Nauvoo, Illinois - Road Trip Day1

We planned another epic cross country trip this summer, and it didn't disappoint!  Our destination was West Yellowstone, Montana where we were to meet up with Brian's parents and stay in the nice cabin they rented for the week.  On our first day we drove 8 hours to the church historical town of Nauvoo, Illinois.  Since it sits between highway 70 and 80 it is never super convenient to get to, but always worth the effort!  I love Nauvoo!

Here we are shortly after leaving at 5 am - look at how clean the car is...and I don't know why I even bother with those library books!  They never got touched by any of us.  We are all too busy playing!  

One fun surprise was Grant complained the whole first hour about his tummy hurting, but we didn't think much of it since he never gets car sick.  Well...not far after Louisville he threw up on himself and then into a ziplock bag of grapes I grabbed.  Ew and Ew.  We pulled off into a parking lot and stripped him down and put his vomit clothes in a bag and got him a fresh outfit.  He was absolutely fine after that.  Weird.  I washed his nasty clothes out in a McDonalds sink, which I'm sure they appreciated.  I just didn't make eye contact with anyone and left asap.  Haha.  

Nauvoo was unusually cool and not very busy at all...just how we like it!  We learned about brick making and toured many of the homes and sites.

We took a picture in front of my g.g.g.g grandfather's house that is still standing.  When the church was forced to leave town, they had to stay an extra week or so because his wife was about to give birth.  Sadly, she and the baby died, so Simeon and his other kids went west after the burial.  

We walked the trail of hope - the old road the wagons took to ferry across the Mississippi River to head west for religious freedom.  It is really quite remarkable what the pioneers did.  It is usually glossed over in American history - but to have to leave such a beautiful town by force and to go into the unknown and into the western territories was no small feat.  Many died making the journey to be permitted to worship without fear of mobs and persecution.  It is very important to me to teach my children this important part of history, not only because it is part of their family heritage, but to learn from the past and to love those around them in modern society that believe differently, and respect and learn from differences - something that was not awarded to the Mormon pioneers in the mid 1800's.  

The Mississippi River is huge!!

This is what the barges looked like that they ferried the wagons over.  Can you imagine?

Grant found a friend.

The Nauvoo Temple is so pretty.

There are lots of concerts and plays in Nauvoo, but we only had time for the Nauvoo Brass Band concert and a fun variety show called Sunset over Nauvoo.  We really enjoyed both - especially the variety show.  It was awesome.

We camped at the Nauvoo Campground - a bizarre little place right in the city limits.  I can't say it was the most amazing place ever - but it got the job done.  There is zero cell phone service in most of Nauvoo so we knew we might get rained on - but what we didn't know or expect was that it would be pouring rain and thunderstorms all.night.long.  

At one point we talked about leaving, but felt like it would be best to stay - so we slept the best we could until around 5:30 am we woke up to a flash of lightning followed by incredibly LOUD thunder immediately after.  It shook us all up pretty good to be out in the elements and be nearly struck by lightning so we sent the kids to the car - deflated air mattresses and literally rolled the tent up like a big burrito and shoved it in the car, tarp and all, and got the heck outta there!  Talk about a true pioneer experience!  Whew.  We were on the road by 6 am, and happy to put a long night of camping behind us!

Here we are enjoying our lovely dinner of backpacker meals.  Easy peasy.  We are campers - but NOT camp cookers.  It's either something quick or we go out to eat!  I plan the trip and Brian plans the food stops.  We are a great team!