There and Back Again

Our story begins with two crazy folks, who decided it would be fun to cram their kids in a van (two young girls and a baby) and drive across country to visit some family. Neither of them had ever attempted a drive of this magnitude with the munchkins before. And so they packed up their duffles and backpacks and pillows, and their books and their movies and munchies and goodies. And they waved goodbye to their big comfy home, with their big comfy beds and set off for an adventure. Now many of you know or have read it in books; when it comes to adventures, it's the journey, not just the destination that has the power to change you. 

So this is the journey that the Beazer Family took. (#weBeazroadtrippin)

Cardston, Alberta

We started off our epic road trip with a stop in Cardston. Grandma rented the pool for us and we had a blast splishing and splashing! It was Jasper's first time in a pool and though he started off quite apprehensive, he warmed up to the concept. He even fell asleep in Grandma's arms.

In the morning, we all piled into the van and started off for our first destination; Great Falls MT. 

There we stopped and shopped. Target and I had a much anticipated reunion and we filled the cooler with groceries for much less than we would have back at home. A quick stop at the golden arches for some greasy food and to let the girls burn some energy in the "portapotty" playarea...and we were on our way again.

Bozeman, Montana
In Bozeman, MT we stopped for the night. Bozeman was very hot, a balmy 38 degrees C. Our hotel was very nice, our nicest of the whole trip.

We made sandwiches for dinner in our room and set off in search of a park.

Parks make kids sleepy...

Yellowstone National Park

Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park. We had a great time there! We can easily see why you would stay for a week and not try and cram it all in in one day. But hey, we're crazy!

Checking out some cool terrace formations.

This sign made me laugh!

While driving between locations, the girls were zoned out on electronics. Matt wanted them to pay attention to the beautiful scenery that we were passing. So he made up a "game". If they were the first to spot a buffalo, they got a small toy. A bear sighting earned a medium toy and if a wolf were spotted, they could pick any toy they wanted at the toy store. Sophie's interest in this game didn't make it to the end of the instructions. Rory lasted a couple minutes longer. Then it became apparent that buffalo in Yellowstone were the elk of Jasper. Meaning they were everywhere.

This one walked down the highway and right past our car. It was Awesome!

After our exciting buffalo encounter, Sophie nodded off to sleep. Now for those of you who do not know our darling Sophie; she does not wake up from naps very well. Or happily. At all. Ever. She doesn't nap anymore for this very reason. But sometimes, in the car, she succumbs, and we wait in fear for the moment when she awakens.
Not long after she dozed off, we stopped at a really cool hike. We really wanted to take the kids to see the grand canyon of yellowstone and the hike seemed manageable. Even in the blistering heat. Well, Sophie cried for the majority of the hike down to the falls. And it was too hot and steep to carry her. So we just dragged a screaming three year old down the path. I'm sure we were judged for it. But at the end of the day when we asked the kids what their favourite part of the trip was (we asked every night), Sophie loudly exclaimed, "The hike!" So I guess it was worth it after all. (And the view was incredible!)

At the top of the hike.

You hike down to the falls and then back up. 

Switch backs the whole way.

Top of the lower falls.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 

Photocred to Matt here. 

It's a great shot but it seriously does not do justice to the immense beauty of this place!

We stopped at a couple of geysers on the way and Rory was not a fan of the smell. 

Mmm rotten eggs...

These mud pots were very cool. They bubbled and made hissing noises.Very Jurassic. 

On our way to Old Faithful, Matt and I discussed what we thought it might be like. Matt informed me I might need to lower my expectations when I said I was anticipating volcanic like eruptions. I didn't manage my expectations at all, and to be honest I wasn't disappointed. It was really cool.

Waiting for Old Faithful. 
Ice cream makes waiting easier.

Thar' she blows!

After seeing all the sites we could in Yellowstone we made for Cody, Wyoming where we stayed in the most expensive, run down, two star hotel of the trip. But continental breakfast was in an antique store, so it wasn't all bad. 

