The Carriage Ride

In Nauvoo, there are two kinds of horse and wagon rides.  The wagon ride which goes throughout historic Nauvoo is narrated by a Sister missionary.  I have trained to do that and did my first two narrations this week.  The carriage ride goes into the outlying countryside and is narrated by the teamsters.  I have wanted to go on a carriage ride with Mark narrating, but he never knows if he'll be driving the carriage or wagon and due to my work schedule it is hard to coordinate.  Plus missionaries can't ride unless there happens to be an empty seat.  But on Saturday, May 19, we did it.  Mark was narrating the carriage ride and I was able to be a rider.

As we were getting ready, I was visiting with the folks and learned that these people were from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  Mark served there on his first mission from 1967-1969.  They know some people that Mark baptized at that time.    In the background are Bill and Bob pulling a carriage from an earlier ride.

Mark with Tim and Tom who are new horses here.  They are sporting new harnesses.  The driver of our carriage ride is Elder Meier from Hayden Lake, Idaho--at the right.

Mark first had to adjust the new harnesses.  Each of the horses weighs a ton and they stand 19 hands high.



Mark narrating.  It is against the rules to stand so I got this lady's head in my photo.  Mark has about a 45 minute narration that he gives.  He did a great job.

One of the stories he told was of Addison Pratt.  He was a native of New Hampshire.  He had worked on a whaling ship.  After joining the Church, he shared with the Prophet Joseph Smith some of his experiences.  He told the Prophet that he thought the people in the Pacific Islands would be interested in the Book of Mormon.  He and others were sent to the Pacific Islands as missionaries.  He left his wife and four daughters.  Before leaving he was given a blessing and told he would come back and be reunited with his family.  He served in the Pacific for five years and established the Church there.  He returned through San Francisco and traveled to the Salt Lake Valley with some of the Mormon Battalion.  When he arrived in Salt Lake, he was reunited with his wife and daughters who had gotten there four days earlier.  And that was without benefit of cell phones.  

We saw some beautiful scenery on the ride.  This may be how the land here looked before the pioneers came and drained the swamp and planted crops, built homes, and businesses.



Scenes along the way.





The equipment barn with Bill & Bob in front



The horse barn





This is a thorny honey locust tree.  The thorns are 3 to 6 inches long, very sharp and very hard.



A photo of the barns as we went by.



Mark narrating

Me with Tim and Tom

Elder Dahl, Elder Meier, Tim & Tom



Hooking up the horses for another go



Watering Tim & Tom

The wagon and carriage rides are very popular in Nauvoo.  We are getting to the busier time and there will be more rides each day.