A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....08-30-05....How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Billie, Diver Dave | Diver Dave

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

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~ Billie, Mama_Bear, Dutchess, Aquamarine, DollyCali ~

by Diver Dave
Design by Billie

Okay, class. Summer vacation is over and Autumn has arrived. Your assignment today is to tell the class about your summer vacation. You may make it as long or as short as you wish.

Now to get things started, I’ll go first. My story however has a little different twist to it.

Long before Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA”, our family began a summer vacation that has since always been referred to as, “The Trip.”

"See the USA in your Chevrolet"

Hopefully, some will remember that tune from the Dinah Shore television show from the fabulous fifties. As that tune has now re-entered your mind and kindled memories of days of old, it sets the stage for what follows.

A few short years before that tune made its way into the living rooms of America, our family did just that. We loaded up the old ’47 Chevy and started our journey from our home in Spokane, WA. Our primary destination would take us over the rivers and through lots of woods to Grandma’s house in Foley, Alabama. Who knows, perhaps we inspired the words of the song in the commercial?

Diver Dave on his mom's lap,with sisters Elice, Helen,
and Ruth.  Dave's twin brother Dan is on his dad's lap.
The family pet, a copper-colored Cocker Spaniel, is named Rusty.

The year was 1951. Don and I had just graduated from kindergarten. Dad, Mom and our three older sisters began our journey on “The Trip.”

Dad made a special carrier that mounted on the roof of the car. It held luggage, a large tent, sleeping bags for all, and camping gear. With a brand new DeJur 8mm movie camera, “The Trip” would be recorded for many years of enjoyment.

Dad had 4 brothers and 8 sisters and plans were made to visit all of them save Uncle Harry who passed away a few years earlier. Dad once told a young boy at church that there were 5 boys in his family and each one of them had 8 sisters. It must have impressed him, because he commented, “WOW! 40 kids.”

“The Trip” would take us through 26 of the 48 states plus the District of Columbia. Join with me if you would as we travel through time and present a tour of America through the eyes of a 6 year-old. We will travel from sea to shining sea, through those amber waves of grain. We’ll see the purple mountains’ majesty and cross the fruited plain. Keep in mind, this is a few years before the interstate highway program started, so a lot of the roads are going to be narrow two-lane highways. This trip will last 2 ½ months. No ozone-killing Freon air- conditioning in this car. The air conditioning in this care was either 4 windows down or the round cylinder thingy mounted on the passenger side window. Ice would be placed inside the cylinder and as the air flowed through the openings, cool air filled the car. We had no tape-player or CD. The radio is an old tube type AM- only radio with one speaker buried in the dashboard. Oldest sister Helen became the family choir director and led us in songs to pass the time and provide some entertainment.

It was too early in history to count slug-bugs, so we would play “I Spy” games. Spotting and naming license plates was one of the games, and Dad came up with another game. Whenever anyone spotted a white horse along the route, they would holler out “Slopski.” Don’t ask how that name got attached to white horses, but it did manage to pass the time on “The Trip.”

First stop on the agenda will be Seattle. The 300 mile trip to Seattle always means a visit to the Woodland Park Zoo. Also we will stop by the Ballard Locks to watch the boats and ships pass through the locks from Puget Sound to Lake Washington.

On the road again, we head down old 99 and stop to tour the capitol grounds in Olympia. Back in those days, the capitol and dome were white. This visit to Olympia will set a precedent. As routing permits, we will visit many state capitols.

Next stop, Salem, capitol of Oregon. Overnight camping along a riverbank in Oregon.

Back on the road, we stop to visit Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox at the Trees of Mystery in Northern California. Giant redwoods as big around as a car and tall enough to tickle the clouds. With a Trees of Mystery sign attached to the bumper, we head south on Highway 101 to visit more family in Pittsburg, CA.

Next stop, Long Beach, and Orange, CA to visit more family. Imagine if you would, Orange, CA without all the houses. Grove after grove of orange trees. The trees of Long Beach looked rather peculiar as I remember. Derricks and oil wells all over the place. No trip to Southern California would be complete without going to the beach. Swimming in the ocean for the first time and finding out how salty that water tastes - yuk. Hard to imagine a trip to California without visiting Disneyland or Dodger Stadium. ‘Fraid it was too early in history for that.

