The Facts and Figures

I will be posting several posts about our trip to Nauvoo and following the Mormon and Oregon Trails back to Utah.  We had an amazing time and took over 2000 photos (well, some of them were of the ground and accidently videos of walking, but most of them were "real" pictures of the things we saw and did.)

For those of you who prefer the short version---here are the "Facts and Figures" of Our Nauvoo and Pioneer Trails Vacation.

Travelers:  Gary, Jena and I

Mode of Transportation:  Motor home

Dates:  Tuesday, June 6 at 9:30 p.m. (we had to leave after my school class) through Tuesday, June 13th at 3:00 p.m. (just in time to unload and take a shower and get to my class)

Distance:  Traveled approximately 1243 miles to Nauvoo and probably around 1400 on the way back. It took us about 21 hours of driving over parts of three days to get there with our RV and we took four days to get home.

States:  Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois (and back again)

Meals:  We ate most of our meals in the RV and only ate out 2 times and neither of them was McDonalds (if you have traveled with Jena you know that is an accomplishment.)

Traveling plans:

I started with an Mormon Trail map

 our trusty atlas, two family journals, some mapquest maps printed for campgrounds, and a 20 page printout about the Oregon Trail.

 Along the way, we gathered a lot more stuff about the interesting places between here and there. (If you are planning a trip, we got you covered.)

Sites seen:  Lincoln Highway Monument, The Archway, Mahoney State Park, Lots of interesting rest stops, Bridge across the Mississippi, Nauvoo, Carthage, Montrose Crossing, the backroads of southern Iowa, Garden Grove, Mt. Pisgah, Pote Ruts Mormon Trail Park, Winter Quarters, Fort Kearney, Chimney Rock, Scottsbluff, Fort Laramie,  Fort Casper, Independence Rock, Martin's Cove, South Pass, Lombardy Ferry and Green River Crossing, and Ft. Bridger.  And that doesn't count the dozens of brown information signs we stopped and read along the trip.  They were everywhere.

Scattered throughout the trip were signs acknowledging the three major trails of pioneer travel.  Each time they would stated words along these lines:

"Pioneers left the east to travel to the west for different reasons. Those on the Oregon were seeking better farmlands for their families, those on the California trail were seeking gold and riches, and those on the Mormon Trail were going for religious reasons."

Driving along the route and walking in some of the areas that these pioneers traveled, dealing with heat and wind, and even get hailed on for a few minutes on our trip--I don't think that I would have made the journey with my little children for farm land or gold.  And I can only hope that my faith would have sent me on that journey to Utah if I had been alive at that time.  Time and time again I realized that my faith needs not be sufficient to walk across the plains but to walk in faith at this time and in these places where I live now.  That is true of each one of us.  We have to travel the journey placed in front of us in love, in faith, and in courage, enduring to the end!  Good reminder!

DID I MENTION THAT THIS WAS AN AMAZING TRIP!

Those were the highlights.

Details to follow in several long posts to follow.

(I haven't written them yet, but I know they will be long. :)  )