Friday, September 9, 2016

DAY #7 - Council Bluffs, Iowa to York, Nebraska

Well, today started out quite interesting and not planned at all!  And NOT in a good way.  When I went into the bathroom this morning, I laid my cell phone on what I thought was the counter.  Only problem was, the counter was a bit narrower than I knew and the light was not on for me to see.....and the phone immediately fell to the tile floor!  Note to self (and others)....TILE and CELL PHONES do NOT like each other.  My first time ever shattering my phone screen...and hopefully my last!  After a few phone calls (including to Kevin....THANK YOU Kevin) we had a plan in place to get the screen replaced!

As we left our hotel in Council Bluffs we went under this really cool bridge.  Not sure what all the stuff or statue is, but we thought it was cool.

We decided to head over to the KANESVILLE VISITOR CENTER on the Iowa side of the state line.  This is owned and run by the Church as a historical site.  It is historical because this is where President Brigham Young was sustained the Prophet and President of the Church in the Tabernacle in 1848.... 3 1/2 years after the Prophet Joseph Smith was killed.  President Brigham Young went west with the saints, where he declared "This Is The Place".  He then returned to Kanesville Tabernacle for a conference of the church so he could be sustained.  I would say that this was definitely a historical site for the Church.

The grounds are beautiful.  With several beautiful statues as well.  

Inside the tabernacle there is a very, very old organ.  Dad played his 'favorite' and only hymn he has memorized....We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet!

As we headed over to Winter Quarters in north Omaha, Nebraska, we stopped at this place, "i fix Omaha" to have my iPhone screen replaced.  It took us 37 minutes from the time we walked in to the time we paid and walked out ($90).  Hopefully all will be well!!!  :-)

We were back on our 'agenda', thankful that the little diversion was not any worse than it was.  We headed over to Florence, Nebraska...a northern suburb of Omaha.  We were going to Winter Quarters Visitor Center and Museum.  What a GREAT place this was to visit.  If it is not on your bucket list, you need to add it!

Once inside we watched a great little 20 minute video about the history of the saints in this area and those things preceding their arrival here in Winter Quarters.  We were met after the film by Sister Borla, a young full time missionary.  She was so sweet.  She took us around the museum area and told us all of the history.  The foto of these 2 oxen are the REAL OXEN that were in the film Legacy that the Church produced.  When the oxen passed away, the Church had them stuffed and brought to this location to be a part of the display!  Very cool that the Church did that.  And, YES, we texted the foto of Sister Borla to her mother!!  :-)

By the time we had finished our tour it was pouring down rain, and storming.  We had planned to walk around the Winter Quarters Temple grounds and walk around the Pioneer Cemetery.  We got as far as the gate of the cemetery and were soaked clear through!!  We got a couple of fotos and headed back to the car.  The Temple fotos would be from the inside of our car.

 Even though it was rainy and stormy we did manage to get a good foto!

These Winter Quarter Historical sites were about a mile from the Historical Mormon Bridge.  We decided to drive across that as well.  This is reported to be one of 4 sites where the pioneers crossed the Missouri River.

BONUS:  We were able to get a foto of the Nebraska State Sign!!!  Even through the rainy windshield.

 DOUBLE BONUS:  We also finally found a sign of the IOWA state line as well.  You can see how stormy the weather was.

 This is the radar foto of the nasty weather we were dealing with.  

 We only drove 2 hours to our next hotel here in YORK, NEBRASKA for the night.  Nebraska is a really big state and we were soaked and tired.  Good thing we only had a short drive.  We were thankful for that.  

The adventure continues tomorrow!!!  We met a couple from California this morning at the Kanesville Visitor Center.  They are not members of the Church but we got to talking to them.  We told them we were on a month-long road, where we were from and where we were going.  They exchanged conversation with us and told us they are on a 3-month road trip!!!  They have been on the road one month and will be home in November.  Fun to meet these people along our road adventure!