We spent a really nice day in Salt Lake. There was a free shuttle downtown from the KOA, and on the way back we had a freindly conversation wit a lawyer from New Orleans. He was here just for the day and came to take the tour of Temple Square. The conference center is absolutley amazing. Even Adam's jaw hit the floor when we went inside the auditorium. It is enormous, and beautiful too. The garden on the roof is representative of the landscapes of Utah. We had lunch at the Joseph Smith building witht the Ziedners. I am going to miss those two now that they have moved to Utah. Miriam recgnized and named two or three different statues of Joseph. I think that is really neat.
We had another trailer tire blow out just outside of Beaver, Ut. This time the tools I have just wouldn't work. The lug kept slipping off both the lugs and the jack. I was really getting frustrated and angry. Then I stopped and said a quiet prayer. I looked around and realized that I was not only near an exit, but very near a town. I unhooked the trailer and drove into town. I Borrowed a four way from Cooper Tire Center and went back to get the trailer. Rebekah went with me we had the trailer back on the road in no time. When I got to the service center, we found that the third tire was coming apart as well. I put the family up in a Quality Inn where they charged us what seemed to be the price for a room for two not six, it was only $80. The kids played in the pool and we had dinner at Dairy Queen.
So, I have a question, why did my tools work when we we in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, but when we so close to help they wouldn't? Well, I have my beliefs on this subject. On the way back from getting the trailer I told Rebekah that I had to stop only being greatful when things were going well.
Rebekah and I had a very touching conversation. The contents of the conversation are too personal to share , but needless to say Rebekah is not just a " good kid" anymore. She is a full grown daughter of God.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Leaving Yellow Stone
It was emotionally difficult to leave Yellow Stone, as we were all so touched by this magnificent place. We did have a dramatic ending as the last site we saw was a bald eagle swooping into a stream and pulling out a huge fish for breakfast. We took a picture, but it doesn’t show very well. We stopped in Rexburg and had lunch with Sheila at a cute little water park. Miriam and Adam played with Isaac and I put Benjamin back to sleep - Just my natural Popi skills rising to the surface. Arrived in Salt Lake and we are now getting ready for the trip to Bryce. At the KOA pool Adam teased Mommy into sharing the bear story with complete strangers. I don’t know where the little rat gets his sense of humor, ; )>
Yellow Stone
June 23, 2008
Got the tire replaced and we were on the road by 10. The landscape really started to change today. Especially once we hit the Big Horn Mountains. This has to be one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. Constant changes between dramatic rock outcroppings, forested mountainsides and meadows filled with yellow, purple and white flowers on a back drop of green grass. We passed several crystal blue lakes and streams. There was still quite a bit of snow too. The roads were incredibly steep and the car died twice. It does that in town when you flutter the gas pedal. This is no big deal in town, but on a winding mountain road it can be a bit stressful. Martha and I both felt kind of like we on a roller coaster ride. We stopped at a visitor center at the top of the mountains and something told me to ask whether we should take 14 or 14 a down the back side. I had intended to take 14 a as it looked like a better road on the map. The kind woman told me no, that way had 15 miles of 12 % grades. She said the other route also was much more scenic, and boy was it ever! It was like driving through a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, but with a lot more green vegetation.
We finally made it to Yellow Stone at around 3 and found out we had to drive 50 miles around the lake to our camp site. At least it was an impressive drive. Lake Yellow Stone is the deepest turquoise, and clear you can easily see 7 feet under the water. On the way in we saw buffalo, a couple of coyotes, some elk, ducks, pelicans and a number of other small animals which thrilled the children. The camp ground has very strict rules about not leaving anything that might attract bears out of the car so we had to rearrange our packing. The sites are ok, but as we pulled in our battery light came on. Needless to say this was another bit of stress I didn’t need. I cleaned the terminals and the light went away. As they say at home in the south, “Thank you Jesus”.
Our neighbor, John English came over an asked if we wanted some fire wood; he had a sick comrade and had to leave for home. I asked if he needed any help he asked me to take his site pass back to the ranger station. I noticed from his plates that he was from Utah. I asked if he was LDS and if he thought is friend might like a blessing. The answer was yes, on both accounts. John was not active and didn’t feel that he could do the blessing and neither of us had any consecrated oil. John did have some olive oil so I ended up consecrating the oil anointing Brother Quist, and giving the blessing. I had no idea what was wrong or who this guy was, but I tried to listen to the spirit, and it must have worked, because both men were crying when we finished. This whole incident put our little problems into perspective and set a better mood for the rest of the night.
