Winter Quarters in Omaha

In looking at the trip itinerary and the time we had left to get to the end of this first leg of the road trip, we decided -rather relunctantly - to skip the Missouri sites and go directly to Winter Quarters. We traveled a long time it seemed, but made it to Winter Quarters in Omaha by 2:45 PM. We went through the visitor's center which had some really great exhibits and was very interesting. We then went across the street to visit the cemetary. It struck me that we were standing on pretty sacred ground. The saints had been driven out of Nauvoo only to reach Winter Quarters where some of them died. These would never make it to the Salt Lake Valley. It was a humbling experience.

We then visited the temple grounds. The Winter Quarters temple is truly a magnificent building with terraces on different levels. It also had some really impressive stained glass windows. The temple was dedicated in 2001 and sits on a hill. It was really warm here in Omaha today. The car thermometer said 95 degrees. It was a good stop though.

It certainly gave us a glimpse of the hardships these pioneers went through. I sometimes wonder if I could have endured the same things they endured. We left winter quarters with a greater admiration of these stout pioneers.