Nauvoo

I visited Nauvoo for the first time in the Spring of 2010.  I was moving across the country from Utah to Pennsylvania and it was a time of earth-shattering change in my life.  This is what I wrote then:

“Nauvoo is an incredible place, with an especially incredible spirit and I’m sure I would’ve been emotional any time I visited, but on the particular trip I was struck with the parallels to my own circumstances. The whole spirit of Nauvoo is exodus. We were repeatedly reminded how the early Saints had built a beautiful city and a wonderful life and they left it all behind. Packed whatever they could fit in their wagons and headed west, to an uncertain life and an uncertain future. I was in the process of my own exodus. Leaving everything I had built for myself, my family and friends, and heading east to a new job, a new life and an uncertain future - my car loaded with the possessions it would fit, and hoping that I had everything necessary to start over. And so, after visiting the grave of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and watching the Mississippi roll by, I got back in my car and drove up the trail of hope moving east instead of west to my new life.”

I read that now and all those feeling of uncertainty and anxiety come flooding back (usually accompanied by tears), but also accompanied by the sense of accomplishment and confidence in the ways my life has changed since that day – driving east up the Trail of Hope to a new life.

Since that day, I’ve moved cross country several times, sojourned in Czechia to teach English, traveled around the country and around this world.  And now I know – I have everything necessary to start over.  I have everything necessary to be homeless for a year while I indulge my love of travel and commitment to The List.  I know I’ve got this, and that made this visit to Nauvoo entirely different.

Nauvoo wasn’t originally part of my plan.  But my nephew was called to serve a mission in St Louis, MO and I was going to be in Iowa for the State Fair (check out 1000 Places to See for that), and well, Nauvoo was basically between those two places.

On this visit I was more interested in visiting the businesses rather than the homes.  I spent time at the Tin Shop, the Browning Gun Shop, Post Office/Dry Goods Store, Printing Office, Blacksmith Shop, Brickyard, and of course, the Bakery. 

At the Blacksmith Shop the missionary was showing us a standard wagon and talking about the space limitations. He (perhaps unwisely) singled me out to ask if I could imagine moving across country with everything I needed in such a small space.  “Hmm, yes,” I answered, “I’m doing it with less space right now.”   Oops, maybe not the best example.  He moved on right quick after that.  While talking about the blacksmith trade in Nauvoo, and the experiences of the family that owned that shop he fashioned a miniature horseshoe from iron.  Every family left with one.  He then ushered us outside and encouraged everyone to pick out a prairie diamond.  A ring fashioned out of a nail. 

I met a family there and we chatted after the families with small children had gone, and we could pick out a ring in peace.  They were traveling the entire Mormon Trail with their late teen/young adult daughter.  He had served many years in the military, and mentioned that he had been to Nauvoo in the 70s.  When “it was just a bunch of dirt roads, and broken down buildings.”  He couldn’t believe the amount of change the city had undergone.  How massive the restoration of the town was and what a monument to history it is.

At the Brickyard I learned about how to make bricks, how the buildings were constructed and received a tiny brick of my own.  I also learned it in Spanish since the bulk of my tour required a translator.  I loved it.  I was also treated to the daddest joke of all when our missionary guide said there was one famous brick maker in that was a huge failure in Nauvoo, but found amazing success elsewhere.  “His bricks were just to small”, he said, “unusable, it would’ve taken hundreds of thousands to complete a building.” He shook his head and pulled a small handful of Legos from his pocket. 

At the Print Shop I was on my own tour and we mostly just chatted about my travels, since I’d visited the Grandin Print Shop in Palmyra and knew the workings.  The Post Office taught me about cross writing and how to fold a paper to be its own envelope to save money.  The Dry Goods portion reinforced the lessons on color and strength of fired crockery I’d learned at the brick yard.  Brownings taught me that he was a genius with a gift for weaponry design and repair.  The tin shop gave me insight on how much work went into creating a single skimming pan.  And the Bakery…..

Let me interrupt to say that my first visit occurred on a weekday in the Spring.  Not exactly a popular time to visit.  Visiting on a Saturday during the Summer was a whole different experience.  Super crowded, so many kids, so many crying kids, so many misbehaving kids, so many annoying kids.  So. Many. Kids. 

The Bakery is tiny, and you start the tour by opening the gate and walking around back.  When I looked inside the shop and saw it was packed with kids?  Well, I noped out and said I’d wait for the next tour.  Then, I prayed real hard that no families would come around back before the next tour started. After I saw the exodus of a million kids from the shop, the sister missionaries saw me still sitting outside, alone.  One opened the door, and asked if I still wanted a tour.  “Yes,” I said, then chucked, “well, I really just want the cookie, but I saw all those kids and just couldn’t do it.”  They laughed along with me and exchanged looks that said, “We totally understand, but you know, we’re the missionaries.” They we chatted for a minute, I got my (super soft and delicious) ginger cookie, and I headed out to see the river.

