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.