SHOOT.  I forgot to post the pictures of our cabin and where we're staying.  I didn't think about it till after we left - I didn't take pictures of inside but I think Amy did so maybe I can get those pictures from her.

Ethan & Hannah loved that swing at the end of our porch.

On Thursday, Mar. 29th we went to the 10:00 am session at the temple.  Good day to go to the temple because it was on the cold side and a little rainy.  By the time we got to the temple it wasn't raining but it was cold and windy.
   When we got there we were walking from the parking lot and there was another couple just a little way behind us.  There's a door on the side and then, of course, the big doors in front.  We thought we should go in the big doors in front but wasn't for sure so I turned around and asked them if we were suppose to go in the doors in front.  The sister laughed and said, "We're following you!"  Come to find out they are from Caldwell and have never been here either.  Well, we found our way in and it was wonderful.
  During the week there are two sessions in the morning and two sessions in the evening.  On Sat. they have a session start every hour.
  After the temple we went back to our cabin, changed and went shopping at the shops in downtown Nauvoo.  You can walk the whole downtown area.
  When Amy & Brian got here they got unloaded and settled in.  We had a birthday dinner for Brian since it's his birthday:  Elk steak (that we brought from home in dry ice), baked potatoes, broccoli & salad.  Sure is nice having a kitchen in our cabin. 

Our week in Nauvoo went sooooo fast!  We didn't have very good Wi fi connection and I didn't do very well keeping up with posting, but here goes.
WED.  March 18th
   We spent the morning touring some of the sites.  Jim was very interested in the Gun shop.  The Elder that did the tour for us was from Montana and he built his own gun of that time in history.  He was very interesting and informative.  Coming to Nauvoo at this time of the year has it's advantages.  When we tour a place we aren't rushed and most of the time we were the only ones on the tour so the missionaries took their time and we got to know them a bit.  Today we were engrossed in the tours and didn't take as many pictures.  We decided we'd go back and take more pictures.

When we went to the brick shop this is the oven in the front.  Our tour guide on this day was somewhat plain in his presentation and when we asked if we could each get a brick he told us we could only have one but we could go to the Red Brick Store and buy more.  When we went to the store we were told they didn't have any.  The brick makers usually supply the store with bricks but they hadn't received any yet.  The store is owned by the Community of Christ which long ago were know as the reorganized church.

We went to the tin shop but spaced getting any pictures.

These pictures are of the print shop.  We learned some interesting things here.  There were three sisters in the print shop and as they were giving their presentation we kept hearing things being dropped on the floor upstairs.  Finally we were told that there was a sister up there working on a quilt and apparently dropped the frame.  Nothing to be to concerned about!!

 

So the table shows how print set up happened - the beginnings.  It's all upside down and has to be proof read paragraph by paragraph very carefully because if you put a whole column together and then discover a mistake in the first paragraph it all has to be taken apart, to the mistake and start all over from there.  It was very time consuming.  So a couple of things I learned - When I was a kid my mom would tell me to mind my "p's and q's".  I never knew what that had to do with anything until we were in the print shop.  The only difference between a "p" and a "q" is the way it's turned.  Sometimes young people were typesetters and they would be reminded to "mind the p's and q's", meaning - be careful and don't screw up!

 

This picture is taken were the typeset would be put on paper. The arm in the front would be pushed back and forth and it would apply pressure that would make the print be applied clearly on the paper.

Then the paper had to be dried and there were papers hanging all over - of course I didn't take a picture of that,

Oh, the other thing - I call people "ding bats" occasionally.  That term describes the decorative things added to the type to make the paper more appealing.

There were two publications printed in the print shop:  The Times & Seasons and The Nauvoo Neighbor.

The Times & Seasons would be compared to our Ensign now and the Nauvoo Neighbor would be more like The Church News.

 

We went down to the river's edge. at the end of Parley Street.  This is where the saints crossed the river.  I was amazed at how large the Mississippi River is, although I don't think it was this big when the saints were here.

This is the ferry that took the saints, their wagons and the meager belongings they had, across the river.

 This is the point they entered the river.

 

 

This statue of Joseph and Brigham is at this site too.  We were told they often talked about the saints moving west - just not like it ended up happening.

These pictures show the underbrush and trees along the river bank.

Oh, I got a rock from the river bank.  Jim wouldn't let me get a big one!!!