June 24
The day ended particularly well, after a delicious dinner of “Darn Good Chili” that we all worked together to make, we roasted marshmallows around the fire and told stories and sang songs. Here is the thing; today we saw some of the earth’s most beautiful land marks on the planet, including Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, incredible mountain ranges, white water rapids, crystal lakes, and ten or twenty others. As spectacular as these were, none of this more powerfully touches my heart than to be able to see that my children love one another, they like one another, and they want to be a family.
On a worldlier note, it was well worth the considerable sum of money we spent to take the Circle of Fire Tour. We were able to see five or six times more sites than we could possibly have seen on our own, and with no stress. I was able to just enjoy being with Martha and the kids, and to concentrate on the scenery rather than driving and making decisions. The guide was funny and personable and shared one historical, geological or nature story after the other. Rebekah, Adam and Sarah learned more today that they would in a month of schooling. Miriam just loved seeing all the Animals, and the “hot water geysers”.
(added on the 25th) Last night I had one of my really ugly nightmares and woke up feeling very uneasy. I had just begun to calm myself down and get back to sleep when Martha decided to add to my emotional distress with the statement every father wants to hear while sleeping in a tent in bear country.
“I just heard a bear right out side snuffling around”. I jumped up, in a near panic.
“Where?” I asked nervously. “Right outside”, she replied in a tense whisper. We both waited for two or three minutes with baited breath, straining to see or hear something, trying to decide what to do. “Oh wait,” Martha finally said, “that’s Bekah’s snoring”
After a trip to the restroom, and short view of the full moon and zillions of stars, my heart slowed down enough to get back to sleep. Thank goodness.
June 25, 2008
Today was a great family day. We slept in till 8, woke and had French toast for breakfast, and hot showers for desert. Martha and Bekah went to the pay showers. Adam, Sarah, Mim and I did it wilderness style. I hung up a tarp; we boiled some water and used buckets to wash. To my surprise it actually worked well! I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. I might even hide all the money and make Martha and Bekah use my “shower” too ; ).
We drove down to Old Faithful Geyser and spent the entire day viewing the amazing features there. Adam earned his “Young Scientist” badge by observing and writing the answers to a number of questions in a manual. I could try to describe the beauty that we saw, but I believe I would not be very successful. I do not believe that even pictures do this place justice. Come here if you ever get the chance, or make the chance. I told the children that we had decided to make this trip despite the increasing costs, and all the things that could go wrong for two reasons. 1. I like being with my family, and this was a perfect opportunity to be just us with no distractions pulling in other directions. 2. I remember the big trips we took when I was young. I recounted a number of these memories: Like taking the Liberty Trail in Boston. Following that painted line all over the city, learning about our history with my mother. I also remembered sitting in the back seat of the car eating fresh cherries purchased on the roadside, and spitting the seeds out of the sun roof just to see them fly back wards and high speed when the wind caught them. I remember staying at the VOQ in some southern state, so mom could visit the doctor because she had an infection in her wrist that was making driving difficult. Well, I could go on about that vacation, and I did with the kids we went back and forth with questions and stories for the entire 30 minute drive to Old Faithful. The point of which was to say that were making memories that will bring them happiness for the rest of existence. Just to side track again, I can not believe my mother did these trips with just two little kids. I have a strong partner and least two children who can, and often do take the role of the adult when necessary to help, and I am still stressed. She was either totally insane, or an amazingly strong individual, or maybe a little of each.
So let’s get back to our story. Martha is now a federal fugitive, and Adam almost turned her in. It is posted everywhere in this park, not to throw things into the geological features. Martha left a cookie wrapper back in Beauty Pool. To Martha’s utter horror, this dastardly act was witnessed by twenty to thirty other visitors. Ok so, it was an accident. Martha bent over to pick up her bag, and just as she did, a gust of wind blew the piece of trash left over from lunch out of the purse and straight into the Geyser. When Adam was testing off on his Young Scientist award, you could just see the guilt on his face, and his desire to just get it off his chest, by telling the Ranger what had happened. I have since explained that this was just an accident, and there was no need to feel guilty. The rangers would have pulled the trash out by now any way… If you happen to visit Yellow Stone in the future, and the trash is still there, please keep this information to yourself. Neither Martha, nor Adam needs the stress.
Well it’s time to go cook some sausages and chili over the camp fire, so bye for now.
