Three Special River Crossings and the End of Trek - Day 2

The women were tired after pulling, but we weren't done yet. We pulled the handcarts across the ridge where we met another missionary who spoke to us. I like this shot through the wagon as we continued our journey.

The ridge is comprised of mostly rocks. Hence the name 'Rocky Ridge.' However by this point you can see that people cared little where they sat. Rocks are just as good as another ground cover.

I don't remember much of what they said at the top of the hill. I held Charlotte for a while and then took pictures. Seeing sister Holcomb packing around her baby reminded me a lot of last time we were on trek, when Pearl was four months old.

Here is our fearless leader, Captain Fairbanks.

The missionaries did have each of us pick up a rock and think about something in our life that we could get rid of; maybe akin to emptying our handcarts of unnecessary items. The rock would represent that and on our first river crossing we would throw our stone into the river, leaving that thing behind. The first crossing was also supposed to be silent, I think.

Tyler and I were the first to cross all three times, because we wanted to be able to take pictures of everyone after us. I had the camera and Tyler used the GoPro. We made a good team. I had pictures of everyone, but for the sake of this blog, we will show mostly family here. June and Hannah crossed carrying Pearl and Daisy.

Robyn came across with Josie.

Ivory looks so cute holding her shoes and socks.

The second crossing was a very special crossing. They called it the priesthood crossing and only the boys and men holding the priesthood were supposed to touch the water. Tyler carried me across first and I took pictures from the shore.

Tyler got Daisy next and carried her across.

Then he picked up Hannah. I'm not sure how comfortable that is.

Here he is carrying my oldest and my youngest.

Ivory had been riding in the Lau cart for some time, and she opted to have Marek take her across.

All the little kids had left the wagon and been carried across, so Robyn looked a little lonely in the cart. Or, you could say, she looked a bit like a princess with her entourage.

The Moore's were cute. Tyler made an announcement at the shore, "Anyone whose anniversary it is has to stop mid stream and kiss. It's a tradition." Of course there is no such tradition, but maybe there should be. They stopped and kissed mid-stream: it was their 11th anniversary that very day.

The last woman to cross was Sis. Sigua. She has a lot of boys, so it was funny to see them carry her like a queen, complete with foot rest.

The last crossing was open to interpretation, but everyone was invited to enjoy the water. June had a funny journal entry for this crossing, "I don't remember what the last crossing was called, but it was called something like The Fun and Games, and Get Soaked Crossing. I asked Dad if I could get sopping wet, and he said, “I don't know. Go ask your mother.” He clearly thought Mom was going to say no, because when she said yes, Dad came over and said that I actually couldn't get soaked, so I only got half way soaked, and went into the deep parts until my skirt was completely soaked, and just the edges of my shirt weren't dry." She had a good time.

Pearl was carried across by Dad.

But she later dipped her toes and played a bit.

Ivory waded in again, but actually didn't spend much time in the water.

Robyn (and I think Daisy) crossed via handcart.

Daisy I found later playing in the water, but I didn't see Robyn. (There was a lot going on.)

Hannah made it across just fine.

I love this picture of Bishop carrying Thomas across. He fell asleep right before the water part. But don't worry, he woke up in time to play.

When everyone had crossed or was in the water, Captain Fairbanks led us in three cheers for the pioneers!

And then he relaxed. I think it was a great blessing to have trek behind him.

One last picture for the trip. Thanks Will for joining us for the photo.

We reached camp, changed clothes and drove straight home. Or as straight home as you can get with a few stops along the way. We didn't caravan. It was easier to make our own time. The kids were very good and napped a bit along the way. My favorite part was June and Hannah in the back singing 'Buffalo Gals.' They had no idea how the tune went so they made up their own version.

A couple good quotes on the way home:

I was driving and watching a field out of the corner of my eye. I could see lots of dandelions growing and then suddenly they looked different, so I asked, "Are those sheep or really big dandelions?" Tyler thought that was amusing, but I said it was best that I guess and keep my eyes on the road. (They were sheep.)

Also, there were a whole BUNCH of signs requesting that you watch for motorcycles. Most would read, 'Look Twice, Save a Life.' It really bugged me because twice and life don't really rhyme. So Tyler started saying, 'Look Twice, Save Lice.' (Thank you...someone who can rhyme.)

The best quote of the entire trek was on Friday night when the kids were playing in the empty camp. We had Pearl in our tent because she was supposed to be going to sleep, but with the others running around outside she was naturally distracted. We opened the tent window so Pearl could see and Hannah ran by looking inside. She said, "I can see you P." 'P' is Pearl's nickname but it sounded so funny when Hannah said that. Yes, potty humor always reigns supreme in the Cazier household.

And so ends another amazing adventure. I had a great time and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. I will have one more post with some of my favorite pictures that weren't included previously. I know that we can never truly understand what those pioneers went through, especially those in the Willie and Martin handcart companies. But to walk a few miles in their footsteps still brings us closer to our Heavenly Father.