First of all, I want to thank our sons for their generous Christmas gift last year of sending us on this fabulous Church History trip. We waited until fall to go so it wouldn't be too hot or too cold, and it's easier for Curt to get away. It turned out to be a combo business/vacation trip... as are most of our vacations! But I don't mind. It pays the bills and Uncle Sam can help us out with tax write offs!
Sept. 17, 2007 - So we started off with a less than 24 hour stop over in Dallas, TX, with a plane change in Phoenix on the way. (If you want to count cities... start now) We spent the night in a little town called McKinney, about an hour north of Dallas. If we went any further than that, we would have been sleeping out in the fields with the cows. We drove another hour in the morning to see a customer that literally was located in the middle of nowhere! Went back to the airport and were back on our way be 2:00 pm. By the way, we go to try out a Chrysler 300 for our rental car. I've been lusting after one but the cost is beyond our means. I have to say, it wasn't anything special. I was comfortable, but our Mercury Grand Marquis has way better features on the dash, etc.
Sept. 18 - We flew to Rochester, NY with a plane change in Philadelphia. We ate dinner there just so we could say we did and because we were hungry and they don't feed you on the plane anymore. (bags of stale pretzels and peanuts don't count... and don't get me started on the minuscule size of a glass of Diet Pepsi when I am dying of thirst! Oh wait! It's ALWAYS Diet Coke on the airlines!)
We arrived in Rochester late in the evening, picked up our wonderful Mercury Grand Marquis (just like the one we drive at home!)and drove the 35 miles to Palmyra where we stayed a couple on nights.
Sept. 19 - We walked were God the Father and His Son appeared to the boy prophet Joseph. How awesome is that? I can't even express the feelings I had. We toured the humble home of Joseph Smith Sr. where Joseph lived when he went through the beginnings of the restoration.
We also attended the temple, toured the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was first published and visited the hill Cumorah.
Sept 20 - After a stop at the home of Peter Whittmer in Fayette, NY, we started on our way to Kirtland, OH. The drive took the rest of the day with a detour to see Niagara Falls and have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe - Niagara Falls! (that's about as romantic as I can conjure up) I had a near death experience on our way back from the Falls. There is a VERY steep, narrow bridge that crosses the river to the island where the falls are located. It was very scary to me when Curt was driving over it. To make matters worse, on the way back, I had just yelled at him for drifting towards a concrete barrier because he wasn't paying attention and it took me twice to get his attention so that got my adrenaline going! Then while crossing the bridge he took out his ringing cell phone and is LOOKING AT the caller ID while driving over the narrow bridge. I came a little unglued to say the least. We arrived in the Kirtland area in the evening all in one piece, and happily never had any more driving mishaps (or tickets!).
Sept 21 - It was an interesting tour of the Kirtland Temple. It is owned and maintained by the Community of Christ Church and they have a fairly negative slant on history. But knowing what we do of the temple, it was wonderful to step into the temple, through the very same doors that the Prophet Joseph and others went through, and stand in a place where many great things happened.
We also spent some time visiting a couple of our suppliers, one in Mentor, OH which is very close to Kirtland and the other was a couple hours drive down by Columbus. We discovered that we were in the same place as some of the stops of the Zion's Camp. There was a hill nearby where it was revealed to Joseph that a great Nephite battle had taken place. Many years later there were many bones uncovered during construction.
Sept 22 - We toured the NK Whitney store, home, saw mill and ashery. I learned that upstairs in the Whitney store, God the Father appeared to several while attending the School of the Prophets. Again, my testimony was embedded in me through the witness of the Spirit in another holy place.
We had planned to drive part way to Nauvoo and stay somewhere along the way, but ended up driving all the way. It was the longest part of any of the driving. We never saw so much corn in our whole entire lives all added together. (the whole trip from NY to Nebraska was corn, corn, corn and some soybeans) It was a beautiful drive that was fascinating just for the fact that we had never seen this part of the country before. The drive took us through Ohio, across Indiana and all the way across Illinois. We ate dinner at a kind of scary truck stop in Gary, IN just outside of Chicago because Taco Bell just sounded good. We arrived in Nauvoo late in the evening.
