Awesome Vacation Part 3 - Iowa, Nebraska, and Home

We left Nauvoo Monday morning, and headed northwest over country roads towards Omaha. Eventually we arrived at council Bluffs and the Kanesville Tabernacle. There we learned about the Mormon Battalion and saw the restored tabernacle, the main purpose of which seems to have been a place to announce and sustain Brigham Young as President of the Church.

The kids enjoyed playing on the stage at the tabernacle.

From there we journeyed to Winter Quarters, where we visited the Mormon Trail Center. There, we learned more about the Battalion and the pioneers who trekked west by wagon, handcart, ship and train, to follow the prophet. The kids got to dress up.

The Omaha temple across the street

How many supplies can you load into a wagon in 15 seconds?

Peter pulls a handcart while Josh pushes from behind

Peter tells the story depicted in this beautiful painting by Walter Rane.

By the time we left the Visitor's Center at Winter's Quarters, it was dinner time, and we stopped at a Little Caesar's for pizza, which we then took to a park to eat. We let the kids play at the park for a little while before climbing back into the car for a drive to Mormon Island, Nebraska, where we camped for the night. We fell asleep that night listening to the scream of the cicadas and the rush of cars on the nearby highway. The following morning we packed up, walked around the lake, then traveled home.

It was great to be home again, to sleep in our own bed. It took us a day or two to wash the laundry and clean out the car, but it it will be a very long time before we forget the memories of this awesome vacation.