Black Beard the Pirate

Before I left on Brother/Sister road trip, Cali tried out for a play and received one of the bigger roles in the production, Black Beard the Pirate. She participated in the Missoula Children's Theater a few years ago, so when they came to town again she auditioned. While I was gone Christian and Vicki took her to the practices, with the performance scheduled for the Saturday evening I returned.

My flight from Atlanta arrived in SLC around noon, Bethany picked me up and we went straight to Ruby Snap to get some break-a-leg cookies for Cali, we went to lunch and then hit the road to Rock Springs. We made it with plenty of time to spare and we all went to the high school to see the play.

Cali was Beach Bum and had several speaking parts and lots of opportunities to sing and dance. She met some great kids and learned a lot from the experience. We couldn't take any pictures during the performance, so afterward the kids posed for some pictures.

Caleb hung in there as long as he could, but during the after-performance photo shoot he had a small come apart and tried to run away. Christian captured him and entertained him with his phone until we were ready to go.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Finale

We left St. Louis and started the last of the hundreds of miles of our adventures. We stopped in Southern Illinois at a gas station in the town of Metropolis and made a nice little picnic lunch from our trusty cooler, who we named Squeaky. This because it slid around the back seat and squeaked as it slid, until we slid my sweater under it. We also found these cool Superman cutouts and took full advantage of the photo op.

We drove through the rest of Illinois and into Tennessee, which is unbelievably beautiful. As we descended through a canyon we passed a crazy car with hundreds of toy dinosaurs glued to the hood.

After a couple of hours we reached Nashville and stopped by the Grand Ole Opry to look around and use the bathroom. We trolled around the nearby mall and stretched our legs. We would have liked to stay longer, but we had to make it Atlanta that night, and we still had a long way to go.

We reached Chattanooga TN in time for dinner, and based on some online reviews stopped at a fried chicken restaurant. The reviews didn't lie. It was delicious and we were super tired of driving, but the fried chicken gave us the push we needed to complete the last two hours into Atlanta. We also thought it pretty funny that the dining room of the restaurant was outdoor right under a giant sign about Saturday church and Gonorrhea.

Good news, we arrived in Atlanta around 10:00 p.m., and checked into a nice room with two separate beds at the airport Hilton. We were tired and sad that our journey was almost at an end. Brandt offered to wake up early and take me to the airport, but I told him not to worry about it, I'd get a shuttle in the morning. I refilled Squeaky with the last of our snacks and treats, and prepared my bags and clothes for an early wake up. My flight out of Atlanta was at 7:00 a.m. We talked a little and fell asleep. I woke up early and tried not to wake Brandt up, but as I was leaving he woke up to give me a hug. I didn't want to leave him and I felt sad that I had to. That was the last time I ever saw my brother. He went on to S. Carolina, and he lives in the computer now.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Day Three: The St. Louis Arch

We woke up well rested and ready for the final day of our journey. In order for me to catch my flight back to SLC, we had to wake up in St. Louis and be in Atlanta that night. We had a lot less to see and do and a lot more miles to cover. With limited time, we had to pick a few things to see. Like true tourists we headed straight to the St. Louis arch.

Look, I'm in the West! A few feet closer and I'd be in the East. I walked under the arch to fully experience the gateway to the West.

Lots of other tourists were also trying to push the arch over, so we joined in.

We walked into an underground museum and bought some tickets to ride a small tram to the top of the arch. At the top there were several small windows. This is the view of St. Louis from the top of the arch. Looking west.

Looking east at the mighty Mississippi.

It's a pretty tight fit at the top, but we managed to squeeze in for a few pictures.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Day Two: St Loudis

After a wonderful day we arrived at our final destination for the day, St. Louis. Based on Christian's recommendation we ate a delicious BBQ dinner at Pappy's in downtown St. Louis. It was really good, and after eating out of our cooler all day, a hot meal was really good.


We were tired from being on the road all day and little exhausted from all the intense spiritual experiences. We soon found out that our GPS voice was equally exhausted. While navigating our way from the downtown restaurant to our hotel the GPS started calling St. Louis, "St. Loudis". We both heard it, and it happened on numerous occasions. We could hardly believe our ears. It will always and forever be St. Loudis to us.