Driving Through Wyoming and Nebraska

The following day we drove

.All. 

.Day. 

.Long.

The kids did really well. We stopped every four hours or so for a 10 minute bathroom/nurse the baby break and then kept going. In twelve hours we reached our hotel.

???

At one point in the planning, Matt had mentioned we would be driving close to Chimney Rock, Nebraska where his Great Grandpa Beazer was born. He decided it was probably too far out of the way and that we shouldn't add to our time to drive past it. Well it turned out to not be so far away after all:

As we drove near by Matt said, "That looks a lot like Chimney Rock. Take a picture." I proceeded to take 20 at least.

Winter Quarters (Omaha, Nebraska)
On day 5, we stopped at the Winter Quarters museum in Omaha, Nebraska. Winter Quarters was the last camp for the Saints before they began the long trek west to Utah. Omaha was very cool! So many enormous, lush trees!

The girls had a great time dressing up as pioneers and learning more about the Saints.

Packing their wagons.

One of these cabins would house up to ten families at a time! 

Families with many more kids then ours!

Checking out what the bunk beds on the ships were like.

Pulling a handcart. Cutest pioneers that you ever did see, 

but I don't think they would have made it far on their own!

Checking out these models of the Nauvoo and Salt Lake temples. 

And walking around the actual temple in Winter Quarters. 

It reminded us a lot of the Edmonton Temple (where Matt and I were married).

Liberty Jail (Liberty, Missouri)
Day 5 continued as we stopped in Liberty, MO at the Historic Liberty Jail, where Joseph Smith was imprisoned with other church leaders in 1839. 

In the museum, they've rebuilt the jail on it's original foundation.

The prisoners were kept in the basement and the jailor would live on the main floor. He was locked in until his replacement came and unlocked the door from the outside. 

In this jail, many beautiful revelations were received; including some of my favourite scriptures. (Doctrine and Covenants sections 121 and 122) The spirit was very strong here. Rory was particularly touched I believe, as she still talks about the experience frequently.

Kansas City, Missouri
We spent the night in Kansas City at a hotel that had a pretty sweet water park. We planned on spending the morning there. When we woke up however, we found out it was closed due to bad weather (lightning). So we changed our plans around a bit and did Independence, MO first and then came back. We spent several hours at the waterpark before packing up and heading on to our final(ish) destination.

The kids loved the lazy river.

And the water slides. 
Once Rory got comfortable, she would even go down them solo!

Funny story about the waterpark: 

We didn't have any towels with us so we inquired at the front desk about borrowing some. The lady said we could ask at the first aid desk and they would give us some. For some reason we did not do that when we first got there. At the end of the fun, we went to pick some up and they were out. By this point, we had also already checked out of the hotel. So we got to dry off in a family change room with a couple baby burp cloths, a t-shirt and paper towel...laughing all the way. 

Independence, Missouri
The Independence museum had some really cool play areas for the kids.

Sophie really loved it!

Across from the LDS Independence museum, there is a Community of Christ temple. 

It is very spiral-y. We didn't go inside but Matt thought it was cool.

After a day of fun we got in the car for a few more hours and then finally, at last, we reached our destination! 

Rolla, Missouri
Matt's sister, Stephanie, and her family live in Rolla, MO and the long drive was so worth it to get to spend time with them! The girls love their cousins!

We arrived on Canada Day and had to represent in the USA.

Catching fireflies!! For REALZ!!!!!

It was our first time ever seeing fireflies! Rory caught a whole bunch, but they don't light up in the jar (unless you shake it...) so we let them go after we checked them out. 

Rolla welcomed us with a bang. Our first night there, there was a tornado warning. Big loud sirens and everything! We were freaking out! It was the first time it had happened while Stephanie was living there and she couldn't decide what to do with all the sleeping kids (they don't have a basement). Matt was more worried about hail damage to our van so he went out with Tyler and squished both cars under their covered parking area. They just barely both fit! 

