Winter Quarters -Day 7

We started the morning at the Kanesville Tabernacle. After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, many people thought the LDS church would fall apart. Here at the Kanesville Tabernacle in December 1847 the church sustained a new First Presidency with Brigham Young as President and Prophet. It was also here that Oliver Cowdery came back and was rebaptized.


Winter Quarters is where early church members gathered after being kicked out of Missouri, Illinois and Ohio. Here they spent the winter and gathered supplies to cross the plains and settle in what is now Salt Lake City. Most of my Great-great-great-grandparents came across this way from England to Utah, some in handcarts.


My Great-great-great-grandfather John Darwin Chase joined the Mormon Battalion at Winter Quarters. They made the longest recorded march in military history -consisting of 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California. After completing this long trek, most of them returned to Utah. This photo depicts what they probably wore.


Here is the Winter Quarters Temple.


While we were inside the Visitor's Center we dropped our camera and it died. Thank goodness for our GPS. We typed in Target and got ourselves a new camera.

This is Nebraska countryside.

This is what happens after 7 days of driving.

This is what we had to do to keep Rebekah quiet. No it's not beer!!! Only the last swig of our root beer bottle.

On the road again -Day 6

Today we left OKC and drove North. Why? Because we haven't been to those states yet. So we searched our address books and looked at maps to find people to visit and things to see.

We stopped in Witchita, Kansas and visited with John Robertson and his family. John was Clay's college roommate. We had a fun time and Rebekah especially enjoyed dragging around their placid kittens.


After our visit we continued north through Topeka and spent the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

More OKC -Day 5

A whole lot of Hunts! Clay's Uncle David & Cyndi with Nathaniel, Emma & Rebekah with Heidi, and Adeanya (Clay's Grandma). Clay couldn't be with us --he had to take the photo. ;)


Here are some pictures of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. This is a memorial for the bombing of the Federal Building in 1995.


The Survivor Tree.


Where the building once stood.

Entrance.

A chair for each person killed, including smaller chairs for the children.

A message written by a rescue worker.

OKC & Johnnies -Day 4

One of the Hunt/Murray family traditions is to eat at Johnnies as often as possible while in Oklahoma. It is a burger joint with a special Johnnies sauce and grated cheese. It is pretty good stuff, but not for your waistline. We met Clay's Aunt Donese there for lunch and had a great visit!

Arkansas -Day 3

You might be asking yourself why we want to DRIVE all the way to Seattle. Well, we wanted to see family who live in many different states. So driving was actually cheaper than flying to the different spots. And we get to see states that we haven't been too before. Like Arkansas. Why would you ever go to Arkansas? Well, so you can check it off your list. And there are some neat things to see there.

Little Rock. Stopping at Central High School was a moving experience. This is where "The Little Rock Nine" (African-American students) were first integrated into a white school. It is hard to believe that it was only 50 years ago that we started to end segregation. I wonder how our grandparents felt about it then? And how do they feel now?

Just outside of Fort Smith, Arkansas is the location that Parley P. Pratt, early apostle to the Church, is buried. He was serving a mission in Arkansas when he was killed. Clay has read his biography and wanted to see this little known church history site.

Tennessee -Day 2

We drove through Nashville and stopped by the Grand Ole Opry, home of the longest running live radio show, and the Parthenon, the worlds only full scale replica of the one in Greece. It comes complete with a HUGE statue of Athena.

That's Clay standing below the statue of Athena.

The Great Hunt Cross-Country Road Trip -Day 1

Here we are starting our big road trip. We rented a car and plan to drive all the way to Seattle, and then fly home. A great big adventure for us. On this first day we drove from our home to Telford, TN and stayed with Clay's cousin Anna & Wes Lynch. They have a new baby, Kahlan, born April 28.