The Drive from Virginia to Utah

On August 25th we started our drive back to Utah. Our drive was much shorter home than on our way out to VA. We were told that we should eat at Cracker Barrel on our trip, so we did, everyday. We went once, had a great meal then said we would continue to eat at Cracker Barrel until we had a bad meal. We were still eating there on the last day. It's a great thing those restaurants are all over the country. Check here to see where the closest location is to you!

 Our first sight seeing stop was at Adam-ondi-Aham in Missouri. This is the view from there. 

From there we drove to Far West, MO and saw the temple site there. The 4 corner stones were laid but that was all. Each corner stone was laid in representation of either the lesser priesthood, the higher priesthood, the First Presidency, and the High Council. Here is a picture of the temple site and one corner stone. 

On our way down to Independence, MO we stopped at Haun's Mill and David Whitmer's grave site, and Liberty Jail. Liberty Jail was very humbling because you can see the horrible place Joseph Smith and others had to live. The men couldn't stand up straight because the ceiling was so low. It was cold and dark, and the men were given contaminated food to eat. We didn't take any pictures but you can see one here.

In Independence we visited the Visitor's Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We also visited the site of the future Independence, Missouri temple. 

Our next fun stop was in Amarillo, Texas. We didn't know it would be fun until we went out to dinner at a Texas steak house. We couldn't help ourselves and had to take a picture of the outside. 

Inside there were all sorts of stuffed animal heads, steer horns, and lots of cowboy hats. All the waiters and waitresses wore cowboy gear. There were 3 old men walking from table to table singing and playing the guitar, fiddle, and stand-up bass. It was so funny. We loved eating there. Oh, and the food was pretty good too.  

Our next scheduled fun stop was the Grand Canyon. We were both blown away by the natural beauty of the canyon. We had just been touring beautiful man-made buildings in Europe, so it was amazing to see something so beautiful God created. We loved the warm clean air, the lack of any noise, and the smell of dirt and pine trees. We drove in right before sunset and took some great pictures.

The next morning we got up early and toured more of the South Rim. We saw what we could then decided to go back to the Grand Canyon when we would hike down to the bottom and raft down the river.

We drove through Page, Arizona and Ja just had to touch Lake Powell, the lake of his childhood. So we stopped in for lunch and Ja got in the water. 

From  there it was onward to Provo! We were getting so anxious to get to our final destination and to stop driving! We made it into Provo with no harm or accident for the whole summer. With all the driving and flying we did, we are really lucky. We are excited to spend the next 4 months in Provo until we are off again!