NerdFest2007 has come and gone and I don't know that I can truly find the words to do it justice.
It didn't start out great to begin with, both Rachel's and Julie's flights were delayed due to weather issues in the Windy City. Thursday I basically spent my evening at the airport. I was able to take Rachel to Salty Iguana restaurant while we waited for Jules to fly in, and I was not impressed with the food. By the time we had everyone in KC it was time for bed.
I took Rachel and Julie to Atchison, KS where our tour began. We were able to see her childhood home and a part of a museum about her. A couple hours later and we were back in KC for a Royals game against the Phillies. The Royals were able to pull off a win, yea for them.
Saturday was a fun filled day. We started out the day in Independence, MO at the LDS visitor center. I think the sister missionaries were a bit excited to see us. They had remodeled the center since last I was there, so that was nice to see something new. We wondered the future temple grounds and also the RLDS or 
Community of Christ as they are now called, temple. I like ours better by far. Also in Independence we toured Harry Truman's Library. That turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would be. Not that I thought it wouldn't be interesting, it just had more stuff than I thought it would. After an afternoon with Truman we headed toward Liberty. There we visited the Liberty Jail and got the tour and history. Joseph and Hyrum were imprisoned there from December 1838 to April 1839. From there we headed toward Adam-Ondi-Aham. I've always liked it there, it so peaceful. For those who haven't been, it's basically just a large field. Next we hit the road and drove across Missouri into Iowa and Illinois. We spent the night in Keokuk, Iowa across the river from Nauvoo, IL.
Nauvoo was great, we hit about half the town getting the bonus tour ala Rachel from her previous trip there. That was great let me tell you. The place shut down at 6 so we went looking for food. We ended up at this buffet that cost us $17 a piece, my jaw almost fell off on that one. It was good food, but dang. We visited the old Nauvoo cemetery where Edward Partridge is buried. I also saw a headstone that someone was born in 1777, I thought that was cool. We took some more pictures and then called it an early night. Which I 
was grateful for, cause driving and the heat wore me out. I fell asleep faster and earlier than I had in a long time.
Monday morning we decided to drive to Carthage first and then finish Nauvoo after. Carthage I would have to say is my favorite from the Nauvoo area. Not that I like what happened there, there is just a different feeling to it all. The tour consists of a short video and then the Sister missionary takes you through the old home and jail.
After Carthage we hit Subway and each got a foot-long sub to spread it over two meals. We ate lunch in the Grove in the middle of Nauvoo. We finished up the Nauvoo tour just in time for it to shut down again at 6. All the senior missionaries were asking us if we were going to the many different shows that night, but we only had plans for the the Sunset by the Mississippi. So while the many other shows were going on we finished off our Subway sandwiches with another picnic. The show was fun, some of those missionaries really got into it. They were a sight to see. Before we left Nauvoo we took some pictures of the temple lit up and talked to a family from Idaho who drove all the way to New York in an RV. Kudos for them for all still being alive an
d in good spirits.
Tuesday was another long day on the road. It took us, I think, 3 hours to get from Nauvoo to Springfield. Springfield I think was my least favorite city, but St. Louis is almost equal to it.
We found Lincoln's tomb fairly easily and I must say that I was very impressed with his tomb. The same cemetary had war memorials from the Korean, Vietnam and WW II wars. Next we got directions to Lincoln's home and took the grand almost free tour with a large group. I wish we could have been in a smaller group so that I could have see what was being pointed out, but instead the three of us lost interest and goofed off. We also decided that we had had enough of old homes. Then it was back on the road for St Louis. 
That took another 2-3 hours. We found our hotel, checked in and then decided to see the temple and then the arch on our way back to the hotel for the night. Well we only got to see the temple cause I got us lost on the way there. I don't care to remember it. The temple was pretty, and I was tired.
Wednesday was another stressful day for me in terms of driving. By this time I found out that I had been making Rachel car sick, and the sad part was that I was really trying not to. For future reference, I'm not driving for NerdFest2008.
In the morning we hit up the St Louis zoo mostly because it was free and we really didn't have a big list of things we wanted to see in St Louis. I got burned, big surprise. After the zoo we went to the History museum where they had an exhibit on the World's Trade Fair from 1904 and an exhibit on Charles Lindberg, both of which were very well done. We then visited the Catholic basilica downtown. I was impressed with the size and the amount of work that went into building it. After the basilica we went to the old Union Station that was converted into a shopping center where 
I bought a St Louis hoodie. We also saw some Elders out doing some contacting and getting their dinner. After doing a brief tour of the station we went back to our hotel and vegged for a couple of hours before we went for our tram ride up the arch. I didn't realize how tall it was until we were standing under it and I got butterflies in my stomach. I almost didn't go up. I'm just glad there are not windows the whole ride up the arch. The view from the top of the arch was impressive. $10 poorer and we were back on the firm ground of crime riddled St Louis. A lady joined us in our tram on the our way back down. She said she was from Sacramento and boy did she have the blonde from California part down pat. I felt sorry for her. She couldn't remember where she parked her car. After helping her find her car we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
We left for KC in the morning on Thursday and got to my house between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. We had Dad's bbq of chicken, hotdogs and hamburgers. The rest of the night was low key. Friday morning we got up at 4 to be at the airport at 5:45 for Rachel's flight at almost 7. Julie decided to go along and just hang out at the airport until her flight at noon. I would have fallen asleep at the airport. I did come home and went back to sleep from 6 to about 11. Overall, I had a blast, NerdFest2007 was a success for me, but I am just now getting over being tired from the long trip. The sad thing from it all we were on a constant move that after I took Julie and Rachel to the airport, I was at a lose for things to do. I am officially back to being bored. :)
