View from the front porch.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Nauvoo, Illinois
Doug and Shannon in front of the Nauvoo Temple.
Doug and Abigail having a stroll around Nauvoo.Joseph and Hiram
The statues of Joseph and Hiram are directly in front of the temple with the Mississippi River in the background.
First stop - the Michigan Averys!
The first stop on our journey was at the Michigan Averys where we celebrated Jared's birthday together.Goodbye to our home in Maryland!
After 7 years in Crofton and almost 12 years in Maryland, we said goodbye to the east coast and headed west.Our trip across country
We sold our beautiful home in Maryland on March 28 and began traveling west...well, northwest...stopping in Michigan to visit with Dirk, Naomi and gang. Naomi made a DELICIOUS birthday cake for Jared and we all enjoyed having chocolate cake and ice cream for breakfast - especially Isaac!
We left the Michigan Averys in the mid-afternoon and I decided to call my sister, Shay, as I knew she and Eric were in Canada on vacation. I thought they were in Niagara and they did not know we were going through Michigan, but we soon realized that we were only 30 minutes apart! So Doug turned the Bumble around and we had dinner with Shay and Eric before leaving Michigan (after their very eventful experience at the US-Canada border - story for another time!).
We arrrived in Nauvoo, IL, at about 4 a.m. Sunday morning and stumbled into our lovely room at the Hotel Nauvoo. It was a suite with 4 queen beds, which we all enjoyed immensely for about 5 hours. Because it was a bed and breakfast, we had a breakfast feast across the street at "Grandpa Joe's Buffet". Because of the upcoming General Conference, it was technically fast Sunday. Jared said, "Now this is the way to fast"!
Nauvoo was quiet, beautiful. The temple seems almost unworldly atop the hill, overlooking the Mississippi River. We visited the homes of several early church leaders, including Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Sr., John Taylor, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff and many others. Someday we will have to go back to that area and visit Carthage and Adom-ondi-aman.
The next night we stayed in North Platte, Nebraska, at a very nice hotel. From there, we were only about 9 hours from Salt Lake, but when we got to Evanston, Wyoming, the interstate was closed because of a hazardous material spill. Now we had to come up with Plan B.
We decided to head south into Colorado, go across Rabbit Ear Pass and into Steamboat Springs. We checked the road conditions with the highway patrols in CO and UT, and everything seemed o.k. About 45 minutes into our trip south, we were beginning to second guess the highway patrol, but we flagged down a lady in a jeep and asked about the conditions ahead, which she assured us were "fine". Well, fine in a jeep is very different than fine in a rear-wheel drive 3/4 ton van. After several hours of treacherous blizzard conditions through the pass and almost plowing into a snow bank, we arrived in Steamboat Springs - harried and ready to just call it a day....Everyone but Dad!
Doug checked with the locals and felt sure that we could still make it to my mom's by midnight. So we grabbed some fast food, hit the potties and headed out again. But, dad was right! The roads were perfect for the rest of the drive and we made it to Mom-mom's house at 12:15 a.m.
The kids behaved so well and were so helpful during our entire trip. Abigail traveled like a pro and we had a really wonderful time together - for the most part :o) Four days like sardines in a very tight can, and we are no worse for the wear!
We left the Michigan Averys in the mid-afternoon and I decided to call my sister, Shay, as I knew she and Eric were in Canada on vacation. I thought they were in Niagara and they did not know we were going through Michigan, but we soon realized that we were only 30 minutes apart! So Doug turned the Bumble around and we had dinner with Shay and Eric before leaving Michigan (after their very eventful experience at the US-Canada border - story for another time!).
We arrrived in Nauvoo, IL, at about 4 a.m. Sunday morning and stumbled into our lovely room at the Hotel Nauvoo. It was a suite with 4 queen beds, which we all enjoyed immensely for about 5 hours. Because it was a bed and breakfast, we had a breakfast feast across the street at "Grandpa Joe's Buffet". Because of the upcoming General Conference, it was technically fast Sunday. Jared said, "Now this is the way to fast"!
Nauvoo was quiet, beautiful. The temple seems almost unworldly atop the hill, overlooking the Mississippi River. We visited the homes of several early church leaders, including Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Sr., John Taylor, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff and many others. Someday we will have to go back to that area and visit Carthage and Adom-ondi-aman.
The next night we stayed in North Platte, Nebraska, at a very nice hotel. From there, we were only about 9 hours from Salt Lake, but when we got to Evanston, Wyoming, the interstate was closed because of a hazardous material spill. Now we had to come up with Plan B.
We decided to head south into Colorado, go across Rabbit Ear Pass and into Steamboat Springs. We checked the road conditions with the highway patrols in CO and UT, and everything seemed o.k. About 45 minutes into our trip south, we were beginning to second guess the highway patrol, but we flagged down a lady in a jeep and asked about the conditions ahead, which she assured us were "fine". Well, fine in a jeep is very different than fine in a rear-wheel drive 3/4 ton van. After several hours of treacherous blizzard conditions through the pass and almost plowing into a snow bank, we arrived in Steamboat Springs - harried and ready to just call it a day....Everyone but Dad!
Doug checked with the locals and felt sure that we could still make it to my mom's by midnight. So we grabbed some fast food, hit the potties and headed out again. But, dad was right! The roads were perfect for the rest of the drive and we made it to Mom-mom's house at 12:15 a.m.
The kids behaved so well and were so helpful during our entire trip. Abigail traveled like a pro and we had a really wonderful time together - for the most part :o) Four days like sardines in a very tight can, and we are no worse for the wear!
Our new blog!
Well, here we are! The kids have been begging for a blog for a long time and I finally relented and signed us up. I hope, between all of us, we will be able to keep up with it.
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