Got the tire replaced and we were on the road by 10. The landscape really started to change today. Especially once we hit the Big Horn Mountains. This has to be one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. Constant changes between dramatic rock outcroppings, forested mountainsides and meadows filled with yellow, purple and white flowers on a back drop of green grass. We passed several crystal blue lakes and streams. There was still quite a bit of snow too. The roads were incredibly steep and the car died twice. It does that in town when you flutter the gas pedal. This is no big deal in town, but on a winding mountain road it can be a bit stressful. Martha and I both felt kind of like we on a roller coaster ride. We stopped at a visitor center at the top of the mountains and something told me to ask whether we should take 14 or 14 a down the back side. I had intended to take 14 a as it looked like a better road on the map. The kind woman told me no, that way had 15 miles of 12 % grades. She said the other route also was much more scenic, and boy was it ever! It was like driving through a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, but with a lot more green vegetation.
We finally made it to Yellow Stone at around 3 and found out we had to drive 50 miles around the lake to our camp site. At least it was an impressive drive. Lake Yellow Stone is the deepest turquoise, and clear you can easily see 7 feet under the water. On the way in we saw buffalo, a couple of coyotes, some elk, ducks, pelicans and a number of other small animals which thrilled the children. The camp ground has very strict rules about not leaving anything that might attract bears out of the car so we had to rearrange our packing. The sites are ok, but as we pulled in our battery light came on. Needless to say this was another bit of stress I didn’t need. I cleaned the terminals and the light went away. As they say at home in the south, “Thank you Jesus”.
Our neighbor, John English came over an asked if we wanted some fire wood; he had a sick comrade and had to leave for home. I asked if he needed any help he asked me to take his site pass back to the ranger station. I noticed from his plates that he was from Utah. I asked if he was LDS and if he thought is friend might like a blessing. The answer was yes, on both accounts. John was not active and didn’t feel that he could do the blessing and neither of us had any consecrated oil. John did have some olive oil so I ended up consecrating the oil anointing Brother Quist, and giving the blessing. I had no idea what was wrong or who this guy was, but I tried to listen to the spirit, and it must have worked, because both men were crying when we finished. This whole incident put our little problems into perspective and set a better mood for the rest of the night.
June 24
The day ended particularly well, after a delicious dinner of “Darn Good Chili” that we all worked together to make, we roasted marshmallows around the fire and told stories and sang songs. Here is the thing; today we saw some of the earth’s most beautiful land marks on the planet, including Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, incredible mountain ranges, white water rapids, crystal lakes, and ten or twenty others. As spectacular as these were, none of this more powerfully touches my heart than to be able to see that my children love one another, they like one another, and they want to be a family.
On a worldlier note, it was well worth the considerable sum of money we spent to take the Circle of Fire Tour. We were able to see five or six times more sites than we could possibly have seen on our own, and with no stress. I was able to just enjoy being with Martha and the kids, and to concentrate on the scenery rather than driving and making decisions. The guide was funny and personable and shared one historical, geological or nature story after the other. Rebekah, Adam and Sarah learned more today that they would in a month of schooling. Miriam just loved seeing all the Animals, and the “hot water geysers”.
(added on the 25th) Last night I had one of my really ugly nightmares and woke up feeling very uneasy. I had just begun to calm myself down and get back to sleep when Martha decided to add to my emotional distress with the statement every father wants to hear while sleeping in a tent in bear country.
“I just heard a bear right out side snuffling around”. I jumped up, in a near panic.
“Where?” I asked nervously. “Right outside”, she replied in a tense whisper. We both waited for two or three minutes with baited breath, straining to see or hear something, trying to decide what to do. “Oh wait,” Martha finally said, “that’s Bekah’s snoring”
After a trip to the restroom, and short view of the full moon and zillions of stars, my heart slowed down enough to get back to sleep. Thank goodness.
June 25, 2008
Today was a great family day. We slept in till 8, woke and had French toast for breakfast, and hot showers for desert. Martha and Bekah went to the pay showers. Adam, Sarah, Mim and I did it wilderness style. I hung up a tarp; we boiled some water and used buckets to wash. To my surprise it actually worked well! I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. I might even hide all the money and make Martha and Bekah use my “shower” too ; ).
