So we headed off into the wild blue yonder yesterday morning, and about six hours later pulled into a hotel in Quincy, Illinois. Much swimming and frolicking was had by all. It is my goal to have as few meals out during this road trip as possible, so we had fresh fruit and made grilled cheese sandwiches on an electric skillet for dinner. We got a good night's sleep, and today the "real" adventure began! (Sadly, it was an adventure accompanied only by iphone photos, because my "real" camera was out of batteries.)
After a quick stop at the Visitor's Center, we headed out for a carriage ride through the countryside. The morning was chilly but beautiful (and happily, they provided quilts for everyone to snuggle under!) We had a lovely view of the Mississippi and then paused in "Dan Jones' Hollow" to sing "I am a Child of God". All of the kids enjoyed meeting King and Max, the Belgian horses who pulled our carriage.
We had a picnic on the lawn and then headed down to ride in an ox-drawn wagon. Duke and Don, the oxen, horrified Sam by succombing to the calls of nature frequently during the ride...
Then we visited the Family Life Center, where there were demonstration in spinning, weaving, baking, barrel-making and other pioneer skills, and then found the "Pioneer Pastimes" tent which was filled with many toys and games from the era. All three kids really loved the "bear climbing a rope" game and many others.
We meandered over to our home away from home for the night, which is a one room log cabin constructed in the 19th century (happily with running water, electricity, satellite tv and even wifi, which is how I am composing this particular entry!)
We headed back over to Historic Nauvoo in the evening to watch "Rendevous in Old Nauvoo", an historical musical about Nauvoo, performed by the full time missionary couples. It was sweet and entertaining in an Andy Hardy "I've got a barn, let's put on a show" kind of way! Both of the big kids really enjoyed it, but Sam had mixed feelings, so we ended up taking a walk and taking time to smell the flowers!
Tomorrow we have our longest day of driving -- we are hoping to make it all the way to Palmyra! I suspect we'll be enjoying some fast food on that particular drive! :)
We had a picnic on the lawn and then headed down to ride in an ox-drawn wagon. Duke and Don, the oxen, horrified Sam by succombing to the calls of nature frequently during the ride...
Then we visited the Family Life Center, where there were demonstration in spinning, weaving, baking, barrel-making and other pioneer skills, and then found the "Pioneer Pastimes" tent which was filled with many toys and games from the era. All three kids really loved the "bear climbing a rope" game and many others.
We meandered over to our home away from home for the night, which is a one room log cabin constructed in the 19th century (happily with running water, electricity, satellite tv and even wifi, which is how I am composing this particular entry!)
We headed back over to Historic Nauvoo in the evening to watch "Rendevous in Old Nauvoo", an historical musical about Nauvoo, performed by the full time missionary couples. It was sweet and entertaining in an Andy Hardy "I've got a barn, let's put on a show" kind of way! Both of the big kids really enjoyed it, but Sam had mixed feelings, so we ended up taking a walk and taking time to smell the flowers!
Tomorrow we have our longest day of driving -- we are hoping to make it all the way to Palmyra! I suspect we'll be enjoying some fast food on that particular drive! :)
1 comment:
Bringing an electric skillet was genious!!
Illinois looks beautiful.
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