A pleasant day — and a cool parade

After watching their first Days of '47 Parade, Dallas natives Hal and Joyce Richmond now say not everything's bigger in Texas.

"I love the horses. And the bands always add so much. And the Army. Oh, the floats were beautiful. And the policemen, I was very impressed with the policemen," gushed Joyce Richmond, who came to the annual Days of '47 Parade with her husband, Hal.

The two are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the family history center at the Joseph Smith Building.

The Days of '47 Parade is the biggest parade they've ever seen. "We didn't buy enough film," Hal Richmond said.

"We think it's wonderful that they do this every year," Joyce Richmond said. "I thought it was wonderful that they had all the ethnic groups, cultures and religions. I thought that was great that they'd celebrate the pioneer heritage."

Some people traveled from around the world to be in the parade, including representatives from Salt Lake's sister city, Keelung, Taiwan; and guest delegates from the Utah-Iraq project, including the governor of Babil and the mayor of Hillah.

"It was awesome to see the Iraqis who are the pioneers of their cultures over there," said Susan Tweed of Utah County.

Tweed camped out at the parade with extended family from Provo, Orem and Lindon. Despite threatening clouds, lightning and rain sprinkles, scores of people camped out to save a coveted spot for the parade.

"The whole thing is just really fun," said Helen Sausedo, Tweed's daughter. Sausedo's children, Ben, 5; Josh, 3; and Morgan, 10 months; also came to the parade and didn't mind spending the night on the busy South Temple street.

Monday, thousands of other spectators celebrated the pioneers, who journeyed west to the Salt Lake Valley during the 19th century in the largest migration in American history. The parade, which has been running since 1849, is one of the largest and oldest in the United States.

The parade featured three hours of more than 130 entries, with marching bands, local royalty, waving dignitaries, classic cars, pruned horses, goofy clowns and colorful floats.

From a covered wagon attached to the front of a rocket ship to the bust of Utah "Jeopardy!" legend Ken Jennings, many floats for the parade adopted a unique design for this year's Days of '47 theme, "Our Pioneer Heritage — A Living Legacy."