Thursday, March 25, 2010

Day 3 -- The Places Left Behind



Liam got a new toy.

I am not falling behind. I am not falling behind.


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I could drive longer. I really could. However, there are little nagging details that keep cropping up like, “You do realize that the kids need to eat more than granola bars and string cheese.” I’m tempted to point out that most of the body’s nutritional needs can, in fact, be met by the combination of Nature Valley Sweet and Salty granola bars and Black Diamond string cheese, but I hold my tongue.

After a little delay that was quickly rectified by AAA (note to self: do not park on an incline when the tank is running low), we hit the road. Destination: Kirtland. At a good friend’s suggestion, we decided on visiting the temple first. It was an informative tour and I think valuable to spend time inside the temple to get a sense of history. It really was an amazing accomplishment and I think I have a better understanding of why it was so difficult for some of the early saints to walk away from all that they had made and experienced in that place.

Historic Kirtland was our next stop. We had two great Sister Missionaries as tour guides who did a fantastic job of drawing the kids into the story of that town. There was a great spirit there, and I was struck by some of the sacrifices made by early members of the church and the readiness with which it was done. The weather was perfect and the time walking (or in James’ case running) around the town was both spiritually and physically refreshing.






After Kirtland, we had an immensely unsatisfying dinner experience at Costco, a place considerably less tempting on a road trip. The advantages of buying in bulk are considerably diminished by space constraints. It was hard to resist the palate of 36 bottles of water for $3.45. It was even harder to find places to cram those bottles.

To keep driving a little longer, we put on our first movie of the trip (Thanks dad for the DVD player loan). I love that one of my kids’ favorite movies of last year was The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Witty dialogue in the background makes the driving so much more bearable.


2 comments:

Christina said...

It's so fun to hear about your adventures and see pictures of everyone. I'll have to check out that movie - we just listened to the audio cd by Dahl himself and it was fantastic! We love you!

Sarah said...

ditto