoo and reflecting on the

Mississippi River.

The Temple (like all the Temples) was

beautifully lit at night.

We left Nauvoo wishing we had more time

to spend there and vowing to return

when we could stay longer.

We drove up to Iowa City and stayed overnight

in Des Moines, Iowa.

Friday morning brought another very nice breakfast 

at the hotel and we were on our way again. 

This was our longest day of driving passing through

Iowa & Nebraska then into Wyoming. 

Oil Wells....

Lots and lots of trains.....

Miles and miles of fields, 

some still had these big bales of hay 

that hadn't been picked up yet.

These windmill farms were scattered all along 

the way through both Nebraska and Wyoming.

On our way to Rock Springs, Wyoming we encountered

very high winds with gusts up to 50+ MPH.

(Matt's little car handled the winds without any trouble.)

We planned on spending the night in Cheyenne, but

we arrived there much earlier than expected

so we pushed on to Rawlins and

then ended up staying in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Saturday would be our last day on the road.

When we left  this was the view from the Hotel.

It was cold and overcast but the roads were dry and

so we were off again.

As we traveled along the wind continued to blow and we

understood why these large snow fences were placed

all along the freeway.  

(they keep the snow from drifting onto the road)

The closer we got to Utah we began to 

see some mountains.  

 

They were a very welcome sight

after traveling along the flat, wide open spaces

of the plain states.

We knew we were in Utah when we

began to see the beautiful red rock mountains.

 

As we passed by Tremonton and on to Snowville.

We began to wonder if we were going to

get rained or snowed on.

These storm clouds looked pretty fierce but

we managed to stay ahead of the storm

and continued on with dry roads.

After four days we finally made it back to Idaho.

our trip had been quite uneventful so far.

Not too far from Boise we were just starting to pass a semi truck

when one of his tires blew out.  Debris went flying

everywhere.  Steve pulled as far to the left as possible and we

both ducked in case something came through the windshield,

but Heavenly Father was watching over us 

and all the debris (large & small) flew over & around the car

and we sustained no damage or injury.

We traveled 1,853 miles from Chicago to Star

and saw a lot of beautiful country

but the highlight, of course, was our one little side trip

to Carthage and Nauvoo.

Matt's family is thrilled with their new little car

and we have had a wonderful experience traveling together.

Thank you Matt for giving us this opportunity!