Elemental Movie...

We all went to see the new Disney movie Elemental on Friday, June 24th.  I thought it was cute.

 

Denver, CO, Utah & Home...

On Tuesday, June 20th we drove to Denver, CO.  While I was driving into town somehow the GPS took us to the wrong Comfort Inn.  After having a little dispute we made our way to the correct hotel in a very quiet drive.  We weren't too impressed when we arrived.  As I was checking in I thought it was so strange that a family was leaving after 5:00pm.  The lady also told me that she had to call animal control because someone left a cat in their room.  I should have left right then in there but I continued with the check-in.  When we got to our room we couldn't believe how dirty the room was.  You could barely see out of the sliding glass door, there was blood splatter on the curtains, you wouldn't dare sit in the chair it was so filthy, the ceiling was coming down in the bathroom and there were bare wires coming out of the wall.  Plus there were garbage bags in the hall and you could smell cigarette smoke.  It took us about fifteen minutes and some encouragement from Mom to finally leave.  As we were trying to take the elevator down we had to go up first because the down button was broken.  I told the front desk that we couldn't stay because our room was so filthy and that I couldn't deal with the secondhand smoke.  I was shocked that she gave us our money back but boy was I relieved.  You would think paying $178.00 for a room you would be getting a more decent hotel room.  I have stayed in some really cheap hotels but never one that was this filthy.  As we were leaving Scott did a little digging and found out that this hotel was getting paid $139.00 a night for letting homeless people stay which made perfect sense to what we just experienced.  We were able to get another room at the Holiday Inn Express.  As we were walking to our room we kept talking about how clean it smelled and it was only $10.00 more than the Comfort Inn which was a piece of trash.  We had room number 304.  After we got settled in we got some dinner at Chipotle and then some smoothies at Tropical Smoothie Cafe.  We then went for a drive so we could see the city skyline. 

It was pretty to see but we definitely had a bad taste in our mouth about this city.  After breakfast we checked out got some Dutch Bros and headed to Heber City to stay at Rosie's house.  We took the scene-it route and boy it didn't disappoint.  It was such a beautiful drive and we couldn't believe all the tunnels we went through.

Even the drive through Utah was beautiful.  We stopped in Grand Junction, CO, and had some lunch at Chick-fil-A.  We even got some fruit from a little fruit stand.

Scott went to Utah Airguns and got a few things, and then we stopped to see Teniele for a little bit before going to Rosie's house.  She was so nice to have dinner for us.  We had a nice visit and we shared some of our pictures from our trip with them.

On our way home we stopped at E.J.'s office so Scott could get adjusted.

I took my first BeReal picture while waiting for him.

We finally made it home on June 22, 2023, after traveling 5,053 miles.  We drove through 12 states.  Jenny Simpson got Brady this cool poster that you scratch off the states that you have visited.  That was so nice of her.  We have been planning this trip for a long, long time.  It's really hard to believe we did it!  And we only had one hiccup and that was the crappy hotel we luckily got out of.  I would say we were very blessed and watched over.  Here's to our next big adventure! :)

Kansas City, MO...

We arrived sometime in the evening on June 18th in Kansas City, MO.  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott and had room 435 for $142.42 for the night.  It was a pretty nice hotel and had a great breakfast.  After relaxing for a little bit Scott decided to go get us some Firehouse subs and bring them back to our room.  After it got dark we went for a drive to see the Kansas City Temple.  It was so beautiful.

As we were sitting there Scott decided to read about the temple.  This was the 137th operating temple.  It is the first to be built in the Great Kansas City area.  Previous attempts at building an LDS temple in the area failed in Independence in 1833 and Far West in 1838, after church founder Joseph Smith had selected and dedicated locations for their construction.  As we were trying to figure out what leaves were on the temple we found out it was the olive leaf that signified the peace that came after all the contention.  After all our research we found out that the Liberty jail wasn't that far from us so we decided to go there the next morning before we went to World's of Fun.

Despite the deprivation endured by Joseph Smith and his companions while incarcerated here, Liberty Jail was "more temple than prison, so long as the Prophet was there,"  It was a place. of meditation and prayer.  Joseph Smith sought God in this rud prison and found Him.  Some of the world's most poignant scriptural verses were penned here.  In response to Josheph's plea, "O God, where are thou?" some of God's most powerful messages of light pierced this dungeon's thick walls.  These messages are found in D&C 121, 122, and 123.

Built in 1833 for $600, Liberty Jail was located 200 yards from the courthouse in Liberty, MO, the Clay County seat.  The jail's interior measured only 14 by 14 1/2 feet.  Its walls were 4 feet thick.  The outer walls consisted of rough-hewn limestone 2 feet thick, the surface of which was yellowish in color.  The inner walls consisted of 12-inch thick hewn oak logs.  Separating the outer and inner walls was a 12-inch space filled with loose rock.  The top floor of Liberty Jail, which measured 7 feet from floor to ceiling, had two small windows, each secured by five square iron bars firmly embedded in the stones.  The massive door on the east wall was made by nailing inch-wide oak bards together with iron spikes.  Prisoners were kept in the lower dungeon area.  A trap door in the heavy wooden floor between the two stories provided the only access to the lower floor.  Two narrow windows grated with heavy iron bars, offered scant light and ventilation.  The floor was stone and strew with straw.

Joseph Smith and his five companions, held despite lack of evidence on a variety of charges were incarcerated in Liberty jail on December 1, 1838.  They remained here through the bitter Missouri winter until April 6th of the following year.  With Joseph were his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, and three other brethren Lyman Wright, Alexander McRaie, and Caleb Baldwin.

We took these pictures after listening to some audio stories with another family.

Liberty Jail was abandoned in 1856 after 23 years of use.  Afterward, it served for a short time as an ice house but eventually fell into disrepair.  It was demolished near the turn of the century.  This house was built over the original foundation.  Because of its historical significance, the Church acquired the site, partially reconstructed the old edifice from the original stones, and enveloped it with a visitor center to protect and honor it.  The feeling here was more uplifting and not as sad as the Carthage Jail was.  I was really glad we were able to visit both jails.

Brady was pretty excited to finally make it to an amusement park, Worlds of Fun.  It was pretty cute how it was divided up into different parts of the world.

We went on a wooden roller coaster then Mamba.  Luckily the lines weren't too long.

I made them go on this little trolley ride.  I thought it was cute.  After we rode the train.

We were so excited to get a shake from the Shake Shop but we were not going to pay $17.00 for a shake.  So we went and got a little snack of pizza, salad, and breadsticks that we shared.  We wanted to save room for some famous KC barbeque. 

Scott's neck was hurting, so Brady and I rode the Prowler and Patriot together without him.

Brady and I both got a t-shirt and he got another sticker.  Since it was so hot we decided we had seen and rode everything that we wanted so we headed to Q39 for some yummy barbeque and it did not disappoint us.  It was so good.  It was a little spendy at $ 127.92 but it was worth it.

We then headed to Salina, KS to stay at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites.  It cost us $120.04 and it was your basic hotel but at least we had a clean room.  On our way, we stopped in Lawrence, KS to get some ice cream at a cute little shop called Sylas and Maddy's.

We then drove through the University campus of the Jayhawks.  

We then drove to Salinas, MO, and stayed at the La Quinta Inn for $120.04.  We had room number 119.

It was nothing special but at least it was clean and we all slept well.