We got up early that morning, packed our bags and cooler, and headed out. It was a very scenic drive, winding through desert farmlands. We got a close up view of some shepherds and their flock of sheep.
The shepherds herded them from the pastures right down the highway. It was definitely a first for us! 
After taking a few pictures we headed to the city park. Since the pageant doesn't get over til around 11 pm, and there is a lot of traffic, we decided to camp in the city park for only $5. It was pretty empty when we got there, so we picked out a nice shady spot under a tree. After out tent was pitched we ate a lunch from our cooler, and talked to a local resident. She recommended we walk the seven blocks to the pageant so we wouldn't have to worry about parking and traffic. So up until this point the day was great.
But remember how I said I did all that planning to make sure everything would go well? Yeah, we totally overestimated the city of Manti and what it has to offer. Manti is a little pioneer town that was settled in the 1850s. It has grown to a whopping 3,300 residents, and there really isn't a whole lot to do there. Except sweat in the 100 degree heat. When we left Provo at 9:30 that morning it was already 92 degrees. And the thermometer kept climbing all day. Worried about traffic and parking we set out to walk to the vendor booths, set up near the temple. On the website I looked at it talked about vendor booths, sidewalk sales, rummage sales, etc. We thought since this was our one time to go to the Pageant, we would take advantage of everything it had to offer and make a day out of it. Well, only about a block into our walk, we were both about dying of heat. There was hardly any shade and we were both DRIPPING with sweat. After only a few blocks we were walking past the Patten House. Previously having no desire to visit it, seeing the front door open, and the prospect of cooling off inside, we suddenly developed an interest in the historical pioneer house.
Eventually, we decided to go get some dinner. This time we drove - with the AC cranked to full blast. We went to Lotsa Motsa pizza, and shared a $10 pizza. This store didn't have AC, but it had a swamp cooler that we sat right next to. The pizza was pretty good. Then we went back to the park, dropped off our car, grabbed a jacket and a blanket and headed to the pageant. It was quite a bit cooler now, but still probably in the upper 80s. We got the the pageant at 7:22 to get good seats, even though the pageant didn't start for two more hours. Here we are, still sweating, waiting for the pageant.
At first we were too bitter to even go to the vendor booths. But after sitting for so long, and me having swollen feet and feeling sick from all the heat, I begged Dennis to come with me to find a cold fruit drink. He had nothing better to do so we put down our blanket and headed over to the booths. Oddly, there are a whole bunch of protesters that come to the pageant, protesting our religion. I doubt any one really listens to them, and I can't figure out why they would want to be there when they could be doing so many other things for two weeks in the summer. Anyways, we made it to the vendor booths. There are only a few, and most of them are junk food, so they really aren't as cool or as big of a deal as we thought. We found a place that sold fruit drinks, we got ours with lemon and rraspberries, and after a few sips I felt so much better! It was nice to hold that ice cold cup in my hands!
Eventually the pageant started. It was okay but nothing either of us would go back for. I thought the music was eerie, Dennis was disappointed the whole thing was pre-recorded. We never needed a jacket or blanket like all of the websites recommended. That night we walked back to our tent to find that in a big park, with a lot of empty grass to pitch a tent, a group had settled right next to us, pitching their tent within three feet of ours. Not cool. It took forever for me to fall asleep that night because I couldn't cool down enough, and another group was so loud! I swear they were up for hours, and they woke me up again in the morning. Its one thing to talk, but they were literally yelling! We ate a pancake breakfast the next morning in the park, which is a fundraiser for their youth. Dennis loved it! Shortly after we packed up and headed out. Moral of the story: Apparently the Manti Pageant isn't something you make a day out of. It's just a night thing. The one thing I didn't want to happen happened, if we would have known more we would have done it totally differently! The temple was amazing, but I wouldn't combine the temple with the pageant in one trip. The pageant is just a night thing :)
