Spring Break 2009 Trip Day 4 Nauvoo

What a day!! WHAT A DAY!!! Our day started off with an in room continental breakfast again, but this time we had filled out a slip of paper and got a selection more to our tastes. We planned to be at the visitor's center at 9:00 am to get tickets for a 10:00 am wagon ride. We showed up to an open but apparently entirely empty visitor's center. Then we heard a talk or something coming from a theater. It turned out that Elder Neuenschwander (sp?) was visiting and the missionaries were having a meeting. The meeting got out at 10:00 am making the first wagon ride of the day the 12:00 pm ride.

We were able to talk one of the missionaries into showing us a movie out of turn since the schedules were all thrown off anyway. They showed us a movie about the Prophet Joseph Smith that played at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building a couple of years ago. I think it is called Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. It is an amazing and moving movie. Several times during the movie I tried to put myself in the Prophet's shoes and each time I came up short (no pun intended). He was an amazing man, prophet, and leader.

The wagon ride was fun. One of the senior missionaries narrated while Ben and Rocky (the horses) did all the work. We just got to sit there and have things pointed out to us. The following picture is one of the Nauvoo groves in which outdoor meetings were held.



Along Parley Street to the Mississippi River is a trail called the Trail of Hope (formerly called the Trail of Sorrow. The Saint marched down Parley Street to the river to cross over to Montrose during the exodus. The trail contains plaques with statements from exodus participants. (This cow was watching us as if we were the items of interest.

They offered covered wagon rides pulled by oxen, but we didn't get down that far. So much to do and so little time.

This is a statue of Joseph and Brigham at the Pioneer Memorial and Exodus to Greatness. This is the point at which they crossed the river to Montrose, IA.

This is a picture of the temple taken from the wagon. This is from the "flats" where most of the Old Nauvoo restoration has taken place.

You can't read the sign, but this carriage was once owned by Heber C Kimball. We wound up taking Heber's picture a lot. When the missionaries would get curious about what we were doing and we would explain that we were taking Heber C's picture with Heber C's stuff, they would get excited and start treating Heber special. And you go from house to shop to house, all with different people, all who need an explanation, all who think it is neat and treat him special for their 15 to 20 minutes. It go to the point that the first thing out of his mouth was, "I'm Heber C." I felt bad for the other kids. We realized today the Heber C Kimball's wife was named Anna and, of course, Spencer W was his descendant. We are trying to find a Rachel link.

The kids got to help make rope.

This is obviously the Heber C Kimball home. This house was cool for several reasons: it is historical, it is big and comfortable, and it started it all. Heber's great grandson bought this home in 1954 and restored it intending to use it as a summer home for his family, but it became a popular tourist attraction so he started a Nauvoo restoration society and began the work that has brought us what we have today.

Sorry, no pictures of the Smith properties. They are owned by the Community of Christ Church (formerly the RLDS). They do not allow pictures in the Smith properties. They do put on a good tour (the introductory video is a little different). It was cool to see the places and even some of the original furniture.

After we got done with all of this, we made it back to the hotel too late for dinner (it was after 5:00 pm). So while I headed to the temple, Jen and the kids loaded up to head for the next town over to get some dinner. The temple was AMAZING! It is beautiful. It is old school so it has different rooms for the different steps in progression. There are three different murals in three different rooms.Unfortunately, the early bird gets the front of the room, so I didn't get to see as much of the murals as I would like to have.

As a follow up to a comment I made earlier, I was pondering some of the day's events while in the temple and I thought of the video from this morning. While I will never measure up to the Prophet, I realized that who he was, he owed to the Lord. And the Lord is willing to help me overcome my shortcomings, too.

Before the temple session, I had a discussion with the officiator during which I expressed a desire to see the baptistry. After the session, he found me in the locker room and offered to escort me to the baptistry. I also got to see the sword Joseph gave to Brother Allred. It is in the President's office. What a great trip and what a fabulous day.

It's been a long day and I am tired. And because of the slow internet connection in the hotel, I have had to type much of this twice. I am going to bed now.

Spring Break 2009 Trip Day 3 Nauvoo

Day 3 started out with a continental breakfast in the hotel room. This hotel brings the breakfast the night before and provides a coffee maker to heat water for the oatmeal, the hot chocolate, and the hot cider. It's a great idea that allows us to eat breakfast on our own schedule and saves us the time of getting dressed and going to the lobby. It doesn't give us the luxury of chocolate chip waffles though.

The first item on the agenda for today was a trip to Carthage to visit the historic Carthage Jail. Another gloomy, gray day brought a cool wind that was made cold by the humidity.



