To your point, I did take the pump apart today and as you stated I couldn't see anything wrong with the Pump so I put it back together. While I had the pump apart I also thought I'd recheck the thermostat one more time and I did discover a problem. The thermostat was opening at the right temp but not fully. So what was happening was the bypass was only partly closed resulting in most of the water bypassing the rad.

After replacing the thermostat I took it out for a spin. I live in Phoenix and it was 107 degrees out. I ran it with the A/C on for 10 miles in stop and go traffic and success, it never got over 180 degrees.... it's fixed.

Thanks for your feedback