Day 7 of the Drive East: hacking bricks, Carthage Jail, and the Gateway to the...East

After our full day yesterday, we had three things remaining in Nauvoo to see. First, we walked the temple grounds and admired the view of the temple that so many sacrificed so much to build, and also the view of the Mississippi from the hill (along with the statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on horseback admiring the same view).




We then went to the brick house to learn how the pioneers turned Mississippi mud, sand, and heat to make bricks needed for houses (30,000 bricks per house).

We also learned about "hacking bricks", the daily turning of all those freshly made bricks to make sure they dried evenly before firing in the kiln. The guide explained that if kids got in trouble at home, hacking bricks was a good punishment. We also learned that people who were unable to keep up with the demanding work of making and firing bricks "couldn't hack it."

Our last stop in Nauvoo was at Brigham Young's home. Our guide was Sister Cook from St. George, whom we met yesterday when she guided us through a different house and commented a couple times on all the kids Red Sox gear. As we walked through the front door today, Sister Cook exclaimed, "Oh, it's my friends from Las Vegas who think they're from Boston."

Touring Young's home, Jason was impressed by the home's craftsmanship, and especially all the hardwood doors and door frames. Sister Cook explained that Brigham Young was experienced in working with hardwoods in his native New York, but only had pine, which he didn't like, to work with in Nauvoo. So he built the doors and door frames out of pine, painted them light brown, and added a faux hardwood grain using darker paint and a feather. It looked like real oak.

We took a short drive to Carthage, Illinois, to visit Carthage Jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered in 1844. After watching a short film on Joseph's life featuring words written about him by people who knew him well (Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, the Catholic priest for Nauvoo, a Methodist minister in New York, Emma Smith, and others), we took a tour of the jail. It was powerful to see the conditions Joseph, Hyrum, and others had to endure because of their faith.





Our tour guide led us to the room where Joseph and Hyrum became martyrs, and where John Taylor and Willard Richards escaped with their lives. We each touched the hole in the door created by the bullet that killed Hyrum, and we pondered the last moments of Joseph's life as he saw his brother and best friend dead and two of his friends trying desperately to protect him. We were able to spend extra time there and really explore the space. It was, awesome.

From our condo in the country outside Nauvoo, we drove to a new (to us) hotel in downtown St. Louis. Our room on the 27th floor has a wide view of the city, the Mississippi River, and the Arch. (The photo at the end of this post is from our hotel room.)

We're seeing the symbolism of the Arch in reverse...these are our last days in the West. On Tuesday we'll pass over the river and will officially be in the East. Wow.


We're a week into the trip. Still seven of us. The Suburban looks like we've been living in it (because we have), but it's running strong. Nerves are a bit frayed -- we've been living on top of each other for two weeks after our house sold, spending 35+ hours in the car together, jumping from hotel to hotel across the U.S., and remaining a family of seven -- but we're doing ok, all things considered.

Tomorrow: all day in St. Louis (i.e. no driving!) to see a baseball game (and El Hombre himself, Albert Pujols) and more.

Day 6 of the Drive East: Nauvoo delivers

If you've been reading our posts for the last few days, you may have noticed that we didn't take the most conventional route east. We wanted to see the Grand Canyon, so Interstate 40 was the answer. But we also wanted to go to Kansas City and St. Louis, so Interstate 70 was the answer. But mostly we didn't want to go East without going through Nauvoo, the city that plays such a large role in our church's history, so our route hasn't exactly been direct. After spending all day here, though, we all agree that Nauvoo was well worth the extra miles.

The day was hot (93 degrees) and humid, but we didn't really notice. We started the day at the church's Visitor's Center, where we learned more about the pioneer heritage of the city and the sacrifices those pioneers made to not only build the city and its temple, but also the sacrifices they made to leave when mobs chased them away.

Throughout the day we could feel that the pioneers who left, wrongfully, under duress, were now at peace as we viewed the magnificent new temple overlooking the Mississippi River and the restored houses and shops of so many.


Inside the restored home of Jonathan Browning (a convert who invented the repeating rifle and started the Browning rifle company), we learned how Browning hand-made his early rifles in his blacksmith shop, and we also met Elder Dove, who is from Frederick, Maryland, and owns a home in the same subdivision we are trying to purchase a home in. We shared information, and later he sought us out so he could introduce us to his wife.


Speaking of buying a home, we heard a story of the ultimate home seller, Wilford Woodruff, as we toured his former residence. As angry mobs were pressuring the pioneers to abandon Nauvoo back in the mid-1850s, Woodruff managed to sell his house (not for what it was worth, but sold -- a feeling we can relate with). As he fled from the mob across the Mississippi River, he realized that he hadn't fixed a leak in the roof before leaving. So, risking his own well-being, he sneaked back across the river into Nauvoo at night, repaired the roof on the house he just sold, and re-crossed the river again before daybreak to avoid trouble. That, my friends, is a man of integrity.

