This is a dream trip for me! I don’t know if I’ve ever put so much time and effort into planning a trip. My intent in creating this post is the help other people out there planning a similar trip with ideas. It was so long and there were so many details. I wanted to be sure we didn’t miss anything really important. Although the Sacred Grove was on my bucket list we found sites along the way that touched our hearts and were as sacred as the grove. Really, an amazing opportunity!
When we were not accepted to be in the Nauvoo Pageant again this year (it was our second year to apply), I considered doing something low key, something less expensive, something short, but Josh felt like now was the time to go to church history sites. He pointed out that a big part of the drive from Utah is too Nauvoo, but the rest of the sites are relatively close so he suggested we go all the way to New York. I loved the idea, but didn’t want to spend that much time driving so I came up with an unconventional plan. We decided to invite a family to drive our motor home one direction for us. It was a great opportunity for them, and it was awesome for us too. It did save us the headache of a few days of driving. (I think it would be a good idea even if it wasn’t a motor home, to let another family take your car one way.) It doesn't put on miles you wouldn't have put on anyway, it just saves you all of the extra time driving. It worked out brilliantly if I do say so myself.
With the seminary topic for this year being church history, I am so grateful to have a closer connection and understanding of these sites. I am grateful for this experience, if for no one else, for myself. Caleb our oldest is 14 and struggling which is part of the reason we decided the timing was right for this trip. Our 8 and 6 year olds were a bit young, but hopefully when questions arise their experiences on this trip will come to their minds and they will have a desire to turn to God for answers to their question, that they will DOUBT THEIR DOUBTS BEFORE THEY DOUBT THEIR FAITH. I also hope that they will remember the great sacrifices of the pioneers and of their ancestors on their behalf. I pray that they will remember the incredible journey and story of those who stood by their convictions.
Day 1: We left home at 2:45 AM! Flying out at 5:30 AM was painful, but it was fantastic to get to NYC by 4:00PM, get a taxi (or two) to the hotel and get settled before dark. We stayed at the John Hotel in Flushing, an Asian community near the LaGuardia airport. We found an awesome Chinese dim-som restaurant and started our adventure, with a very adventurous meal, and loved it.
Day 2: The New York Pass! We did more than $250 of activities in Manhattan for $125 per person. Everything we did (except our food and subway rides) was included in our pass so we didn't have to decide what was in the budget. We just decided and paid once. We started with a subway ride into the city. Our only major over site in planning this day was not picking up our Hop On Hop Off Bus tickets at Time Square before going to the Empire State Building. We took a long walk back to get them, but ended up going to the Madame Tussauds wax museum as part of the detour and we’re glad we did!
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
Empire State Building 86th Floor
We mostly got around on the Hop On Hop Off double decker buses. Josh was excited to shop in China town, and the kids were happy to spend the $10 they had for the day! Unfortunately they weren't as adventures about food as the night before so I ended up at McDonald's with them for lunch while Josh and Cara went out for something better.
9/11 Memorial and Museum
The Beast: Taking this huge speed boat, and some of the kids sitting in the drench zone,
on the way out to the Statue of Liberty was everyone’s favorite part of the day.
Our biking in Central Park to the temple started out great and ended up terrifying
as we took a wrong turn and ended up riding the traffic filled streets of NYC.
At least we made it to the temple.
The Ride was an interactive tour with people singing and dancing from the street.
It was a really fun mix between a show and a tour.
Riding the subway was a fun part of the experience. I thought we were all tired, but never too tired to not mess around.
Day 3: Drive from LGA to Palmyra to meet the Stouts with our motorhome. Part of the reason why we stayed near the airport was because we needed to rent a car and leave at about 6 AM. Along the way we visited the Priesthood Restoration Site in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania to see the home of Joseph and Emma, the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Area, and the Susquehanna River where Joseph and Oliver were baptized. This is where Joseph and Emma lived from 1827 to 1830. We also made a quick stop at the Whitmer Home where the church was organized. We met the Stouts at about 4 PM. They took the van we had rented to return to the airport and we took the RV for our one-way road trip.
