Road Trip to see "The Gila Valley Temple"

So I promised my Mom that when the open house for the "The Gila Valley Temple" came up we would go down there and see it, along with visiting family, living and dead. (Gravesites) We took off going south and enjoyed the scenery as we drove. As you can tell we got out and took pictures alot. Hey, it was just me and my mom - we could do anything we wanted.We drove through Page and stopped to see the dam and admire the Lake and stretch our legs. Our goal was to make it to Flagstaff.After a long day we found a small motel and hit the sack. Mom and I have got a good system going when we travel together. We both wear earplugs, so our snoring doesn't bother each other. So far it seems to work.As we entered Arizona, it became apparent to me that all the desert flowers were in bloom. So Mom and I had fun hunting for different flowers and getting shots of them. Here are most of the flowers we saw. It was really beautiful to see the desert blooming and it almost became an obsession to look for a new flower alongside of the road.We left Flagstaff and head east to Holbrook to see cousins that live there. We weren't sure if they would be there, but sure enough my cousin Barry was living in my Aunt Betty's old Homestead. We visited with him for a while and then went out to visit their cemetary they have right on their property for my Aunt Betty and Uncle Bud. After visiting with him we went up the hill to visit Boyce and his wife. They weren't there when we got there but in a few minutes showed up and we were able to catch up. As we were leaving, we discovered that the car wouldn't start. We tried and tried to get it to start. We thought maybe it was the battery, but it didn't act like a dead battery, but we called AAA and they finally arrived (like 2 hours later) and we managed to get it started and headed into town to see if it was just the battery or the alternater. Anyway, after another couple of hours at the mechanics and the conclusion that it was just the battery and then they had to go into the other town to get one that fit. (did I say these were small towns) We were finally on our way. We got only an hour down the road and decided to call it a night. We stayed in Snowflake and we knew we were headed toward the Salt River Canyon and I didn't want to do that drive at night. (See below)
After we traversed the canyon and got onto the other side we stopped for more pictures. It was a beautiful day. We got to Safford around noonish and headed to my Uncle Clay's. They let us stay at their home while we were there. We got ready quickly and headed for the temple. It was a really nice open house. The funny thing was, we hit the hottest day in May. Just a couple of days before they had a huge storm and lots of rain and cold. But we enjoyed it never the less. They had us start in the church next to the temple and showed a short film about the prophecy of them getting a temple there in the Valley. Then we walked over to the temple. The tour was very relaxed and intimate. They talked to us and answered questions and let us sit in the Celestial room for a few minutes. The group we were with had a couple of families with kids. It was fun to watch them show them the temple. I am not even sure they were members or members that hadn't been to the temple yet, but they were all very reverent and in awe of the sacredness of the Temple.

I am sure my Dad is thrilled that there is a temple there in the Valley now. They are already seeing the blessings from having it there.