Day #5 - Our Adventure

Today we got up early and got a good start. We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed for Nauvoo.  I took tons of pictures today so I'll try to limit myself. The day started out dreary, rainy, and cloudy, but in the early afternoon cleared up and the sun came out (coincidently exactly how they described the day that Joseph Smith was killed). We started at the Brickyard where we learned how they make bricks and received a souvenir one to bring home.

 

We then went to Lucy Mack Smith's home and met Sister Readfield. We were visiting with her upstairs as no other group had come along yet. We were discussing what we had done so far and we mentioned having gone through the temple and she was saying what a special experience that must have been and Kyle told her it hadn't been that great and she soon got the gist of the story out of him. At this point she decides we need to go back and have a good experience and her and her husband are going to take us. Because today was Monday the sessions end early and we couldn't make it work. She was just so sweet, it makes me teary to think of how important it is to her that Kyle have a good experience here in the temple.

 

From there we went over to walk around the Joseph and Emma Smith homes and Nauvoo House. I was able to show Kyle where the prophet and Hyrum were originally buried before being moved to where they are now with Emma.

We moved onto the boot and shoe shop, saw the big water truck they use to keep all the flowers alive, toured the original Browning gun shop, the post office/store, the print shop where we saw how they printed "The Times and Seasons" which precluded "The Ensign", and visited the tin shop.

 

 

From there we went to the Visitor's Center and got a schedule and decided we had time to go down to Carthage, get dinner, and be back in time for a show on the outdoor stage. Along the way we saw a Ford F450 6x4 along the way and Kyle now has a new dream truck, perfect for pulling his dream 5th wheel travel trailer. It was pretty awesome looking. Here is a picture for your enjoyment:

 

 

We happened to get to the Carthage Jail at the same time as two family reunion groups so it was fairly crowded. I enjoyed it more this time than my other visit, since then I got literally soaked to my skin. For those of you who don't know the story of how Joseph Smith was killed in the Carthage Jail it was in the Ensign last month: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/06/two-witnesses-three-days-and-the-aftermath-of-the-martyrdom?lang=eng

Kyle and I then ended up driving to Hannibal so he could say he had visited the birthplace of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We finally had our first really good meal of the trip in Quincy at a Mexican restaurant. We went into a Dollar Tree to restock first aid supplies for Kyle's blister and ended up waiting in line FOREVER!!! Kyle left me unattended in a clothing store and I "accidently" may have purchase a couple of things off of the clearance rack. Due to all of this we did not make it back to Nauvoo to the show. Tomorrow night is the Nauvoo Pageant and I'm praying for decent weather so we don't get rained on.

 



The window Joseph fell out
of after being shot



The mob shot the lock off of
the door. That is Willard Richard's
walking stick behind the door.

The bullet hole in the door thru
which Hyrum Smith was shot.