Days 1 & 2: Utah to Omaha

We left for our long vacation on Tuesday, October 9th.  We left as soon as the girls got out of school.  After only 30 miles, we learned something that Bryn has been trying to teach us before...she gets carsick!  Thankfully, we were in Heber City, and were able to stop and clean her up.

Fifteen minutes before we got to the next main town, Evanston, WY, Bryn threw up again.  I crawled in back and cleaned her up the best I could.  (Thank goodness I had thrown that roll of paper towels in the van, just in case...)  We stopped in Evanston for dinner and to finish cleaning her up.  We stopped by Wal-Mart and grabbed Lysol, laundry detergent, and Dramamine.  Despite all of that, Bryn was in good spirits and ate her dinner.  We all loved the saddle seats at the McDonalds there.

The girls loved our "new" minivan and enjoyed watching movies several times along the way.

We stopped in Laramie, WY that first night and were able to score a great price on a motel room.  We all slept well until about 6:15am when Bryn & Jenna decided to wake up.  We tried to get them to go back to sleep, but it wasn't working, so we got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road.

We arrived in Omaha, NE early enough to check into our hotel and the go over to the Mormon Trail Visitor's Center in historic Florence or Winter Quarters.

  

We explored the inside of an old cabin replica.

It was so tiny & I can't even imagine how cold it must have been.

Bryn tried out the rope beds.  They actually took up much of the space in the cabin.  Only a sheet divided the two beds that were in there.  Cozy, for sure.

I think Randy's excitement first showed when he spotted these replica news articles that all have his 3rd great-grandfather's name on it.  It turns out that John Solomon Fullmer was a trustee for the LDS Church when the saints left Nauvoo.  He was one of the men in charge of selling all of the properties that had been left behind.

The girls were able to dress up as pioneers and pull a real handcart.  Bryn actually couldn't get enough of it.

The sister missionary there then put a few rocks for them to pull the handcart over.  Randy had to help them do it, and it still wasn't easy.  Sydney asked, "Why couldn't they just move the rocks out of the way?"  Oh, I'm sure they wished, Sydney!

We also got to pack toy wagons with anything that we wanted to take on the journey.  Such a hard choice between a table and chairs vs. food and bedding!

Bryn loved pushing her wagon around.

One of the most special things about the visitor's center for me is that my 4th great-grandmother, Amy Sumner Porter, died in Winter Quarters (Omaha/Florence area), and is buried at a cemetery right across the street from the visitor's center and next to the Winter Quarter's Temple.

In fact, hers was the only original headstone that survived through the years.

Bryn decided it was the perfect time to strip her shirt off--over and over.

  

This is the plot where Amy Sumner Porter is buried.  It is a beautiful, peaceful place; an amazing monument to the LDS refugees who spent a miserable winter there and the hundreds who died and were buried in this hallowed ground.