Priesthood Restoration Visitors Center
It was impossible for the kids to pick up a box that weighed as much as the plates may have weighed.
The restored home of Emma Smith's parents, the Hale's, where Joseph and Emma lived.
The Susquehanna River where Joseph and Oliver were baptized. It's not easy to get a good picture with this group.
Whitmer Home
After meeting the Stouts we had time to visit the Smith family farm, Sacred Grove, Palmyra Temple, and Hill Cumorah since we planned to spend the night at the Palmyra Walmart we really had noting better to do even though my schedule didn't have those sites until the next day. We stocked up the motorhome and relaxed. The beauty of being in a motorhome is the total flexibility.
Smith log cabin
Smith frame home
Sacred Grove
Oh how the Smith’s would love to see the temple in Palmyra just across the street from their farm.
It is impossible for me to imagine the persecution and difficulties they endured.
Everyone was getting tired by the time we hit the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center.
They aren't fighting, just playing around making it impossible to take a picture.
I really enjoyed the trail up the backside of the Hill Cumorah. Don't miss that back-door walk!
The kids liked rolling down the steep part that has been cleared for the pageant. It wasn't very reverent, but there was no-one else around and they'd had a very long day and needed to get the ants out of their pants.
We saw a lot of visitor centers on this trip! I was so impressed by how many unique displays were at each visitor center and how the church does such a beautiful job at portraying our beliefs. It is incredible to think how the Book of Mormon has filled the earth, now in 110 languages. I know that any sincere seeker of truth, who reads the Book of Mormon, and prays to know it’s truthfulness will receive a testimony of it through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Day 4: We finished our time in Palmyra at the Grandin Printing Press where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed and at the Martin Harris Farm. (There isn’t much to see here except the old farm house.)
The visitors center is built around the original Grandin building.
The upper case and lower case letters.
We had a beautiful drive along Lake Ontario to Four Mile Creek State Park near Niagara,
where we spent the night. Four Mile Creek was really nice.
I did laundry and we loved seeing the Taranto Canada skyline across the lake.
We stopped for a while at Hamlin Beach State Park on our drive there.
Two seconds before the surprise splash at our pit stop along Lake Ontario.
Day 5: It was really impressive to see Niagara Falls. It took the full morning to walk to each of the overlook sites. We walked over into Canada and had fudge under the rainbow bridge. That taste of fudge made the kids want fudge for the rest of the trip. We spent the afternoon driving to Kirtland.
Day 6:
We went to church in Ashtabula Ohio (were we also spent the night in a Walmart parking lot) about 45 minutes from Kirtland. It was a struggling little ward, but the meetings were good. We were able to convince the kids to stay all three hours because they happened to have a linger longer after church.
After church we went to the Isaac Morley farm where Joseph and Emma lived for a short time and where Joseph received 13 revelations now included in the doctrine and covenants. I particularly enjoyed the sacred grove there.
We had a nice experience at the Kirtland temple, the original temple of this dispensation. It is now owned by the Church of Christ and they give tours of it for a fee. The best part was at the end when Josh asked the guide about singing and he invited our group to sing The Spirit of God in the assembly room of the temple. The pioneers sure made incomprehensible sacrifices to build temples. (I should have checked the family picture before we left!)
Before visiting Kirtland I didn’t really get the significance of the Newel K. Whitney Store and businesses. This building was 80% original and I felt as if we were walking on sacred ground in that building. I was so impressed by the feeling there.
Joseph and Emma lived in this building, above the store for a time.
The table was original to their home.
The table was original to their home.
Joseph held the school of the prophets in the room pictured below.
This is where the Word of Wisdom was revealed.
Whitney's sawmill
Whitney's ashery
Whitney's store
Day 7: We stayed at Punderson state Park and then went to the John Johnson farm south of Kirtland. The Johnson family provided a home for Joseph and his family from 1831 to 1832.
He received many revelations there and faced serious opposition. Andy is opening the door with the original handle to Joseph's office on the Johnson farm.
