Pa Blankenagel - Trek Day 2: Good Morning

As we woke up on day 2 of the trek, we knew very little about what lie ahead.  Two things we did know were that we were cooking our own breakfast and that we would be pushing the handcarts a long way.  Pa's and Ma's from each family were getting up and making a bit of noise, but I slept until it was good and light out.  I dressed in my dirty clothes from the previous day, anticipating the refreshment of clean clothes on the third day.

Breakfast went well.  We had a couple of potatoes left over from dinner, so we added them to our eggs and sausage for breakfast burritoes.  Honestly, I've not had such a great breakfast on a camping trip.  It was hearty and tasty.  We had the great privelage of having a Bishop and his wife join us for meals.  They were very complimentary, and were even willing to help out.  As it turned out, they stuck close during the day's travel too.  They were not above digging in their heels and also uplifting us with encouraging words and pioneer stories.  Bishop Johnson's wife is Hawaiian, and when they arrived at meal time she always said, "Where the food is, there we are also!"  What a pleasure to become acquainted with them!

Ma and I were called to a camp meeting with the company leaders (the Stake Presidency) after breakfast.  I assigned a few tasks to our children and off we went.  In the meeting we discussed a challenge that would come near the end of the day and how we needed to help.  This challenge was proposed and accepted on the spot by all in attendance.  It would be hard, but we could do hard things.

We arrived back at camp to find our site mostly clear, and the cart half-packed!  I really loved that our children did not murmer, but dug in and got things done!  The dutch ovens were clean, and everyone had tidied up their gear.  Within about 20 minutes we were in line with our company and ready to move forward!