Nauvoo

Nauvoo is one of our family's favorite places. When we initally planned our trip across the country, we thought we would take a more northern route and skip Nauvoo this time. But the kids all insisted that we go. We went to Nauvoo 5 years ago for a family reunion and spent several wonderful days. Afterwards, the kids couldn't decide if they liked Nauvoo or Disneyland better.

This time, we only had about 24 hours to spend in Nauvoo. We got there Saturday late afternoon and attended the pageant that evening. Before the pageant, they had a whole bunch of activities for everyone to participate in.

We didn't even do half of them, but some that we enjoyed were pulling sticks,

walking on stilts (David was WAY better than the rest of us),

using this cool saw,

and pulling handcarts.

The pageant was wonderful and Sarah was dying the whole time to be in it. She kept telling us over and over that she just wanted to be on stage!

On Sunday, we went to church and then visited more of the historical sites. Some of our favorites were the blacksmith shop, where we watched a horseshoe being made,

and then got these cool prairie diamond rings.

We also visited the brickyard, the bakery and the family living center where we learned about candle making, coopering, and actually made a rope.

We walked down to the end of Parley Street and thought about the pioneers leaving their wonderful city and crossing the frozen Mississippi river. Then the kids had fun throwing rocks in the river.

We also made a stop at the temple

and then drove over to Carthage.

There was so much more to do, but we had a great time and once again fell in love with Nauvoo.

Day 9: Hannibal, Missouri

After we left Springfield, we drove to Hannibal, Missouri, where we spent the night. It is a cute town on the banks of the Mississippi River made famous as the boyhood home of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens).

We first went to the museum and boyhood home.

Then we took a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River. This was fun, but it was SO hot and humid.

We finished our stay in Hannibal with a visit to the Mark Twain cave.

This is the cave referred to in Tom Sawyer. It was a fun cave to walk through, but we were glad we had a tour guide as it was a maze. I couldn't believe kids used to just come in with just a candle and play in there. It would terrify me to get lost in such a place. One of the most interesting things I learned was that they used to have a slate where the kids would sign in and then when they left they erased their name. At the end of each day someone would come check to see if there were any names left on the slate. If there was, they would organize a search party to locate the missing child.

After we left Hannibal, we drove north along the Mississippi river to Nauvoo, Illinois.

Day 8: Springfield, Illinois

We stayed the night in Dayton, Ohio, then spent most of the day driving. We didn't get to Springfield, Illinois until late in the afternoon, and were disappointed the Lincoln Museum only stayed open until 5:00 p.m. We did a whirlwhind visit of this fantastic museum, and wished we could have stayed longer.

After the museum, we went over to Lincoln's tomb. We couldn't go inside since it also closed at 5 p.m., but we were able to walk around the outside a bit.

Last time we were in Springfield about 5 years ago, we also visited Lincoln's Law offices and his home, both of which are worth seeing if anyone is contemplating a trip to the area.

Day 7: Kirtland, Ohio

The next day we traveled to Kirtland, Ohio. Kirtland is a pioneer settlement that was established by members of the church in the 1830s. The Church has recently rebuilt many of the sites to resemble what they looked like during that time period.

We first visited the Ashery. It was very interesting to learn how an ashery worked and how the pioneers used absolutely everything to be productive.We also visited the sawmill,
and the Whitney Store.

We all loved looking at the variety of items offered in the Whitney store and learning about the important things that happened there.

Next we visited the Kirtland Temple. Although this site isn't owned by our church anymore, we loved the tour and being inside that special building.

Finally, we drove about 20 minutes to Hiram, Ohio and visited the John Johnson farm. The home had a special spirit there, and we enjoyed our visit.

Day 6: Lake Chautauqua

We spent the next day with our friends the Bartrams at a cottage at Lake Chautauqua in upstate New York.

We had a summer's worth of fun in one day!

Paddleboats

Sailing

The water trampoline

Playing in the lake

Riding the Tube

and rides at the nearby Midway Park.

All the kids except Kate tried rock climbing for the first time. Sarah was convinced she wasn't going to make it to the top, but with a little encouragement and resolve she finally made it!

It was a wonderful day! Many thanks to the Bartrams for inviting us to their cottage and showing us such a great time!

Day 5: Niagara Falls

The next day we went to Niagara Falls. We first drove across to the Canadian side to see the view from that side.

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls

We walked the whole length of the park and ate lunch up near the top of Horseshoe Falls. It was amazing to see the sheer power in the waterfalls!

After lunch we drove back over to the American side (got our passports stamped) and then met up with some friends, the Bartrams, and spent the rest of the day with them.

We rode the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat that takes you past American Falls and near Horsehoe Falls. Everyone gets a poncho to protect you from the mist. David and I had been to Niagara Falls back in 1996, and rode the Maid of the Mist then. At that time, David was the only one on the boat that didn't wear a poncho, claiming he didn't need it because we didn't really get that wet.

As we boarded the boat this time, we all put our ponchos on, except David. He was convinced the mist would just be refreshing. However, this boat ride was crazy! We got so close to falls and got absolutely drenched--even David finally put his poncho on! I couldn't take pictures for most of the ride because it was so misty and wet! It was a great ride--definitely a thrill to get close to the amazing falls!

After we got off the boat, we climbed on a pathway up toward American Falls. Once again, we could get really close to the falls.

It was truly breathtaking!

We also saw an IMAX movie about Niagara Falls and then finished out our day with dinner at a restaurant called "Top of the Falls" located on the American side near the top of Horseshoe Falls. Beautiful!

Day 4: Upstate New York

Monday morning we left Ithica and drove north next to Cayuga Lake. On the way, we saw a sign for a falls overlook, so we decided to pull over and see what was there. We came to these beautiful falls called Taughannock Falls.

It was a lovely stop and reinforced how much I love upstate New York--at least in the summer. We had fun taking a few pictures.

After the falls we drove to Fayette, to the Peter Whitmer cabin. This is where the Church was organized in 1830. Yes, even the bunny came in with us.

We next headed up to Palmyra, where we visited the Hill Cumorah,

the Smith Family farm,

the Sacred Grove,

and the Grandin Print Shop.

All of these places were wonderful! We had such an uplifting day contemplating the amazing things that happened in each of these places.