63/100 revisited ... a shrine in the desert

We originally visited "the shrine in the desert" (#63) near Yuma in March of 2012 as one of the things on my "100 Things in Arizona" list. I loved the story of a man building a small chapel in the middle of his lettuce fields as a living memorial to his wife who had passed away. Unfortunately, a storm had destroyed the tiny chapel and all that was left was the cement entryway and a few bushes- you can read that post here. Loren Pratt, the man who originally built the chapel, had said he planned to rebuild so we stopped by again on our way back from California in early January to see what progress he made. Wow! Were we surprised!

It was late afternoon when we arrived so we didn't expect it to be open but on a whim I tried the door knob and the door opened. Keep in mind, there was no one else in sight. Mr. Pratt or his son open it every morning about sunrise and lock it up at sunset. 

About a dozen people could sit in the pews and there is standing room for maybe a half dozen more. 

The chapel is open for anyone to go in; some come to pray or meditate, others just to see it. Nondenominational church services are held on Easter Sunday and Christmas Eve. It is warm and inviting - truly an oasis in the desert.

The guest book was fun to look through. Visitors from all over the United States and Canada as well as Europe and Asia have stopped by. I wondered how they heard about it.

We were delighted to see that the little chapel had been rebuilt. And I love the love story that surrounds it. While I had to give it a "Neither Up nor Down Thumb" last time since it wasn't there, it definitely gets a THUMB UP!!! this time!