You can walk right out into the mighty Mississippi from the Trail of Hope and standing at the edge reminded me of how many places I’ve seen, and people I’ve met, and things I’ve done, and how far outside of my comfort zone that takes me, and how much I enjoy it.

This time I didn’t drive up the trail of hope, but instead drove south along the river.  Saluting all the travelers that have embraced adventure and exploration as their new life.

ETA: And then I stopped at the Red Brick Store and bought a cold root beer because, crivens, it was a hot day!

North Dakota

Did I drive 2.5 hours one way just to cross North Dakota off the list of states I've visited?  Yes, yes I did. 

For what it's worth, Eats N Treats in Bowman, ND has really good food.  

Bear Country

Bear Country is a drive thru animal park in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  It was recommended to me by the Airbnb host in Spokane, and I'm so glad I went.  There really are bears everywhere.  (And also, a bunch of other animals).  Bears.  Everywhere.

They also have a little area for smaller animals, but the highlights is definitely the baby bears.

This post brought to you by this bear who does not care what other plans you may have.  He will be sitting there all day.  All. Day.

Cause I'm a Wanderer - Q1

1st Quarter: By the numbers:

• 7,000 miles driven
• 7 States (TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, OR, WA)
• 7 Airbnbs
• 7 Hotels
• 3 Family Guest Rooms (Big thank you-s to Sam-ecito, T3, and Becky + 2 dinners and the best queso around from Erin!)
• 9 Places Crossed off THE LIST (+1 revisited)

Airbnb

Overall I've stayed at some great Airbnb-s, but I really like the one in Medford.


First, my view was unbeatable.

Second, the hosts had 3 dogs: 2 boxers and an Australian shepherd.  I didn't see much of the shepherd, but the boxers would race down the stairs the instant they heard me come outside.  They stand patiently waiting until I start to back out and then they go nuts. I had to back out and around a little, but once I head down the hill they race me to the bottom.  It was literally my favorite part of the day.  I caught it on my dashcam one day...it records in 1 minute segments, so it's broken into 2 videos....

Marfa

Fun Fact: Marfa plays a significant role in the later chapters of Golden Prey by John Sandford, and so, of course, I re-read those chapters again so I could see where everything took place and how it was laid out. 

I went out to the Marfa Lights viewing area on Monday and Tuesday.  No luck on seeing the notorious lights, but on Tuesday night a storm was rolling in.  

The viewing area was pretty crowded even though it was super windy…warm, but windy.  As I watched the lightning and the storm cloud move closer I started talking to another lady from Houston.  We were both commenting that the storm had us a little worried and we were ready to head back to town the instant it started to rain.  In approximately one millisecond the wind turned from warm to ice cold.  We looked at each other and practically en masse the crowd headed to their cars and got out of there.

You can’t take pictures basically anywhere in town (lots of little art museums), but I got a dashcam for my trip and spent a while driving around town to use those little stills or video.  But, nope, I greatly overestimated the record time and by the time I got to El Paso all the Marfa footage had been recorded over.

The last stop, on the way out of town was Prada Marfa.  It’s pretty much just how it looks in pictures.  There were maybe 4-5 cars pulled over and it’s a pretty remote stretch of highway so you can sort of amble across the highway.

Hipster, artsy-fartsy invasion of Marfa!

As a quirk of a weird little town, practically nothing is open on Mon – Tues.  So many restaurants, museums, everything was open either Wed-Sun or Thur-Sun. 

Overall, I didn’t think it was worth the trek out there, but it was a good place to stop to break up a very long drive to El Paso.

Havana Ooh Na Na

Tips for visiting Cuba:

I read a whole lot about Americans in Cuba before I left, and that helped lessen some of my anxiety. Which was really high.

1. You’re required to keep your itinerary for 7 years, and could be audited by OFAC at any time.
2. I went with a cruise and they provided the paperwork for the Visa Application and added the processing fee to my ship account.  
3. The Visa application/entry process was super easy.  The Cuban officials obviously do it a lot and they have it down.  This goes for the money exchange process as well.
4. Speaking of money exchange, technically foreign currency isn’t accepted.  So you should be prepared to exchange the total amount of money you’ll need.  Also, US credit cards will not work anywhere in Cuba.  Don’t plan on getting a little cash and then charging stuff.
5. Currency exchange has a conversion fee of 3% except for US dollars which is 13%.  My advice is if you have a bank that allows you to convert currency for free (like Wells Fargo) go change your US $ into either Canadian $ or Euros before your trip.  Then when in Cuba, exchange the CAN or EUR for CUCs.
6. You cannot get CUCs (Cuba’s tourist currency) outside of Cuba. But the exchange windows in the travel center are easy and fast, but you might have to ask for specific denominations.  The first day I didn’t get any small bills and ended up buying a little souvenir just to get some change.
7. I was nervous about the whole trip and didn’t venture out alone at all.  However, I think if I were to go back (after having gotten my feet wet, and explored with a group) I’d feel comfortable exploring a little on my own after the official tours.