Council Bluff/ Kanesville- Day 3 Part 2

The timing of this part of our trip was Perfect! We didn't want to travel too much on Sunday or spend money (we traveled on 3 hours that day). Arriving at Council Bluffs after missing church that morning was like a sweet homecoming. The spirit was strong and the information touched us. I had never realized how much the saints struggled after they left Nauvoo. In my mind, I had them completing their travel from Feb to July. How wrong I was! After slogging through mud and drenched from the rainiest season Iowa had seen, they arrived at the Council Bluffs area in the fall. They spent the winter there barely surviving before the first group left for Utah. As this trip progressed I gained a high respect for the Saints. Their stalwartness amidst challenges sets a high bar for all of us.

In typical fashion, the visitors center was packed full of exhibits. The sisters missionary was sweet. The films reached out and touched your heart. I doubt I would have survived. Two weeks of packing up each morning, eating sandwiches and being stuck in a vehicle makes me appreciate variety, drawers for items and a fridge stocked.

The kids had a blast mimicking pioneers. They dressed up in garb, climbed into small berths, stocked wagons and pulled a handcart (once the sister missionary put a pebble under one wheel it wasn't as easy, the rock was impossible). They even posed without smiles to be authentic!


Winter Quarters Temple was elegant, especially the bold doors and stained glass windows. What was truly touching was the memorial marker for those who died there. Once the Saints left, the Indians who had once sympathized with them, destroyed the city except for the mill. Over time and new growth, the graves disappeared. One headstone sits in the visitor center. Instead this touching statue of parents at the infants gravesite reminds us of all the pioneers left behind.


From Council Bluff we traveled a bridge over the Missouri River and on to Kanesville Tabernacle where Brigham Young was ordained in 1847 as the prophet, three years after Joseph's death. The tabernacle was built simply for the sustaining and didn't survive because of the green wood that was used. Part of the tour includes two movies--one on the Mormon Battalion and the other on Brigham's sustaining. Dave and I visited the Mormon Battalion site in San Diego, but I had forgotten the contributions those soldier gave to the growth of the California and the west. They built San Diego into a functioning town, were constructing Sutter's mill when gold was found, and created a trail across the Sierras that was used by all traveling to California.

The kid's first remark on seeing Brigham's wax figure was -- "It's Snape!"

 

One last note for this busy day. I had scheduled a cabin at Arrowhead Park. When we arrived, hungry and anxious to get settled in, our code to unlock the door wouldn't work. No one was at the office as it was after hours. With PBJ, we ate on the dock where my phone got reception and waited for someone to arrive. Fortunately we got in to a nice A/C cabin, unfortunately the real bathroom was 1/2 mile away and a stinky hole bathroom just outside our cabin. Ah...perhaps we were being challenged to be more like a pioneer. NOT!

TIP#5 CONFIRM YOUR RESERVATIONS THE DAY BEFORE ARRIVING WHEN BOOKING RURAL OR UNINTERNET-SAVVY SITES.