Barely!

Despite Steph and my's fear and Matthew's boyish excitement, not tornado touched down in our area. There was no hail either. Just some seriously crazy lightning, rain and gail force winds! And a really good story for later!

Our next day we took it easy and recuperated from our drive. Playing in the yard, Rory found a real legit four leaf clover! She gave it to one of the younger munchkins who promptly lost it, but not we before we got ourselves some photographic evidence!

There was a pop up carnival of sorts in Rolla that night, so we took the kids on some rides.

Day two in Rolla we got in some American shopping(!!!) and hung out at the park. 

And apparently gave Jase his first taste of ice-cream...(I gave him some frozen yogurt at Old faithful but its not the same thing as cookie dough ice cream!)

The Fourth of July donned bright and sunny. With a full day of celebrations planned for us!

Stephanie made us a really yummy breakfast and then we all went to the outdoor waterpark in their neighbourhood. We had the run of the place for the first hour or so!

As the day got hotter more people came. 
The girls entered into a sandcastle building competition and rubber ducky race. 

Sophie and Matt won the sandcastle building contest!

After a fun day at the water park, we were invited to a friend of Stephanie's for a really yummy barbecue.

Complete with GIANT snow cones!

And fireworks!

Jasper's thoughts on fireworks.

Sunday we went to church and relaxed at home. After some friendly banter between Stephanie and Tyler, I challenged them to a no bake cookie "bakeoff" with Matt and I as judges. It was a scrumptious contest and both desserts were outstanding! (though I favoured the one with peanut butter!!) 

On Monday, we drove to Saint Louis and went to the Zoo. The Saint Louis Zoo is really beautiful, well design, clean, and has some very cool animals. And it's free!

Checking out the penguins.

and the puffins. 

Polar Bear!!

I'd say monkey see, monkey do 

but gorillas are apes (thank you, Veggie Tales). 

So ape see, ape do I guess.

It was SO hot that we got a $8 slurpee to share while we wait for the sea lion show.

It started pouring rain during the show but we didn't want to move because we had such great seats!

So we stayed and got soaked!

Which cooled us down quite effectively. 

The big misty fans work too.

Rory navigating for us. Can anyone say mini Tanner?

Soaking wet but having fun!

Rhinos and Hippos and Sophies! Oh My!

After the Zoo we drove downtown to see the Gateway Arch. 

Unfortunately it was closed so we were not able to go inside.

Rainy Tuesday was filled with movie watching and temporary-tatooing.

On Wednesday we drove about a half hour away to check out the Onondaga caves. It was a really cool experience. 

At first you wait in a red light room which adjusts you eyes to the darkness of the caves. These caves are lit but it is still pretty dark.

Apparently one of these two "sisters" is active and one was dormant. Until the week before we arrived that is, when it started dripping again. Pretty cool!

In this room they turned all the lights off for a moment to show what pure darkness was like. My dad used to do that with us when we were in Cadomin Caves. He would have us all turn our head lamps off and would talk to us about the three days of darkness the Nephites experienced after the Saviour was crucified. When the Onondaga cave guide turned the lights out, I knelt down beside Rory and whispered in her ear about the Nephites and the three days of darkness. It brought back memories for me and maybe made some new ones for her.

Our awesome host family!! We love you Hill's!!

Outside the caves, the kids could pan for gold and precious stones.

They had so much fun trying it out!

That night we took the Hill's out for dinner to thank them for the week of fun and for their hospitality. We went to a yummy western restaurant where I had the best butter doused, bacon wrapped 1000000 calorie dinner ever! And the kids had fun playing on the saddles.

Matt had purchased a bunch of fireworks for the Fourth of July, but we hadn't used them. So the night before we left we set off all the sparklers. 

Thursday morning, we said our goodbyes, packed up and drove on to our next destination.

Carthage Jail (Carthage, Il)
We took the kids on a tour of Carthage Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned and murdered by an angry mob.