We drove down to Old Faithful Geyser and spent the entire day viewing the amazing features there. Adam earned his “Young Scientist” badge by observing and writing the answers to a number of questions in a manual. I could try to describe the beauty that we saw, but I believe I would not be very successful. I do not believe that even pictures do this place justice. Come here if you ever get the chance, or make the chance. I told the children that we had decided to make this trip despite the increasing costs, and all the things that could go wrong for two reasons. 1. I like being with my family, and this was a perfect opportunity to be just us with no distractions pulling in other directions. 2. I remember the big trips we took when I was young. I recounted a number of these memories: Like taking the Liberty Trail in Boston. Following that painted line all over the city, learning about our history with my mother. I also remembered sitting in the back seat of the car eating fresh cherries purchased on the roadside, and spitting the seeds out of the sun roof just to see them fly back wards and high speed when the wind caught them. I remember staying at the VOQ in some southern state, so mom could visit the doctor because she had an infection in her wrist that was making driving difficult. Well, I could go on about that vacation, and I did with the kids we went back and forth with questions and stories for the entire 30 minute drive to Old Faithful. The point of which was to say that were making memories that will bring them happiness for the rest of existence. Just to side track again, I can not believe my mother did these trips with just two little kids. I have a strong partner and least two children who can, and often do take the role of the adult when necessary to help, and I am still stressed. She was either totally insane, or an amazingly strong individual, or maybe a little of each.
So let’s get back to our story. Martha is now a federal fugitive, and Adam almost turned her in. It is posted everywhere in this park, not to throw things into the geological features. Martha left a cookie wrapper back in Beauty Pool. To Martha’s utter horror, this dastardly act was witnessed by twenty to thirty other visitors. Ok so, it was an accident. Martha bent over to pick up her bag, and just as she did, a gust of wind blew the piece of trash left over from lunch out of the purse and straight into the Geyser. When Adam was testing off on his Young Scientist award, you could just see the guilt on his face, and his desire to just get it off his chest, by telling the Ranger what had happened. I have since explained that this was just an accident, and there was no need to feel guilty. The rangers would have pulled the trash out by now any way… If you happen to visit Yellow Stone in the future, and the trash is still there, please keep this information to yourself. Neither Martha, nor Adam needs the stress.
Well it’s time to go cook some sausages and chili over the camp fire, so bye for now.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
A little detour
Just in case you did not know, small towns close down on Sunday. We couldn't replace our spare tire today, so we ended up staying a night in Sheridan WY. The longer version is that I had intended to just push on anyway but thought to have a prayer about it. I felt uneasy, but was being stubborn and was going to move on. I was alone in the car at the time and just as
I closed the door I realized that I had left the keys inside. I almost cried, literally. I could not believe my luck to find the rear gatge had been left unlocked. As I lifted the gate, a clear thought came into my mind, "this is what happens when you make rash decisions based on haste". I knew we had to stay and wait till Monday. We held a family council, I asked every one for an opinion, and except for Sarah, who was torn, the decision was unanimous. Even Mim said," stay home and rest". Then I shared my prayer experience with everyone and we headed for KOA.
We rested, and cleaned up the van. I called ahead and changed our reservations.
After dinner we had a family devotional and each person read a scripture and told how it related to something that we have done, or learned on our trip. Even Mim read, "Where two are three are gathered in my name...". With a little help of course. We sang a hymn had a prayer and enjoyed the spirit. All is well.
I closed the door I realized that I had left the keys inside. I almost cried, literally. I could not believe my luck to find the rear gatge had been left unlocked. As I lifted the gate, a clear thought came into my mind, "this is what happens when you make rash decisions based on haste". I knew we had to stay and wait till Monday. We held a family council, I asked every one for an opinion, and except for Sarah, who was torn, the decision was unanimous. Even Mim said," stay home and rest". Then I shared my prayer experience with everyone and we headed for KOA.
We rested, and cleaned up the van. I called ahead and changed our reservations.
After dinner we had a family devotional and each person read a scripture and told how it related to something that we have done, or learned on our trip. Even Mim read, "Where two are three are gathered in my name...". With a little help of course. We sang a hymn had a prayer and enjoyed the spirit. All is well.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Pre-quel
June 16 2008
“Are we there yet?”… Believe it or not we only heard that question twice yesterday. The drive seemed very circuitous, but it was interesting. We went through St. Louis, Hannibal, Mo of Huck Finn fame and about 5 thousand little towns with fewer people than a few of the Middle Schools I work with. We crossed the Tennessee River, The Mississippi River, twice the Cumberland, and twice and the Missouri River. All the way here Miriam kept reminding us that we had to go camping to see the yellow stone. Each time we would remind her that we were going to Nauvoo first, “oh yeah, “she would repeat, “we’re going camping at Nauvoo”. All four kids were extremely well behaved and good natured, especially considering we were in the car for 11 hours. Rebekah did hurt my brain a few times making me answer deep spiritual or political questions…. Don’t you hate those typical teenagers? Sarah was happy to play silly word games and sing songs all the way. Believe it or not, Sarah did not fall asleep, but Bekah did. Our little stoic Adam did finally break at 9:00 PM and asked, the horrible question for the second time, but it only took a gentle reminder that we were all tired and unhappy about still being in the car to return him to his all is well bubble.
