Cove Fort

Since we had everything cleaned up and ready to go last night, it was easy to get hooked up and on the road by about 7:30 am.  It was a beautiful morning and we both wondered why we were leaving such a nice place to head home to snow!  (My dad texted me a photo this morning.)

On our way down to St. George, we'd seen a sign for Cove Fort and we decided that we'd maybe stop on the way home.  As we started home, Lennard asked if I wanted to stop.  I figured we wouldn't ever (or rarely) be back, so I said yes.  Thankfully it wasn't far off the highway and we ended up getting a tour all to ourselves.

We watched a short film in this little cabin that we were told is the original cabin belonging to Ira Hinckley (President Hinckley's grandfather) that was moved here.

 We then got to go across the street to tour Fort Cove.

 The kids got to try closing and opening the doors.

 The tour was great.  It made me very grateful for the modern conveniences that we have now!  I can't imagine cooking for 50-60 people every day without running water.  The bread pans on the wall are five lb loaf pans and Sister Hinckley would make 10 pans a day! Yikes!

 The dominos were found when they excavated the site.  They are made out of bone and leather.

 We were told that when the baby outgrew the crib they could turn it over and it would make a bench.  So smart!

 The kids were SO excited when Elder Butler gave them a pioneer toy at the end of the tour.

 As we were visiting with Elder Butler who was giving the tour, we discovered that he is best friends with our mission president, Rex Allen!  Such a small world!

The kids even got suckers - complete with 'Cove Fort 1867' on it!

We were there for about an hour and a half, but it was worth the stop.  We grabbed some Subway sandwiches for lunch and then drove the rest of the day until we got to Idaho Falls for the night.  We had some crazy road work that slowed us down between Pocatello and Idaho Falls that slowed us way down, so we were really happy to get stopped.  It was so much colder that we were glad we had a trailer with heat!