Final Adventures of Dorothy and Friends

I decided that it was time to finish the story of our adventures as we tried to find our way home.....

We arrived in Nauvoo the afternoon of the 27th of May, and we left Nauvoo in the late afternoon on Thursday, the 29th -- traveling across northern Missouri. 

Because we got such a late start, the sun was setting as we reached Adam-ondi-Ahman.  Adam-ondi-Ahman means "the place where Adam dwelt" or "the valley of God in which Adam blessed his children".  In D&C 116, the revelation reads: "Spring Hill is named by the Lord, Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet."  My understanding is that in this valley Adam called his posterity together and blessed them and predicted what would befall his posterity down through the years, and it is where Adam will come again to visit his people.  We were able to see the valley -- it's very green, very big and bowl-shaped, but it was too dark by then to take any pictures.  We did see a few fireflies and just hoped the gate wouldn't be locked when we headed out or we would be spending the night there!  From there, we drove down through Independence to our motel.

  And just so you know our adventures weren't completely over, first thing Friday morning, Grampy was checking out the tornado warnings & watches (those were still going on in various places around us, but mostly south of us by then).......

 

 

 

.......while the kids watched the Disney channel.

 

 

 

Friday morning, May 30th, we drove to the Independence Visitors Center.  It is part of a group of buildings that surround the temple site in Independence, Missouri.  Most of the area is owned by what used to be called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  However, they now call themselves the Community of Christ Church.  They have built a huge, spiral-shaped "temple" that is open to visitors and across the street from the temple site.

Community of Christ Church Temple and the temple site dedicated by Joseph Smith.

 

We spent most of our time in the Visitor's Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

 

They had several exhibits on Christ and the teachings of our church, and they also had exhibits on the history of the church in Missouri.

I have to admit that we spent the most time in a corner exhibit downstairs -- it contained a child-size wagon pulled by a horse and a child-size cabin with a tree and a well next to it.  The kids loved it, and we were able to relax and let them play.  They were pioneers unloading and loading the wagon over and over again.  They also took turns driving the wagon and riding the horse.  We visited with the sister-missionary, and they played.

Afterwards, we stopped for pizza at an "all you can eat" pizza buffet and game room.

From Independence we moved on to Liberty, Missouri, where Joseph Smith and others were jailed for several months.  The Visitors' Center is built around a replica of the Liberty Jail.

At this point, the original plan was that we (Carolyn & Dustin & family and us) would head for Utah while Monica & James & girls would head back to Illinois.  However, it was late enough in the day that we all decided to spend one more evening together and head out the next morning.  So we found a motel and took the kids swimming.

And then we celebrated Eliza's third birthday - a day early (her birthday was May 31st) - with cupcakes and "pretend" candles.

 

So on Saturday morning (the 31st), we wished each other good-bye and we headed west, while Monica & James and the girls headed east again.  Monica and James & the girls made it home to Champaign, Illinois, by around 4 p.m.  However, we didn't make it to Denver until around 8 p.m. 

 

We spent the night with Dustin's Mom in Littleton (outside of Denver), had a barbeque, and visited with Dustin's family.  We  attended church with them the next morning and then headed home to Utah.

 

Our adventures were almost over....................

 

                                                              ..................or were they?

 

Sunday afternoon we stopped in Laramie, Wyoming, to make sandwiches and give the kids a chance to stretch their legs in a park.  I was driving as we left Laramie.  About 25 miles west of Laramie there was a commotion and it sounded and felt like I had hit something with the van, but there wasn't anything in the road.  As I slowed down and we were trying to figure out what was wrong, I lost the power-steering and a sensor started going "beep, beep, beep" and someone noticed that the temperature gauge had just hit hot.  I managed to pull off the freeway and come to a safe stop.  When Roger and Dustin looked under the hood, the serpentine belt (which runs everything in the car) had broken.  We later came to find out that the noise we heard was the sound of it wrapping itself around pulleys in the engine. 

We called my sister Pam in Casper, Wyoming, and they looked up telephone numbers of tow trucks in Laramie.  They were also able to get a recommendation for a repair shop.  So this is how we got back to Laramie..............

                                                             ........behind a tow truck. 

Roger rode up in the truck with our driver and heard all about the three tornadoes that went through the north side of Laramie the week before.  (He had first-hand experience -- he had gone out to pick up a furniture-moving truck that had been blown over by the first tornado, and while he was out there, a second tornado came through and he had no where to go.  He said it was pretty scary, but it missed him.)  We just enjoyed the scenery from the van and heard about his stories later.   We felt very blessed that we broke down in an area that still had cell phone service and that we were able to get hold of a tow truck driver that was willing to come get us on a Sunday afternoon.

We spent the evening in a motel in Laramie and had dinner and breakfast at a McDonalds that was within walking distance.

Morning of June 2, 2008 Carolyn & Dustin's 7th wedding anniversary -- I guess Laramie is as good a place as any to start your anniversary.  Right?

 

 

 

We were able to get the van repaired first thing Monday morning thanks to Mike's Repair shop, which was recommended by a friend of Pam & Bill.

So after 11 days of adventures in the land of church history, tornadoes, and floods --

just like the saints who left Nauvoo so many years ago, we ended up back in the Salt Lake Valley.  

 

Everyone was really glad to be out of the van -- of course, Grampy and I still had to drive home to Cedar City.............

 

 

Jen & Elias & Isaac even drove down from Washington Terrace to welcome us back to Utah!

Some observations now that we're home:

1) DVD players that plug into a car battery are a wonderful invention when you are traveling with kids.

2) Despite what some people think, cell phones are also a wonderful invention - especially when you are on the road having adventures.  Communication is wonderful!

3) The word "thunderstorm" has a whole new meaning after this trip.

4) I love mountains -- it is impossible for me to figure out where I am and which direction I'm going when I don't have a mountain as a guide!

5) I have a greater respect for the pioneers after this trip.  We traveled roughly the same route the pioneers did coming back to Utah -- and they walked all of it!  We had air-conditioning and rode all the way with a comfortable place to sleep each night.  I don't know how they did it.

6) It's fun traveling with family and having someone to share the adventures with!!!