Our bags are packed... Don't know when we'll be back again!

The Pageant is over! What an experience!

We're leaving in the morning for Washington, DC, so this post will be short. I'll get a few more pictures up from the Pageant after we're back, as well as some from DC.

This is one of my new favorite quotes that I think wraps up the emotion and spirit of the Hill Cumorah Pageant:

"These were days never to be forgotten - to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven... What joy! What wonder! What amazement! While the world was racked and distracted - while millions were groping as the blind for the wall... our eyes beheld, our ears heard... and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior's goodness with wonder and amazement while I am permitted to tarry..." ~Oliver Cowdery, describing his experiences as a participant in the Restoration

Even More Pics from the Pageant!

My cast team all in costume

Me with my companion, Shauna
Both of us are in our Lehi Mob costumes

Me with my roommate, Holly
I'm in my Samuel Rabble costume. Holly's in her Nephite Banner Carrier outfit and headgear

More pictures from the Pageant!

Hoorah for a day of rest yesterday!  We had 12 o'clock sacrament meeting at the Hill in the pouring rain (what a cool thing to have sacrament meeting on the Hill Cumorah!  And in the rain, too!  Good thing Holly and I had reserved seating in the front of the middle section with the choir!), then had family time.  To help us pass all that time, there were 2 speakers.  One spoke about Joseph Smith and how some of the best scripture passages he received or translated came when he was going through some of his worst personal trials.  The other speaker is one of the pageant directors who is an amazing singer.  He helped us be better singers ourselves - what a great lesson!  Then we had dinner and a fireside, and made it back to Hobart, had a quick devotional, and we were in bed before midnight!  Hoorah!

Today is another day of rest - and recreation.  We get to sleep in a bit again this morning (and I can't, drat it all).  We have brunch here at Hobart, and then have a myriad of activities to choose from to do with other young single adults - movies in the (semi-air conditioned) campus theater, art projects, volleyball, other sports... yea!  Tonight we'll go to the Hill for dinner and the variety show.  That was one of the best things about Pageant last year - hopefully this year won't disappoint!

Here's some more pictures from Pageant!

Nephite and Lamanite battle banner carriers.  Wouldn't want to see this motley crew coming your way down a dark alley!

James, a Nephite warrior, ready to battle after a stop at the drinking fountain.  They had those around during Nephite times, right?  (James is the only guy in my cast team, and puts up well with 19 girls... poor kid!)

A nice moment from the 'Tableau of Peace."  Too bad Lamanites and Nephites can't always be friends.

Holly's cool spiral braid to put up under her wig.

Me and Holly in our Pageant t-shirts.

Me, Amanda and Echo in front of the stage.  Now those are girls that you could meet in a dark alley and make it out alive afterward!

Echo and Amanda.  Delete, or not to delete - that is the question!  (Aren't digital cameras great?)

Hill Cumorah Pageant!

We're at the pageant now and having a wonderful time! It is so great to be here with 700 of our closest friends doing the Lord's work. The Pageant presidency has put a much greater emphasis on our missionary training which has helped a lot. In only 2 performances (and one was our dress rehearsal with a small crowd), the referrals doubled from last year. So something must be going right!
It is truly amazing that this kind of production can be pulled together in such a short time! It is a good thing that we have help from above - there's no way that any group of people could do it otherwise.
The internet connection at Hobart is strong but so slow... it's taken all morning to upload these few pics! So I'll put up a few more another time when we have a lot of time!

The Hill Cumorah!
Moroni is 10 feet 4 inches high on top of his monument, supposedly for the scripture Moroni 10:4 - check it out!

Looking down into the bowl from the top

Holly and her Nephite banner ready to carry into battle. She gets to die in her scene, and miraculously gets up at the end of the battle to honor the victory.

Holly's costume. Love the Hershey Kiss helmet!

Day 5: Back at the Hill Again!

Yay! Back at the Pageant! We pulled into the parking lot and it was almost like coming home. The work crew was there, working on the stage. The new administration building looks great! There has been an addition to the study shelter to house everyone. It's wonderful to be back!

Here are some pictures from the day!

The stage and work crew

The study shelter with its new addition

Stage 6

More staging

Angel Moroni

Whew!

Day 3: "... And Columbus is the Capital of OHIO!"

Okay, so we didn't pass through Columbus, but we did get to Ohio today.

