Hello and greetings from the east side! :) We are here and somewhat settled and officially on our way to becoming Indianeans... well, temporary ones at least. The drive wasn't bad at all, pretty pleasant actually. We left early Saturday morning from Rexburg and 1600 miles, almost 30 hours, 2 time zones, and lots of corn fields later we were here! I was kind of glad it didn't end up working out for me to fly out early, it was kind of fun. I have pictures of course, and as soon as I find where I packed the camera cords I will get those posted... But if you care to read on I can give you the brief (or actually fairly lengthy) update for now.
Saturday we drove from Rexburg to Sidney Nebraska and almost died of heat stroke. Rexburg really is some kind of super abnormal haven! When we left there in the morning it was in the mid 60's and cool enough for a jacket. When we got out of the car for dinner in Nebraska it was well into the 90's (if not 100 or more) and humid... real nice. But it felt good to stretch our legs, and Sidney was kind of a cool little town. It did not smell good there though!
Sunday was long. We drove from Sidney to Fort Madison Iowa, a nice 12 or so hour drive. We stopped in Omaha Nebraska for a bit to see the temple and the mormon cemetery and visitor center there in Winter Quarters. That was really neat! And would you believe that we just so happened to be there on Pioneer Day? Neither of us had even thought of that until one of the missionaries there mentioned it, couldn't have planned that better if we tried! We really enjoyed it. And Fort Madison is a cool little town! It is right on the Mississippi there and still has quite an old-town feel. Our hotel was an old renovated place, it almost felt like it could have been an old home. They had added a lobby and an elevator and everything, but the rooms had old pictures and wallpaper and antique wood furniture and they served meals in a dining room on nice glassware. It was really cute. Our windows overlooked the river and the old fort and a railroad track that had trains run along it pretty regularly, we saw several. Again, I'll have to post pictures.
Monday morning we got up and wandered along down by the river and the old Fort Madison for a bit. The Mississippi is massive! ... and I kept waiting to see Tom Sawyer and his homemade raft! :) For a good portion of the day we hopped over the border and spent time in Nauvoo. I love it there! You could spend several days there and still not see it all. We're hoping to get back over that way at a time when we can afford more time. We left there that afternoon and drove on down to Crawfordsville Indiana, right outside of Indianapolis. We could have driven on through all the way, but it was getting late and we didn't want to bother the people we are staying with... plus we wanted to go see Harry Potter! :)
Tuesday morning we actually made it to Indianapolis. For the time being we are staying here with Doctor Mangus and his family. We could not have asked to be associating with better people. You can tell that the Lord has blessed him in his life and in his career so that he can bless others, and that is exactly what he does! His wife is just the sweetest most bubbly person and he is just awesome. I think Tim will have a good experience learning from him. We spent most of Tuesday running around trying to figure out the area and looking at housing and hospitals and all of that. We ate at a Chick Fil-A of course, and had to have a Cinnabon for dessert... because I love them!
And now we're jumping into things head first! Tim got up and went to the hospital with Doctor Mangus nice and early yesterday and started to become acquainted with the research project that is going to be his life for the next few weeks. I would explain what it is... but I really have no idea. I got lost while Tim was explaining it, he's the brainy one here! He'll have to update you more on that. He was also in on a surgery this morning to watch a kidney transplant. He hasn't been home yet so I can't give many details, but from what I could tell from his text message he enjoyed it!
Meanwhile, I have been enjoying my first personal experience with the Indiana roadways. I spent all day yesterday on and off the freeway system here making hospital visits... thank goodness for the GPS (affectionately referred to as Lola)! She and I had quite the bonding experience! :)
And that's where we're at! Just pushing along and trying to survive the heat! When I can get the pictures off of the camera I'll share some.
Pre-Indiana odometer....
Pre-Indiana odometer....
