Our mid-western adventure

September was a month of travel for me and Rick.  I'm now very much behind in many areas in my life, including blogging, but I enjoyed every minute of those trips and activities.

We enjoyed a visit from Chelsea's grandparents Ralph and Sandie at the end of August and we all got Andy and Chelsea loaded and ready to move to LA.  We hated saying goodbye to our kids because we have enjoyed having them in town and we have enjoyed our frequent visits and outings together. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to some tears being shed.  Even though I want my kids to get on with their lives and move on, I still miss them when they do!  It's such a happy/sad emotion.  We wish them well as they move on to their next adventure, but they will be dearly missed.

My sisters Ann and Carol came to town to attend and observe the trial of the year.  We entitled it the "tampon trial" and suffice it to say, it was a very interesting day in court as we started the day watching the jury selection and stayed well into the evening to hear the verdict.  It was so fun to spend that time with Ann and Carol.

Rick and I left for Kansas City on Thursday, September 3.  We took Frontrunner/Trax to the SLC airport and avoided the extra expense of leaving a car at the airport for nine days.  It worked out so slick and we will definitely do that again.

September 3
Arrived in Kansas City and had dinner with my friend Terri N. from my hometown of Rupert, ID
Enjoyed a delicious mid-western BBQ meal at Joe's

September 4
Drove to Lawrence, Kansas and visited KU Phog Allen field house.  It meant little to me, but Rick was very excited to see it.
Visited the fascinating Harry S. Truman presidential library.  I had just finished watching the 16 hour documentary by Ken Burns entitled "The War" so I was very interested in learning more about the part that President Truman played in ending WWII by authorizing the use of the atomic bomb against Japan.  In my humble opinion, it was the use of this deadly force that ended the war and was a necessary evil.  I'm so grateful that he had the courage to act.

Visited Independence, MO and saw the LDS and Community of Christ sites

I loved eating at some out-of-the-way places along the way
Saw Liberty Jail
Picked up Jake and Ellie from the Kansas City airport
Went to the Royals/White Socks  baseball game

September 5
Drove to Lincoln, Nebraska
Visited the state capitol

Attended the BYU-Nebraska game.  It was extremely hot and humid, but the Nebraska fans were so kind and classy.  Truly, they were amazing both before the after the game.  We had such a fun time with Jake and Ellie and met up with our Philipp friends afterwards.  Wow!  What a finish!

Drove to Omaha for the night after the game.

September 6
Attended church in Omaha, saw a young man from our ward who is attending dental school there, Richie L.
Visited Winter Quarters and saw the temple and visitors center
Crossed into Iowa, went to Council Bluffs and Kanesville and associated visitor's center and LDS church sites
Drove across Iowa listening to the Mormon Channel

Stopped at the Des Moines, Iowa state capitol building
Arrived in Keokuk, Iowa for the night

September 7
Nauvoo, IL
Finally!  I got to attended the Nauvoo temple!  What a great experience.

Went on a wagon and buggy ride around town
 to see the sites.  These missionaries were delightful.

I got to spend the rest of the day in Nauvoo by myself exploring and learning to my heart's content.  I pretty much had the place to myself. I only wish I had friend Tiffany T. to guide we around since she knows everything about Nauvoo.
Rick drove Jake and Ellie to catch their flight in St. Louis

September 8
Went to Carthage Jail
Drove to St. Louis, MO
Saw the spectacular Gateway Arch

I loved attending the visitor's center and learning
more about how this architectural  marvel was built.

View from inside the arch on the west side showing St. Louis

View on the east side showing the mighty Mississippi

Inside the little cars that took us to the top inside the arch.

Loved, loved, loved seeing this marvel.

View at night.  It looks black.

Attended the Cardinals/Cubs baseball game

September 9
Drove most of the day from St. Louis to Oklahoma City, OK
Crossed the boarder of OK and met my goal of visiting all 50 states!

 Relaxed that evening at the hotel.  Went swimming and hot tubbed.

September 10
Spent most of the day at the Oklahoma City bombing site learning more about what happened that fateful day in the heart of our country.  Heartbreaking.

and we visited the Oklahoma State Capitol building where an active oil rig was pumping oil on the capitol grounds

I love learning about Native American history.

Visited OU in Norman, OK
Drove to Wichita to spend the night and relax.

September 11
Left Wichita, stopped briefly in Topeka (a shout out here to Mark P., I finally made it to visit his home town!) and arrived back in Kansas City to turn in our rental car and catch our flight to return home.  We ended up putting almost 2400 miles our Nissan Altima rental car!  We listened to My Antonia by Willa Cather on CD while driving through the mid-western states and enjoyed that story set in Nebraska.

We got home just hours before Andy and Chelsea flew back into town to attend the BYU-Boise state game and pick up the Nissan.  Needless to say, we were very optimistic about the BYU football season with two big wins under our belts against Boise and Nebraska.  Little did we know what was in store at that time and that disappointment was coming.  Again.  We said good-bye to them the final time as they left Utah headed to CA.

We always like to chase after our visitors and
family members and say good-bye in this traditional way.