This morning we decided we needed to sleep in a little bit and hit the road around 10 am. We had breakfast in our hotel and then began our journey to Nauvoo.
I don't know what it is about my family that makes them feel the need to build things out of napkin rings and salt & pepper shakers when ever we go out to eat... but they do! Courtney was very proud of her tower...
At one point during the drive, we crossed over into Iowa....
But we crossed back into Illinois before reaching Nauvoo. The ride was longer than we thought... but it was beautiful. Originally we had planned to make it to Sacrament meeting in Nauvoo at 2 pm, but we soon realized that it just wasn't possible. We read scriptures and stories about what we would be seeing on the ride there, so that made it feel a little more like the Sabbath.
When we arrived in Nauvoo it looked like a ghost town. We stayed at the Zion's Mercantile / Woodruff Hotel... which was nice... but there wasn't a "front desk" to check in to. There was literally a metal box on the door with a welcome letter and the key to our room in it. That was a little weird. We also had to hike up 3 flights of stairs (44 stairs to be exact) to get to our room on the top floor. With the amount of luggage we brought, that was a real calorie burning workout! OH... and isn't the carpet just breathtaking?
We decided to go out and explore the area... this is Kenna slipping down a flight of stairs. It wouldn't have been as funny if she had gotten hurt... but being there were no broken bones or blood it was pretty hilarious! Her sunglasses even stayed on! Impressive.
Courtney relaxing on a wagon-wheel bench... we're in the country now for sure!
Dan got a new phone right before our trip and now has the ability to play "Angry Birds". It became a bit of an addiction on this trip...
Our room was really big...
I was so glad that it was bigger than an average hotel room... being we were staying a whole week!
A gorgeous shot of the Mississippi river....
The Nauvoo Temple...
It's the only temple with a bell tower and clock. It was so beautiful to hear the bell while we were out and about during our stay...
What is it with my girls falling down today?! Careful or Dad really will ban our flip-flops!!!!!
I love this. Imagine the rejoicing on the other side the day this Temple was dedicated!
This Temple is just beautiful! We spent at least an hour just sitting there tonight. We were really surprised when we arrived and it was in the 80's and comfortable. It made being out tonight so nice and cool. Little did we know what was coming in a few days...
We loved this statue of Joseph and Hyrum riding away from their beloved Nauvoo for the last time. It was powerful...
Our Forever Family....
The view of the Temple from our room...
Dan took this picture of all of my shoes tonight after I unpacked. I guess I didn't realize how many flip-flops I brought with me. And dress shoes. What can I say.... they like Angry Birds, I like shoes.
We can't wait for tomorrow. It will be hard to drop off Kenna at EFY for the whole week, but we are so excited to see all of the sights and learn more about the Saints time here. This trip has been wonderful so far!!! Tonight as we were returning to our room Courtney yelled "What was that?!" When we looked over we saw what she was pointing to....I had completely forgotten about fireflies! They are so magical!!! We will have to go out and catch some in a jar this week!
2 comments:
I loved our trip to Nauvoo. When we went I had just finished reading the Work and the Glory series, so I was overcome by so many of the things that we saw there. And we always bring an extra bag just for shoes!
Man, I don't even own half that many shoes! :)
Love the pictures!
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