The visitor's center at the Carthage Jail was nearly empty. There were three other groups with our family in our tour. After viewing a short video of the history of the prophet (The actor that portrayed the prophet looked just like the statues and the pictures of Joseph Smith. I also never realized how much Ray Romano looks like Joseph Smith. Visit Carthage. You'll see.) Then we got a tour of the jail. Talk about history coming to life. Standing in that building and trying to picture the events occurring as the Senior Missionary recounted them was incredible and moving.



Heber and Anna are seated on the window sill of the actual window through which Joseph fell at his death. The walls of the jail house are 3' thick, so the sill is deep. And the jail house is just that, a house. This is acutally the bedroom of the couple that ran the jail. They moved the group into this room to keep them safe from prowlers around the jail and moved themselves and their family downstairs.


The hole by Rachel's head is believed to have been made by the bullet that killed Hyrum. This is the original door. There is a piece that was cut out and replaced just above the latch, but the door is the original door and believed to be in mostly the original condition.

This cell is called the dungeon cell even though it is on the 2nd floor. It is completely encased in limestone and timbers. The group was moved from this room because is got too hot. There are tiny windows and poor ventilation. Had they been in this cell, probably ever member of the group would have been killed.

The front of the jail house.

The window on the second story is the window through which the prophet fell. I don't think the courtyard was concrete back then.

We are standing in front of a statue of the Smith brothers.

The kids are standing near the main entrance to the Nauvoo Temple. Mom is inside attending a session. When we returned from Carthage, she went to the Temple while the kids had some "quiet" time. It actually worked. Everyone but Spencer took a cat nap. Then we visited the accommodations house and viewed some videos about the temple. The inside of this temple is BEAUTIFUL. I can't wait for my turn tomorrow. Then we came back and waited for Mom.

The view from the front gate of the temple.

Looking down from the bluff across Old Nauvoo. It is giving me spring fever to see all the green. There were green fields here and there in Kansas, but Missouri and Illinois have a lot of green. Some of the trees in Missouri have started to leaf out. I have decided that if I were called back to one of the settlements in Missouri to help establish one of the several temples for which the cornerstones were laid and the site dedicated in one of the several communites dedicated in Missouri, I could survive it. It is not as flat and barren as I thought it would be. The trip from Nauvoo to Carthage... flatter than Kansas... flatter than a basketball court. Kansas? Well, Paige had it exactly right when she said watching Kansas is "BOOORING".

Self explanatory from our previous discussions.

After Mom got back to the hotel and changed, we went to the visitor's center to plan our day tomorrow and get whatever tickets we are going to need. It turned out that they had some cancellations for tonight's Rendezvous With Old Nauvoo so we got tickets for tonight's show. Then we wandered until dinner.

The show was at 7:00 pm local time. It was a great time. It is put on by the senior missionaries. There must have been nearly 20 couples involved in the show. They acted and they sang and they involved the crowd. We laughed and we shouted and we clapped and had a great time. They reserved the front two rows for kids and they talk directly to the kids and point at them and believe it or not, our kids sat quietly and attentively up there all by themselves. The older two never even came back to us once.

The kids are now sound asleep and a good thing, too. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow full of wagon rides and historic houses and museums and shops. And I get my turn to see the temple.

Spring Break 2009 Trip Day 2 Nauvoo

Here goes my first attempt at blogging. YEAH for me.-Jen

The 2nd day came after little sleep because of coughing kids throughout the night. But we did get to have chocolate chip waffles for breakfast down in the hotel lobby. So that made up for the lost sleep.
With the kids bellies full and ready to go, we headed out for the great unknown. And unknown is definitely the word. We got lost and headed in the wrong direction (including a stretch going the wrong way on a toll road with no warning or way to exit, Vern biting the head off of some poor toll booth worker, and much muttering about the sacrilege about having to pay to use a "freeway", I-70) but finally got back heading the right way and were off to see what Missouri had in store for us.

Here in the distance you can barely see Kansas City.

Even thought it was cloudy, Vern and I couldn't believe that the view around us was so nice. Of course I didn't know what to expect, but I was happy to see that it wasn't all that flat and had lots of rolling hills.

Here a diesel went through the guard rail and into the creek below. Another semi was pulled over about a half mile up the hill without a driver. We wondered if he hadn't run this truck off the road.

After finally getting through Missouri and without any mob trouble (we removed the "CTR" bumper sticker in Kansas ;-)), we got to go through Iowa for about 5 whole minutes. This is Keokuk, IA.

And then we got to the Mississippi River. WOW!! That thing is HUGE!! I couldn't believe the size and the width of it. Though I thought that it would be a lot deeper, it wasn't. I thought that I could see the Loch Ness Monster at one point and Rachel swore she could see a shark. But it was only branches of trees that had fallen.

And then we were finally there. NAUVOO! I was so excited, the kids were excited and I think Vern was excited to not be driving any more.

Here is our hotel.

