850 Miles and a Birthday, Too

We fled Salt Lake City by mid-afternoon on June 29, so as to get a few hours behind us on our long trek across the plains.

We traveled in one long day the distance it took the pioneers three months to travel by handcart and covered wagon. Our first night's "camp" was Little America, in western Wyoming. We gathered the kids around the "campfire," or restaurant table, for burgers, salads....

and 50 cent ice cream cones.

Alyssa bought a princess crown to announce to all Wyoming her royal status.

We were up before dawn on June 30, admiring the flag waving in the dark sky...

and, as it got lighter, the huge semis roaring along the freeway.

Lisa and I enlisted the kids to check license plates, to see if we could find plates for all 50 states (we finished the trip with all states but Hawaii and Rhode Island).

As we drove, we passed random monuments--a butte here....

a field of windmills there.

Finally, we arrived in Florence, Nebraska, site of the pioneer Winter Quarters. We studied the many implements of pioneer life, including a model covered wagon...

and we took turns trying to pull a handcart.

We also lingered in an exhibit of sculptures of stories from Christ's life. Each child chose a favorite sculpture.

Dave lounged in a chair nearby, glad to be able to finally rest.

We spent time in the pioneer cemetery across the street, with its weathered headstones and touching statue of a pioneer couple.

One of my great-great-aunts, Isabella Hood Hill, died in Winter Quarters, which made the pathos of the place more real to me. A temple now stands at Winter Quarters.

Bryce turned eight today. I had researched the online site, "Urban Spoon," and identified "Barley'" as a cafe in Council Bluffs with hearty, tasty food. Unfortunately it was obvious where "Barley's" got its name as soon as we walked in!

The food was good, though, as we sat in a back room away from polluting influences, and we enjoyed watching Bryce blow out the candles on his cake and open presents.

On July 1, we drove from Council Bluffs to Nauvoo, with one important stop in Iowa City. We found the grave of Kyle's brother, Michael Flindt, who died there as a baby while Kyle's dad worked on a Ph.D. Lisa's son, Michael, is named for that uncle and also for his Uncle Mike Spendlove, Dave's brother, who also died young.

We bought flowers and a teddy bear for the Flindt children to place on their uncle's grave.

JoDee Flindt, Kyle's mom, later mentioned Lisa's thoughtfulness . "We've sent flowers for Michael's grave many times, but he's never had a teddy bear."

We also visited the Mormon Handcart Park in Iowa City.

This was a former campground and staging area for the many handcart pioneer crossing the plains during the 1850s.

My great-grandmother, Mary Bomelli, was a Swiss immigrant who spent a year in New York City as a seamstress, saving up money to buy a 1/4 interest in a handcart before heading west through Iowa. She may well have camped in the very area we walked.