Luckily for everyone involved, the hotel was much better than the previous night in Omaha. In fact, Brandt was offered a military discount to upgrade the room. Great deal, we both thought. Actually I thought nothing could be worse than the La Quinta in Omaha. Come to find out the "upgrade" upgraded us to a nicer room with one king bed. Yes! Sharing a bed with my brother! What great ending to a great day. While talking to Christian and Alexis on the phone that night, they both thought we were strange and crazy. We were too tired to care.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Day Two: Carthage

After an early morning and full day of driving and exploring Nauvoo, we took a late afternoon drive to Carthage. About thirty miles from Nauvoo, and a little out of our way, but well worth it. We got there as planned, just in time to join the last tour group of the day at 4:30 p.m. We were surprised to see two giant tour busses filled with Mormon tourists on a church history trip from Great Britain. In true Brandt fashion he struck up a conversation with some of the tourists. Within a few minutes he came to find out that an elderly couple on the trip were the grandparents of one of his mission companions. While serving in Scotland he served with many missionaries from England and with the church being relatively small, many people know each other.

 

The tour group was split into two groups and we joined one of the two. Had the tour group not been there, we would have been on the tour alone. It was pretty obvious that we stuck out. One nice lady asked me if I was American, I said yes and asked her if it was my accent that gave me away.

 

We talked with several other couples, and Brandt continued to find and make connections between people he knew in Britain and these nice people. One of the individuals was in the same ward as one of Brandt's more famous companions Elder Bathe-Taylor. Another couple had a son that served in Brandt's mission who he knew by name, but not personally. Within a few minutes this certain couple told Brandt that their son had been married, divorced, and left the church since his mission in Scotland. Brandt gave them his sincere attention and the couple started asking Brandt questions about some situations which occurred at the latter part of Brandt's mission. The couple felt that some things that had happened on the mission contributed to some of the struggles their son had been plagued with in his adult life. Brandt was able to shed some light and give some insight into the situation and the mother began to cry. She asked Brandt why he was at Carthage on this day. He told her that he and I were on a trip across the country and had planned our day to be here on this day and time. She said that she had prayed for some understanding and that Brandt was there to provide the understanding she had been desperate to obtain.

 

It was a very interesting situation and confirmed my previously held belief that there really are no coincidences.  

 

It was also a very special experience to be on the tour with many individuals who's ancestors were direct descendants of Dan Jones missionary efforts in England. Dan Jones had been at Carthage with Joseph and Hyrum Smith, but after receiving a blessing from Joseph the night before his martyrdom in which he was promised that his missionary efforts would bring many to the gospel. To be in the room with some of those many, was a very wonderful experience.

 

Hearing the story of the prophet's martyrdom all my life, and then seeing the actual room where the story and event unfolded was a very special experience and one that I will treasure forever. Hopefully Christian and I can take our kids here in the very near future.

 

The bed where the prophet slept and where John Taylor rolled under.

The hole in the door caused by the bullet that ended Hyrum's life.

A view from outside of the two-story window that Joseph jumped out of and the well near where he landed.

A statue of the prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Day Two: Nauvoo

The second day of our road trip started bright and early so that we could get to Nauvoo in time to attend the temple, and then to Carthage before their last group tour at 4:30 p.m. We arrived in Nauvoo around noon and started looking around. The "new" part of Nauvoo was very interesting and, I thought, a little creepy. We quickly passed through the newer section and drove directly to the back parking lot of the Nauvoo temple. We realized that we wouldn't have enough time to participate in a full endowment session, but wanted to spend some time in the temple. We decided to do some inititory work.

My first view of the Nauvoo temple from the back parking lot.

Apparently if you go to Nauvoo during the summer months, the small town is teaming with tourists missionaries. This wasn't the case in September. In fact, Brandt and I were the only patrons in the temple. We met several very nice temple workers, all on missions from Utah. No Illinois locals. I even met a very nice woman named LuJane, which I thought was very special since I've never met anyone with my grandma's exact name, spelling and all.

After about an hour in the temple we exited through the front door to a view of the Mississippi River.

This beautiful statue of Hyrum and Joseph stands right in front facing the temple. By all accounts, this is the exact spot that Joseph and his brother had the famous conversation about going to Carthage. The statue is called, The Prophet's Last Ride.

Just beyond the statue toward the river is a grove of trees and rolling grass hill. This is the spot where Brigham Young gave a sermon and many saw that he took on the likeness of Joseph Smith. This just before the saints headed west. After Joseph was killed the church was run for almost 2 years by the quorum of the twelve apostles. After this manifestation in this place, the saints accepted Brigham Young as the prophet.

A view of the statue and the front of the temple. The same view that Joseph and Hyrum would have seen. However, when they left for Carthage the temple was only complete to the first set of windows.

After our time in the temple we went to a small grocery store and bought a few supplies to make some lunch. We drove through the old town and found a picnic area right on the banks of the Mississippi river where the saints crossed into Iowa.

