And...We're Off!

After the Holmsteads arrived, we turned ourselves into pioneers, and headed for orientation, where we watched a neat movie about the handcart companies and had a prayer. Right towards the end of the movie, thunder started rumbling, and down came the rain! We ran for the visitors center to wait out the storm (of course pioneers wouldn't have really had that luxury - but we were sure thankful for that!) We enjoyed walking around the exibits and reading some more stories. When the clouds broke, we rushed to our handcarts (actually we rushed to the bathroom first!) and headed on our way. The guys had driven most of our camping stuff to the camp site, which was a few miles ahead, then returned to trek with us. We claimed the van and trailer to be our "wagon", carrying our supplies! We left one handcart empty to carry some of the younger children.

All lined up, and Ready to go!

The Holmstead clan with all their gear!

Cordell, Adam, and Peter were ready to lead us out!