The drive from Kirksville to Nauvoo was so exciting! We drove through Missouri, into Iowa for a bit, then crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois. Now I can check three states off of my list. :) It was fun for me to see the surroundings with all the hills (people out there call them mountains, but they are nothing compared to Utah) and the corn fields. I took TONS of pictures!
Driving into Nauvoo was beautiful. The road we took follows the Mississippi River and it was just before sunset. We drove past Historic Nauvoo, then as we rounded a corner to drive up the hill to modern Nauvoo, we caught sight of the temple (how can you miss it?). It was absolutely stunning to see, and I couldn't put my camera down.
We made our way to the hotel and decided to relax for a bit before heading to the hotel restaurant for dinner. When we headed downstairs around 8:15, we found the restaurant closed. Seriously? The info in our hotel room said they were open until 9:00 through October, but I guess it was a misprint. We drove through town to find something - anything - that was open and we spotted a little diner. We walked inside to find that they take cash or check only! All of the ATMs were located in places that were already closed, and they wouldn't take our out of state check. :( Finally we stopped by the other main hotel to find that their dining room really was open until 9:00 so we sat down to a tasty buffet.
Rule One: Carry Cash
Rule Two: Know when places close
Rule Three: Keep a stash of snacks
We definitely didn't follow these rules during our trip, so we found ourselves driving to nearby towns for food. We grabbed a pizza in Keokuk (Iowa) and ate lunch another day in Fort Madison (also in Iowa). We also crossed a toll bridge once without knowing, and didn't have cash so the lady let us by with fifty cents we pulled together.
Aside from our issues with finding food at mealtimes, everything was great! The Temple was so beautiful, inside and out. It was nice to take the time for a session, and very neat to be where the early saints were, even though it's not the original building. My other favorite was Carthage Jail. It was incredible to sit in the room where Joseph and Hyrum were killed, and to see the bullet holes in the door of the room. We got some really great photos of the statues outside and the jail itself. Outside of the jail there were also two stones from the original Nauvoo Temple. So neat!
On Sunday we walked through some of the Historic Nauvoo sites, which was very neat. My favorite thing here was the Trail of Hope where the Saints walked to cross the Mississippi River and leave Nauvoo. As you walk toward the river and look back you can see the temple on the bluff. It was a very humbling moment to think about what the Saints were feeling as they were driven out of the state.
Monday morning we started the long drive back to Kansas City to catch our flight home. We took an exciting detour to Adam-Ondi-Ahman and Liberty Jail. Both were wonderful, again to be where the Prophet had been and to catch a glimpse of things he felt. What an amazing trip!