We missed the camp ground, but this turned out to be a good thing as we came around a bend on 96 and there before us was the gleaming white and gold Nauvoo temple. Those simple lights are more attractive to me than all the lights of any big city I have ever seen. We turned around and found Nauvoo State Park in just a few minutes. Miriam had fallen asleep around 9:45 and slept until we had the pop up tent set up around 11. The weather was fantastic, 60 degrees, no rain… I actually got a little chilly with the fan on and had to get under the blankets.
We woke up, No alarms? : ) at around 8:00 showered ate, and drove into Historic Nauvoo. We started out by taking the wagon ride tour, which gave us a great idea of which restored buildings we really wanted to visit. At the cultural Hall we watched a really hoky kids show, and Miriam was asked to come up on stage. She loooooooved it, and was quite the ham. Sarah was laughing her head off and saying “that was so cute,”
It was deeply moving to see all of those restored homes and businesses and then to walk down the road the saints had to walk as they fled, once again, the violent mobs. This is especially true when you looked back over your shoulder to see the shining temple spire that they had all sacrificed and worked so hard to build.
Emotion aside the little well organized community reminded me of the new trends toward urban villages. With everything in walking distance and laid out in neat square blocks with room for businesses homes, gardens and community space. I mentioned to the kids that we kind of had a similar situation where we live with family, friends, and shops close enough to walk to, but we have the crazy curvy southern streets.
June 17,
Well today turned out to be quite an adventure. We got off to an early start and headed back through town, past the temple, towards the Fort Madison Bridge. Just as we turned left to head across the Mississippi, we saw the orange road cones, ant the bridge closed signs. At that same moment I felt the entire van lurch and looked in my rear view mirror to see the Pop up gently lay itself down in the road behind us. Apparently the wagon master (yes that would be me) had not tightened the ball hitch down and had forgotten to attach the safety chain. I did learn that a single 18 gauge ground wire does not work as a safety chain. Several kind souls immediately came to our aid and within ten minutes we were back together and on the road, but back the way we had come. The flood waters from the Iowa and Wisconsin floods had closed every bridge north for several hundred miles. There was one bridge open in Keokuk Iowa. It was only a thirty minute drive to the bridge but it took an hour of waiting in line to get across. On the way we realized for the first time how high the Mississippi was running as in several places it was with ten feet of covering the Great River Road, effectively trapping us in Nauvoo. It was only when we were half way across the what we thought was the bridge when we realized that we were driving on hastily constructed levy reaching across the flooded approach to the bridge. The van’s heavily loaded rear tires were sinking into the soggy levy causing a horribly terrifying noise as the hitch dragged across the ground. I must tell you that despite the positive out come, I never would have made the crossing had I known what we were actually doing. Once across we purchased a map and found a series of country highways that allowed us to by pass flooded Des Moine and Cedar Rapids. It was an uneventful drive from there, except for Mim singing “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” four or five hundred times, and the friendly but overzealous state trooper who gave me a speeding ticket for going 65 in a 55 zone. Despite the four extra hours of driving we had not anticipated we arrived at Dodge State Park before dark, and now its snooze time for this old wagon master. We have decided to change our drive plans tomorrow because of the long drive today. We are going to head out tomorrow afternoon drive about 250 miles and start looking for a campground.
June 18, 2008
In terms of personal adventures today was much calmer for the Alcantar clan; we got started around 9:00 and headed for the Mormon Trail Center. While there we had our own personal guide, Sister Street, She did a wonderful job. Without getting into the detail of the struggles of the saints surviving the year at Winters Quarters, and Kaynesville, I was pretty choked up. The kids learned a great deal from the museum. It was especially meaningful having just made the journey from Nauvoo. As we left I asked the children if they had felt anything special today. The three older children all had been taught by the spirit and they felt that special warmth that comes from such an experience. I pointed out that it is important that they learn to recognize that spirit and to listen to its teachings and promptings. All of us were very touched. Needless to say, while the physical adventures were less today, the spiritual adventure was powerful. We found a fantastic camp ground in Mitchell South Dakota, Lake Mitchell camp Grounds. It is clean, green, and quiet. Even better we are literally 15 feet from the shower house and a play ground. Miriam, Sarah, and Adam played while we got dinner ready, and Sarah turned herself gray on the merry go round… don’t feel too bad for her I warned not to do it : ) .
