back to missouri

I promise this is my last post of this trip. It was an intense trip. I'm so glad that I went!

We woke up early Tuesday morning and hit the road. Don't get me wrong, the ride into Nauvoo was great fun. But the ride back out, after I felt like a part of the group without Tamra by my side, was awesome! I loaded into Fluffy Bunny with Laura, Whitney, and Justin and we headed out of Keokuk.

What is any road trip without a bunch of food? Not to mention that we ended up with all the snacks from the whole trip. Poor Black Diamond. I hope they had as much fun as we did. Notice our matching shirts...

Along the way, Laura decided to play a game next time we stopped. Everyone was to choose a word that the person to their right would have to say in conversation with the other car. Laura's word was peacocks. Mine was something like "Sweet cheeks" or something....I can't remember. Thanks again for that one Justin. When we stopped at a gas station, we were racing to see who could say it best or be the most awkward about it. Laura won. We were on our way out and Laura starts to say," You know what I love?" and we all thought she was going to say some candy bar or driving with friends or something cheesy like that. Everyone is waiting patiently and she comes up with "Peacocks!" Whitney and I lost it! The other girls had no idea what was going on. But Laura definitely won that round! The rest of the day, and even some times currently, we turn to Laura and say, "Hey Laura, you know what I love? Peacocks!"

Our stops along the way consisted on Monk's Mound and the St. Louis Arch. As we were driving into St. Louis, Laura noticed that the car was almost completely out of gas. We figured we could make it into town, but then took a wrong turn and ended up driving down a freeway to who knows where. I'll admit, we started to panic a little bit. Black Diamond behind us had no idea what we were doing. We started following Whitney's GPS on her iPhone, but it got us even more lost. With answer to prayer and the help of a random local sitting in his truck, we found a gas station right before the car ran out. Laura told us that the car wasn't kicking into gear like it was supposed to because we were running that low. Needless to say, we were all nervous but had the chance to exercise the faith that we had built up so high in Nauvoo. It was an awesome experience.

When we calmed down enough to catch our breath, it turned out that we had driven right by Monk's Mound. Just a little change in plans, but everything worked out for the better.

This is Monk's Mound:

Laura told us about how it could be argued that the mound used to be part of a Lamanite city. I don't know an awful lot about the history and whether it is or it isn't, but it was cool just the same. 

Well, it was interesting. Cool it was not. We got out of the cars to sweltering heat! If I thought it was hot and humid before during any point in our trip, I was wrong. This takes the cake for being the hottest moment ever in the history of hot moments! (Possibly extreme, but hey. It's my blog.) The plan was to climb up to the top. Justin and I stood waiting for the rest of the crew to come, but decided it would be better if we kept moving instead of melting in the sun so we got a head start. The way up is stairs: stairs and stairs and more stairs.

Matt suggested we race up. They raced. I played the role of radio announcer. 

The First Annual Monk's Mound Marathon.

(Shorter than an actual marathon, yes. But it has good alliteration. 

And it might as well have been a marathon because of the heat.)

No surprise- Matt won!

Tamra's hardcore pose. I can't count how many pictures I have of her looking something like this. Some are candid, some are not. It's just her.

SO. MANY. STAIRS!

No worries- we all made it to the top. Each and everyone was completely drenched in sweat. We stood around for a few minutes, saw the view, took a picture or two, and then headed back down.

The view...

so hot...

We're twinners!

 (And notice the double duty photograph of friends posing in the background)

After we got back in the cars, everyone felt gross. But it was on to the arch! The drive was between a half hour and forty five minutes, give or take, so we blasted the ac and tried to think of something besides our sweaty selves. The closer we got to the arch, the darker the sky became. Laura kept apologizing, saying that she had prayed for rain. I didn't have a problem with it. Seriously, go big or go home. I wanted a huge rainstorm as much as the next person! We pulled into a parking place along the river, right next to the arch just as the down pour began! The river was in chaos and the rain came down in heavy sheets. It was one of THE coolest rainstorms I have ever been in. And when I say, "been in," I mean literally. We jumped out of the car and ran to the closest shelter- which really sounds dumb now that I write that but this was our thinking. We were running out of time before we had to be at the airport and we still wanted to see as much of the arch as possible. You can't see something through a car window. That's not the way. AND- we were hungry.  We jumped out and ran to a little diner thing about 20 yards from where we parked. So really, it might have been crazy, but there was a little method to our madness.

