Jul 15, 2013

Pioneer Trek and Tie Winners

Prima Donna and Princess spent the better part of last week reenacting the Pioneer Trek with the handcarts at Martin's Cove in Wyoming. They were not allowed to take a camera since they were supposed to dress in period clothing with the bonnets and long skirts just like the people who traveled across the plains did back in the mid 1800s.

They have spent months preparing for these four days. They made skirts, attended firesides, planned trek family gatherings, and researched actual pioneers. Both girls were given someone to walk for. Prima Donna had Bodil Mortensen, and Princess was given the name of Euphemia Mitchell. Both were actual trekkers, but Bodil died before she reached the Salt Lake Valley and Euphemia made it OK and married her best friend's brother.

Future Trekker
Some of my older kids have also had the opportunity to go on trek. It's wonderful for them to appreciate their heritage and experience a tiny bit of the effort the early saints gave so that we could live in this beautiful valley. The Dog Walker, Teach, and Drama Queen all had their turns when they were teenagers too. In fact, the Dog Walker and Teach went together twice because they went a second time with their Singles' Ward last summer.

When I picked the girls up on Saturday evening, I hardly recognized Princess. She had gotten so sunburned on her face (even through her bonnet and sunscreen) that her cheeks were actually swollen! Prima Donna had all sorts of blisters on her feet and cuts on her legs. They walked 27 miles with their carts over the space of 3 days. And that was nothing compared to what the pioneers did!

I have a couple of pictures for you of the girls in their trek gear and some icky ones of Prima Donna's toes. If you are a bit squeamish, you might want to turn back before you get that far.

Maybe I can get Prima Donna to give you a post with a bit more info on what actually happened while they were walking and walking and
walking and
walking...

***Winners of the ties from The Giving Tie are Angie and Marci. Congratulations! Please email me at twelvemakesadozen@gmail.com so I can forward your information to the awesome guys at The Giving Tie.***

2 comments:

Marci said...

I remember doing a pioneer handcart trek for youth conference when I was about 15. Ours was a bunch shorter, if I remember right, but still quite the experience. My feet looked pretty bad at the end of it as well! I hope Prima Donna is willing to tell us more about it, I would love to hear it!

LeAnn said...

I feel that the treks are such a great learning experiences. Our girls were able to go on them and it was such a spiritual experience. We help with a trek one year. We help with one once too. The testimony meetings afterwards were incredible.
I loved the pictures and hugs for your sweet girls with the sunburns and blisters.
Blessings and hugs!