Airstream Tales and Trails: Only In Utah...

Hey Folks,

Everybody loves a parade. Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Macy’s to name a few. But how about the Pioneer Day Parade - ever heard of that? I doubt it unless you’re from Utah. For those of you not initiated, Pioneer Day is a Utah state holiday that occurs every July 24^th regardless of the day of the week. It commemorates the day in 1847 when Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers arrived at the Salt Lake Valley. This year it fell on a Thursday and everything shut down. I mean EVERYTHING, including the local gas company so I had the day off as well. Psssssst, Southern Cross – let’s consider making this a company holiday – just sayin’.

Margo and I had a prime location to watch the parade as it rolled out from the center of downtown SLC at 9:00 a.m. The high for the day was forecast to hit 100 degrees so the festivities started early. These Utahans are a hardy bunch though and for the 2 hour duration even the kids weren’t complaining of the heat. As far as parades go, I have to say, this one was pree-ty nice. You could clearly see that these floats weren’t just thrown together but probably took hundreds of volunteer hours to complete. As with any parade, all of the local dignitaries were present right up to the Governor and of course, it was very heavy on the equine units. From the Sheriffs posse to the many draft horses. I mean really, you couldn’t properly establish a new settlement without the humble horse now could ya.

I’ll leave you now with pics from the day but WARNING!!!! If you suffer from coulrophobia – the abnormal fear of clowns – STOP HERE! The following pictures contain clown subject matter, including close-ups, that may be detrimental to those afflicted.