September 13, 2010 - Kirtland to Hiram to Milan, OH

Dad and the Amish Waitress

We are now about half way through our road trip. As the days go by, Dad and I are definitely becoming less civilized without a woman to keep us from turning to cavemen. Dad has taught me that daily showers are not mandatory and it is possible to wear the same darn shirt day-after-day without washing. During the first week, Dad kept losing his tube of toothpaste, but it always reappeared after a few days hiding in some odd corner of the luggage or Toyota. While the toothpaste was missing in action, Dad preferred to just brush with water rather than borrow my toothpaste.

Oh, and then there’s the food. It’s amazing to see how long unrefrigerated milk is still drinkable and how long you can survive on granola bars without regular meals. Does anyone know how long a Subway sandwich can sit in the back seat of a car and still be eatable? Does it last longer if it is squished flat as a pancake?

John Johnson Farm

We have odd stains on our clothing – but we don’t care. When we do get around to laundry, we get it done “bachelor style” at a public Laundromat throwing the colored and white clothing together in a cold wash, not bothering with any dryer sheets in the dryer, and never ironing a thing. Increasingly, the bathroom door is left open and the toilet seat up during most pit stops. There is also a lot of unrestrained and loud bumping around, grunting, yawning, sneezing, nose blowing, burping, growling stomachs and other audible bodily functions that can be quite jarring. I’m afraid that after another week of this boys’ trip, Mom won’t let either of us back in the house without first sending us to dog obedience school.

Today we continued to visit sites around Kirtland including the Isaac Morley Farm (where the Father and Son appeared in vision), the Stone Quarry (where stones were chiseled for the Kirtland Temple), Mary Yoder’s Amish Kitchen for lunch and the John Johnson Farm (where the Father and Son appeared in vision).

Upper Room at Johnson Farm

Dad says:


Another great day today. We stayed overnight again in Kirtland, and visited three sites of great interest. The Isaac Morley Farm was the locale where the Prophet received about 10 revelations and, with others, saw a vision of the Father and Son. Morley had come into the Church in Kirtland and when the Kirtland Church grew too rapidly to accommodate, he invited the Saints to settle on his farm. Joseph and Emma were lodged in a small home which Morley built for them. The rapid growth of the Church in the Kirtland area was due in large part to there being several congregations (including some of Sidney Rigdon’s) who were waiting for a new church and were experimenting to some extent living the law of consecration on their own.

Pondering in the Grove at the Morley Farm

An especially uplifting moment today was when Mark and I took a path up a hill towards a place that had Morley built a school house for his children and others. This structure became essential for organizing the first High Council and other Church offices. The path leading to that site wends through a beautiful forest very reminiscent of the Sacred Grove. We took a few minutes to sit quietly there to contemplate what we were seeing on our tour.


We also went to the John Johnson Home in the town of Hiram about 30 miles from Kirtland. Here too Emma and Joseph lived for a while when he was “translating” the Bible. Also this was the place where Joseph and Sidney were dragged from their beds in the middle of the night to be tarred and feathered. It was inspiring to stand on the very doorstep from which Joseph preached for two hours (about love and the brotherhood of man) the very next morning after he was attacked. A highlight of this visit was to stand in the room where Joseph and Sidney saw the vision of the degrees of glory (76th Section of the D&C).

Temple Quarry Site

Since Mark had been occupied for some of the early hours with his business affairs, we didn’t do as much travel today, but a highlight of our lodging in the Days Inn tonight was when I left our room to visit a vending machine, but in returning, mistakenly boldly took two or three steps into the room next to ours where a sweet older couple was getting into bed. I backed out so fast, they hardly had time to register my arrival. I can just imagine that sweet woman looking at her husband and asking: “Who was that, darling?”