The Loveland9: Martin's Cove Wyoming

Well, we made it to Cowboy country, Wyoming. Thing is, it looks like a scene off the original Star Trek. Not much to see most of the time, but we enjoyed some of the things along the way.

In our hurry to get to Martin's Cove, we saw a humongous rock on the left side of the road that people were on top of. We pulled over only to realize that we were at Independence Rock, a national historic landmark. The kids had fun climbing it. S had ants in her pants. Literally. She got two red ant bites underneath her cheekies.

We hit the road and just a few minutes later we could see Devil's Gate.

I was so excited to know that we were close to Martin's Cove. Not only is Martin's Cove a miraculous place for the Mormon pioneers, it is to our family as well. The kids were anxious to jump out and see this "pioneer place". They enjoyed pushing the handcarts, where A told us that it was "harder than I thought it would be". Made me think more about the pioneers being there. Hearing the stories of death, hardship, hunger and then rescue. It was neat to finally see it.

After leaving Martin's Cove, D and I tried to recognize the place that our miracle happened twelve years ago. Then, we saw it and I got emotional again. The Lord was so good to us that day. We were on our way from Rapid City to San Francisco for D to take some boards. We were in a hurry to get there to meet all of his patients, and staff that he was flying out there. In our hurry across the country, we passed Martin's Cove not knowing that it was even there. Just minutes after passing it, the van started losing power. I quickly said a prayer pleading with Heavenly Father that our car might work so that we could get to these boards that were so important and so expensive. The van coasted to a stop with absolutely no power. D suggested that he hitchhike to the nearest town which was about an hour away. I hated the thought of it knowing that I was in the middle of nowheresville with three little kids. That was before every Tom, Dick and Harry had a cellphone. Heck, before any of us had a cell phone. I think I convinced D to hitchhike help or a tow truck or something, but that I would not be left there with three small children for hours. Just minutes after leaving the car and D pulling over the first car that drove by, he came over and told me it was the missionaries. I was like, okay. But then, the truck pulled over to where the boys and I were standing and I saw a senior missionary couple in the cab. I saw Sister Poduska's name tag immediately and threw myself over her window that was rolled down and hugged her while sobbing. I knew immediately that the Lord had heard my prayer. We all climbed in the cab of their truck and they took us to "Missionary Village" where all the missionaries live while serving at the Martin's Cove Visitor Center. There, the boys and I stayed with Sister Poduska and Sister Riggs, while their husbands took D back to tow the van. Elder and Sister Poduska had told us a neat experience they had had that morning. LDS missionaries are to always wear their name tags. Brother Poduska couldn't find his that morning and considered going without it for the day. But then he felt prompted to find it. He kneeled down and prayed, asking the Lord to help him find his name tag. Minutes later, he found it. He began crying once he found it, knowing that the Lord really wanted him to wear it that day. When I told them that seeing their name tags right off, gave me a sense of security and that we had just prayed to Heavenly Father, Elder Poduska got emotional knowing that that is why he felt that urgency to find his tag. It was very neat. When D and the men returned, we hopped in Elder and Sister Rigg's truck while towing our van and drove to Rawlins, Wyoming an hour away. They were nice enough to make sure we got our van turned in to be worked on, ate dinner with us somewhere and then dropped us off at a motel close to the dealership wishing us luck on our travels. We were so grateful for our miracle that day. We explained to the boys that we prayed for help, that I prayed specifically that the car would run. But the Lord definitely answered our prayers that day with an even neater answer than I had prayed for. And now, it's one of our family's miracles.

Our hotels started out amazing including a suite the first night. The kids loved all their breakfasts that included hot waffles, biscuits and gravy, bacon, cinnamon rolls, etc. Until....our last night in Rawlins, Wyoming. Our ~~hotel~~ motel was a dive just like every other motel there. In fact, little g ran in and jumped on the bed and then said, "Mom these beds are so bouncy!" They were pretty much trampoline beds. So bad so that D slept out in the suburban that night after not being able to go to sleep for awhile. I texted him at 2:30 wondering if he just wanted to load up and drive on home. But he hadn't taken his phone out with him and I wasn't going to go scare him to death in the middle of the night, so I just laid there miserable all night. And the breakfast there, we didn't even go near it. We were willing to starve the four hours until our lunch destination in Salt Lake City, Utah. So along with the worst motel ever, came the worst Pizza Hut ever. We decided that we would cave to a chain restaurant for pizza, The kids were thrilled to think they had some say for dinner that night. Thing is, it was thE worst customer service ever!! So bad so, that I was snapping pictures with my camera to send to corporate just after I sneaked outside to call them. It was that bad. We laughed our heads off while leaving the parking lot when we saw this sign.