I gave Adam and Sarah a project today; I told them that if they could teach Mim the names of the four presidents on Mt Rushmore by the time we reach California, I’d take them all out for ice cream. Miriam yelled, “Strawberry?”, and already has the names down with very little help. Guess I better be careful with the reward offers.
June 19, 2008
Grass, road sign, cow, grass, road sign, cow, grass road sign, grass, road sign, small town- from Keokuk, Iowa to the Missouri river in South Dakota, that is pretty much all we saw. I was about to suffer from cabin fever in our van when we finally, and suddenly, came upon the Missouri. This was a beautiful scene, Big trees green grass, blue water and sky, and rolling hills. I could live there…at least until winter.
Unfortunately, the breather was short lived as the grass and road signs for cheesy tourist stops took over again. Finally we hit the badlands and we started to have some pretty amazing views. Unfortunately, the cheesy tourist dives didn’t end until we were well inside the Black Hills National Forrest. We are camping right on Lake Sheridan and the drive to get here is worth it. The lake view right outside the tent is so amazing that Adam begged Bekah to let him sleep near the window so he could watch all night. He even offered to sleep at her feet.
We had grilled buffalo burgers for dinner made a small fire to warm up a little bit, yes it is actually chilly, and went to bed. We have a big day ahead tomorrow. Rushmore, Crazy horse, and Deadwood are all on the itinerary.
June 20, 2008
Wow if I thought the view was beautiful yesterday; waking up to the sun rising over the lake was amazing. After a hearty breakfast cooked outdoors we were on our way to Rushmore, and The Crazy Horse Memorial. Each was spectacular for different reasons. The sheer scale of Crazy Horse and the fact that the have not accepted any government money to build it is spectacular; the patriotic zeal that Rushmore inspires is also very powerful.
“When heroes die, dreams disappear, and when dreams disappear there is no more greatness” (paraphrase)… as quoted by the sculptor of Crazy Horse. He was also an assistant at Rushmore.
Mim has memorized all four presidents, but prefers Teddy “Rosabelt”, who wears sunglasses and has a moustache, for some reason, and thinks Abraca Licon is hard to remember.
Bekah Sarah and Adam went swimming in that ice cold water. I think they all have suffered some form of brain damage, but it’s the closest they have had to a bath in two days, so I didn’t complain.
“Are we there yet?”… Believe it or not we only heard that question twice yesterday. The drive seemed very circuitous, but it was interesting. We went through St. Louis, Hannibal, Mo of Huck Finn fame and about 5 thousand little towns with fewer people than a few of the Middle Schools I work with. We crossed the Tennessee River, The Mississippi River, twice the Cumberland, and twice and the Missouri River. All the way here Miriam kept reminding us that we had to go camping to see the yellow stone. Each time we would remind her that we were going to Nauvoo first, “oh yeah, “she would repeat, “we’re going camping at Nauvoo”. All four kids were extremely well behaved and good natured, especially considering we were in the car for 11 hours. Rebekah did hurt my brain a few times making me answer deep spiritual or political questions…. Don’t you hate those typical teenagers? Sarah was happy to play silly word games and sing songs all the way. Believe it or not, Sarah did not fall asleep, but Bekah did. Our little stoic Adam did finally break at 9:00 PM and asked, the horrible question for the second time, but it only took a gentle reminder that we were all tired and unhappy about still being in the car to return him to his all is well bubble.
We missed the camp ground, but this turned out to be a good thing as we came around a bend on 96 and there before us was the gleaming white and gold Nauvoo temple. Those simple lights are more attractive to me than all the lights of any big city I have ever seen. We turned around and found Nauvoo State Park in just a few minutes. Miriam had fallen asleep around 9:45 and slept until we had the pop up tent set up around 11. The weather was fantastic, 60 degrees, no rain… I actually got a little chilly with the fan on and had to get under the blankets.
