Nauvoo Day 2

 Despite a crappy night's sleep, we headed back into Old Nauvoo for a few hours the next morning. Our first stop was going to be the buggy ride tour of the town, but I accidentally signed us up for the wagon ride through the woods instead. Whoops. But we were the only ones on the ride and the senior missionaries were happy to have us there. The one giving us the tour reminded me a lot of Grandpa Scott, which made me happy. 

Meeting the horses

After the wagon ride, we headed into town for some tours. I knew the boys would love the gun shop, so we headed there first. Staring at some really cool guns and swords:

Shooting the machine gun:

Also shooting the machine gun:

I knew better than to try to take the kids on tons of tours, so that was the only one we went on. Instead we headed to the park area where they had some activities for kids. Pioneer Elise had a fantastic time:

After lunch we tried to take the kids to the blacksmith, only to find out that they no longer do tours at the blacksmith. Or at least not during the summer (smart choice). They had a bunch of things like candle-making and rope weaving all in one building. Some parts were cool (the rope), some parts were lame (the candle-making, which had zero hands-on participation). No one complained too mightily, so I guess it was worth it:

Learning about clay and pottery making

Before we left I wanted to go walk around the temple grounds. We loaded everyone into the van and drove up to the temple. By the time we got there, zero people would come with me. So I had a nice, peaceful walk around the temple. It still feels a little bit like home to me. 

Looking down from the temple steps toward the Mississippi

I still love this place very much.

This was very disconcerting, though:

That green lawn used to be this:

(Yes, we are on the roof. Stuff like that happens in college.)

In 2004 I did a semester at Nauvoo and we lived here. It was called the Joseph Smith Academy (JSA), but it was actually an old Catholic school (as was proven by the state of the Virgin Mary I could see from my window). It was definitely dated, and I totally understand why they tore it down. But it's still really odd to know that a place that changed who you are is just...gone. Like COMPLETELY gone, without a trace. Good thing I have a million pictures and memories of it. 

Once again, we did not have enough time to do everything. And honestly, I would like to have the chance to go back to Nauvoo by myself or with some friends who attended with me. I want time to just sit and remember, not to rush through tours or try to entertain kids. One day...

From Nauvoo we had a four hour drive to Kickapoo State Park for another night of camping. We loaded up and prepared for our last night in the tent. But as we got closer, it was still REALLY hot outside. Almost 90 degrees and humid. After some debate, we finally decided to just drive through the night to Mom Blood's house in WV. 

Having previously had only terrible experiences doing this in the past (almost falling asleep at the wheel while driving to Holden Beach when Aaron was a baby, crashing the van on black ice while driving through the night to get home from WV...), it was a definite gamble. Jon took the first shift, then tried to sleep while I took the second. Thankfully WV had a billion miles of road construction through winding roads, so my brain never had a chance to fall asleep. We made it to Mom's house sometime between 2-3 am (bless you for letting us in, Mom!). It was worth it to not have to unload/load a tent or sleep in the heat and humidity again!