After the Nauvoo Pageant, it was back on the road for us and on to Missouri. We drove through the night and arrived at our first stop, Adam-Ondi-Ahman at who knows what time of the night/morning. Either way, we slept in the car once again and got some shut eye to prepare for the next day. Adam-Ondi-Ahman is a really interesting area for the church, research it and you will find it intriguing. There was no visitors center there, but we were able to drive around and see what it was like. It is a really beautiful part of the mid-west, but we didn't end up staying too long. Missouri was going to be a detour anyways, so we couldn't spend as much time there as we would have liked. On to Far West.
Far West is where the mormons were going to build a temple before being driven out of the area. The corner stones are laid, but apart from that, nothing. We were able to walk around on the Far West temple site for a little while, but after reading the plaques scattered around, it was back in the car and on the road towards Liberty Jail.
Joseph Smith was locked up at the Liberty Jail for quite some time in what was a very trying period of his life. I love the revelations he received there, which are recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. It was really cool to be in the same spot and think a little about what it must have been like for Joseph and others who were locked away for doing what they knew was right. We were able to spend some time in a room there and read the sections that Joseph received there.
Then began the LONG drive through Kansas and into Colorado. We made good time, and ended up sleeping in the car in the mountains west of Denver, and in the morning we learned that our spot was overlooking a lake. It was really nice, but we had to drive on as soon as we woke up!