We left Davenport this morning and crossed the Mississippi River. The flooding has moved south; the river was full and flowing, but not overly so. The area where we crossed didn't look flooded, and there were no signs of flooding there, so maybe the Quad cities have cleaned up and moved on. We drove through Illinois and had some lovely radio (The Mix 96 and Classic Favs 105) - no morning show as good as Chunga though :)

We drove through Illinois and Indiana on their crazily busy freeways... Sylvia was quite helpful - I'm glad she is with us! Right before you enter the Indiana tollway, you leave 80/90 for just 90. I jumped the gun a little and exited early, so that I'd be heading west instead of east. Sylvia had to 'recalculate the route' for me. Fortunately, it was a clover-formation exit (like where I-215 meets 201 in Salt Lake), and fortunately, Sylvia knew that, and fortunately I realized it, and fortunately... I've always wanted to take all 4 loops to get going the same way again!

We paid $6.25 to help Indiana's highways and $6.00 to help Ohio's highways. Money well spent - they're pretty well taken care of! I love that there are travel plazas on the tollways - great places to stop for gas and get something to eat - and you don't have to get on and off the road to get there! What a great idea!

Sylvia helped us again in Cleveland - so many places to get on and off the freeway! We got to our hotel near Kirtland, then ate at Denny's for dinner.

Pictures from the day:

The Mississippi River



"Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana, Gary Indiana - let me say it once again!"




Cleveland Rocks!

Ode to Syliva

I should introduce our newest traveling companion - Sylvia.


She is great! She's a good navigator, lets me know of turns coming up in the road, tells us when we're going to arrive at our destination, suggests when to make legal u-turns, and recalculates the route when we stray off course.

We still need a map and The Next Stop book - but it's fun to have Sylvia with us this year!

Day 2: Get your Kicks on Route 80!

Lots of driving today... We left North Platte early after peeling the bugs from the car (and ours wasn't the worst case in the parking lot!). We drove for a bit, stopping at a few rest stops (which are lovely - they really are! I've never seen such beautifully landscaped and scrubbed clean rest stops!) along the way. We drove under the arch in Kearney, and made our way to Omaha, where we stopped at Winter Quarters. What a nice stop! A sister missionary took us on a tour of the visitor's center, then we walked across the street to the cemetery and temple. It truly is amazing how those early pioneers survived the winter there with sparse living conditions and supplies!

We got back on the road and continued heading east. We're having a fine time in the car, listening to both music CDs and The Fire of the Covenant book on CD. (A great book for this trip... we've passed through some of the places the pioneers in the book have been to!) We're getting in a lot of talking as well, and laughing! (Seriously... we're lucky Holly didn't fall out of the car somewhere between Des Moines and Iowa City!)

Davenport, Iowa is our stopping place tonight. We saw lightning bugs around our hotel!

Some pics from the day:

Winter Quarters Visitor's Center

Winter Quarters Temple

Day 1: Palmyra or Bust!

"Life is a highway, and I wanna ride it all day long!"
We got an early start to the day after getting some last-minute things taken care of at home. We waved good-bye to Mom, Dad, Regina (Tubby wasn't around; we said our good-byes yesterday), and Jean (who was walking to church), and then we were off.

Our first stop came pretty early - Hart's at 7200 South! We topped off the gas tank and were on our way once again. It was a great day to drive - clear skies, no wind, light traffic.

We stopped at Little America for our 50 cent ice cream cones. What a prime location for them - in the middle of nothing, just when you're ready for a break! We took a few moments to walk around and enjoy the day, and then headed on down the road.

Shortly after leaving Little America, I witnessed a tragic event, which I'm sure will alter the course of my life forever. A prairie dog ran out to the middle of the road in front of us. The car in front of me moved toward the middle so that the prairie dog was under the car. I moved toward the right so that I missed him entirely. The semi behind us, however, was not so quick to respond to the whims of a prairie dog... and I was watching from my rear-view window. All (prairie) dogs go to heaven!

We stopped for the night in North Platte, Nebraska. We did that on purpose... just a little bit farther down the road than Cheyenne, and on the other side of the mountain/central time zone.

Here's some pictures from the day!

"Leavin' in an Ion... Don't know when we'll be back again..." (whenever the money runs out!)

Welcome to the big WY-O!

Windless windmills... no movement whatsoever!

50 cent goodness!