We woke up, No alarms? : ) at around 8:00 showered ate, and drove into Historic Nauvoo. We started out by taking the wagon ride tour, which gave us a great idea of which restored buildings we really wanted to visit. At the cultural Hall we watched a really hoky kids show, and Miriam was asked to come up on stage. She loooooooved it, and was quite the ham. Sarah was laughing her head off and saying “that was so cute,”
It was deeply moving to see all of those restored homes and businesses and then to walk down the road the saints had to walk as they fled, once again, the violent mobs. This is especially true when you looked back over your shoulder to see the shining temple spire that they had all sacrificed and worked so hard to build.
Emotion aside the little well organized community reminded me of the new trends toward urban villages. With everything in walking distance and laid out in neat square blocks with room for businesses homes, gardens and community space. I mentioned to the kids that we kind of had a similar situation where we live with family, friends, and shops close enough to walk to, but we have the crazy curvy southern streets.
June 17,
Well today turned out to be quite an adventure. We got off to an early start and headed back through town, past the temple, towards the Fort Madison Bridge. Just as we turned left to head across the Mississippi, we saw the orange road cones, ant the bridge closed signs. At that same moment I felt the entire van lurch and looked in my rear view mirror to see the Pop up gently lay itself down in the road behind us. Apparently the wagon master (yes that would be me) had not tightened the ball hitch down and had forgotten to attach the safety chain. I did learn that a single 18 gauge ground wire does not work as a safety chain. Several kind souls immediately came to our aid and within ten minutes we were back together and on the road, but back the way we had come. The flood waters from the Iowa and Wisconsin floods had closed every bridge north for several hundred miles. There was one bridge open in Keokuk Iowa. It was only a thirty minute drive to the bridge but it took an hour of waiting in line to get across. On the way we realized for the first time how high the Mississippi was running as in several places it was with ten feet of covering the Great River Road, effectively trapping us in Nauvoo. It was only when we were half way across the what we thought was the bridge when we realized that we were driving on hastily constructed levy reaching across the flooded approach to the bridge. The van’s heavily loaded rear tires were sinking into the soggy levy causing a horribly terrifying noise as the hitch dragged across the ground. I must tell you that despite the positive out come, I never would have made the crossing had I known what we were actually doing. Once across we purchased a map and found a series of country highways that allowed us to by pass flooded Des Moine and Cedar Rapids. It was an uneventful drive from there, except for Mim singing “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” four or five hundred times, and the friendly but overzealous state trooper who gave me a speeding ticket for going 65 in a 55 zone. Despite the four extra hours of driving we had not anticipated we arrived at Dodge State Park before dark, and now its snooze time for this old wagon master. We have decided to change our drive plans tomorrow because of the long drive today. We are going to head out tomorrow afternoon drive about 250 miles and start looking for a campground.
June 18, 2008
In terms of personal adventures today was much calmer for the Alcantar clan; we got started around 9:00 and headed for the Mormon Trail Center. While there we had our own personal guide, Sister Street, She did a wonderful job. Without getting into the detail of the struggles of the saints surviving the year at Winters Quarters, and Kaynesville, I was pretty choked up. The kids learned a great deal from the museum. It was especially meaningful having just made the journey from Nauvoo. As we left I asked the children if they had felt anything special today. The three older children all had been taught by the spirit and they felt that special warmth that comes from such an experience. I pointed out that it is important that they learn to recognize that spirit and to listen to its teachings and promptings. All of us were very touched. Needless to say, while the physical adventures were less today, the spiritual adventure was powerful. We found a fantastic camp ground in Mitchell South Dakota, Lake Mitchell camp Grounds. It is clean, green, and quiet. Even better we are literally 15 feet from the shower house and a play ground. Miriam, Sarah, and Adam played while we got dinner ready, and Sarah turned herself gray on the merry go round… don’t feel too bad for her I warned not to do it : ) .
I gave Adam and Sarah a project today; I told them that if they could teach Mim the names of the four presidents on Mt Rushmore by the time we reach California, I’d take them all out for ice cream. Miriam yelled, “Strawberry?”, and already has the names down with very little help. Guess I better be careful with the reward offers.
June 19, 2008
Grass, road sign, cow, grass, road sign, cow, grass road sign, grass, road sign, small town- from Keokuk, Iowa to the Missouri river in South Dakota, that is pretty much all we saw. I was about to suffer from cabin fever in our van when we finally, and suddenly, came upon the Missouri. This was a beautiful scene, Big trees green grass, blue water and sky, and rolling hills. I could live there…at least until winter.