The road literally ends into the river, and is the same road the saints used when being driven out of Nauvoo. They tried to cross the river on barges built for wagons, but didn't have much success getting across, until the river was frozen solid and they walked and drove their wagons across the ice.

The first time I touched the Mississippi river at the exact spot some of my ancestors crossed the river.

This statue was erected to commemorate Joseph instructing Brigham Young to head west. The title of the statue is Eyes Westward, and features Brigham Young holding a map of the Mexican Territory that would someday become Utah.

There were many history sites to see around the old town. Many of the buildings have been restored over the years. The temple in Nauvoo was burned down and then a great tornado scattered the temple stones all around the area. Some houses and porches were constructed out of the scattered stones.

For the most part, the houses and stores have been reconstructed to what they would have looked liked during the Mormon period in Nauvoo. Many of the buildings and pieces of land are owned by the Community of Christ, some are owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In the mid-1930's Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were exhumed and re-buried on the Smith's land in Nauvoo. Their head stones, along with Emma's, Joseph Smith Sr. and several of Joseph's brothers are all buried in a small cemetery close to the Mississippi river.

The Mansion House. This was the house Joseph and Emma built in Nauvoo, they only lived there together for less than 2 years. After Joseph's death, Emma remarried and lived there with her new husband and used the house as a bed and breakfast/museum to make money, Emma's husband gave original pages of the Book of Mormon to travelers as souvenirs.

We stopped by the red brick store to get a famous red brick and learn about brick making. The missionary on duty there scared both me and Brandt pretty bad. He kept chewing up his food and spitting it out, and then made us listen to his philosophies about red bricks. He finally gave me one, but Brandt didn't get one.

It was about time for us to get on our way to Carthage so looked at a few more sights and then headed down the road to Carthage.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Day Two: Winter Quarters

We woke up very early in the morning in Omaha in a pretty sketchy hotel. We quickly got ready, tried to eat at the hotel's continental breakfast (fail), ate at McDonald's instead, and zipped down the interstate toward Winter Quarters. It was still dark when we first arrived, and we tried to pull the car into the temple parking lot. However, we were promptly stopped by a maintenance worker who said, " 'These people' are pretty strict on who they will let in here", but offered to let us in the parking lot for $20.00. We politely declined and took some pictures from outside the gate.

 

 

The gate to the cemetery was also still closed, but we were able to walk around the perimeter of the grounds as the sun came up. The temple grounds encompassed the pioneer grave yard, and the temple itself was very small. There was no one around, and it was nice to be there and watch the sun rise on such a sacred place.

 

This is the view of the Mississippi River looking back toward Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters. I was surprised at how close the burial grounds were to the river, how hard it must have been to cross the Mississippi, and how many houses an neighborhoods had popped up on an area of history so profound to my ancestors. It was really a blessing to be there with Brandt and to think about so many of our pioneer ancestors. 

 

I thought it was pretty cool when I saw the Mississippi River for the first time. Little did I know, I would see it many many more times on this trip.

Brother/Sister Road Trip Day One

As part of his Navy Chaplain training Brandt was required to spend two months in Columbia, South Carolina. I was offered the once in a life time opportunity to drive with him across the country and then fly back so that he could have his car with him in SC, and not have to drive such a long way all alone. He came to our house the night before our trip so that we could leave bright and early.

After a few photos with Aunt Brandt, the kids went to school and then it was just me and Brandt and the open road.

We drove along I-80, with a short stop at the Lincoln memorial on the Lincoln Hwy, and we made it to Cheyenne by lunch time. We ate a sack lunch from my cooler on the back of  Brandt's car in the parking lot of a hotel. Our trip was off to a classy start!

After lunch, the long boring corn-filled miles slid by. We passed the head quarters of Cabela's and promptly took a picture and sent it to Bethany.

Somewhere in Nebraska there is bridge over the interstate, inside the bridge is a museum. We didn't stop. But, we were certainly glad for a brief change in the scenery.

Finally, after many miles of Nebraska corn fields, we arrived in Omaha. The drive was worth the delicious dinner we enjoyed at Omaha Prime steakhouse, thanks to Christian for mapping out the best restaurants along the way.

It was a late dinner and a long day. We were tired but excited to be on this adventure together.

We checked into our hotel that night, which was a little sketchy. Apparently LaQuinta's are either pretty good or pretty bad. The one in Omaha, pretty bad. We were both a little terrified, but managed to fall asleep. In the morning Brandt said, "did you hear those people fight and hitting into the walls last night." Thankfully I didn't!