Our year for a spouse vacation. I took nearly 500 pictures so this blog was hard to compose. And even with all this text I had to leave a lot out. Hopefully pictures really are worth a thousand words. We left IDAHO Drove to Greg and Syringas after work Thursday. (UTAH) We basically put the kids to bed and headed out. Katana freaked out a little because she comprehended 2 Sundays was a long time to be apart from us. The thought of using their passes and spending time with cousins made it OK. Preston and I drove to somewhere near Price and pulled over. We could have drove into the night but Spanish Fork canyon in the dark had me carsick. We took the van, the futon mattress, folded down all the seats in the back and had us a comfy camper. FRIDAY- Denver, (COLORADO) We took a free tour of Hammonds Candy Company. Free candy at the end. Though for being famous we didn't think it was very good stuff. Walked around a bit. Old churches and homes. One the Basilica of Immaculate Conception. Very beautiful-stained glass- buttresses and sculptures; more than a dozen patrons and tourists milled about the chapel. For a religious structure it was architecturally magnificent but spiritually hollow. We ended the day in the only place Preston insisted we go. OGALLALA NEBRASKA. Growing up they watched Lonesome Dove like we watched Newsies. In the Summer they have a little production at the saloon but we passed in May at about 10 pm.
The cool thing about a vacation with no kids is you go wherever. whenever. however. Driving along I-80 we pass the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. "Hey whats that?" so we stop for an hour-stretch our legs. The dispenser was broke so Preston could wiggle some food out to bait these giant catfish. We walked the river with statues and mud hut displays then played in the kid maze fort for a while. Even Preston got lost. We made it to Winter Quarters near Omaha NEBRASKA around dinner time. Toured the Visitor Center first then they sent us to Council Bluff, IOWA just across the river. Originally known as Miller's Hollow—now Kanesville in honor of Thomas L. Kane famous Pioneer. It was here the Mormon battalion departed and a major outfitting point for the trek west. The senior couple was just about to close up but gave us a quick tour anyway. Then back to NEBRASKA. The temple sessions were every other hour but on this Saturday there was no 6pm. Kind of a bummer but we were able to do initiatory and it was wonderful. Then we walked the cemetery grounds and actually found some family names. The spirit and atmosphere was surreal.
It's customary for Preston to loose his wallet on vacation. We were able to visit Keokuk IOWA twice in one day and meet the local L.E.O's. Thankfully I had my cards if needed but most of the trip was a cash budget under the floor mat. (His name and # were written on the inside. Found by some walkers and mailed to us the following week. Huge blessing. Reminds me there are still honest good people out there.) We hit all the other sights on the Mormon trail so naturally we had to make a detour to Nauvoo ILLINOIS. We arrived Sunday early evening. Preston was excited to see the Missisippi. "That's a "L" of a big river. and dirty too!" We walked the "Trail of Hope" and toured a few shops. Day 2 our first order of business was the Temple. The second was Carthage. We were the only ones at the jail but it was not empty. If you go to Nauvoo and don't experience Carthage you've missed something special. One of the highlights of the trip hands down. Back to Ol'Nauvoo. The print shop with all it's word origins was interesting. ( ding bat-pretty little thing that takes up space. upper case/ lower case. mind your pq's. bd's, cut to the chase.) At the blacksmith shop we got our desert diamonds. Brick yard we got like 5 oops bricks each. Preston was intrigued by the gunshop. Did you know Browning was LDS? Land and Records office was new. We were able to dig up information on a few names from both our family's and with a plot map drove around and found roughly where they had lived. I came to Nauvoo as a kid but I learned and saw so much this time. Different time. Perspective. One thing I didn't do last time but was glad to experience this time was a tour of the other buildings owned by the Community of Christ Church. I was blown away to realize we have the same base. It was Joseph Smiths son that headed the church after the saints had left. Feeling the organization should pass to him by birthright. We watched an introductory church video that was the first vision and exodus of the saints-- sort of. It was lacking the light of it. Skimming over the fact GOD spoke to Joseph and skipping to this great religion they preserve. They have the original doctrines but "choose not to continue the practice of some of the ordinances." The whole tour was a total contrast to the spirit that emanates from the rest of Nauvoo. We had a full day but could have used 2 or 3 there was so much to see. And it was the off season. We were pretty much the only tourist in Nauvoo. There was only one play that the senior missionaries put on. It was a full house as the mini-missionaries had just arrived. Their energy made it so fun.
Tuesday Pit stop in Hannibal MISSOURI. Home town of Mark Twain. Took a short walking tour w/info plaques and a statue of Tom and Huck. People on our trip were worried we wouldn't make it threw the Ozark due to road closures and washouts. We made it. Our idea for this road trip was a vacation package offer in the mail. Basically you sit threw a sales pitch for an hour; tour over priced vacation homes; explain you don't have money, or interest to invest in their product and were just taking advantage of the discounted show tickets. And for $150 you get 4 days 3 nights in a vacation resort village. First touristy spot we stopped was Table Rock Dam. Our first show was the Branson Bell Showboat. I loved the old paddle wheels. OK food but it was the Atmosphere you were after anyway. It was an overcast day but both times we went top side the sun came out and it was gorgeous.With all the rain and flooding in the area the main dock was actually under like 10 feet water. I loved the themed buildings in town. Pasghetti's, Titanic museum, Hollywood land, Ripley's believe it or not. Chicken house Restaurant and so much more. We took a wine distillery tour. Very interesting: Harvest, barrel making, filling, air, marketing. I think they thought I was pregnant when we skipped out on the tasting portion. Second show was Hamners Unbelievable Variety Show. A little of everything with a big helping of magic. Preston wasn't sold on the Abba singing section. Ribbon dancers and a guy that balanced inside a giant hula hoop stunts were amazing. Our last show was Acrobats of China and by far our favorite. Girls on 10 foot unicycles balancing bowls on their heads while juggling. 15 riding one or a bike pyramid 3 abreast. The most amazing pole dance I've ever seen. Arial dancers. A floor routine with a girl so limber I swear she had no backbone. Jugglers that undressed and redressed without missing a beat. Talented. Amazing.
Made it to Independence Friday night before we stopped. We thought we had a temple there. Turns out we just have the ground and a corner stone. The rest and the rights belong to the Community of Christ. They have a temple there. And it's hideous. We toured the Liberty Jail historical sight. After that we were pretty much done with vacationing. I don't think we even stopped in KANSAS. Just outside Denver we got off an exit with no return ramp and ended up driving threw Central City COLORADO. A 200 feet crevices with the casinos and shops built right up to the canyon walls on both sides. Kind of a neat find. We waited till the next morning to go over Loveland pass so we could get a picture on the continental divide. Elevation 11,990. Sunny shorts weather to snow and jacket and back again in one day. Beautiful drive. We made it back to UTAH Sunday evening. Not sure who was more excited-- us to see our kids or the Proctors to give them back.
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