Days 3-5

We left our log cabin in Nauvoo early Wednesday morning for our "long" day of driving (since those wimpy days of only driving 6-7 hours aren't long at all...). We had hoped to make it all the way to Palmyra, but due to construction traffic and a tired family, we didn't make it nearly that far! In the late afternoon I started to think about finding a place to stop, and by 5:30 the kids were definitely ready to be out of the car. I was looking for an appropriate hotel when I saw a huge billboard for "Kalahari Water Park Resort" in Sandusky, Ohio. I decided to pull over and check it out and give the kids a surprise. It was a total (ly exhausting) blast! Like Great Wolf Lodge on steroids. The two big kids paired up and hit the scarier water slides while Sam and I stuck with the more modest offerings. We got a few good hours of water play in before it closed at 10pm, then another quick hour in the morning before heading out. Sadly, I don't have any waterproof cameras, so we didn't get any pictures, but we had a great time (even though the spontaneous splurge means more peanut butter sandwiches and fewer meals out!:))

After our Thursday morning swim we got back in the car for a comparatively "short" day (only about 5-6 hours!) We finally made it to the Palmyra area in the early evening, but it was rainy and we were tired, so we just went to the hotel (with all of the wet laundry that I didn't finish drying before we left Kalahari... not fun).

Friday morning I almost didn't take the kids into Palmyra because it was STILL rainy and we were all eager to get to Maine. But I knew I wouldn't forgive myself if we were so close and didn't go, so we drove over. We were a bit bedraggled, but it was a really special time, and I'm glad we went.

After we left the woods, Little Guy decided that the tall wet grass was more fun than the path, so he was SOAKED by time we got back to the car. But what's the fun of being four if you can't get covered with water and grass every once in a while?

"Look how wet I am, Mommy!" Yes, dear.

I don't know why this didn't occur to me, but for some reason I was surprised to realize that Joseph Smith's family cabin was right there (silly me, did I think he took a bus to the Sacred Grove???). We didn't take the entire guided tour of the farm but we did get a nice sister missionary to just take us into the cabin to look around. Ten people lived in this tiny house.

This is Joseph's loft bedroom that he shared with five brothers (there is another similar bed on the other side of the loft). It never occurred to me that his brothers were all there during the night Moroni appeared to him!

And finally, the kids didn't get out of the car here because they were eager to get to Maine, but we also drove past the Hill Cumorrah:

And a mere seven hours later...

We made it to Maine!