Trek 2017

 JD and I had the privilege of being the MA and PA for Pioneer
Handcart Trek this year.

 This is an exciting, kinda weird event that LDS 

folks do to remember and commemorate their pioneer's ancestors. 

A 20-mile (or so) route is mapped out and you get to take whatever will fit in a 5-gallon bucket. 

 The youth are grouped into "families" and you start walking:).

 JD and I had the greatest bunch of kids ever.  

They were nice to each other, helpful, and a lot of fun to be around.

 Lunch was usually eaten by the side of the road in the dirt.  

Today, it is summer sausage, cheese, and crackers:)

 Until you have been on a handcart trek, you will never realize 

how many hills Iowa ACTUALLY has.  I always thought it was flat. 

It definitely isn't.

 Afternoons were spent playing  pioneer games

 and chillin' with friends:)
Daxon and Britton are such cute pioneers:).  

 Dinner was made from scratch in Dutch ovens. 

(except for the night we had tornado warnings and were 

evacuated from our campground to the basement lodge.

 That night it was cooked over a stove in the kitchen:).

 I think my favorite meal was cooking pancakes on a skillet using coals.  

I did not even know this was possible.  The pancakes were delicious.

 I loved that the girls in our family were all so tough.  

They pushed/pulled as much as the boys.

It was a fabulous opportunity. I feel privileged to have been a part of this adventure.  Sleeping on the very uncomfortable ground, and pushing a handcart a few miles a day I know did not even compare to the life of a pioneer.  As fun, as it was to experience, I am thankful I was not a pioneer:).