Unfortunately, the breather was short lived as the grass and road signs for cheesy tourist stops took over again. Finally we hit the badlands and we started to have some pretty amazing views. Unfortunately, the cheesy tourist dives didn’t end until we were well inside the Black Hills National Forrest. We are camping right on Lake Sheridan and the drive to get here is worth it. The lake view right outside the tent is so amazing that Adam begged Bekah to let him sleep near the window so he could watch all night. He even offered to sleep at her feet.
We had grilled buffalo burgers for dinner made a small fire to warm up a little bit, yes it is actually chilly, and went to bed. We have a big day ahead tomorrow. Rushmore, Crazy horse, and Deadwood are all on the itinerary.
June 20, 2008
Wow if I thought the view was beautiful yesterday; waking up to the sun rising over the lake was amazing. After a hearty breakfast cooked outdoors we were on our way to Rushmore, and The Crazy Horse Memorial. Each was spectacular for different reasons. The sheer scale of Crazy Horse and the fact that the have not accepted any government money to build it is spectacular; the patriotic zeal that Rushmore inspires is also very powerful.
“When heroes die, dreams disappear, and when dreams disappear there is no more greatness” (paraphrase)… as quoted by the sculptor of Crazy Horse. He was also an assistant at Rushmore.
Mim has memorized all four presidents, but prefers Teddy “Rosabelt”, who wears sunglasses and has a moustache, for some reason, and thinks Abraca Licon is hard to remember.
Bekah Sarah and Adam went swimming in that ice cold water. I think they all have suffered some form of brain damage, but it’s the closest they have had to a bath in two days, so I didn’t complain.
June 21 2008
Well, we got off to an early start today. We said good bye to Chuck, a local pharmacist who was in the site next to us, who had been very freindly. He caught us in the middle of our family prayer and this sparked a little conversation, so we gave him a pass along card at Martha's suggestion.
Stopped at Devils Tower and hiked around the base. You can see that thing in pictures and movies, but until you see it up close. It just isn't the same. There were several climbers on the rock and each of the straiations you see are actually big enough for a man to fit inside . Adam earned his junior ranger badge by answering questions and drawing some pictures.
The landscape is much more beautiful since we entered the Black Hills, as we approached western Wyoming it went from rolling hills with green grasses, wild flowers, red soil, and ponderosa pine to the more familiar western high plains desert.
We drove through Deadwood on our way out of the Black Hills and I have to tell you,
If Wild Bill Hicock had to get shot in the back he could not have picked a more beautiful place to do it. The town sits in a valley surrounded by the blue green of the mountains, the soil is a deep red and the cliffs that practically surround the town are steep and deeply weathered.
We had a blow out on the tailer, Rebekah and I had it changed in 15 minutes. We drove about a mile and I had a distinct impression to stop and look at the tire again. I listened. One bolt was gone, one was three quarters of the way out and the last two were loose. Do you get the feeling that Angels are watching out for us? I do. This trip has been very stressful for me. Being responsible for taking care of five other people at home is one thing. This is all together different. I'm glad we are doing this as it is really bonding us all together in small and profound ways, but I have to rely upon God and Prayer not to pull over and call for someone to just bring us home : )>
We are at a KOA In Buffallo, WY tonight swimming, showering and provisioning for Yellow Stone.
Stopped at Devils Tower and hiked around the base. You can see that thing in pictures and movies, but until you see it up close. It just isn't the same. There were several climbers on the rock and each of the straiations you see are actually big enough for a man to fit inside . Adam earned his junior ranger badge by answering questions and drawing some pictures.
The landscape is much more beautiful since we entered the Black Hills, as we approached western Wyoming it went from rolling hills with green grasses, wild flowers, red soil, and ponderosa pine to the more familiar western high plains desert.
We drove through Deadwood on our way out of the Black Hills and I have to tell you,
If Wild Bill Hicock had to get shot in the back he could not have picked a more beautiful place to do it. The town sits in a valley surrounded by the blue green of the mountains, the soil is a deep red and the cliffs that practically surround the town are steep and deeply weathered.
We had a blow out on the tailer, Rebekah and I had it changed in 15 minutes. We drove about a mile and I had a distinct impression to stop and look at the tire again. I listened. One bolt was gone, one was three quarters of the way out and the last two were loose. Do you get the feeling that Angels are watching out for us? I do. This trip has been very stressful for me. Being responsible for taking care of five other people at home is one thing. This is all together different. I'm glad we are doing this as it is really bonding us all together in small and profound ways, but I have to rely upon God and Prayer not to pull over and call for someone to just bring us home : )>
We are at a KOA In Buffallo, WY tonight swimming, showering and provisioning for Yellow Stone.
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