I also found an oyster shell, all in tact and still connected.  Sweet.

My Nauvoo temple picture for today.

 

 





We arrived in Nauvoo late afternoon and by the time we got unloaded and went to see the temple there was a beautiful sunset over the Mississippi River.

Which made the temple look like this

 

We went down to a town called Keokuk to get some groceries and Jim got a night time picture of the temple that is really beautiful.

 

 

 

Tuesday, March 17th
   Before we left Omaha we went to Winter Quarters visitor center and the temple was just across the street.  Originally we wanted to go to the temple but it only has sessions in the evening and we weren't going to wait that long.  The visitors center was very interesting and it's just hard to imagine all that the saints went through there.

 

From Winter Quarters we went over to Council Bluffs. 

 

Some of the bridges here are pretty interesting.  I got these pictures of one of the bridges.

There was another that was really colorful. Reds & yellows, totally different shapes

but I couldn't get my camera fast enough.  Then leaving Council Bluffs I got this one.

 

We went to the tabernacle in Kanesville.

 

We saw a film on the Mormon Battalion.  They left from here and it was very interesting.

Again, hard to imagine all that they went through,

Then we went to the tabernacle and were told all about it.  The original tabernacle was built a couple blocks away from where the one is now.  It was built with cottonwood trees and there was a natural spring that ran underneath it.  The wood isn't a good building wood and rotted away.  This replica is also built out of cottonwood because the Historical Society decided it needed to be authentic.  But this one has rebar in the walls and is built on a foundation with a crawl space under the building.  In the crawl space at the end of each rebar is a jack, so to speak, that can be tightened as the wood dried out.  Cottonwood holds the moisture and that is a problem in building with it.  In the last couple of years they haven't had to tighten any of the jacks so the settling is mostly over.  About the only trees we see around here are cottonwood so that is all that was available.

The Historical Society worked with the church to rebuild it as close to the original as possible.  Then in the late 90's they sold it to the church for a dollar and the church took over all the maintenance,  which was time consuming and expensive, because of the cottonwood. 

Inside you can look closely and see where the wood rots out.  Our guide told us last year they had to replace part of the wood because of it's rotting.  In this picture you can see the rotting wood up near the top.

This is where Brigham Young was sustained as President of the Church.

This is the stage are where that was done.  The mural is of the apostles that were present -

three were missing, if I remember correctly.

There's a old organ (on the right) that looks almost exactly to the one Dan has that was Mom's.

It has been restored and is electronic - the peddles don't work anymore.

The fireplace is made of the same kind of adobe kind of material - mud and grass.

It doesn't function as a fireplace but this is what it looked like.

This is a statue of the first presidency when Brigham became President

This is one of the center posts (cottonwood tree).  Each one also has a jack under the floor too.

You can see the crack in it.  The guide said that the center of the tree is hard and sturdy so the crack won't go through.

 

 

 

DAY FIVE:  Monday, Mar 16th
   When we left Laramie it was windy and not very warm.  The temp. was suppose to be 49 degrees but it didn't feel like it.  When we stopped at a rest area near Sidney NB it was 89 degrees and really WINDY.  We took some pictures.

 There was a plaque at this rest area tell about the construction of I-80 across the state.  Apparently Nebraska was the first state to have an interstate freeway from one side of the state to the other.

Most of Nebraska is very flat and most of it is brown and dull.  Here's a little rock hill that was at the rest area. 

 

We're driving along and there is an arch over the freeway.  Jim told me to take a picture.

It's the Great Platt River Archway Monument

When we got to our motel Jim looked it up on the internet.  It is a museum and monument of the Platte River valley's role in the westward expansion (building of I-80)  It is directly over the interstate (as you can see), 3 miles east of Kearney, NB

It might be an interesting place to stop and see if there were time.  Oh well.

It was really windy all day today but very warm.  The highest temp we saw was 89

 



Saturday, Mar. 14th
  It has been, I'd venture to say, the nicest day we've ever had in Laramie.  Great afternoon to be outside.  Jim helped clean the garage in the morning - he scrapped pilled up dirt from the garage floor from mud accumulated off the cars tires.  Then Shawn took Jim out shooting and they preceeded to get the ranger stuck!  Every time we come to visit it seems someone gets stuck.  Heather had to take the tractor down and pull them out.