Hannibal Adventures

Yesterday Greg and I drove over to Hannibal, Missouri for the day, and we had a great time! Everything in Hannibal is always an adventure, being the birthplace of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Hannibal is Mark Twain's (Sam Clemens') birthplace and is often called "America's Hometown." It truly doesn't get more Americana than Hannibal. To start off the day we went on a fun riverboat cruise on the appropriately named "Mark Twain" Riverboat. Here is a picture of Hannibal's riverfront, which is currently closed due to flooding--you can see the floodgates on the road there. They had to move the riverboat landing upstream a little bit because of the flooding, but luckily the river is receding almost two feet per day.

It was kind of a cloudy day, but it still felt really good out on the water. There was a nice river breeze blowing, and it even got a little cool--unusual for Missouri in June. I love the Mississippi River! It is so big and powerful. I first saw the Mississippi when Mom, Dad, and I drove from St. Louis to Nauvoo in 2001, and I haven't been able to get enough of it since. 2001 was the first time I visited Hannibal too. Since then Mom and I have visited Hannibal several times--one of my favorites was when we stayed at Reagan's Queen Anne Bed & Breakfast. Most recently the whole family had a fun little visit to Hannibal on our way back to Utah (via the St. Louis airport) from Nauvoo in 2008. So it was a lot of fun to be back yesterday!

After the riverboat ride, we had a fun lunch at the River View Cafe. The best part about lunch there is that you do have a really nice view of the river. The food was tasty too. After lunch we went around to a few of the antique shops downtown, and then we tried something new and went on the Haunted Hannibal ghost tour! We didn't see any ghosts, but we did hear some fun/crazy stories as we toured the town. Here is Samuel Clemens' dad's grave at the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Also in the Mount Olivet Cemetery is the real Injun Joe's grave. You may remember him from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The real Injun Joe was known as a very nice person though, unlike his character in the book. Our ghost tour took us through town and to several small cemeteries. It was a lot of fun and not too scary.

Greg and I were so inspired by our ghost tour that we stopped at one other little cemetery we had seen on our way out to the River View Cafe. It was called the . . . River View Cemetery, and it too had a really nice view of the river. At the River View Cemetery we found Robert E. Lee's grave :-) He was born a little late to be the real Robert E. Lee--I mean, he was obviously real, but not THE Robert E. Lee. So, we had a great day in Hannibal and made it home just in time to see the NBA draft. I was sad that Jimmer Fredette didn't go to the Utah Jazz, but happy for him that he was drafted in the top 10.

The trip to Hannibal was just the beginning of a week of birthday celebrations! :-) Actually, we would have gone next week, closer to my b-day, but Greg has a conference he needs to be at all next week, and his boss' wife is also having a baby, so he'll be pretty busy. At least it makes the birthday celebrations last longer.

In other news, for those of you who receive the Ensign magazine (an LDS publication), if you flip to the "Latter-day Saint Voices" section, you'll see a little article that I wrote. You can also see it online by clicking here and scrolling down to the "Two Cities and a Tender Mercy" article. I still haven't seen the actual magazine article, and unfortunately the illustration is not included online, but I hear that the magazine includes a drawing of someone who is supposed to be me--only they have long hair :-) I wrote the article and sent it to the Ensign five years ago, so it's nice to finally see it in print!

Big River, Big Week

First off, I want to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to Dad!!! I am lucky to have the best dad in the entire world! I wish that I could be there with him on this special day, but I'm glad he has the rest of the family there to celebrate together. My dad is a wonderful example to me, and he has taught me many valuable life lessons. One lesson that comes to mind is that even when a horse throws you off, you've got to get right back up into the saddle--otherwise the horse wins. Some of my favorite memories are riding horses with my dad over at Grandpa Taylor's house, and I remember one time in particular I was riding Grandpa's new horse Queen. Something spooked her, and she took off with me holding on for dear life. Dad, riding Prince, was trying to catch up to us. Queen took a turn a little too sharply, slipped, and off I flew. I remember landing on my back--it kind of knocked the wind out of me. But Dad was right there, making sure I was okay and helping me up. Once it was determined that I was all right, Dad asked if I wanted to get back into the saddle. I said, "No way!" But after a little while of thinking about it and remembering that Dad had told me always to get back up into the saddle, I decided to go try riding Queen again. As it turned out, she ended up being one of my favorite horses to ride. More importantly, the lesson stuck with me and has come in handy when life's ups and downs have "knocked me out of the saddle," so to speak. So, thank you, Dad, for all of the valuable things you teach me and for the love and kindness you give to everyone in our family! I am also blessed with wonderful grandpas. Though Grandpa Farnsworth died when I was very young, I still remember playing fire trucks with him, and I know from the stories of his life and the type of life he lived, what a wonderful man he was. And, Grandpa Taylor is still a wonderful example to all of his posterity today. Happy Father's Day, everyone!

