Road Trip

     After that amazing surprise we left the next day. It was my longest road trip yet and I didn't even get sick of it! As we drove we listened to James Taylor and read, "The Giver" to each other. We listened to some of Michelle's audio clips of one of her BYU professors, Sister Black. Sister Black is a major church history and has a photographic memory so she teaches her lessons without looking at a single thing. It was so fun to listen to her tell the history of Nauvoo and the saints.

     When I found out we were going through Nebraska I was sure it was going to be a state I didn't like. I always teased that Nebraska was a forgotten state. I seriously never remembered it. It turns out that I will never forget it! I loved driving through the cornfields and seeing a different type of beauty that I had never seen before. I couldn't believe how flat it was either. I'm used to Utah and it's majestic mountains and didn't' think anything could compare, but the thing is, there are so many different types of beauty. None pretty than another, just different. I think Heavenly Father created everything and everyone that way. Diversely beautiful and equal.

     Iowa was the next state we went through and so pretty! There were quant old farm houses in the middle of these rolling hills. The fields were full of corn, grain, or whatever the crop was. Sometimes just long stretches of grass with the occasional roll of hay. We were definitely in the midwest and it was beautiful. I was really not expecting to love that drive or those states as much as I did. Loved it. Once we were part of the way through Iowa we slept over. It took quite some time for us to find a hotel, but eventually we made it.

     The next morning we headed out and we were all very excited to get to Nauvoo. Before we got to Illinois though, we had to cross a bridge over the Mississippi River. My sister, Michelle, is the most patriotic person I know. This was a charged moment for her. Before we crossed we stopped to go by it and see the things around it. Michelle was basking in her American pride looking at it. I loved hearing all of the things she knows about America and the Mississippi River. It was fun to learn new things, but it was also fun to hear the enthusiasm and passion in her voice for it. I absolutely loved being there and seeing it but I don't think I came even close to what she felt. After that it was time to cross the bridge to Illinois. We were all giddy crossing it and just kept taking picture after picture. By then we were 9 miles away from Nauvoo.