The Grand RV Tour: Winter Quarters Nebraska

The Grand RV tour. The whole idea started with the announcement of the R* family reunion up at the dry farm in Idaho. This is Cori's mother's family and hometown. We really wanted to go and upon looking up airfare for the 6 of us Cori said, "We could rent an RV and see half the United States for this price." So we did.

After a lot of research, Cori found a great deal on a huge, new RV unit. We made the non-refundable deposit and booked it. As the summer approached, there was a change in the reunion plans and it was bumped to a new weekend. We had a hard time finding another RV to rent (and a hard time giving up that deposit). And so we booked a much older unit from the original company to make use of our deposit and because it was the only thing we could find that was available by that point.

I could say that there was no way we could have anticipated the great comedy of errors this vehicle would cause us through out our 15 day trip. But I think we had a pretty decent idea of what we were in for when our departure was delayed by nearly a full day as the unit was being repaired in our driveway. The first mechanical issue - the generator would not stay on while we were driving. This  meant no AC in the main cabin, no TV, and limited power to the refrigerator while driving. Though we faced a lot of difficulty, it was an amazing trip and now favorite family memory.

Our late start was further exacerbated by a three hour traffic jam getting out of Houston. But one of the perks to traveling in an RV is that you can be flexible with lodging plans. Instead of staying in Oklahoma City as originally planned, we pushed through towards Omaha as far as we could and then spent the night in a rest area.

Our first stop was Winter Quarters, Nebraska. We woke at our roadside lodging, got ready for church and then traveled the remaining 45 minutes to attend sacrament meeting. The Tervorts, long time neighbors and friends to Cori's family, were serving their mission at Winter Quarters and we made plans to meet them for church, a picnic lunch, and a tour of the Mormon Trail Center.

Church and lunch were lovely. It was wonderful hearing about the experiences the Tervorts were having as missionaries there. Their ward met across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa. At their recommendation, we visited the historic Kaynesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs before heading over to the other site.

We were glad we stopped. What remarkable history took place here! From the Church website:

In the Kanesville Tabernacle, built by 200 pioneers in just two and a half weeks, Brigham Young was sustained as the second prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The present log tabernacle is a replica of the original meeting hall. The tabernacle now serves as a visitors' center, where you can learn more about the epic history of the Latter-day Saints' migration westward.

Then we travelled across the river to spend some time at the Mormon Trail Center, a fun and interactive pioneer museum.

We got to say another quick hello and good bye to the Tervorts and take a peek at the beautiful Winter Quarters Temple before hitting the road.

Our next destination was the Badlands KOA in South Dakota. The kids didn't mind another long afternoon and evening on the road. We LOVED being able to drive in long 5-6 hour stretches. No bathroom stops. No snack stops. No leg stretching stops. The couch and dinette were fitted with seat belts. During the day, we buckled Jeffery's carseat in and this is where he spent a lot of the driving time. It is certainly where he took his naps. We did our best to keep the other kiddos buckled in...

The layout of the RV had a full sized sleeping area above the driver area, a full sized mattress that pulled out from the couch, and the dinette transformed into an extended twin. At first, we had Jeffery sleeping in a pack and play, but it was on this trip that he figured out how to climb free of his crib. So we started sleeping him on the dinette area with Grant. (He never went back to his crib after this trip...)