We didn't just tour homes. We learned how the pioneers blacksmiths and wainwrights and wheelwrights made the wagons that helped the pioneers cross the plains; we visited the bakery and printing press that kept citizens fed and informed; and we learned how pioneer families made candles and barrels and pottery and ropes and bread at the Family Living Center. We were not only impressed at how the pioneers worked so hard to make their lives comfortable, but we also realized how good we have it today.





At one point of our walking around the city, Colin looked up at a street sign and exclaimed, "Oh! Hotch-kiss." We all looked at him. He explained that earlier in the day he read the Hotchkiss street sign and thought it said "Hotchicks." He liked the name, but couldn't figure out how it fit into Nauvoo.

We laughed a lot today. At the Nauvoo Cultural Hall we watched the play "Plain Old Anna Amanda." We especially liked the corny jokes (one eye said to the other eye, "just between us, something smells") and the storyline. Levi liked it so much he wanted to meet Anna Amanda and did, getting his photo taken with her.



We ended the day along the banks of the Mississippi for two shows. First, the Nauvoo missionaries (many of whom were called to "performing" missions) put on a variety show titled "Sunset on the Mississippi." First Carson, Dylan, and Levi made hats and got to march in the parade that opened the show. Then we saw everything from a trumpet quintent to old ladies dancing with walkers to a traditional version of "Old Man River" to a fiddle duel in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" to a man playing a "hosaphone" (a trumpet mouthpiece attached to a hose attached to a funnel -- unbelievable) and much more. We were all smiles.




After that show, Brigham Young University's Vocal Point, a nine-man competitive a capella musical group performed. They were fantastic. The kids wanted to leave until Vocal Point performed its first song, then they were hooked. Levi was the only skeptic, until one performer did a five-minute human beatbox performance that turned him around. By the time they did their encore, Michael Jackson's Thriller (complete with choreography), we were fans for life. They were hilarious, and the music was fantastic. Levi insisted on meeting some of the performers after the show, even getting hoisted onto the shoulders of one of the singers.




On the ride back to the hotel, the kids recapped the events of the day, talking non-stop. Their conclusion: this was the best day of the trip so far, hands down (and we've had some very good days). Melissa provided the moral of the day: "there were a lot of things we (the kids) didn't want to do today, but we did and they were all fun; maybe we should do things we don't want to do more often." Amen, sister. Amen.

We finished a large pizza, root beer, and ice cream sandwiches at our hotel and shut it down, tired but fulfilled and rejuvinated.

Tomorrow, we're off for St. Louis. We'll see if the Gateway to the West can compete. Nauvoo set the bar high, but we'll do our best...

Day 5 of the Drive East: baseball + jazz + barbecue = a good day in KC

After the many miles travelled over the past few days, we decided to relax in Kansas City this morning. It was a good choice.

We started with breakfast at our hotel. We love Embassy Suites because the rooms have enough space for us, and because of their made-to-order breakfasts. The Embassy Suites Kansas City Plaza was where we stayed, and it was great. The breakfast area was a zoo, and Levi was cranky -- he wanted cereal, and wanted it now, but we didn't want to lose our place in the breakfast line. One of the hotel's hostesses, Barbara, noticed Levi and asked if she could get him cereal. He took her hand, and next thing we knew he had cereal, plus a glass of apple juice with a straw! Levi was a happy camper, and Barbara was a hero.


We checked out of the hotel and headed to the Negro League Baseball Museum, a tribute to the history and legacy of ballplayers who couldn't play in the major leagues because of the color of their skin. We all enjoyed the story of players like hurler Satchel Paige ("I never threw an illegal pitch, I just threw some that hadn't been seen by this generation"), speedster Cool Papa Bell (who was so fast it was said he could turn off the light switch and get in bed under the covers before it got dark), and slugger Josh Gibson (Babe Ruth was called the "white Josh Gibson"). The kids were also confused by the overt racism the players had to endure in this country. What a sad episode in our history. Particularly poignant was the display on African-Americans in World War II who fought for freedom in other countries, while they were denied many of the same freedoms at home.

Adjacent to the baseball museum was the American Jazz Museum. We didn't plan to visit that museum, but it was next door and just a few bucks extra, so we thought we'd spend a few minutes there. Instead, we all enjoyed it for a couple hours. The two museums are located at the corner of 18th & Vine, once the hub of Kansas City's social scene and the performing center for the likes of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker (a local jazz artist told us a great story on how Parker got his nickname "Bird"), Billie Holliday, and many other artists.




