This last Friday, Matt and I decided it would be fun to drive down to Manti to see the Mormon Miracle Pageant. It was a lot of fun. Right after work I ran home and we packed up the car and were off. We lucked out and were able to avoid traffic and made some pretty good time. But, it is still a long drive, so it was after 8 by the time we rolled into Moroni.
We were trying to decide if we were going to try to find a camping spot in the Manti City Park, or if we were going to stay with Matt’s Great Aunt Ida in Moroni. At first, being the totally anti-social person that I am, I was leaning toward staying in a tent. We decided it would only be right to stop and say “hi” to Ida. We found the house and she was sitting on the porch just waiting for us. She was so welcoming and so nice that we decided to stay there that night. Also, I loved the old house. The stairs were narrow and steep, but it was so cute and I was excited to stay there.
We headed off to the show, and got there in plenty of time to park and walk over. We found ourselves a decent seat and covered ourselves in bug spray (the mosquitoes were pretty thick). When the sun went down it started to get cold; so we were happy to have some nice warm blankets to wrap up in. We didn’t have to wait long for the lights to go down and the pageant to start (about 9:30pm).
Now, let’s have a flashback for a moment. I did see the pageant when I was in Jr. High with my ward on a youth conference; but my best memory of the pageant is when I went with my sister Val, my cousin Ryan, and my Grandma and Grandpa many many years ago. We drove down and we were singing and playing all the way down. We camped at the Manti Park. We were in tents, because we rode down in the blue car instead of the truck and camper. I remember that we stopped for Chinese food on the way down (and I ordered Chicken Fried Steak – because I was a wimpy little girl and was afraid to try something new). We watched the show that night and loved it so much that we talked my Grandma and Grandpa into letting us stay and watch it on Saturday night too! That day my Grandpa gave me, my sister, and my cousin each enough money to walk over to the Top Stop and buy a pack of Big League Chew, a 32 oz Sprite, and one of those red-white- and blue popsicles. It rained that day, and we played in our tents. That night we went back to the show again, and I distinctly remember sleeping through the entire show. But it was so much fun.
OK – flashback over. I will admit that I paid a lot better attention to the show this time than I ever have before. I really enjoyed it, and noticed many things I never did before. I would get distracted from time to time by the clear sky with the bright stars over the temple. I wish I had a camera that could have caught that and done it justice. It was really pretty and just so peaceful. I had a great time watching the show (and yes – I still cry when the Pioneer baby dies).
When the show ended, we walked back to our car. We decided that we didn’t want to spend the next
half-hour in traffic, so we moved ourselves over to a picnic table. Matt had created a little camp stove out of a pop can and we thought it would be fun to roast marshmallows over it. Boy were we right. Now, the marshmallows do not roast the way they would over a nice fire, but since we were not allowed to start a real fire in the middle of the Manti City Post Office Parking lot, we settled for our stove. We continued in this activity until traffic had lightened up (and until I had had WAY too much sugar). Then we drove back to Moroni and went to sleep.
Then next morning we had the opportunity to talk to Aunt Ida for a while. She told us some great stories about the old house we were in, and about Matt’s ancestors that settled in Sanpete County. It was nice to meet her and hear these great stories. I need to start carrying around a tape recorded at times like this to get these stories on record. Hopefully Matt will remember them all.
It was a great trip and I look forward to doing it again someday.
We were trying to decide if we were going to try to find a camping spot in the Manti City Park, or if we were going to stay with Matt’s Great Aunt Ida in Moroni. At first, being the totally anti-social person that I am, I was leaning toward staying in a tent. We decided it would only be right to stop and say “hi” to Ida. We found the house and she was sitting on the porch just waiting for us. She was so welcoming and so nice that we decided to stay there that night. Also, I loved the old house. The stairs were narrow and steep, but it was so cute and I was excited to stay there.
We headed off to the show, and got there in plenty of time to park and walk over. We found ourselves a decent seat and covered ourselves in bug spray (the mosquitoes were pretty thick). When the sun went down it started to get cold; so we were happy to have some nice warm blankets to wrap up in. We didn’t have to wait long for the lights to go down and the pageant to start (about 9:30pm).
Now, let’s have a flashback for a moment. I did see the pageant when I was in Jr. High with my ward on a youth conference; but my best memory of the pageant is when I went with my sister Val, my cousin Ryan, and my Grandma and Grandpa many many years ago. We drove down and we were singing and playing all the way down. We camped at the Manti Park. We were in tents, because we rode down in the blue car instead of the truck and camper. I remember that we stopped for Chinese food on the way down (and I ordered Chicken Fried Steak – because I was a wimpy little girl and was afraid to try something new). We watched the show that night and loved it so much that we talked my Grandma and Grandpa into letting us stay and watch it on Saturday night too! That day my Grandpa gave me, my sister, and my cousin each enough money to walk over to the Top Stop and buy a pack of Big League Chew, a 32 oz Sprite, and one of those red-white- and blue popsicles. It rained that day, and we played in our tents. That night we went back to the show again, and I distinctly remember sleeping through the entire show. But it was so much fun.
OK – flashback over. I will admit that I paid a lot better attention to the show this time than I ever have before. I really enjoyed it, and noticed many things I never did before. I would get distracted from time to time by the clear sky with the bright stars over the temple. I wish I had a camera that could have caught that and done it justice. It was really pretty and just so peaceful. I had a great time watching the show (and yes – I still cry when the Pioneer baby dies).
When the show ended, we walked back to our car. We decided that we didn’t want to spend the next
half-hour in traffic, so we moved ourselves over to a picnic table. Matt had created a little camp stove out of a pop can and we thought it would be fun to roast marshmallows over it. Boy were we right. Now, the marshmallows do not roast the way they would over a nice fire, but since we were not allowed to start a real fire in the middle of the Manti City Post Office Parking lot, we settled for our stove. We continued in this activity until traffic had lightened up (and until I had had WAY too much sugar). Then we drove back to Moroni and went to sleep.Then next morning we had the opportunity to talk to Aunt Ida for a while. She told us some great stories about the old house we were in, and about Matt’s ancestors that settled in Sanpete County. It was nice to meet her and hear these great stories. I need to start carrying around a tape recorded at times like this to get these stories on record. Hopefully Matt will remember them all.
It was a great trip and I look forward to doing it again someday.
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