Spencer had gotten out of the truck first and was off exploring while Dad was checking us in. He came running back telling me that he had seen a big statue of Joseph Smith. So we got our shoes on and headed out to see this statue. I really like this one.

This is a view from our room in the hotel. Isn't it awesome?! Our room is on the 3rd floor and takes up the entire north end of the building. Three beds and great views.

This is Zion's Mercantile (ZCMI). It's where we checked in to our room and then had dinner with half a million, give or take, senior missionaries.

After we got done eating, there was a little bit of light left and a little bit of time before we needed to get the kids ready for bed so we headed over to the temple to look around.

This statue is across the street from the temple. It is a statue of the moment that Joseph and Hyrum paused to look at Nauvoo and the unfinished temple on their last journey together, to Carthage, where we are headed in the morning.

The final pose for the night in front of the temple. The Angel Moroni was in the view window of the camera when the picture was taken. Camera's fault.

This is the stairway heading up to the third floor of the hotel and our room.

Here is the sun going down over the Mississippi River as seen from our hotel room.

With the kids bathed and ready for bed, it was time to say good night. Even though, if you ask me, they look a little too awake to be going to bed. But it didn't take them long to zonk out and leave Mom and Dad with some quiet time. Oh, the quiet. So there is day 2 of our journey.

Spring Break 2009 Trip Day 1 Topeka

At about 9:00am MDT, the MaloyMobile pulled out of the driveway in Colorado Springs and headed for I-70 via Highway 24. The day was kind of gloomy, but with no weather to speak of. As we were waiting to turn onto Highway 24 in Falcon, we saw some vehicles coming the opposite direction blanketed with a thin layer of snow. The roads became wet just out of Falcon, but we still had clear, if gray, sailing.
As we passed the Ellicot Highway, the ground became covered with snow. There was about an inch of fresh, wet snow on the ground; real, wet snow, not the fine styrofoam like kind we typically get in Colorado Springs. The plains look peaceful and clean with a fresh blanket of snow, like a fresh canvas just waiting for the color palettes of spring. The snowy ground carried us nearly to Limon and I-70. After a brief restroom break in Limon for the newly potty-trained among us, we hit the freeway. Upon entering the freeway, Mom put in a DVD and broke into the snacks. You can see the mesmerizing effect below:



Soon the mountains were behind us and luckily, so was the wind for the most part. High west winds buffeted us on our way. When we travelled slightly to the north or south, though, is was an intense game of staying between the lines. The mountains disappeared all together (Creepy) and the rain appeared. We travelled the flat, greening part of Colorado in intense rain and high winds.
We stopped in Burlington to get some lunch and the drive-thru speaker could hardly be heard through the wind and the menu could hardly be seen through the rain. Upon reaching Kansas, we alternated periods of rain, cloudy skies, and sun.

After another stop for all to use the restroom, we were off and running again. But it wasn't long until the recently potty trained among us needed yet another stop. So we found a rest stop and pulled off. It was immediately clear that we were fortunate to have the wind at our backs for the most part. The Excursion was rocking in the wind in the parking stall. We half walked, half floated to the restroom and then we were off again.

I thought driving I-80 across Wyoming had to have been the worst stretch of roadway to drive. Although it is relatively straight and flat, it is windy and boring. I now know that it is just like driving across Kansas. But there were breaks in the monotony. Just as I was cresting a hill, I had to swerve around an overturned semi with its nose poking onto the left shoulder of the road and then dodge the car parked on the right to assist the semi. Following that excitement, we saw six other overturned semi's or semi trailers on or right next to the freeway and a load of styrofoam insulation blown of the back of a gooseneck. By then it had lost its mystique.



At one point we passed a double semi that was the next probable victim of the wind. It was travelling in the right lane, but leaning so far over in the wind, the top was nearly encroaching in the left lane. I waited until he was slowed going up a hill and punched it. We passed him at about 90mph, but I didn't want to be a part of the next rollover accident, especially if I was to play the part of the squished bug.

Finally, after yet another restroom break at a rest stop where there was a speaker announcing severe thunderstorm, high wind, and tornado warnings for the area , we arrived in Topeka, KS at about 6:00pm MDT (7:00pm local time). We had been excited to use the hotel's indoor swimming pool, but alas, it is out of order. So we got some dinner at Denny's (because it practically shares a parking lot with the hotel) and put the kids to bed. So it's post this and get to bed myself. It's going to be another long drive to Nauvoo, IL tomorrow.

A Cheesy Tribute From Your Cheesy Husband

It has been awhile since my last cheesy poem, so I hope this one will flow em. I started this a month ago, but got busy traveling to Utah and never got back to it until Friday. It didn't get finished with the sickness in the family and the busy weekend. I'm sorry it's late, but better late than never.

