Report from the Mesa, Arizona Family History Expo

This is now the second day of the Arizona Family History Expo. It’s been an eventful time thus far – for a number of reasons.

First off, we wondered if we were even going to get to Mesa. Dollarhide and I left Bountiful, Utah first thing Wednesday morning, driving directly to Flagstaff, Arizona. The trip was just a bit over 500 miles, and pretty uneventful. When we checked into the motel that night, the young man at the desk informed us that there would be a lot of snow overnight. So what? We’d seen a lot of snow before, or so we thought…

We woke up Thursday morning to a good 18 inches of white stuff on top of our truck, besides all the accumulated snow already on the ground. For several hours there was no thought of leaving, as nothing in the parking lot could move until they brought in plows and made a path through the cars. By the time we could move the truck we knew that I-17 and 89A going south out of Flagstaff were closed indefinitely. So we went west on I-40, turning south on highway 89, and driving down through Pauldon, Whittenberg and so on. The road was a nightmare, but we eventually made Mesa by about 5 pm, and were pretty well set-up at the Arizona Family History Expo by about 9. The last we heard, our friend, Myrt (DearMyrtle) was still stuck in Flagstaff. I understand that they were going to open I-17 going south out of Flagstaff last evening, so maybe we’ll see her today.

Friday was a good day. I spoke twice in the morning, joining numerous other speakers, including several well-known bloggers. I understand that attendance on Friday was about 1200 souls. Dollarhide & I worked the Family Roots Publishing Booth until 6 pm, had a bite to eat and crashed… Absolutely exhausted…

I expect Saturday to be a busy day, with even more attendees…