We stayed in Santee, South Carolina for 3 nights. Erik went fishing on Tuesday for fresh water Bass. Erik learned many things about Bass fishing and the wildlife in the lake. There were alligators, snakes, so many varieties of birds. One morning, while using the Merrell App, I recorded 24 different species of birds all waking up and chatting with each other. Erik’s fishing guide had accidently snagged a Water Moccasin the week before. I was quite happy to stay at the lake house, crocheting in the screened in back porch, safe from the critters. Erik did have one incident where he lost his footing and ended up in the lake, hence the photo of the money drying on the table!

On Cinco de Mayo, we wanted to eat Mexican food but it turned out that so did everyone else in town and it was crazy at the restaurant. We opted instead to go to the restaurant across the road. It had golf and fishing decor and there were tables that had all fisherman and other tables with the golfers. I looked around and the tables were full of seniors, (the gray-haired crowd, not the high school graduates). All the waitresses were older too and I felt like I was in a retirement home!

We headed out towards Atlanta, Georgia on May 6. Driving west along highway 20, we passed by Augusta which hosts the Masters Golf Tournament each spring. Arriving in Atlanta was a scary ordeal because of the amount of traffic. At one point I counted the lanes just on our side of the freeway; there were 9 lanes! We arrived just before 3 pm and the traffic was already horrendous. I learned from a lady that travels from Wisconsin to Florida, is that the best time to travel through Atlanta is around 3-4 am. Our hotel was okay. I dressed to go to the pool and got there before Erik. As I put a toe in the water, I realized that this indoor pool was NOT heated. I was determined to do my workout so I carefully immersed myself. Then I got to see Erik’s face when he entered the pool, hahaha!

We had an evening appointment at the Atlanta temple and the sky was looking very dark and ominous. By the time we left the temple, my phone started pinging for Tornado warnings! It was a torrential downpour and were looking for a restaurant to eat at. Nothing gets between me and my Birria tacos.

The next morning the rain was still quite heavy as we headed out to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was pretty tense driving in Atlanta with nearly blinding conditions. The farther north we got, it started to lighten and I could finally breathe properly again. We carried on in a northwest direction towards Nashville. I was so excited to see the Grand Ole Opry!!!!

Staying on highway 24, we drive into Kentucky and went through Paducah where the National Quilting Museum is located. Paducah has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art since 2013. We drove through at 3:30 pm and I didn’t feel like we had time to give proper attention to the museum; so we carried on.

At some point we changed to highway 55 to enter St. Louis from the south. We traveled west from Paducah into Cairo, Illinois. This town is now a ghost town. As we drove through it, it was terribly sad to see all the destruction and disrepair everywhere. It’s located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and was an important area for barges bringing goods up the river. Then when railways took over the major part of shipping, Cairo lost so many jobs. They also had a really bad patch with racial riots in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The history is very involved and really requires a person to study all sides.

We ended up in St. Louis for the night but in a suburb close to the temple. St. Louis sits on the Illinois and Missouri border. We did go on a river cruise on a steam boat called the “Tom Sawyer”. As we were walking to the dock, we met a gentleman who used to be a police officer and was now a tour guide. I had questions for him and in our short three minutes together he answered some of my questions. Why did St. Louis’ population go from 1.5 million to less than 300,000? Crime, violence and economic changes. This city ranks in the top five most crime filled cities in the USA. Where did everyone go? They left either to the suburbs or out of the area completely. As this city sits at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, we were able to see barges being moved around and unloaded. We sailed under magnificent bridges. The Eads bridge was built in 1874 and was the world’s first steel bridge. They have water markings in feet on the bridges as flooding does occur. The Dr. Martin Luther King bridge connects downtown to Illinois. The MacArthur bridge is used for freight railroads. Workers were repairing this bridge and all stopped to wave at us as we sailed under.

We were able to enjoy our time at the temple before moving onward in our journey. We carried along highway 70 towards Kansas City. I was really looking forward to this leg of the trip because we were going to see the Historic Sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We stopped in Independence first to go to the Visitor Center. We joined a tour and chatted at the end of the tour with the President of the Historic missionaries for that area. We finally got to our Airbnb by 5 pm after doing an Endowment session at the Kansas City temple. It felt good to be stationary for a couple of nights.

Liberty is a beautiful town to stay in. We stayed in the historic downtown area and it felt like being back in the Parsonage house in Palmyra; floors that creaked with every step and old door knobs and doors. We went to church in Liberty on Sunday morning. Sacrament meeting started at 9 am. Being Mother’s Day, the invocation and the benediction were given by young men. The young man giving the benediction said, “Please bless the mother’s that they can have a break from their children today.” It was so hard not to laugh out loud! Imagine the conversations in that household!

We saw a vanload heading out the same time as us and I wondered if it was a tour group. We passed them later in the day and then again today. We drove to Far West first to see the site. Amazing history here again to read about. From here we drove to Adam-ondi-Ahman. I absolutely love driving the back roads of America. I love seeing how people live and seeing the farms and little towns. Adam-ondi-Ahman is a sacred historic site in Daviess County, Missouri, identified by Joseph Smith in 1838 as the place where Adam and Eve dwelt after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. It is believed by Latter-day Saints to be a future gathering place for a major priesthood council before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was magnificent to stand there and look out over the valley and feel the sacredness of this site.

On the way back to Liberty, we drove through Hamilton, Missouri. This is where the Doan siblings founded the Missouri Star Quilt Company to fulfill their mother’s dream and in tribute to her talent on producing videos on Youtube. Jenny Doan and her husband Al are serving a mission in Ghana now and will be home later this year. Erik drove around downtown twice so that I could look at all the storefronts. MSCQ owns 26 buildings in Hamilton and is part owner in three restaurants. It’s too bad it was a Sunday!

One of the things that I discovered is that driving for too long makes both of us cranky. Our trip from Atlanta to St. Louis was a 10 hour day and that ‘s far too long to be sitting in a car with the occasional stop. We won’t be doing that again!

It’s a time to be grateful for those who have gone before us. I am at an age where many of my friends have lost their mothers and it being my first Mother’s Day without my mom here on earth, it gave me pause to think on her influence in my life. My heart was so blessed to talk with my oldest daughter on Sunday. She has a very compassionate heart and is kind and loving. She is not a mother but definitely has a mother’s heart with her traits of nurturing and kindness.

Remember who you are, a divine child of our Father in heaven, with divine attributes that can bless the lives of those around you. Enjoy your week!