Road Trip - The Mormon Trail

After we finished our trip to Salt Lake for the wedding,   We had planned to take a road trip to see the many Church sites.  The early Saints left a legacy of settlements and blazed a trail to the west.  We took two weeks and visited as many of the sites as we could.  This first pictures actually is on the way out to Salt Lake, but it was the first time that we had seen the wind turbines that you hear so much about these days.  It is incredable to see all of them standing like sentinals across the landscape.  Our tax dollars at work.



Mel in fromt of Wind Turbines.  We saw many of these.

We left SLC and headed east on I-80 up through Wyoming.  Of course we stopped at Little America.  That was a favorite when my family and I used to travel out to SLC from Norwich, New York each summer.  A very long trip - but when we saw Little America, we knew we were almost there.

Fort Bridger

Our first stop was Fort Bridger.  He of course helped the early pioneers - said that nothing would grow out in the salt Lake valley :)

Cherry by the freight wagon.

Martin's Cove

Our next stop was Martin's Cove.  Unfortunately, we got there after it had closed for the day, but we were able to talk with the head Senior Missionary and he told us to walk around and see what we could.  What a desolate place this is, when you think about them being here in the winter, with deep snow and the wind that always blows here - it would have been really cold and discouraging for them.  What faith they had to go through these trials.

Sweet water river that runs past Martin's cove.

Devil's Gate

Independence Roack where many pioneers carved their names.  You can still see them in the rock.

Mt Rushmore

After a good night's rest, we decided that we hadn't ever been to Mt. Rushmore.  So we took a little side trip to see the presidents.

Cherry with George in the background.

Cherry and the boys.

From Mt. Rushmore, it was just a short trip to see Crazy Horse.  Honestly, I don't think Cherry and I will be around to see this sculpture when it is finished.  It will be huge, but they are trying to raise money to finish it.

We went to a resturant for dinner and they had tis wonderful sculpture in front of the place.  It was really magnificent.  I can't imagine people that could take junk and make something like this.

Winter Quarters

Our next stop was at Winter Quarters.  There is a very nice visitor's center there.  We walked across the street to the cemetary and to the Winter Quarters Temple. 

Cherry with a sculpture of a family and their handcart.

Mel at the cemetary.



Cherry in front of the Winter Quarters Temple

We drove the short distance to the Kanesville Tabernacle.  This is a replica.  The original did not last.  It was a tabernacle that Brigham Young had built to hold the December Conference where he was sustained as president and prophet for the Church.  It was constructed in two and one-half weeks.

Mel playing the old pump organ.  Very like the one that my grandparents had in the home.

Kansas City, Missouri Temple

As we were driving to our next destination, we saw what looked like a temple off to the side of the highway.  We turned around and went back and it was the Kansas City, Mo temple.  We got there the first day of the tours and so we were able to go through and see it.  It was beautiful and the people from the stakes there were gratious hosts and hostesses.  They had snicker-doodles for everyone when they finished the tour.

Independence, Missouri

We then drove on to the Independence Visitor's Center.  As we turned off the highway, we saw a strange looking building in the distance.  As we followed the GPS to the visitor's center, we realized that this building was just across the street.  Those of you who have been there will realize that it is the Community of Christ temple. We took a tour of the building which promotes peace in the world.  It was very interesting and the people we met were very kind and gracious as well.  Interesting to have them talk about Joseph and the early days of the Church and then talk about where they have taken those teachings.

A beautiful organ in the temple.

Across the street is the temple site that was dedicated by Joseph.

Cherry at the visitor's center.

Liberty Jail

Our next stop on Easter Sunday was the Liberty Jail.  The senior missionaries there were great and we had a young sister who did the tour for us.  She was very good and very helpful.

ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN

We next headed to this beautiful spot.  It was a beautiful, spring day and the fields had just been plowed. 

Cherry sitting on a bench along the path down to the fields.

Carthage and Nauvoo

One trip took us to Keokuk, Iowa.  We spent a good night and the next morning headed out to Carthage to see the jail where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred.  The senior missionary that did the tour here was the sister of Dr. Payne who lives in this area.  The doctor is a therapist that helps with the missionaries from time to time.  It is a small world in the church.

Cherry with Joseph and Hyrum

The stairs that the mob ran up to shoot those in the room at the top.

Cherry in the room where Joseph and the others were being held.

Cherry points out the hole in the door caused by one of the first shots.  The lock on the door was also damaged by a shot .

The upstairs window that Joseph fell out of after he was shot several times.

The window on the left is the one that Joseph fell out of.

Nauvoo

Our last stop was Nauvoo.  We went to the visitor's center and watched the movie about Nauvoo and talked with the senior missionaries about serving in that area.  There are about 60 there during the winter and then about 200 when the weather gets better and the visitors start coming.  The restored area is very interesting and we visited some of the shops.  We also took the wagon tour that they offer and it was fun.

Nauvoo Temple

Joseph and Hyrum on their last ride.

The is a barge like that used by the saints to cross the Mississippi River.  Imagine being on the with bad weather and all of you worldly belongings.  That would have been scary.

We got up on Tuesday morning, dressed and went to the temple hoping to do an 11:00 am Endowment Session.  The Peoria Stake had reserved that session for their stake and so we didn't know if we would be able to make the session.  But after waiting, they were able to fit us in.  The temple is beautiful and so different.  It is old fashioned with much dark wood.  The floors are dark wood with rugs, the lockers are wood.  The rooms are beautiful and light with the windows and pioneer era furniture.  We had a very spiritual time there and loved being able to attend.

After finishing our session at the temple we headed homeward.  We stopped on the east side of Indianapolis and spent the night and then pressed on for home.  We had thought about going on the the Kirtland Temple, but the weather following us was not good and so we just headed home.  We will make another trip later and to the eastern sites.  In all we drove a little over 5,500 miles and saw a lot of the country. 

It was a wonderful trip and we really enjyed every minute of it.  This country is truely a blessed land and favored of the Lord.