This one's for the girl
who rocks my world

The beautiful wife
who fills my life

A mother of four
and so much more

To my better half
and her courtesy laugh

When her goofy man
is on one again

A creative girl who likes to draw
and devours books like a fire does straw

Quiet and shy has paid dividends
cause she's the one with all the friends

Conscientious, kind, loving and thougthful
ask a cup of soup, she'll give you a pot full

If a neighbor's down and needs some pep
she's there with ice cream on the step

A great example for everyone
especially for her daughters and sons

I took the time to write this Valentine
to let you know how glad I am you're mine

In the words of Melvin Udall (thank you imdb), "You make me want to be a better man." (But not necessarily poet).

I love you and hope you look forward to an eternity of cheesy poems.

Love,
Your Eternal Companion

Eternity

Last night we had a GREAT ward activity. It was themed High School Reunion. We spend time learning about others in the ward and what kinds of things they did in high school. We also played Family Feud based on suveys we filled out in church a couple of weeks ago. The survey also had room at the bottom to write a story from high school and some of those were shared last night. Then we had a little dance afterward. It was one of those nights to get a baby sitter and spend time without the kids. And it was a blast. I wish I had pictures to post. Perhaps they will surface in someone else's blog soon.

I, of course, let loose and acted a little like a high school kid as did some others. Most of the music was from the era of most of us on the dance floor, the early to mid '90s. The DJ even held a little dance off to MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This. We had a great time, but lest you think this too juvenile, let me get to my main point.

One of the great things about last night was it was a time to let go a little without being too juvenile. It was a bit like high school, a bit like an institute dance, but with only the good things and not the juvenile things. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the dating game back when it was the time for that thing. I also enjoyed asking different girls to dance and trying to strike up a conversation with someone new. I enjoyed getting stupid on the dance floor. I enjoyed most of the time I spent dating before I got engaged.

But as I was hugging my wife close in a slow dance with only one or two comments about fitting a Book of Mormon between us, we looked in each others eyes and talked as we danced. We were thoroughly enjoying the night. More exciting than striking up a conversation with someone new was dancing with the one I love; not a high school or college crush, but the one I love. As I looked into her face, I thought, "This is so much better than a high shool or institute dance, this is eternity. This is going to be good."

Sad but True

I know it's sad, but I haven't been mountain biking since late October or early November. The project was coming to a close, then the Holiday season rolled around, I don't work right next to Palmer Park anymore, I have been travelling the last couple of weeks, yadda yadda. I know; excuses, excuses. But the reality is my poor bike has been sitting lonely for three months or so now. I have ridden my other bike to work and back, but no mountain biking. Wednesday, I called my friend and neighbor, Gil, and asked if we was ready for a bike ride this weekend. Yesterday, I took my bike into the bike shop to get some air in my shocks, and this morning, we rode.

I love being this close to the mountains, and there are innumerable trails in our area. Fortunately for me, Gil has ridden them all and knows where to go. He took me to one he calls the "super-secret trail". I think he calls it that because he nevers sees anyone else on the trail, but somebody uses it because it is not completely overgrown. It basically starts on the north side of the Academy and goes up and over the ridge to Dead Man's Creek. I was feeling yucky this morning and fortunately, so was Gil. He's an animal, especially on the uphill, and usually rides me into the ground. But today we took a nice pace because of the way we were feeling. My lungs were burning from the beginning. Like I said, I haven't ridden since fall.

The trail climbs straight up the mountain and offers some great views of the Academy and of the City. There were spots of the trail that were covered with snow and there was one stretch near the top that we had to hike-a-bike. Crazy Colorado, it was warmer at 8,000 and 9,000 feet than it was down in town. On the other side, the snow got pretty deep on the trail and we decided to turn around and head back. We took a slightly different route at the top and ran into a snow drift.

I didn't take my camera and I didn't think about taking pictures, but when we ran across this snow drift I remembered that my new phone had a camera and had to quickly learn how to use it. Gil took a picture with my phone with me in it, but I look funny because I am trying to stand in someone elses footprints at a funny angle to the camera. I am not trying to look dashing OR tough with that goofy pose.

The ride down was great. You ride 2 hours up and 20 minutes down. There were some scary moments, particularly on narrow spots with lots of snow and ice and a steep drop off right next to the trail. Then there was the spot near the bottom that I crashed.

The snow stays in the gully in the bottom of the trail and you ride on the dry ground up on the side. I started sliding sideways into the gully and corrected myself, started sliding sideways into the gully and corrected myself, started sliding sideways into the gully and corrected myself, started sliding sideways into the gully and fell over. I was eventaully able to get off the bike without even a scratch, but then I pictured what I must have looked like wobbling down the trail and had to stop and laugh before I could get back on my bike and ride the 2 minutes left to the truck.

I love living in a place that has warm Saturdays in the middle of winter enabling me to go riding in the mountains at 9,000 feet. And I'm not sure, but I think I heard my bike thank me.