Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

While I was unmarried, my vacation time was for the most part spent on trips back to the Midwest to visit my parents and other family members. During the war years I’d typically ride the old Challenger train over the CP, UP and CNW tracks between Los Angeles and Boone. It was relatively easy to get accommodations on this train whereas the more prestigious trains were more difficult (and one’s plae more apt to be “bumped” by some higher priority traveler). I didn’t try to fly of course, for one thing I’d never flown at that point and such travel was even more chancy.

After the war I tended to switch to the better trains such as the City of San Francisco et al. I recall when Vivian and Aunt Laurine visited me in California in 1946, I accompanied them back to the Midwest and the leg of the trip from Denver to Boone was on the City of Denver.

After Jean and I were married we tended to use the train in the earlier trips back easy, but gradually shifted to flying. I guess the first flying trip back was when Muriel was a little child. The trip back was coordinated with a business trip for me. I remember the flight back when Jean, Muriel and I were together — it was via Kansas City and the Kansas City–San Francisco part of the trip was on the old Constellation aircraft. That was a night flight, one of the few that we took such.

In 1958 we bought the yellow Plymouth and that year we took two trips in our new automobile. The first was south and I think we got as far as San Diego to see Marold and Jeannie who were living there in their first house, after Marold finished his navy career, schooling and was starting to work. The second was a more ambitious trip and took us back east, on one of the few times we drove. I must have saved up some vacation time since I think we used three or four weeks for the trip.

The drive east started off on what is now I-80, then it was Highway 40 I believe. Our route took us through Nevada and in Elko we met briefly with Jean’s dad who was off on one of his driving trips alone — Jean’s mother refused to go along on these excursions of his. It was indeed a coincidence that our paths crossed — we knew of the possibility but I at least hardly expected it. We had stopped at a restaurant for an afternoon snack and sometime during the stop, Jean’s dad’s big Chrysler pulled up.

Our route next took us to Estes Park where we came in over the high road to the west of the park. We stayed at a cabin provided by Jean’s friend Bea Willard who showed us around. I can remember Paalma and Muriel being entranced by the chipmunks — in Palma’s childish phraseology the “chickimucks.” I can still see her reaching for them. On one of our hikes we took along the potty chair as part of the hiking gear — I can recall carrying it.

Our trip took us to Gowrie of course, but I think we also got as far south as Joplin to visit Clarice and family.

The return started across the plains of Kansas and there was the long remembered stop on a hot dusty afternoon at Dodge City, Kansas. That was when we encountered the apply dumpling dessert (with ice cream) that became a later staple of our dessert menu. We passed across Colorado directly east to west, just about the middle of the state. The two things I remember about this crossing were the Black Canyon of the Gunnison — a deep narrow canyon into which in late September when we were there the sun hardly penetrated. The other was passing over the Contintental Divide. We had of course passed over it on the way east but going west it was more clearly marked at the roadwide.

The last night on the road we stayed at one of the less elegant motels we have stayed at over the years at Delta, Utah. The next day we traversed the whole 700 miles to El Cerrito, the longest driving day we have ever had and one which Jean said she’d never try again. We were really tired when we finally got home. We had sort of expected to stay at some place like Placerville but nothing seemed to turn up so we just kept driving.