Leaving Nauvoo

On Wednesday we woke up to breakfast in the hotel in Nauvoo. This was breakfast made by Mom, and it included eggs and sausage, along with the pancakes left over from the day before. Today we had a lot more driving to do, but we want to do a few more things in Nauvoo. First, we wanted to walk around Nauvoo State Park. This was a short loop trail around a reservoir. It was a nice hike, and we saw a red-bellied woodpecker, along with a lot of other birds.

We enjoyed this nice lake trail.

It was shady and all along the lakeshore.

After the hike we decided to drive down to see if we could see a bald eagle reported to be down by the river in Nauvoo. But then, miraculously, the Mansion House was open. As it was closed all week, it was the one site we hadn’t seen in Nauvoo. We quickly parked and hopped out, but the building was really busy. Luckily, our favorite sisters from the day before saw us and agreed to sneak us in between groups, giving us our own private tour. We accepted that little miracle, and never really worried about seeing the eagle after all. 

Then we began our long drive down into Missouri. Mormons have never really been welcomed in Missouri, and we don’t really care to visit even today. But there were a few Church history sites we wanted to see. Our first stop was Adam-ondi-Ahman. This has been much expanded, and we hiked two short trails, visited two viewpoints, and read all the signs. Miraculously, we ran into our next-door neighbors, who were headed to Nauvoo, and chatted for a little while, too.

It was so windy when we visited!

We could barely stand up!

It was so fun to run into our neighbor.

Dad and Mom hiked down into the valley.

Adam-ondi-ahman was a nice little stop.

Next, we made another short drive to Hawn’s Mill. This site has not been updated at all, and there was very little to see. We were glad we went, as Mom’s great-great-grandfather died there, but there is only a small plaque laid nearly 100 years ago.

The Hawn's Mill site.

The gravel roads took us up and down over blind hills as we drove to our third destination, Far West. We were excited because this was our final Church History site in all the country. We’ve now seen them all from Sharon, Vermont, to San Diego, California. 

Farr West Family Pic

On the way into Kansas City, we stopped at a park called Penguin Park. It was not hard to see why. There was a massive statue of a penguin, along with an elephant, kangaroo, and giraffe. Each had an opportunity to climb, slide, or hang from. We didn’t stay long.

The giant penguin was super fun!

You could climb up into the kangaroo pouch.

We had skipped lunch in favor of snacks, and we were very hungry. So, we stopped at a place called Joe’s BBQ. Since Kansas City is known as the City of Barbecue, this seemed appropriate. It turned out to be a great decision as the barbecue was amazing! We had brisket, ribs, and pulled pork. Sides included pork and beans, street corn, cornbread, and fries. We loved it and ended the day full!

This meal was so good!!

We all loved it!

We enjoyed a lovely sunset on the way to the hotel.

Spring Break in Nauvoo

After leaving Iowa on Monday morning, we had another long drive into Nauvoo. This was made even longer when we had to stop for 40 minutes at the Mississippi River crossing. We watched as several barges came through before they rotated the bridge back into place. Finally, around dinner time we made it into Nauvoo. We dropped things off in the hotel, and then walked downtown. There was a restaurant called Red Front that was the only open restaurant in town.

We had to wait for a long time at the bridge.

Finally heading across the Mississippi.

This river is huge! 

The Red Front Store is one of the few things open in Nauvoo right now.

The ice cream bricks were delicious.

We did find two museums open. The first one was called the Martyrdom Museum in downtown Nauvoo. It was the owner's labor of love, and he is just getting opened up for the year. We spent some time walking around looking at the displays.

There was a second place open in the basement of the mercantile. It was called Joseph Smith's Tomb. This just opened a year or two ago, and it claims to be the site where Joseph commissioned a place for his family to be buried, which was never used. 

After dinner, we watched the NCAA championship. (Mark picked the winner, but Seth had the most points in the bracket.) Then we went to bed.

Joseph Smith's Tomb??

This museum was super interesting.

Dax's face was too good to not share this picture.

We love the Nauvoo Temple.

Seth really hoped UConn would win again. 

Tuesday was all about Nauvoo. This time, though, we took it slowly. We tried to focus on our relatives and family roots in this town, rather than trying to get every shop and home visited. The sister missionaries just arrived the prior week, and several of them recognized us or people we knew. It was kind of fun to have Nauvoo basically to ourselves, since it only fully opened on April 1. 

We did a few things we hadn't done before in Nauvoo, like take a carriage ride, visit two ancestors home sites, and run to the basement of the Visitor Center for a tornado drill. Of course, many spiritual experiences were had along the way. We also played at the Family Learning Center, carding wool, dipping candles, making rope, and building a barrel. It was really fun. 

