Happy Trails...Hopefully

We are about to go on our first real summer vacation in a long time. Jim has been involved in Scouts for years and that usually takes up all of his vacation time. This will be the first summer Scout Camp is not mandatory for him. Finally, some family time!

Jim's parents have gone to Nauvoo the last few summers to help with the Nauvoo Pageant. This year is no different. They left July 1st to live out there for about six weeks. Each year they beg and plead with their family to come and visit and experience that historical city. Well, now that Jim doesn't' have to go to Scout Camp we get to pack up "the family truckster" and take a road trip. Our intention is to teach the boys about some of the sacrifices early pioneers made for our church and those that followed them. To get them to agree to that we threw in some baseball. Here is what the plan is:

• Day one will start early. We will drive to Denver. We hope to be there with enough time to check into our hotel, get some dinner and be on time to the Rockies game. I think we can do it.


• The next morning we will, again, get up early and start the second longest leg of the journey. We drive from Denver straight through Kansas and stop in Kansas City, MO. (That should be a fun day!) We will stay there one night.


• When we get up the next morning we will visit two places before moving on - Liberty Jail Historic Site and the Independence Visitor's Center.


• We will then continue on to St Louis, MO that evening. We are staying there two nights. While we are there we plan on riding to the top of the Gateway Arch. (I have to confess, I am not completely fond of heights. Well, I don't really have a fear of heights, it's the falling that gets to me. It's weird. I can be someplace very high and not be scared if there is no way of falling. Empire State Building, Sears Tower, no problem. Ski lift on a slightly windy day, that's a different story! I'll let you know how it goes.) We are also going to fit in some more baseball in St Louis. We will be there for the MLB All-Star Break. We plan on visiting FanFest. That should be really fun!


• After that, we will continue on to Nauvoo. We are staying with Jim's parents for three nights. I haven't' planned anything for those days (yet). We are relying on Phil and Sally to show us around. The only thing I have planed is a visit to the Nauvoo Temple for us and the kids. I was hoping to have some family names to take but I don't' think I will have that ready in time.


• We will leave Nauvoo and start the trek home in a more northern direction. We will drive to Sioux Falls, SD, crash, get up the next morning and start driving again.


• The next stop is Rapid City, SD. We will stay there for two nights. We will hike around Mt Rushmore (which is so far away and really isn't on the way to anything!) and see the evening program. That will be very interesting to me. The next day we will spend some time at the water park connected to our hotel. The boys are pretty excited about that one! I also hope we get to drive around and visit some of the other state parks in the area but the chances are slim. We will have already been driving a lot.


• Then we take on our longest travel day. Fortunately it is the day we go home. Unfortunately, it is through Wyoming. We will probably break up the day by stoping at the Mormon Handcart Visitor's Center. I hope we do. Being there on a pioneer trek a few years ago was one of my top five most spiritual experiences. I hope to share that with the kids.

I know it sounds like a lot. I am encouraged because our kids have always been such good travelers. I am nervous because they are teenagers. But I think it will go well. We have lots of "in-flight entertainment" to keep us busy, especially through Kansas and Wyoming. I hope to be able to blog every night when we reach our destination so stay tuned...