Day 1:
We met at the church that morning and gathered and met our families. We played some get to know you games, made our family flag, ate lunch, then loaded the buses and took off up to the Ranch.
A little later that afternoon we made it to the Ranch, had a pow wow on how to use the wagon carts, and how to load our carts. We discovered really fast that our kids brought a lot of stuff and we had a hard time loading it all in. And the next morning when they brought it all back to us, they didn't load it the same, so it was even harder to load and we had to keep re fixing it. Lol!!!
We only walked about 3 1/2 miles that day, but it was actually harder than I was expecting. Pushing and pulling a hand cart is harder than it looks. I had done trek when I was 17. But I was the "Wagon Master" It wasn't in a family and I didn't have to pull a handcart. (I was also in better shape). I could feel our family start bonding day 1 and that was fun. Our kids names were, Tait, Viloet, Linoui, Spencer, Gigi, Bailey, Kassidy, Triannon, Michael, Clint and Myself.
We pulled into camp that night and ate pasta and rolls. It was the best food I've ever eaten. ( actually every meal we ate on trek was my favorite meal.)
They had us sleep boys on one side of this clearing that we layed straw over to sleep on and girls on the other side. That night after lights went out, they pretended to have a mobing to show us what the pioneers went through all the time while on the trail to the Promise Land.
It rained that night, well actually it was more of a sprinkle. Nobody slept, but we all sure as heck tried. I was warm as long as I was in my sleeping bag, but once I got out I was frozen. We were up in a cloud and it was misting and sooooooo cold. And of course nobody had jackets, so everyone was using sleeping bags to stay warm.
Day 2:
Like I said, we woke up in a cloud and it was SOOOOOO cold. We did get french toast and tang for breakfast and it was so yummy. They had a mock tarring and feathering. It was pretty interesting. They also had an actor playing Portor Rockwell come and talk to us. He was Joseph Smith's body guard. It was really cool to hear his stories. Today was a long day. We walked about 7 miles that day and by the end of the day it was exhausting. I loved the activities they have a long the way and the talks because they talked about different aspects of what the pioneers went through and things they did. We got to sleep on grass that night, although a little wet, it was nice.
Day 3:
We didn't walk too far this day either but we did play a lot of pioneer games and everyone had the chance to go swim in water if they wanted too. We did had a trial run where they had us cross through water. It was pretty cool and nice and refreshing. I sure loved my family at this point. We sang a lot of songs, played games. and we I loved walking individually with each of them to get to know them better.
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Day 4: This day stared out with the Women's Pull which was the one thing I was looking forward to more than anything else on this trip. I knew it was going to be hard, and I knew these kids were going to need to understand the importance of the Priesthood. Except I think I got more out of it than they did. When they pulled the men away, I lost it. It was so hard to watch my husband walk away and the boys in my family. We sang "till we meet again" and It all felt so surreal. I got the girls all set up on our card and we did so awesome. It wasn't as hard as I was hoping it would be, but there was one point where we had to have 2 families of girls pulling one cart at a time. Once we got it up that fill, we had NO idea what was up ahead. The last mile was a mile, STRAIGHT. UP. HILL! and oh my gosh. It was so hard. I had no idea what to expect and we didn't have water. At this point we weren't in families and just had to get as many people as possible just to get up that hill. There were so many of the guys that went down that hill time and time again grabbing carts and pulling them up that hill. Clint and I sat about a 1/4 mile from the finish with a spray bottle spraying people coming up that hill. It was so hot. They called that hill Testimony hill. and let me tell you, it was for sure. It was so hard but putting Faith in every footstep.
We got to our ending destination and it had lunch and then had Testimony meeting with our families. The Spirit was soooo strong. We had kids that were so touched by this whole experience it was incredible. We had a non member in our group from ethiopia and it was amazing to listen to him say he understands what it means to have "Faith in Every Footstep"
Love
Strength
Endure
Attitude
Honor
Faith
Courage
Family
This experience was incredible. We came home so dirty but I am so glad I got to do this with Clint. I feel like it bonded us and I would do it again. I loved it so much. We had the kids focus on the tender mercies that they noticed along the trail because we were surrounded by them and it was incredible to notice what the kids would come up for tender mercies.
So grateful for this incredible experience.
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