As we finished our visit with Krystene, we prepared to hit the road with the RV. The morning after Krystene flew home, we headed north. Our first stop was just outside of St. Louis. We arrived at
370 Lakeside Park and dropped the camper. As Cherilyn drove to the airport to pick up her parents and the girls (Brittney and Carissa had been in Utah visiting the grandparents and cousins for 14 days), I prepared the camper and got the nights meal going.
After dinner, Brittney and Carissa and I took a bike ride around the lake. It was a little longer than expected. We had not planned on going all the way around but but Brittney got too far ahead and Carissa and I had to keep riding to catch up. By the time we did catch up, we we over half way so it wasn't any different to continue going around or turn back, so we thought!
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| the girls ready for bed :-) |
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| view of the lake to the left of our camp site |
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| view of the lake to the right of our camp site |
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| Ya, not much to say here. LOL |
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| the not so glamorous side of having the RV |
We woke to another beautiful day, just about perfect for travel. Overall the RV park met our needs for the night. The place was very new so the trees had not matured. Give it another 5 years and it will look quite a bit different. If we were staying for a few days we would have rented the paddle boats and gone out on the lake. Maybe another time.
Off to Nauvoo!
Day 2 of the trip brought us to our destination of Nauvoo, Ill., where we stayed in the
Nauvoo State Park. It was nice to camp in an area that was tree covered compared to our previous park stay.
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| relaxing at the end of the day |
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| campfire treats, YUM! |
During our stay we enjoyed the sites of
Historic Nauvoo as well as the festivities of the
Nauvoo Pageant.
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| Family at the Nauvoo Temple |
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| Joseph and Hyrum - last ride |
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| Browning Guns |
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| Carriage ride through town |
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| ready for an old fashioned ox cart ride |
Our days were filled with the site seeing and adventures in pioneer experiences in the restored town of Nauvoo. The
visitors center had wonderful displays and great information concerning all the activities going on in town as well as explanations of what life was like as Nauvoo was being built and populated. Our evenings were spent by the camp fire or enjoying the
Pageant itself or one of the other shows.
Our Saturday evening treated us to a special evening with the
BYU Dancers where we were treated to some very fun routines, including one of their
light suit routines which was very cool.
Here is a video on how the light suits came to be.
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| part of the opening act |
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| opening act ensemble |
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| BYU Dancers |
Sunday was a relaxing day which began with a church service and some time walking around the temple with the remainder of the day spent at the campsite enjoying the company of family!
Monday saw us breaking camp and heading home on the 7 hour drive. We survived the first RV trip and the memories will last a lifetime! :-)
