Another Way: Don’t forget to take notes!
My dad and mom gave us kids one of the best gifts any family could ever have — at least if you enjoy travel. The summer of 1964 we had a six-week adventure from our home state of Indiana to the West Coast and back, hitting 17 states and 12 National Parks on our particular itinerary.
After my Mom died last fall, us kids went through all her stuff. We uncovered her small notebook of highlights of our trip. I drank it in.
Mom’s diary of the trip starts out: “Left July 11 at 2 p.m. Forgot pillows, soap, comb. Spent night in Illinois in pouring rain. Quite a mess to get supper with six in one place.” See, we had rented a very very small travel trailer for $2 a day. It slept five and we had six in our family. My brother ended up sleeping in a pup tent or the back seat of the car for most of the trip.
Not too great of start — like many camping trips. We also suffered one major breakdown when a spring broke and a wheel came up through the floor of the trailer, if I have the facts correct. Dad had to work hard to find a place to fix it (and remember, no cellphones). I think someone finally stopped to ask us if we needed help and drove Dad to a town somewhere. Long story short, we got to stay in a motel that night on good beds and mother was elated because she could spend the morning washing and ironing our clothes. (Iron, on a camping trip?? Yep!)
Dad always tried to visit people or families he knew, especially in the Midwest. We parked the trailer at the homes of about 10 different families or couples Dad and Mom knew. Some were relatives but most were guys Dad knew when he worked at Glacier National Park for alternative service during World War II. He so wanted us to see the things he had seen out west.
Camping in backyards saved a bushel of money of course. In 1964 gas was only about 30 cents a gallon so we squeezed through spending on average, $20 a day for a family of 6. That’s “eats, camping fees, entertainment, sightseeing, and gas,” Dad was proud to tell folks.
When we drove up Pikes’ Peak with that 1960 Chevrolet, (leaving the trailer at a camp) the Chevy had to take a rest, like many other vehicles. My dad and mom were extremely grateful when after a brief stop — where we kids crawled around some rocks — the Chev started up again as we completed the 14,115 feet elevation in our drive up the mountain.
Toward the end of the trip, according to Mom’s diary, Daddy was very anxious (as we all were) to get home as quickly as possible. We even decided to forego the Tetons. By late August the weather was getting chilly in the mountains and we hit snow a couple of times. We did stop in South Dakota at Mt. Rushmore.
The trip was planned five years in advance, set for the year my oldest sister graduated from high school. Some of us younger kids belly-ached that we would be too old to enjoy such a trip if we waited five years. I was just eight (the age of two of my grandsons now) when we began planning it. But it did give us time to save up our money (and Dad and Mom too). We purchased many a souvenir from the places we visited.
I love the note Mom inscribed on the little Penrite Memo Book where she kept track of our adventures. In 2016, she did a follow-up note on the cover, “You kids will want to read this many years later. Ha.”
I’m not sure why she added the “Ha.” I will be forever grateful for her little trip diary, because without it, so much history — and memories — would be gone forever.
Thanks Mom and Dad for one of the best trips of our lives.
Comments? Write to me at anotherwaymedia@yahoo.com or Another Way Media, P.O. Box 363, Singers Glen, VA 22834.
Another Way is a column by Melodie Davis, in syndication since 1987. She is the author of nine books. Another Way columns are posted at FindingHarmonyBlog.com a week after newspaper publication.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Melodie Davis column about writing down memories
