Skip to main content

Tourists in Our Own Town

Rick's parents came to visit last week and we had a great time with them. They gave us a good excuse to get to know our area a little better. When we moved here last summer, we were so consumed with remodeling and getting settled in that we really haven't had a chance to be tourists. Weather and time limits kept us from seeing and doing everything we wanted to, but who wants to be rushing from one place to another every day?

One of the places we visited was Nauvoo. This was the first time I had ever been there as a tourist. There is definitely more to see and do than can be done in one day. Since we are only 1 1/2 hours away, we can go back often (I hope). We left around 9:30 a.m. and were getting to Illinois around 11:00. We had lunch at Zion Mercantile. It is a cute shop with lots of memorabilia.

We went on two wagon rides. The first was a short ride around a loop pulled by oxen. The second was a tour of Nauvoo. I think the kids like the oxen ride better because they could pet the oxen (their names were Duke and Don). Oxen fur is surprisingly soft.
One of the stops we made in Nauvoo was the wainwright and blacksmith shop. Learning about how to make wagons was interesting.
The Nauvoo temple is beautiful. I wish we could have stayed there longer and spent more time looking around. The weather was a little windy and cold. I bet April and May or August and September are the best times to go. The weather is beautiful then and not too hot for sight-seeing.

The drive home was quiet. The kids were worn out.
On our way back over the Illinois/Iowa border, the state welcome sign made me laugh. It said, "Welcome to Iowa. Fields of possibilities." Too bad I didn't get a picture of that one. There are a lot of fields in Iowa. Thankfully, however, our neighborhood has lots of trees.

Comments

The Nedrys said…
What a fun trip and how nice to have family come visit - that is always wonderful!
April 4, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Sinking Feeling - Real Talk From Your Mother

Also found at Letters from the Nest:   https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/that-sinking-feeling?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Dear Nestlings, I hope you don’t mind a little stream-of-consciousness letter today. I don’t know if I have anything specific to share, so let’s see what floats to the surface. It’s a bright fall Friday morning. These last few weeks in central Pennsylvania have been lovely, sunny, and warm. I know winter is coming, so I try to be outside as much as possible to take advantage of the sun before it hibernates. I just completed the forty-minute round trip to drive one of you to the high school. You know who you are, but maybe in a few years, when you read this, you won’t know because every one of you has missed the bus sometimes and has endured lectures about planning better and showing your respect for my work by not requiring forty minutes of my life for your convenience. Anyway, everybody is at school and work except...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gavin in a Million Words or Less

 Way back when Emily was in 6th grade, her teacher, Ms. Grey, asked parents to write about thier children in a million words or less. I posted what I wrote about Emily on our blog. I wish I were more organized and tech-savvy to find the link to that post and put it here, but I'm not. It's a nice idea that maybe I'll do later. Anyway, you get to read what I wrote to Gavin's fifth grade teacher who made the same requests of parents: Gavin is the youngest of seven children. His three oldest siblings have flown the nest, so he talks to them on the phone and looks forward to holiday visits. This summer, his oldest sister had a baby, so he’s an Uncle! He has three older brothers, who sometimes make life tricky for him, but are also sources of wisdom, rides to the store to get candy, and annoying TikTok phrases. He sometimes wants to be more grown up than he actually is. This little guy is academically oriented. He loves to read BIG books. He rarely reads a standalone nove...
Post a Comment
Read more

Back To School Meanies

 Letter From the Nest August 15, 2025 https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/back-to-school?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web One August, more than twenty years ago, at an evening book club discussion, my “older” friends (now I look back and know those women were the age I am now), were discussing the woes and triumphs of back-to-school season. One woman was anticipating her youngest child’s senior year of high school. She said, “For more than two decades, our lives have revolved around the school district’s academic calendar. I don’t know how I will plan my life without knowing about school breaks or holidays.” I remember her bittersweet tone as she anticipated freedom from school schedule constraints but also mourned how those constraints guided her choices. What would she do? Other women joined the discussion, wondering if their kids would have good teachers, if they’d be able to balance volunteering in the classroom, how to streamline school supply pu...
Post a Comment
Read more