Nauvoo Temple and village

Our room was pretty nice and it even had a hair dryer…………  Bill was sure that it was only 15 miles from our motel to the temple but it was over 25 miles and we took the wrong exit to boot.  Needless to say we did not get to the 8am temple session that we had hoped for.

One adventure we had was that of traversing this very narrow and very old bridge across the Mississippi river.  The sign said it was a toll bridge at the beginning  of our entrance to it but when we got to the toll booth, a small post it note said “FREE” so we thought that was pretty good – saved $2.  I have no idea how old this bridge is but it cannot accommodate anything larger than an automobile and certainly not a tractor trailer.  Apparently it opens up to allow river traffic through and there is a siren that sounds when the bridge is about to open up but we got through without a hitch – both ways.  We had to come back by this bridge to continue our journey to Nebraska after we had done what we wanted to do at the Temple.

The Nauvoo Temple is now about 10 years old.  That is hard to believe that it was 10 years ago that it was dedicated.  On the ground floor is an assembly room that is used for special occasions.  It is set up a lot like the main portion of the Kirtland Temple.  In one hall way they have Joesph Smith’s Saber that he wore as part of his uniform as a general in the Mormon Army.  There are other artifacts in cases on the wall and of special note is the collection of actual keys from the original Nauvoo temple and reproductions of other keys that used to be part of the original temple.  The original temple was built in the days of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young but Joseph was martyred before it was finished and the members of the church only got to use the temple for a few months before the mobs drove them out of Nauvoo and on to the West.  The mobs burned the village of Nauvoo and desecrated the temple and burned it.  The charred remains were then totally removed by a tornado later on.  When I visited Nauvoo many years ago, all that was to see of the original temple was a depression in the ground and some foundation pillars that were level with the surface of the ground.  The interior of the present day temple is built after the original plans and the woodwork is spectacular.  There is a spiral staircase that should be the envy of the world.  It is fine craftsmanship and is something like my father used to do when he worked as a joiner.  I know that he would really appreciate the workmanship in this temple spiral staircase.  All the rugs were hand loomed in England on 22 inch looms and are of pure wool and the patterns in the carpet are those that were originally designed for the first temple but never executed because the temple was destroyed.  I was amazed to hear that those patterns that were chosen to be used in the 1800’s when this first temple was being built were still around and able to be used in modern days to produce the carpets that they have today.  I was amazed at the elegance of the curtains they have on the circular windows – the pleating is perfect.  We were asked to be the witness couple for the temple ceremony.

After the temple session was over, we went to the visitor’s bureau and boarded a horse drawn wagon for a ride and narrative of the historic village of Nauvoo.  The place must have been beautiful when it was built and the method they used to make the bricks for the brick homes was amazing.  We went to the brick works after the tour around Nauvoo, and they did a demonstration of how the bricks were made and they gave us a small brick imprinted with Nauvoo on it.  David wanted a brick and we were happy that they still give out bricks at the brick works.

We ate at a small café in Nauvoo before starting off on our journey to Lincoln Nebraska.  We started out on route 2 across Iowa and it is the same route 2 that goes all the way past where Sara lives and we had no problem finding her home.  When I am out here in the Mid West, I have a hard time remembering which is north or south etc. and only be oriented by the fact that South Street is a short way from Sara’s house and that the university is north of the house.  Other than that, the Sun seems to come up just about wherever it wants to and sets wherever it wants to because I cannot imagine that where it rises is actually East.  I had the same problem in Pennsylvania when we lived there.  It seemed that the sun always rose in the west even though it was truly the East where it rose.  So we followed Route 2 across Iowa and it is a country road that is less traveled but it was the only east/west highway we could use that would not put us miles out of our way.  As we came in on Route 2 I suddenly saw Menards and then the Wal Mart and other stores that I have frequented in the past and I knew exactly where we were but my mind kept saying that we were traveling east when in fact we were traveling west.  I think I need help in orienteering.

We arrived at Sara’s house at about 8.15pm and then the fun began.  The children were all  excited to see us arrive and the Oreo Cookies that they asked for were soon opened and enjoyed.  It was hard getting them to go to sleep.  Around 3am Oliver came in and got in bed with us and then about 2 hours later Lyla came in as well.  There is not enough room in a queen sized bed for two adults and two children……so I got up and left them to their bed space.  However, they soon got up as well and began to tickle Bill’s feet – one of the great games they usually play when we are here.

I fed the three children breakfast and then we played Chick Chick and the house was filled with noise, laughter and happy squealing.  Managed to get the boys to dress for school, Oliver to do his homework, and then out the door and over to Saratoga School.  Lyla insisted on walking with us and she made it all the way to the school but had to be piggybacked on the return trip. 

So it is now Wednesday morning and Bill and I have the house to ourselves and we are doing laundry. Tomorrow Jacob has an in-person interview with Novartis a drug company that is located here.  It is in the research and development area.