A Brief Bit about our Excursions

I have been excited to tell everyone about our car drive to Illinois. It was very fascinating and wonderful! This is how it went! (Disclaimer on some of the pictures: We need someone to travel with us so they can take our pictures, often the timer doesn't really do justice.)

Monday: Paul and I took off from Moscow. We headed toward my sister's house in Parma and made it just in time for dinner. My little nephew is so cute. He said we couldn't leave until he had an Otter Pop. Of course he shared with us too. Then we went to Twin Falls to stay the night at my parent's house. They just got back from Hawaii so it was fun to see their pictures. We traded cars with my sister which was wonderful. I don't think I was going to make it between Boise and Twin Falls only going sixty-five. Thank you Sara!

Tuesday: We headed for Fort Collins, Colorado. On the way we had to stop and eat an ice cream cone at Little America. They tempt you for 100 miles. It was delicious. My unltimate goal for the day was to make it to Rawlins to see the Pioneer Frontier Prison Museum. It is one of my favorite places to stop along the way to Colorado. They give tours of the old prison and tell stories about the people. It really creeps you out and then you can't sleep at night. Paul hasn't been there, so we needed to go. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was CLOSED! I was very sad, and angry. The last part of our trek to Fort Collins was also eventful. Paul and I were jokingly talking about how cattle and antelope were hanging out in the pasture when we realized a cop had passed us and Paul was going around eighty in a sixty-five zone. The cop was nice and bumbed off some of the ticket, but ouch. Speed control is our friend now. When we got to Fort Collins, we stayed at my aunt Louise's house. It happened to be my cousins birthday and they were singing Karaoke. It was fun to join in after the day of traveling.

Wednesday: I think the longer you sit in the car, the more looney you get. I am sure that if you listened to some of our conversations, you might think we had lost our minds! This is the jist of a conversation near Gothenburg, Nebraska. E: "Who would eat at a place called Runza?" P: "I don't know, someone with the runza?" This took place when we passed a sign for "Runza." In my mind I read it run-za. We were planning on stopping in Gothenburg to see a Pony Express drop off station. We went and saw and it was pretty neat. We asked the old ladies sitting there where a good place is to eat in Gothenburg. She suggested a steak house or roonsis. ROONSIS! It came to me. Runza is the proper spelling for roonsis. If you have never had a roons before, I suggest you might. It is hamburger, onions, and cabbage baked inside of a roll. My mom and grandma would make them for us when we were little. They are great. We decided to go eat at Runza. After the exciting adventures in Gothenburg we continued on to St. Joseph, Missouri, but not without driving under the coolest archway in all of the United States (don't mind the dead bugs).
Thursday: We continued our journey east, but were now able to slow down a little bit and see some more things. We started the morning driving to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. Then to Jamesport an Amish community. I think I want to live in Jamesport. It is a cute little town with cute little shops and diners. I would open a cute little bed and breakfast and live there forever. We then headed to Hannibal the home of Mark Twain. Hannibal is also the town that Mark Twain based Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn off of. We rode the Mark Twain Riverboat on the Mississippi which was beautiful and huge! We also went to the Mark Twain Caves and saw Jesse James name carved in the wall. It was his hideout back in the day. The tour guide was very kind and took us back to see the carving, it is usually off limits for tours. That night we stayed at the Dubach Inn Bed and Breakfast. It was so cozy and homey (in a good way).

Friday: In the morning we headed to see a few of the important church historical sites in the midwest. We started at Carthage Jail and then made our way to Nauvoo. The buildings and structures were recreated perfectly. You could feel the history that took place in Nauvoo and Carthage. We took a wagon ride around Historic Nauvoo and a carriage ride through the woods. We were able to go through the blacksmith shop, tinsmith, post office, and bakery. Thanks to my incredible aunt Melinda for letting us use a book with all of the places to see in the midwest and for giving us the family history papers of our ancestors that were buried in Nauvoo. It was fun to see My Great-Great-Great-Great Grandparents burial spots in the Old Nauvoo Burial Ground. We ended the evening by watching "Sunset on the Mississippi" a variety show put on by the missionaries in Nauvoo.

James and Hannah Webb

Saturday: We made it! We got to Mundelein in the afternoon, unpacked our car (which only took fifteen minutes), and went to Target!!