Sept 23 - It was Sunday and we attended church were I think 1/3 of the congregation were visitors. After church we went to the Visitors Center and some of the sites in town. We were able to see the bakery (where we bumped into our son-in-laws parents... small world!), the home and shop of Jonathon Browning, the maker of famous guns, the post office, the cultural hall, the home of John Taylor and probably some others before closing time. We stood at the end of Parley St. as the sun went down and I thought about how the Saints left their beautiful city after all their struggles to build it. How would I have done through it all? It was interesting that the some of the locals haven't changed their feelings about "the Mormons", as we witnessed while having some dinner in a little cafe in Nauvoo. There are very limited places to eat in Nauvoo, especially on Sunday. The cafe also served liquor and there were several men drinking and commenting in increasingly loud voices as they turned to stare about "those Mormons" with a few of us present in the room. We ignored them and went on our way.
Sept 24 - We spent the whole day touring Nauvoo after first attending a session at the temple. What a beautiful temple! It is definitely on my short list for favorites. I am sure that the pioneer Saints would be so very pleased. Across from the temple is the statue of Joseph and Hyrum on horseback that depicts them as they stopped to gaze over their beloved city and leave their families as they rode off to Carthage. My heart is full of gratitude for their sacrifices in service.
The Spirit testified many times as we toured Brigham Youngs home, Heber Kimball's home, etc. In the evening we attended a wonderful play performed by the senior missionaries and performed in the Cultural Hall were the early saints also attended such things.
Sept 25 - It was a short drive to Carthage where we toured the jail where the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were martyred. Instead of sadness, I think that I experienced great peace and gratitude. What happened was to be, and it shaped what was to become of the church and those who chose to follow the leadership in faith. Joseph had completed his work and oh, what a work it was. His brother Hyrum was loyal, faithful and unwavering. We are proud to have a grandson named after him and pray that he may live up to his namesake.
After our morning in Carthage we drove to southern Illinois to a tiny town called, Dongola, which is about 20 miles from the border of Illinois and Kentucky/Missouri. We were within 175 miles from Graceland in Memphis, TN and I had to fight the urge to go there! Curt visited another customer there and we drove across the Missouri line to have dinner with him and his wife in Cape Girardeau at a Cracker Barrel. Good Food! We spent the night there. I was also greatly relieved that 7-11 once again appeared on the landscape. I had no idea that they were only west of the Mississippi! It might affect any further decisions to travel east!
Sept 26 - Another beautiful drive took us through Missouri and some more country we had never seen. More corn. We drove through Springfield but didn't have time to stop at the historical sites dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. We arrived in Independence and toured the Visitor Center and Liberty Jail. To see the conditions and place where Joseph suffered during his captivity there was inspiring. How can my burdens be so heavy? What can I endure? Even the Prophet must have considered his suffering to the suffering of the Savior before him.
We started on our way to see the rest of the Missouri sites, but since it was approaching darkness, we spent the night in a little town along the way that was famous for being the hometown of Jesse James. (I can't remember the name)
Sept 27 - Our first stop was at Far West, where out in the countryside, in the midst of farm land, there is a beautiful park like setting where the corner stones are still placed for the promised temple to be built there. It was from this site that many missionaries met under the cover of darkness to leave on their missions as was prophesied and the locals had vowed to stop. We know that God's work will not be stopped. It gave me fleeting desires of buying land in the area so I could someday have a front row seat! Just a bit down the road is a Deseret Book store opened in a log cabin structure with the owners living in the basement. On a very secluded farm road in Missouri!!
Our next stop was at Adam-ondi-Ahmen. It is easy to envision what has taken place there and what will someday take place there. It is a beautiful valley and so peaceful. There is a hilltop where Joseph revealed that alters to be found there belonged to ancient Nephites.
We continued our drive to Omaha where we spent the next two nights with my brother Steve. We visited, went out for some great bar-b-q, sightseeing, attended the temple at Winter Quarters and visited the Visitor Center there.
On Saturday, the 29th we traveled home after arising at the inhumane hour of 4 a.m. (that's 2 a.m. Pacific time) to catch a 6:20 a.m. flight back to Portland. We figured the NY - Nebraska drive totaled about 2300 miles and doesn't include the Texas side trip or the commute to Portland and back. It was wonderful and a trip of a lifetime! We collected acorns, walnuts, chestnuts and some unknown seeds from trees all along the way and labeled them in bags. Someday they will be our own "groves from sacred places" planted along the creek that runs though the property we plan to build on. Our children's grandchildren will enjoy them!