It was said that if you could make it in Kansas City in its heyday (the 1920s - 1950s), you could make it anywhere. With this rich history as a backdrop, the museum did a great job explaining the structure of jazz, how sounds are mixed, and some of the titans of different types of jazz. We were all wearing headphones at various exhibits and enjoying the music.

From there it was time for lunch. In Kansas City, that meant barbecue. One of Jason's high school friends recommended Oklahoma Joe's, a barbecue joint located in a gas station. We got there at 2 p.m., and the place was packed. PACKED. We stood in the line that snaked through the restaurant, past the convenience store, and outside (that's right, we were standing in line outside).


We learned while standing in line that Kansas City really takes its barbecue seriously, as evidenced by the barbecue sauce section of the gas station -- no Bullseye, no KC Masterpiece, but a whole section of specialty sauces and rubs (Dylan especially liked the "Butt Rub" -- for pork butts).



We took our big bag of barbecue (which was holding roughly an entire pig, plus "the best fries in Kansas City") to a city park around the corner. It was, quite possibly, the best barbecue we have ever had. We ate it all and skipped dinner.

From there, back on the road, across the state and crossing over the Mississippi River to Nauvoo, Illinois, and a condo out in a cornfield. We stopped at a rest area in central Missouri along the way, and the kids enjoyed a playground with a metal slide (we're not in Vegas anymore) and lots of grass and trees.



The only bad news: we lost our banana. The windy and bumpy roads of Missouri claimed the banana Jason left on the bumper in Albuquerque. We were bummed when we noticed it missing. Just think, though: a banana grown in a third world country comes to America, grows and ripens, then travels halfway across the U.S. before settling on its own piece of land in the Midwest. It's the American Dream. We were glad to be a small part of it.

Tomorrow, no packing up and driving. We'll explore Nauvoo and get some rest, then head to St. Louis on Sunday for two days.

Day 4 of the Drive East: the tenacious banana, and a Royal game

We now know why the NBA's Oklahoma City franchise is called the Thunder. It rained hard -- HARD -- with thunder and lightning all night during our stay in Oklahoma City. By the morning, though, the rain was a light drizzle, the air was fresh and cool, and we were off to Kansas City.

We had some fun along the way. Jason's iPod spit out several Beatles tunes during the course of an hour. Melissa commented, "Wow, there's a lot of Beatles on this." Colin, a self-identified bug hater, started looking around frantically and patting himself down: "Where? Where?" We died laughing. Melissa could barely speak: "We're talking about the Beatles' music!" Colin was quite relieved.



The day featured more overcast skies and a few light showers, but nothing too dramatic. Oklahoma and Kansas were much more green than we expected -- but even though it was pretty, the view didn't seem to change much. It was like driving through a photo. For five hours.

We had just arrived in Kansas City and were driving to our hotel when a woman pulled up next to us, laughing hard and pointing at our vehicle. Yvonne rolled down her window to see what was up. The lady said, between gasps, "Do you know you have a banana on the back of your car?." Jason leaned over and said, "We know, it's been there since Albuquerque." She laughed harder.


Go back to Tuesday morning. Leaving the hotel in Albuquerque, Jason grabbed a banana from the breakfast area to eat during that day's drive. After packing the Suburban and getting on the freeway, Jason looked around for his banana but couldn't find it. He figured he must have left it in the hotel. Ten hours later, unpacking the Suburban in Oklahoma City, he found the banana on the back bumper. He was going to throw it away (it didn't look edible), but Melissa insisted he leave it there. So he did. It's still in the same place on the bumper, through more than 800 miles on the highway and a hellacious Oklahoma storm. I guess we'll see how far it makes it.

We ended the day at a Kansas City Royals baseball game. Our love of baseball is well documented, and there are few places we enjoy more than the ballpark. After four days in the car and hotels, it was pure therapy to sit at the stadium and watch the Royals beat the Mariners 8-2.

While the team may struggle on the field, Kansas City has the game experience wired. Tickets for good outfield seats were -- brace yourself -- $7 each. The kids got meal deals (hot dog, animal crackers, and a drink) for $5 each, while Jason and Yvonne had authentic Kansas City barbecue sandwiches. We also enjoyed the Royals Hall of Fame behind left field that featured a short movie on Kansas City baseball history and some great memorabilia. And the temperature was in the mid-80s with a cool breeze. Like we said, therapeutic.






We sat with some cool people, so we laughed a lot. Our biggest laugh came when Levi had just stopped drinking from his juice box and had it just in front of his face; Melissa asked him if he wanted to go with her to the movie again, and he was so excited he squeezed the juice box and sprayed himself in the face. After he realized what happened, he laughed with us.




Tomorrow we'll see a few things in Kansas City and Independence, then hit the road for Nauvoo, Illinois, and a day off from driving on Saturday. We're looking forward to a day off the road.