Nauvoo 2010

We’ve had lots of inquiries about our train trip to Nauvoo so I’ll give you all the run down of our trip.  We left Pocatello at midnight on the 21st, we then drove to the Salt Lake City Amtrak Station and boarded our Train at 3:20am and it left right on schedule at 4:10am. We were on the train for about 31 hours from SLC to Burlington IA. The route takes you through Provo and on through Colorado, then Nebraska then Iowa.  It stops several times for passengers to get on and off  but the larger stops where you stop for about 15 min were. Grand Junction CO, Denver CO,  & Omaha NE. We arrived in Burlington IA about noon on the 23rd. The kids slept a good portion of the trip so it really was a pretty relaxing trip. The seats recline and have foot rests so you can sleep ok on them.  If you ever consider going somewhere via train we would recommend bringing your own small travel pillows, blankets and a cooler of food. We did not take enough food on the way there and had to eat from the lounge and it was about $70 for 11 of us to have sandwiches and a drink. So on the way home we brought a cooler full of sandwich makings, carrots and breakfast food. Like pop tarts, small boxes of cereal and lots of drinks.

After we arrived in Burlington on Tuesday we got our rental cars and drove 40 min to Nauvoo. Mom and Dad were waiting for us at our hotel we gave them hugs checked in and went straight to the visitors center to go for a wagon ride which Colleen was narrating. The kids loved the wagon ride. After that we were shown around the Visitors center by mom and dad and saw dad’s office and things. We then went and got changed and rested and had some dinner before going to the Rendezvous Show that mom and dad were in.  It was a wonderful show I cried and laughed and the kids liked it as well.  Then we went back to hotel and relaxed swam in the pool and went to bed and slept well in a bed instead of on a train chair.

On Wednesday mom and dad were having their prep day so we spent the day with them. We saw some places in Nauvoo like The Seventies Hall, The Blacksmith Shop, The Browning Home and Gun Shop and the Sarah Granger Kimball home, the Heber C. Kimball home and the Quarry where the original temple had been built from. Then we went into Keokuk to pick up some groceries from Wal-Mart and go to a Antiques store that was interesting to wander through.  We had dinner at Taco Bell then took mom and dad home so they could make their Sunset rehearsal. We again swam in the pool and had a nice evening relaxing and Me,Melinda, Sarah & Katie went and watched the rehearsal it was fun to watch.

On Thursday we were on our own so we went to see the Scovil Bakery with mom before she had to go to her site for the day and we went to the Family Living Center, here they show you how things had been done buy the pioneers. The kids learned how the women made bread in a bustle oven and how rugs were woven. They also got to help make a rope and learned how candles were made. Dad got to teach them about rope making and rug weaving while he was on break. Then we had lunch and hit the gift shops. The kids all got to buy things that they had been saving for so they all came home with souvenirs.  David and I also brought home a souvenir for ourselves. Nothing huge but something to remember the trip by. My niece Sarah also got to do Baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple this day and David and I  and Richard and Melinda went through a session with Gary and Colleen. This was very special and we felt blessed to be able to do it.  We didn’t swim on this night because we had a birthday to celebrate. Isaac turned 4 on Friday so Thursday night we had a pizza  dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and a song and some hostess cupcakes with candle in them. Isaac had a hot dog instead of pizza since he was missing him favorite corn dogs the whole week.

Friday morning Aunt Melinda took the kids swimming at 7am and then we loaded the cars and headed to Carthage. Carthage was a great place to visit we weren’t there very long but long enough to feel the spirit and have a nice morning.  After Carthage we went to mom and dad’s and had lunch we went to three more sites the Willford Woodruff home, the Brigham Young home  & the John Taylor home. We also went to Lyon Drug to say goodbye to mom and dad and get some family pics before leaving. On our way out of Nauvoo we stopped for pics in front of the temple then headed to Burlington.  Our train was supposed to leave at 5:25 but didn’t arrive until 6pm so we stood in the cold for about 40 min waiting for it. Then we slept though Nebraska again and when we got to Grand Junction CO the next day we were held there for 3 hours due to railway construction. That was a pain and put us getting home to Pocatello at 4am. We were happy that it happened on our way home instead of on our way there so our vacation time wasn’t cut into.

When we all got up at about 10:30 on Sunday I asked what the kids liked the best. They all said seeing Grandma and Grandpa first then Katie said seeing the old homes, Madison like the wagon ride, Jenna liked swimming in the hotel pool and Isaac never really said. I think I would totally recommend taking the trip this way if they were thinking about it, and I’d do it again too.  We had a great spring break and are now just back to the grind and hoping our house sells soon.  Enjoy the pictures I’ve tried to put captions with them so you know where they were taken at.

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