This statue is of Joseph and his brother Hyrum. 

Both men were shot and killed in Carthage Jail.

They were very briefly kept in a jail cell on the main floor and then moved upstairs to this one to keep them safe. The jail was so filthy that the jailor let the men stay in his own personal bedroom instead.

The original door with the bullet hole. That bullet killed Hyrum.

Joseph fell through this window after being shot multiple times.

After touring the jail, Matt pulled the girls aside and bore his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I hope I never forget that moment or the spirit I felt there. 

After we finished at Carthage, we drove to our hotel in Keokuk, Iowa. Then it was time for Nauvoo!

Nauvoo, Illinois
We got to Nauvoo in the late afternoon and walked around the temple.

We checked out some shops and got some fudge (SO good!) 

We then went to the visitors centre. We were sad to discover that to historic homes and store fronts all closed at six and it was quarter to when we got there. So we left for dinner and spent the evening at the old fashioned country fair. It was really cool and so busy that we didn't take any pictures! The girls made pioneer dolls and toys and watched a puppet show and some folk dancing. Afterwards we took our seats for the Nauvoo pageant. If you ever go to Nauvoo, go during the pageant. It was an spectacular show! The Nauvoo pageant is a musical performance about the lives of the Saints in Nauvoo. It was very beautiful and touching. It was a fantastic testimony building experience! The message that families can be together forever because of the covenants we make in the temple filled my soul with so much joy. I love my family and am so grateful for the knowledge that I can be with them for eternity! It was such a wonderful, wonderful night!

The next morning we were supposed to drive on to our next hotel, eight or so hours away. Instead we drove back in to Nauvoo and spent the morning touring the historic homes and businesses.

This is the red brick store where the Relief Society was first organized.

This is the print shop where the newspaper was published.

 It was very cool to see how the old fashioned press worked. 

We checked out the post office and general store.

And John Taylors home. 

John Taylor made this little rocking horse for his son. When the Saints were forced from the homes, he was not able to take it with him. His son cried for two days. So John Taylor snuck back in the dead of night and retrieved the rocking horse. He tied it to his wagon and the little horse made the trek all the way to the Salt Lake valley. When the church began restoring the homes in Nauvoo, the little rocking horse was returned to the nursery.

The girls went to school. Sophie was very excited about it. Afterwards, she told me "That was my very first day of school!"

They were asked to draw a temple on their school slates.

This is Rory's temple.

We also visited the brick masonry and the bakery. Then we piled back in the van and sadly began our trek back home. 
We were stopped on a toll bridge that opened for ships. We were there for a while, so I took the opportunity to feed the baby.

Engineer Matt was pretty excited to see how it worked but the signs clearly said to stay in the vehicle. 

After that, it was just driving and stopping in hotels. We stayed in Mitchell, South Dakota on Friday night and Billings, Montana on Saturday.

We took the kids to Famous Dave's in Billings. Sophie approved!

On Sunday we drove to Great Falls, MT and stopped for a picnic lunch in a church parking lot. We slipped in for church and then slipped out and kept driving onward to Cardston!

We bought the girls these art sets before we left Missouri and they used them constantly on the drive home. They were a very good investment. They even coloured in their sleep!

After over two weeks in the car, Jasper discovered the DVD player. 

Poor kid was craning his neck to see so I gave him the iPad instead.

We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's in Cardston on Sunday night and had a fun time filling them in on all our crazy adventures!

We arrived home safe and sound on Monday morning. Although it was so nice to be home, I will always look back on this trip with very fond memories. We spent two and a half weeks in the car together and didn't kill each other (or even yell). We got to have Matt around 24/7(which is so rare!!). We visited 7 states and travelled 7343 km. We took over 11000 pictures. And most importantly of all, we made memories together as a family, shared our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith with our girls and hopefully helped them build testimonies of their own.

And so the Beazer Family returned to their home, tired and battle worn but with heads that were wiser and souls so much brighter. 

Until the next adventure!