We spent the second half of day seven at Cuyahoga Valley National Park and then driving to Indiana Dunes State Park very late. (We spent more time at the National Park than we expected. It was awesome.) This National Park was different than anything I’ve seen in the west. It was built around a town so as we drove we were in and out of the park. The waterfall, which is the main attraction at the park because of it's easy access wasn’t that impressive, but we spent time at a place called the Ledges, which we really enjoyed and found very beautiful!
Day 8: We had plans to stay at Indiana Dunes two nights and have a full beach day, but we were rained out the first morning so we decided to hit the road after spending a little time at the beach in the rain.
It all worked out for the best. We went to Chicago and had Chicago style pizza. We thought we’d go to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, but as we walked along the beach from pizza to the zoo the sun peaked out and we decided to have a beach day after all, with the sky line right behind us. The best part about having the beach day in Chicago is that we drove most of the way to Carthage rather than staying at Indian Dunes. We ended up needing that extra time in Nauvoo, and it got us to Carthage early the next day.
Day 9: We discovered after the trip was planned that June 27, the day we were in Carthage, was the actual date that Joseph Smith was martyred 174 years ago. It was really impressive to see the actual bullet holes in the door and to hear the story of his martyrdom sitting near the window he jumped from. It worked out perfectly. We spent the night at a walmart about an hour from Carthage so we got there early which was a blessing. Our family were the only ones on our tour and they were shutting down early for a special program in the afternoon.
Prophets of God, throughout time, have been asked to seal their testimonies with their blood. Joseph Smith, along with his brother Hyrum gave all for the testimony of what they knew to be true.
Day 10-11: We were glad to have nearly three full days in Nauvoo. We were pretty focused on seeing things and even with three days we didn’t hit everything. We stayed at the Nauvoo State Park. It was super close and inexpensive.
It was awesome to see my Uncle Bill on his mission at the blacksmith shop and in the Brick Yard in Nauvoo. We were also grateful for the use of his air conditioned apartment each afternoon so the kids could hang out where it was cool while Josh and I went to the temple.
The best experience in Nauvoo for us was a program called the Trail of Hope. They only do it 2-3 nights per week in the summer, but it is worth planning around. They young performing missionaries performed vignettes from the journals of people leaving Nauvoo. We would stop and watch and then move on down the road until it ended at the Mississippi River. So touching! It was also at sunset as the fire flies were out in the field behind the performers.
Weaving wool
Working together to make a rope
Learning at the school house
Our experiences in the Nauvoo temple were very special.
It was awesome to be in the temple where ordinances work for the dead began.
We saw the cornerstones of the temple that were laid in Far West.
This was our hot travel day so we headed to a pool and KOA camp ground as quick as we could.
It was humid and our AC wasn't working as well as it should have been.
Day 13: We went to church at a little struggling branch in Kansas city. It is the branch our friends and neighbors, Steve and Kristin Price are assigned to on their mission. We had an awesome dinner with the Price's and went to the Independence Missouri Visitor Center and Liberty Jail. This jail was more like a torture chamber, yet as with Paul of the New Testament, beautiful revelations came during Joseph Smith's time of great trial, wrongfully locked in this jail.
Day 14 to 16: One of the advantages of traveling in a motor home is that Josh can drive after everyone goes to bed. We cranked out most of the drive through Kansas on Sunday night stopping for the night at a truck stop somewhere along the way. We arrived at my cousins, outside of Denver (in Thornton) on Monday around noon. We spent the 4th of July with them. Had we not had family in Denver we would have gone to Rocky Mountain National park to end our trip, but it was a hit playing with cousins and making a few last memories. Before the final stretch of the drive home!
For my friends that are planning this road trip, we decided to skip the winter quarters visitors center in Nebraska. We'd seen enough visitors centers! If you are interested in going to the pioneer handcart sites as part of your trip I've blogged about that separate trip we did here: http://kirkfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/2016/10/putting-life-into-perspective.html (You can skip over the personal stuff at the beginning to get some ideals on where to go at the handcart sites. It is also an awesome and worthwhile trip.) I hope this helps as you plan to take your family to feel the spirit of these sacred sites. It is WORTH ALL of the effort!