And, yesterday was Camden's birthday! I was so sad that we couldn't be there to celebrate, but it sounded like the family had a very fun party. It was funny because Greg and I were at a St. Louis Cardinals game, and right after I talked with Camden on the phone to wish her a Happy Birthday, they played "Happy Birthday" over the loudspeakers at the stadium. :-) I still remember the day Camden was born--I was SO EXCITED to have my first niece! And she has only gotten sweeter ever since she was born. We love you, Cam!

Well, it's been a busy/fun week for us here. On Wednesday evening we went to see our friend Beth Staff perform in the Springfield Muni's "Big River" musical. Beth did such a great job! She is the second person in from the right side (wearing a black dress) in this picture. I have always liked Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," so it was fun to see it in musical form. Beth was one of the living history volunteers/employees at the Lincoln Home, and she is still one of our very good friends.


On Thursday evening, Greg and I went to another fun Springfield Sliders game. Before the game started, I went down to the dugout and was able to get an autograph from the team manager Danny Cox, who used to be a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was SO NICE! He even shook my hand and chatted with me for a few minutes. The poor Sliders just aren't very good, and they keep losing, but maybe they can win one of these days. The funniest part of the evening was that during the 8th inning, one of the promo people came and asked Greg and me if we would be a part of their "golf contest" in between innings. So, we went down to the field, and we both had to hit a golf ball towards a flag in the middle of left field. Greg's hit went waaay past the flag, and mine didn't travel very far at all, but it was fun anyway, and we both won a free Bloomin' Onion from Outback Steakhouse, so it was all good.

Yesterday my good friend Susan Rugh, one of my BYU professors, and I went to lunch! It was so great to see her!! She was in town for a conference, so we were able to meet up before she had to leave. Since she loves Route 66, we went to Mom's and my favorite Route 66 restaurant in town, Cozy Dog Drive In. Dr. Rugh loved it, and we had a great time catching up on things. She is going to be leaving for Washington, D.C. where she will oversee BYU's Washington Seminar for the next year, so I'm glad we got to meet up before she leaves for that!

Yesterday evening Greg and I went down to St. Louis for the Cardinals vs. Royals game--our favorite game of the year! Greg is a Royals fan, and I'm a Cardinals fan, so it's the one time we're not cheering for the same team. Last year when we went to Kansas City for the game, the Royals won, and the Cardinals had recently lost seven games in a row, so it was time for a Cardinals win.

Since both teams are from Missouri, they did something really cool before the game. They called it "Teams Unite for Joplin." During warm-ups, all the players on both teams were wearing maroon hats with a "J" on them--the hats that the Joplin High School baseball team wears. Then at the beginning of the game, pictured here, they had the Joplin High School baseball team come out on the field and collect the hats from the players. The players signed the hats, and now all of the hats, along with some signed baseballs, bases, and jerseys, are being auctioned off online to raise money to help Joplin rebuild from the horrible tornado that decimated the town. My friends Jim and Michelle who live in Joplin survived the tornado, but they said it's pretty horrible there with all of the destruction. We thought it was cool that both Missouri teams would raise money to help one of their own cities.

Usually when Greg and I go to a game in St. Louis it's either a little too hot or too cold, but last night was a perfect evening for baseball. The Royals hit a home run late in the game, and it looked like the Cards were going to drop their 8th-straight game, but then Matt Holliday hit a home run, and the Cardinals held off the Royals to win 5-4! Greg was sad, but not TOO sad because he also likes the Cardinals. It was a great game and a great evening. It's been a good/busy week.