The Drive Home - Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois - Day 3

I thought it would be harder to wake up this morning, but thankfully I'd listened to the voice that said to go to bed last night, so it wasn't too bad. Driving across the country and kind of adjusting to the time as you go during the day, it kind of works... we'll see I guess! After breakfast we were off, not quite as early as Ken wanted, but it was hard to wake up Fiona! We were on the road just after 10, so not too bad!

I think I've driven through Kansas before, but I'm not exactly sure. I don't think I was prepared for how beautiful it was. After we left Hays, the landscape just didn't stay the same. There were rolling hills, there were trees, there were huge prairie fields, it was its own dynamic space. I kept wanting to take pictures because I wanted to bring it home with me. The pictures - at least my car window pictures just don't do it justice.

We stopped for lunch just before 1 pm and when I realized how little Kansas we had left I was actually sad. Ken and I switched drivers after lunch and I started reading. I had told Ken that last night I had downloaded all the church history stuff in the gospel library app. I had read a little thing about polygamy last night. Some church history stuff is hard, hard to understand, hard to make sense of. But the conclusion of this article, was that the people involved in polygamy all had very similar experiences - they originally were horrified, had an amazing spiritual experience, and went forward in faith. And that is what I want to always do, go forward in faith.

I started reading to Ken out of "Church History in the Fullness of Times - Student Manual". I started reading in chapter 8 (I think I read a little of chapter 7 too) and it was fascinating. My understanding of when they went where is limited. It was really cool reading about the Saints going to Ohio and then to Missouri as we drove across Missouri. Ken was awesome and just kept driving, and I just kept reading. We're currently in the middle of Chapter 12 and I'm excited to keep reading tomorrow!

I can't remember what time it was when we crossed into Missouri - I could look at the time stamp, but it was so green, and lush, and beautiful too. I didn't look around quite as much because of the reading, but still, watching the country change before your eyes is really amazing. I'm just loving this experience. The girls are being pretty amazing too.

We were in Iowa for I think 10 minutes - maybe 15, before we were crossing over the Mississippi into Illinois. I took video crossing the bridge like I promised Fiona I would on the drive out. Driving along the Mississippi towards Nauvoo was so beautiful. I wanted to stop, but I'm glad we didn't.

We checked into our hotel, picked up some snacks from the gas station, and then went to go see the Pageant.

On Wednesdays the Pageant that is performed is The British Pageant - Truth will Prevail. The story is about a few different families - in the write up about it, it says that much of the text of the performance comes from journal entries of the early Saints from England. The girls enjoyed the show, I know Kate really felt the spirit. I know I did. The stories of the early pioneers, their faith, their perseverance, their endurance, it is so uplifting, and so inspiring. Their stories give me courage. I'm so grateful to be in Nauvoo with my family. I'm excited to see things tomorrow, and most importantly I'm excited to feel things tomorrow. I'm grateful for the spirit that testifies of the truthfulness of the gospel, and I'm so grateful to share that with my Ken, and my girls tomorrow. Life is good!

The Drive Home - Colorado and Kansas - Day 2

We woke up in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Originally we had come here to go to the hot springs and swim, but with a misunderstanding about the hotel and the hot springs, we decided that sadly the hot springs were a no go. However, there was this gondola that went up the mountain that looked pretty cool so we decided that we would do that instead.

We ate breakfast, packed up the room, and went to buy tickets to the gondola. We're in line, reading all the information, and I'm not quite believing what I'm reading, or the map of a theme park at the top of the mountain... but there it is. After convincing Alice, we all went up to the top and low and behold, there's a whole theme park up there!

It was really cool. We obviously weren't going to spend the day at the theme park, but we got out, walked around, took some pictures, bought a magnet and then went back down. Alice was so scared at first. She didn't want to go up at all. She was almost in tears so many times. I don't know what it was that we said that finally convinced her, but up she went, and she was so proud of herself. Kate said she was having a hard time breathing because she was too high up, Ken wouldn't go near the edge of the lookout. Fiona and I were fine, but goodness, we are certainly not mountain goats!

We set off on the road again to enjoy whatever the 70 would bring. I did the driving. I don't like driving in the mountains. I don't feel at home in the mountains at all, but goodness they're beautiful. The drive was amazing. So amazing. We saw a sign with an elevation of 8400 feet, and we all exclaimed that we were at our highest point ever, only to get to Vail and see the sign for 10, 662 feet. So crazy. It was so beautiful.

We came around Denver, and there was lots of traffic, and all the big city stuff, and pretty abruptly the mountains were done. We came out of Denver onto the flat prairie. I've been to Denver before, flying in and out, many years ago, but I don't really remember it. I wasn't really prepared though for how flat and empty eastern Colorado would be! We were worried that we wouldn't find anywhere to eat lunch, but Ken found this cute diner in Bennett, Colorado, and we had a yummy lunch.

And then we were on the road. Our final destination was Hays, Kansas, the central time zone and more flat, flat prairie!

Tomorrow it's off to Nauvoo!

The Drive Home - Day 1

Saying goodbye stinks. STINKS! It feels really drastic this time leaving my sister on the opposite side of the country. I don't like it one bit. It took a while to finish packing and get organized. Ken was really patient and didn't rush me, and that was really nice. I missed Joey. He went out to mow some lawns with some new friends and he was out when we left. Anna had a play date this morning at 10 - she's so excited to make new friends. The girls had fun playing this morning for a bit, and we finally ended up leaving shortly after 11.

Our first stop was going back to Suzanne's... Alice somehow didn't hear me tell her to pee seventeen times! We got on the road and Fiona started asking for food, but wanted all the food, so we stopped in Orem to pick up baggies, so that I could make a snack bag for Fiona. The drive through the canyon was so beautiful. Ken wanted to do the back route and we did. I took too many pics out the car window.

Going the back route meant a very special stop today!! We drove through Vernal. It was P-Day and I was able to email back and forth just enough to figure out where to meet up with Maggie aka Sis. Egan. It was so awesome to be able to visit with her for a little bit. She's doing great. Just finishing up in her first area on her mission. She transfers to Salem on Wednesday. She told me she was feeling nervous about it, but us visiting her has helped calm her down. I wanted to see her too because I miss her Mom so much. I didn't tell her that, but it felt like I was visiting my Heidi - in part. It was a tender mercy to be able to see her today.

After Vernal it was back on the road. Our final destination being Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I took some silly pics of dinosaurs - we were in dinosaur country. We drove past a dinosaur museum that looked pretty cool, and we drove through Dinosaur, Colorado. FUN! Oh and we could see the smoke from a couple of fires - cool but not cool.

The hotel has an awesome pool - the girls had fun swimming, and there's a gondola up the mountain, that I think we'll go on in the morning.

I'm thankful, so thankful for this trip, for the time I've had with family, and for the amazing people and places that we're seeing along the way!