I was still with Laura, Justin, and Whitney. The four of us thought the rain had slowed a bit. We were wrong. I don't know how we could have been more wrong. As soon as we got out and started running, I realized that we were running into the rain, therefore, I couldn't see a darn thing. Therefore, I was looking down and following the sidewalk. THEREFORE, I almost ran face first into a light pole, Whitney, and then Laura. All I remember is thinking "Follow Justin," and "just keep going!" We finally made it under shelter and then proceeded to take inventory on mascara streaks and soggy clothes. We Were A Sight!

Still, it was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip!

We cheered when we saw the rest of our friends make a run for it. They had the good fortune of running with the rain instead of against it. They got plenty wet, but not even close to our degree of wetness. That was something special.

Woo Hoo!

We ate lunch and waited out the storm. Laura, who served her mission in the Mid West, said that the storm shouldn't last more than twenty minutes or so. She was right. But oh, what a storm it was! We sat and ate, completely in awe of such a wonderful thunderstorm.

Can you see how wet we still are?

Then finally, we were on our way to the arch! Maggie and Laura were opposed to the height, and no matter how we tried to convince them that it would be okay, that they wouldn't be able to tell the difference, that they ride rollercoasters all the time and this wouldn't even come close to that experience, they decided to stay on the ground. So, then the six of us bought our tickets and headed in. 

Isn't that amazing?! Check this off my bucket list.

 Whitney and Tamra wanted to see the arch from the ground looking up. In the middle of a hundred people, they just laid down like it was no big deal. I thought it too good an opportunity that I had to document it.

 Justin, Jon and I were Team 5. Matt, Whitney and Tamra were Team 6. The numbers refer to which tram we would ride in. Only five people fit in each one. Each tram is just a little white bubble that looks like it should be in a Star Wars movie. It was okay, though, that we had to split. We always like to make new friends!

This is a small picture demonstrating how you travel up the arch and arrive at the very top. Those bubbles are pictures of the trams.

It was like getting on a ride at Disneyland. We had to line up according to our car and then watch a little video about the history and the experience we were about to embark upon.

THE VIEW! 

We like to pose....or rather, I like it when I tell Tamra to pose and we get a cool picture. 

The Cardinal's Baseball Stadium!

The view looking straight down.

That's where we ate lunch. You might be able to see our white Fluffy Bunny if you turn your head and squint. It is somewhere between the middle and far ramp to the right. The furthest ramp to the left is the entrance to the diner. That's how far we had to run in the pouring rain!

I love rivers! I wish there was one this impressive in Utah.

Whitney and me, hanging out before heading back down.

Back in Tram 5! We really were almost sitting on top of each other. Thanks to the sweet lady that rode with us for taking this picture.

And then, the trip was over. We got back in our cars and headed to the rental car dealership to turn in our beloved Fluffy Bunny and Black Diamond. It took a minute or two to clean them out. It seems that we had really lived it up in those two vehicles. We said goodbye and got on the bus back to the airport, laughing and reminiscing the whole way. Nobody wanted to get on the plane. We were just having too much fun!

We got into the airport and checked in without a hitch. My clothes were still damp but it was now bearable. I watered one of the plants by the check in with my not yet empty water bottle. The wait to board the plane wasn't very long since we cut it that close to see the arch. As we stood in line to board the plane, Justin looked outside and found this rainbow. I feel it was a good omen.

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better trip. I love the people I was with, I love the places we saw, I love the impact Nauvoo had on my life, and most of all, I love the Spirit I felt. Heavenly Father loves me. I am so blessed to live in the pioneer's final destination. I am grateful for my pioneer heritage and how they never gave up in the face of so much adversity. I still learn so much from them every day and hope that some day, someone will be able to say the same of me.

(Phew...That took awhile! Thanks friends for sticking with me to the end. Now, back to normal life.)