This picture is out of order, but it is what I will always remember when I think of this trip . We didn't arrive in Nauvoo until after 10:00 at night, so this was my first view of the temple. We rounded a corner and suddenly it was there, taking my breath away!
But, I am getting ahead of myself. First, we flew to Kansas City and rented a car. RoJean requested a PT Cruiser, but we ended up with this mini-van! Considering all the luggage we were constantly loading and reloading, I guess the mini-van was a good choice.
Here we are at the visitor's center in Independence. It was the perfect place to start our journey.
One of the first sounds we heard was an orchestra of wing-humming bugs called (something I can't remember, but it ends in a "Kadas" or something like that) 
This was one of several phone calls received by Vernal's indispensable city manager!
Across the street from the visitor' center in Independance is the Community Church of Christ's (formerly the Reorganized LDS) temple. This is their only temple in the world and they conduct tours through it. We went on one of the tours.
After Independence, we traveled to Liberty and toured the visitor's center there. It is built around a reconstruction of the old Liberty jail. It gave me a new appreciation for several Sections in the Doctrine and Covenants that were received by the prophet while incarcerated there.
We tried out this fun little cafe for lunch. We ordered several interesting dishes and shared so everyone got a taste of everything...stuffed zuchini, portabello mushrooms, marinated cucmbers and tomatoes, some breads...I can't remember everything, but it was delicious!
We went to church in a little town called Cameron. The people were so friendly! Before the meeting started, we met a man who had married a girl whose grandparents and several other relatives live in Vernal. I used to work in the family history center with her grandpa, Al Maxfield, and we also knew her other set of grandparents, too (although their name slips my memory right now). One of the Sacrament meeting speakers was from Altamont, so it felt kind of like a reunion!
After church, we traveled to Far West where we met a young family who had felt inspired to move back there a year or so ago. (There were many on this trip who told similar stories!) We then traveled to...
While there, we met a woman who was traveling with her son-in-law. She was originally from Roosevelt! She reminded us all a little bit of RoJean's mother. 
As I stated earlier, we arrived at Nauvoo at night and saw the temple under the lights. I was surprised the next day to see that the temple is white and not the same color as the Vernal temple like it appeared to me in the dark. It's such a beautiful temple.
While in Nauvoo, we went on three different rides. The first was in this wagon which took us through the city and showed us different places of interest that we would want to go back and visit during out stay there.
The next ride took us to the countryside. We heard several stories about the early settlers to Nauvoo. Our guide was wonderful at his job and I was moved to tears several times as I listened to his stories. 
The last ride was driven by oxen. Fun!
Outside the visitor's center, there is a garden with Relief Society statues. Here I am standing next to one of my favorites.
The Family Living Center was WONDERFUL! We had such a good time...
...making a rope...
...learning about candle dipping...
...and barrel making. We also enjoyed demonstrations on rug making, bread baking and pottery.
We enjoyed visits to other buildings as well. This one housed the printing press.
One night, we attending a play put on by the senior missionaries. We laughed 'til we cried and then cried some more. The people on the right are the actors.
We attended a session at the Nauvoo temple.
Outside one of the buildings, we discovered many trees with very large "pods" in the branches. The pods looked soft and cuddly, but were in reality very prickly. Several were on the ground, popped open to reveal their insides...chestnuts! We are sure there is an object lesson in this.
Here we are at the blacksmith shop. Our ancestor, Adin Newton was a blacksmith, so this was an interesting visit for me.
And here I am standing very close to the Luman Andros Shurtliff homestead.
A view of the temple from Parley's Street.
Beautiful flowers that Mike fell in love with. They were HUGE and grew on long stems, kind of like sunflowers.
We made the mile or two trip to the Old Nauvoo Cemetery. Many, many of the stones are gone or illegible, so they have constructed a gazebo-type structure just at the entrance, with the names of those who are burried here. This was one of my most favorite places. It had a sacred, peaceful feeling. While there, I remembered reading in my Great-Grandpa Luman Andros Shurtliff's journal of the sadness he felt when they were forced to leave Nauvoo. He returned one last time to the grave of his first wife, Eunice (and children) where he tells of crying many tears.
This was another favorite place for me. It is the upstairs room of the red brick store (now owned by the Community Church of Christ) This is where Joseph Smith formally organized the Relief Society. I felt honored to be in the place where those first sisters gathered and felt sure that they are pleased with our Relief Society today.
This is Mike standing in the Seventies Hall. My Grandpa was a seventy, so we looked up his name in one of the books ...
...and I got to write my name in the register of those ancestors who had come back to visit!
Here we are in Brigham Young's home. ( I don't think the picture hung there when he lived in it.)
This is the Carthage jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred.
And this is the original door that was stormed to get to the prisoners. Notice the bullethole. (I wish there was a cropping tool I could use on me!)
The last day of our trip was spent in Hannibal and St. Louis, Missouri.
The lighthouse where the Widow Douglas lived (Tom Sawyer)The steps we had to climb to get to it!
The St. Louis Arch... 
A view from the top!
We had to stuff ourselves into these very small capsules that took us to the top of the arch. My claustrophobia kicked in big time! I am glad to say that I did the St. Louis Arch, but I doubt that any bribe exists that could get me to do it again. My stomach was churning and my head was starting to spin as we rode up and down... and I kept thinking over and over in my mind, "My name is Linda Merrell and I am a claustrophobic!"Here is RoJean, trying to get a good shot of the arch. Well, it WAS there, until I tried to fix all the blank white spaces in this post. No way am I gonna try and find it again. Just use your imagination. She is laying on her back in the grass.
I'll end with the pictue I began with...my favorite memory of our trip to Nauvoo!
motel, freshened up a bit, and then went to a very popular Mexican resturant for dinner. I can't remember the name of it, but it is one that Vince and Meagan enjoyed when they lived in Logan. The servings were enormous and quite delicious.
After the evening session, we went to Annie and Russ's house. Annie surprised me with an early birthday cake that she had made. I hope one of the girls posts it on their blog because it really was an elegant, scrumptious cake! I also got to open my presents from them early...and did I ever feel special! All my favorite stuff...a gift certificate to Deseret Bookstore, some scented liquid soaps and some beautiful clothes!
