News from LeAnne

So, the above graphic is a map of the route we walked for the Days of '47 Parade yesterday, July 24, 2008. Dad and I got up at 3:30 that morning, and drove out of the yard at 4:30. Mark met us at the line-up area on West Temple at 7:30. We had previously arranged for Steve Beagley (Kyle's dad) to take our rawhide handcart to the line-up area, since he had a truck and we were in a car. Steve then rode with Lee and Pam Jeffs in the covered wagon they had hauled up to be the Castle Valley Pageant entry. Dad and Mark and I pulled our handcart with several other handcarts in the Sons of Utah Pioneers entry. By 8:30, our handcart was ready to go, but Mark and I needed to hook up with a shuttle driver so that we could leave our cars at Liberty Park (the parade terminus) and still get back to the starting point to walk with the handcart. We never did find that guy. We simply decided that Mark should leave his truck at Liberty Park and I would bring him back to West Temple and leave my car parked there, then he would bring Dad and me back to it after the parade. Well, the traffic was so congested, that by the time we maneuvered to the park, we had only five minutes until the parade would start. And the SUP handcarts were to be entry number 5. So we hightailed it north on State Street. We got to about 300 South by 9:05 and knew that the parade had already begun. So we parked the car and walked up the parade route until we met up with Dad and the handcart and then fell right into step with him. It was a little adventure for Mark and me. And we all had a nice time walking and waving. We saw a few people we knew---Enid Cox, the Woolseys from Castle Dale, our cousins Deon and Ross Pincock. After the parade and our nice rest in the park at the end, we went to Mark's house for noodle casserole and ice water. We talked about the plans for the trek after the pageant. Then Dad and I loaded up and headed for home. It was a pretty good trip.

Fawn, you asked about the author I mentioned, Dick Francis. I don't know that much about him, really, except that he is a former steeplechase jockey who got injured and then tried his hand at writing fiction. He has written over 40 mystery novels, and they all center around the horse-racing world and various things connected to it. His protagonist is always a guy in his mid-thirties, but they are not all the same character. Sometimes the protagonist is a steeplechase jockey and sometimes a veterinarian or a horse-trainer or even a photographer or painter of horse portraits or caterer at the racetrack. The mystery is always interesting, and the romance is very low-key. The protagonist usually becomes a hero by saving the day or getting out of a tight jam or something like that. I really recommend his books as a light read that engages the mind and makes your brain work. I'm not even that much of a horse person, let alone a racing person, but I've really enjoyed the 15 or so of his books that I've read so far.

Heading to pageant practice for now. When is everyone planning to attend?