We got to hang out in the basement for a minute due to the tornado siren.

It was FREEZING!!

We had a ton of fun at the Family Living Center.

Seth and Mom made a really good bucket.

We enjoyed visiting all the houses we missed last time.

Dax had a double ham sandwich.

Nauvoo is so great!

After walking the Trail of Hope, we drove down to Dairy Queen for dinner. Along the way, we stopped at a waterfall, and watched the birds on the river. There were scaups, herons, and great egrets. We added that to the cardinals, pileated woodpecker, and numerous bald eagles we'd already seen, and this trip became quite a bird watching adventure. 

To top the day off, we even let Seth and Dax swim in the pool. 

Mom and Dad walked the Trail of Hope.

We stopped at this cool bridge.

The waterfall was a quick stop, but so pretty!

Easter in Iowa

Happy Easter!

Easter fell on the first weekend of Spring Break in 2026, and we decided to take a road trip. Dad took a half day on Saturday, and we rolled out of Lehi about noon headed for Iowa. The plan was to spend Easter with Gary's family, and then continue on to Nauvoo. Finally, we'd spend a day with Tyler's family in Kansas City where he is finishing up his internship, and then we'd return home.

We chose a good stop over site to stay the night in Nebraska called Ogalala. We'd arrive about 10 o'clock with a stop for dinner, and then finish the drive on Saturday. We were moving along I-80 pretty well until we started to get close to Laramie. Dad was driving, and snow was blowing across the road so thickly in places that visibility would drop to zero for a second or two. One lane was covered in blown snow, but our progress was still okay. We decided to stop in Laramie for dinner in hopes that it would blow over. 

This was the start of the snow.

Dinner was delicious!

It was a good stop!

After dinner at Perkins, Mom noticed that the map app was sending her back west on I-80, so she hopped on going east, assuming it was a mistake. Within a quarter mile, we noticed that traffic was backed up, the freeway was indefinitely closed, and no one was getting through. She made a crazy decision to flip the van around right in the middle of the freeway and drive backwards up the ramp. Miraculously, we didn't pass a single car, and we got on I-80 going back the way we'd come. Maps rerouted us south toward Fort Collins, which looped down into Colorado. It was nearly dark, and it added about 75 minutes to our drive. Worse, the road was iced over and really treacherous. But it turned out to be the right decision, because after we crossed into Colorado, we didn't see another bit of ice or snow. Soon we joined 1-80 back at Cheyenne and made it to the hotel around 11 'clock. 

On the road again!

We listened to General Conference on the drive into Gilbert where Gary lives, and things went much better. We arrived before 4 o'clock, and it was good to see family. John had come into town for Easter eve. We dyed Easter eggs, and had a few contests. Gary gave away $10 to the winner of each game. Mom won the ring toss game (of course), and Seth won the card game. Shelley, Emiko, and John won the egg dyeing contests. Then we settled in for the night. (Well, Dad and Gary talked until 3am.)

The ring toss game was similar to ours, but way tougher.

We love dying eggs!

Seth made some great eggs.

Randy tried to sway the judge by dying an egg that said, "I love Gary."

Mom went for pretty.

Dax was super creative.

The egg judging!

On Easter morning after breakfast, Matt showed up. We had a few more contests, including egg spinning, which Matt won. The idea was to spin your egg for as long as possible. Then we crashed the spinning eggs into one another, preparing them for deviled eggs later. We also had an egg hunt. Ten eggs were hidden for each person to find, and they were timed as they found them. Then the eggs were replaced for the next person. Dax won this contest easily. 

Dax ended up being the fastest.

Mom was not fast.

All morning Emiko worked on ramen. She let us knead the home made noodles with our feet, walking them flat. Then she made us each a piping hot bowl with corn, carrots, cabbage, sausage, and a boiled egg. It was easily the best ramen we'd ever eaten. 

We all took a turn making the ramen noodles.

Dad, too!

Dax soon became the noodle maker.

Emiko put him in charge of the ramen noodle maker.

The yummiest ramen ever.

Even Seth ate it!

After lunch we played a few more games. Then we went for a walk down at the local park. Finally, Gary took us down to ISU and showed us his office and walked us around campus. Dax even acted as if he might be recruited to come out to Iowa for school!

There was a lovely sunset on our park walk.

The lunch room at ISU.

The bell tower.

On Monday morning we woke up and fielded Mark's call. Matt and John had gone on Sunday night, and Shelley was at school, but Mark had fun talking to Gary and Emiko. It was a really amazing Easter that will stand out as one we'll always remember.

We played with the dog Chewy a lot.

He loved the attention.