This Must Be The Place

When the Mormon pioneers pulled into Utah July 24, 1847 they must of thought this was one hot and dusty place. That is what I think about This is The Place Park at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. When my sister and I, with 8 kids, arrived July 21, 2010 it was pushing one hundred degrees and awfully sweltering as we walked through historic buildings with no air conditioning. It is part of the experience though, maybe feeling a tiny little bit of the discomfort the pioneers must have felt. I have to admit the kids started out a little whiny. But we got very lucky when it started to rain suddenly and continued to sprinkle on and off cooling the place down a good deal. It was mostly sunny but enough rain to keep the temperature in check. We were riding the train around when it first started to rain so we were covered. And while we sat on the porch of the historic hotel and ate ice cream and snow cones it started to really pour down from the skies. It was making us all giddy and the kids were literally dancing in the rain. I can only imagine what relief this would have brought to the traveling pioneers on a hot day, as long as their wagons weren't getting stuck. It was one of my favorite days at This is The Place Park. The kids loved going from building to building learning about pioneer chores, trades, and life in general. They were able to make candles and other various pioneer crafts. They even got to pan for gold in a little river and redeem it at the bank for a treat. I think we were the last ones in the park and it was starting to look like a ghost town so we thought we better make our way out. I am truly appreciative for the sacrifice and hard work of the pioneers. It is a great tradition to visit the park and I hope it RAINS every year!