Nauvoo, Part 3

Ok, here's the continuation of my Nauvoo trip... That same day, we also went to Liberty Jail. After that, we headed off for Adam-ondi-ahman. On the way, we drove through an Amish village and saw all the horse and buggies (Ginni, remember when you insisted on calling the shopping cart a "buggy" for almost 2 weeks? You're crazy!!) which we waved to. We saw some kids jumping on a trampoline, some bearded Amish men climbing into a truck, and a house with a phone booth out front. It's kind of interesting - maybe some people just aren't as strict as others. Also, my teacher said their belief is that as long as they don't own modern things, they can use them. Funny, huh?
Adam-ondi-ahman is just a series of hills where Adam and Eve lived after they left the Garden of Eden. It is very beautiful and green. There is a great spirit there - very peaceful. After running through some of the grass below the hill (my friend and I pretended it was a tall grass savannah and ran through it, and then laid down and watched other people run through it) and getting a chigger bite (hooray!!!) we boarded the bus like cattle (except cattle don't board tour buses). We drove forever to get to Iowa, where we stayed in a trashy motel across the river from Nauvoo. This place was a square building all enclosed with a swimming pool inside and rooms all against the sides, around the pool. It was a junker, yet someone had a wedding there the night we stayed. They put a plastic gazebo right next to the pool, and the air had the sweet scent of chlorine. I wish I could be married there...
Nauvoo was on the docket the next day. We toured Carthage Jail, and then went to the temple and did baptisms for the dead. The font there is amazing! It's like 10 feet high off the main floor! There was also a lot of beautiful woodwork - wood floors, wood doors, molding, etc. all in dark beautiful wood. I didn't get to see the famed spiral staircase, but I suppose I'll have to go back someday! After the temple, we went to the various sites around Nauvoo - the schoolhouse, the bakery, the blacksmith's shop, the Red Brick store, the brickyard, etc. It was fun to be back there, especially with the temple there now. It's such an important part of Nauvoo's history, as well as for now days. After a fabulous buffet meal (it was like Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, and home cookin' all rolled into one!!!) we went down to the Mississippi river and looked at the sunset.
The next day, we started our journey back to Idaho. We took the basic trail of the Saints as they left Nauvoo (except we didn't walk across the frozen Mississippi river) and headed for Winter Quarters, where we went to the visitor's center and walked around the temple grounds and the graveyard containing the graves of the saints that died there. It was a very cool experience. After that, we took the looooooong drive home, in which we got stopped by a cop for speeding, haha. Luckily, we only got a warning...
Sleeping on the bus was not fun because I was sleeping on the floor of the bus amongst all the dirt and people's feet. Oh well. Then we got back to Rexburg at 9:00 the next morning. It was such a great trip!!!! I'll post some pictures soon.