Road Trip Pictures, Church Sites, and WWI Museum

I'm leavin' on a jet plane (actually it's a diesel moving truck), I don't know when I'll be back again...

My husband and his family before the big send off from Utah to South Carolina...

At a family/friend farewell party

More family...

At my sister's house before the big move...

My brother and his family.

With good friends and their new babies... change is happening all around us!

With the Walkers at Settebello (AMAZING pizza place in Salt Lake City).

The morning of our move, I ran the Ogden Half Marathon. This is before the race started.

Our big, mean, moving machine. Allow me to break down the route for you: Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Phew! It was a long and adventurous drive.

We took a break in Missouri so we could go check out some church sites. One of the sites that we went and saw was Liberty Jail- it was in the middle of some random neighborhood. There was a big film crew doing a video shoot for some promotional BYU gig, but we were able to sneak in. One of the sister missionaries told us that since there are all sorts of historical sites (including ones that are non-religious) in that part of Missouri, that some people will come into this building asking if Jesse James was imprisoned here. Aren't they in for a big surprise! =)

We were told that this replica was rebuilt with the bricks from the original jail, and that it was built in the exact place, with all of the exact measurements, as was recorded by earlier LDS people- a great example of the importance of journal writing and precise records!

This was how tall the jail was for Joseph Smith and his companions. They were there from about December-April; and Missouri winters are not kind.

We also went to the Visitor's Center in Independence, Missouri- it was really cool, I highly recommend it. We then drove to Far West, Missouri to see the dedicated temple site with the four corner stones.

This is the temple lot. It's huge!

Warning- the temple site is IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Don't get me wrong, Missouri was absolutely beautiful and green, but our directions took us through dusty, dirt roads in the country side. It was really pretty and peaceful, but a little un-nerving to be so far out in the country. I couldn't help but think about what a different lifestyle that is for all the people in the homes we drove by!

We also took some time to visit the National WWI Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. This is in the front hall of the museum. It's all glass floors and ceilings, and below you can see some poppies (flowers)- there was a whole field of fake flowers below the glass floor. I think each poppy was supposed to signify 1,000 people killed in the war. (If I remember my facts right, more died from disease and infection then actual warfare).

WWI was mainly fought in the trenches. The museum had these cool displays where you looked through holes in a wall and saw what the different kinds of trenches looked like. The Germans had the nicest, "four star" trenches, while the French had the worst- this picture above is what the French trench looked like- just bags, and pretty crudely built.

This picture is of the German trenches- much nicer then the French's trenches. The museum even had background music of bombs going off, people talking, and gunfire.

Submarines and ships were also used during WWI. Here is one of the mines that the ships would hang in the water to blow up the stealthy submarines.

This is outside the museum. It was amazing!

Ok, so here are some random pictures from driving on the road-

here's the big arch in St. Louis, Missouri...

Some farmland in Illinois...

Cool trees and cliffs in Kentucky...

Driving through the mountains in Tennessee...

Welcome to the South... =)

My hero- I did not dare drive this monster truck, but my husband drove all four days. What a guy!

We're here!!