I did it again. I stayed up until 2 a.m. watching some show on TLC about forensic detectives. So, when Dad woke me up at 8, I was pretty groggy. Then, he asked me to drive. I was really struggling to stay alert so I stopped to get a Diet Coke. I was fine after that.

We left at 9 a.m. for Nauvoo. Eleven of us went- Our whole party along with Wes, Geraldine, Bill, and Joyce.

Nauvoo

The Nauvoo Temple tour was very nice. The temple is smaller than other temples, but they still managed to pack everything in there. The temple is quaint, for a temple - not as much technical gadgetry as other temples like the Bountiful temple. Where there was technology, it was discretely blended into the building. For example, each of the instruction rooms had infrared transmitters artfully embedded into the woodwork in the ceiling. These allow visitors to the temple to listen to sessions in any language on wireless headphones.

The temple tour was spiritual and serene.

After we got through the tour, we met Richard Winder - the temple president - who is from Granger, Utah where my family is from. We introduced him and his wife to our Iowa relatives and we took some pictures of them.

I took some pictures of the outside of the temple and then we went to lunch at Dotties on the main drag in Nauvoo.

After we had lunch and looked through some of the shops near the temple, we went to the Nauvoo Visitors Center and then into the historic district where many restored buildings in Nauvoo may be toured.

We didn't tour any buildings. We just wanted to check it out and take a few pictures.

Allison, Doran, & Julie west of the Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo Temple president Richard Winder and his wife

Carthage

After Nauvoo, we travelled east to Carthage, Illinois - the county seat of Hancock county and the location where Mormon prophet Joseph Smith lost his life to an angry mob.

The Carthage Jail Visitors Center was at least as touching as the Nauvoo Temple tour, but in a different way. Carthage was the site of death and Nauvoo the site of rebirth.

The original door at Carthage Jail with holes from gunshots that killed Hyrum Smith

A statue of Joseph & Hyrum Smith at Carthage Jail

Dinner in Farmington

After Carthage, we drove back to Iowa to a town called Farmington to have dinner at a restaurant recommended by Wes and Bill. Friday night was the all-you-can-eat Catfish special. I didn't do the catfish, but I should have. It looked and smelled really good.