On the road...

We left Layton at 10:00 Wednesday morning and headed out for St. Louis and Sheepiepalooza. Wednesday, we went from Layton to North Platte, Nebraska. We stayed at a LaQuinta Inn there...fairly nice...The girls wanted to go swimming at the hotel. They thought this sign was classic...it's a requirement to shower in the nude in warm water using soap before swimming?? Hmmmm.....

When we went to leave Thursday morning, we found (dirt bike racer) Travis Pastrana's truck and trailer in the parking lot. Maddi was excited and wanted to see him...no such luck...

Charlie did a pretty darn good job of sleeping through most of the trip. He was one comfy puppy!! (AWWW.....cute.....)

If he wasn't asleep, he wanted to look out the window with the wind blowing in his face. Unfortunately, Maddi was sitting where he wanted to be...no matter...just stand on top of her and squish her!

Our first major stop on Thursday was Jamesport, Missouri. We love this little Amish town--great soaps, lotions, candles, furniture. A lot of the stores were closed so Bob and Maddi will be going back on their way home.

We spent the night at a Country Inn and Suite in Quincy, Illinois. It was a GREAT hotel--very classy. Charlie loved the big window in front of the air conditioner. He spent the whole morning looking out the window while we got ready.

Friday morning, Sammi and I went to the Nauvoo Temple! Bob was supposed to be able to go with us but we had the taillights go out on the truck so he worked on that while Maddi toured Nauvoo with Charlie. It was an amazing experience to sit in the Temple with Sammi and realize where we were. Who can say the second time they went through the Temple it was through Nauvoo!! How cool is that??

While we were in the Temple, Bob and Maddi strolled the streets (I'm totally jealous!! I LOVE Nauvoo!!!!!). It's so beautiful and peaceful!

Bob and Charlie checking out the Mississippi River.

This is a statue of Joseph Smith showing Brigham Young the plans for the Salt Lake Valley. Evidently, Joseph appeared to Brigham and showed him how to get there, how everything was going to be there, etc. (Side note...Charlie is TERRIFIED of statues and horses! He wouldn't go near a statue and barked his head off at the horses. Silly puppy!)

Driving down the road between Nauvoo and Carthage. This is the road Joseph and Hyrum would have traveled on the way to Carthage Jail.

What a BEAUTIFUL view!!

The girls wanted to put their feet in the Mississippi. Not an easy task from the side of the road!

Giggly girls!

Poor Charlie...he had to wait in the car for us to play.

Then, as we're tooling down the road on our way to St. Louis, about half way between Nauvoo and Quincy, we went through this tiny little town called Ursa.

As we were going through town, I noticed this sign that said: "Denson Pioneer Cemetery." How cool is that?? We stopped and found a few headstones that were "Densons." It was so cool! We called Grandma Denson and told her we'd find out what we could about it. Evidently, Densons were part of the original settlers of Ursa. We found a guy who wrote a book about the history of the town--he has a copy he'll sell us so we can find out if there's any connection. How neat is that???

We finally made it to St. Louis Friday afternoon in time for Sheepie de Mayo. So fun!! Watch for more...