Pioneer Day Celebration with some LDS Church History

There were no Pioneer Day festivities in Tucson, so we travelled 2 hours to the small town of Thatcher, AZ to participate in some Pioneer Day fun on Saturday.

The most adventurous part of the day was the drive there. We drove right through the worst storm either one of us have ever seen. And not just one, but two horrible rain storms!!! The visibility was zero, rain was coming down in barrels, hail was pounding the car, the wind was blowing like crazy. We (along with many other cars and semis), pulled off the side of the interstate two separate times and waited for the storms to pass.

After the storms went away, we continued on our journey. We first stopped in Safford and drove around awhile, finally locating the home Spencer W. Kimball built and lived in for a short time before being called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We didn't have the exact address for the home, but luckily had just enough information to find it. Here's the picture:


We then drove to the construction site of the Gila Valley Temple. The Temple is on the side of the road, and very small, so we drove past it without realizing it was there. We turned around and only took this picture, as the construction site was closed. The Temple is on the same lot as a Stake Center under construction. It looks like the Stake Center will be larger than the Temple!


Our day continued as we found the childhood home of Spencer W. Kimball in Thatcher, AZ. Once again we didn't have an address, but a kind employee at the Marriott hotel gave us general directions how to get there. Here's how the home looks:



We then staked out our spot for the parade. Here are some of the floats. This is Charles' favorite:

This is my favorite:

After the parade we went to the football field to eat. We had dessert first (apple pie a la mode), then ate a delicious pulled pork BBQ dinner made by the local Stake.

Primary kids and other performers provided entertainment. We then had a rain-free drive back to Tucson. It was a great way to celebrate Pioneer Day and learn a little about LDS Church history!