Next up, the most boring part of the trip. ("HEYYYYY! Watch it!" ~ Billie LOL) Hundreds and hundreds of miles of desert, cactus, sand, rocks and sagebrush as we head east to Beaumont, TX. The oil fields of California were nothing compared to what we saw in Texas. Could this be the official state tree of Texas? Driving late at night we could see the flames coming from the smoke stacks of the oil refineries in East Texas. We were about to receive a taste of that famous southern hospitality as we arrived at our destination in Beaumont. At a family picnic, we got our first taste of fricassee chicken.

Time to load up the car and hit the road again as we drive through Louisiana and cross the mighty Mississippi enroute to Grandma’s house near the Gulf Coast of Alabama. We spent 2-3 weeks at Grandma’s with side trips to Mobile, Fort Morgan, and day trip over to Pensacola. Shrimp boats cruise by us in the canal while we were catfishing. That prompted sister Helen to break out in song - “Shrimp Boats Are Coming Their Sails Are In Sight….” A day at the beach in the Gulf created some fears for this little critter. As I looked down in the water, I saw a crab crawling on the bottom near my feet. I was sure my toes were gonna be his next meal. A quick exit to the safety of the beach brought tears of laughter from everyone but me.

Evenings became pretty special for these kids from the northwest. We had never before seen fireflies. Many a night we would run around trying to catch them in a jar that Grandma gave us. Sisters Ruth and Elice took their jar to bed with them to see if the lightnin’ bugs would light up the bedroom at night.

We say our good-byes to the Deep South and we make our way towards Portsmouth, VA. We do the tourist thing along the way as we pass by cotton fields and large tobacco farms. Large statues and monuments to early American heroes seem to be everywhere. The Great Smoky Mountains prompt the singing of “On Top of Old Smokey.” A trip to Virginia Beach meant we had the opportunity to swim and play in the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico.

We visit our nations capitol, Washington DC and a lot of the many surrounding sites. A trip to the Capitol brings out a new version of “On Top of Old Smokey” from my sister. With what would normally amount to a good mouth washing with soap from Mom, it created too many laughs for any punishment. Her new version…

"On Top of Old Smokey,
All covered with Grass.
There sat Harry Truman,
A scratchin’ his ..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even at my young age, it was exciting to see the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. We ventured to Mount Vernon to see the home of the Father of our Country, George Washington. Nice digs, but I’d sure hate to have to mow that lawn.

We leave the greater Washington DC area and make our way towards Oshkosh and Neenah, Wisconsin. Neenah was the home of a sweater manufacturing business started by my Great-Grandfather in the late 1800’s and it was cool to see the building with our last name painted on the side. While in Oshkosh, we see an old horse drawn milk wagon making its way through the residential neighborhoods.

We’re on the road once again to visit family in Peoria, Rockford and Chicago.

After our brief time in Illinois, it’s off to Minnesota. We arrive at harvest time and it was pretty neat to see all the farmers helping one another. There was a threshing machine set up in the field and the farmers would bring in trailer after trailer loaded with Cherrios in the rough. Big old John Deere tractors pulling the trailers and one hooked up to the threshing machine. It had a large long belt stretching from the tractor to the thresher. Once they finished with the harvest at my uncle’s place, the moved everything down the road to the next farm. As luck would have it, my uncle’s tractor broke down. No problem. He just brought out his team of horses and off he went to spend the day in the fields.

After visiting family in Minnesota, we set out on our long journey home. We do the tourist thing and visit Mt. Rushmore. A trip to Yellowstone National Park was exciting as we saw the deer and bears near the roadway. The bears had no fear of these people in the cars. They just knew that they had food for them. I think we saw Yogi sticking his head in the window of a car ahead of us. We didn’t have to wait long to see Old Faithful send forth her geyser of steam.

Our journey comes to an end while driving through the panhandle of Idaho. The call sign, “This is KXLY - Spokane” heard over the radio brings cheers from the back seat of the car. One of the last views on the home movies is a sunset taken from our backyard. Ahhh, Home again but the memories linger a lifetime.

Over the 2 ½ month journey, we logged over 10,000 miles. The radiator over-heated once with no damage, and we suffered only one flat tire. Mom managed to catch the eye of a state trooper somewhere along the way when she got a warning ticket for driving a small few MPH over the limit. Oh, the horrors.

On “The Trip,” we drove though many of the wildwoods of this country and on Sunday would often attend services at “The Little Brown Church In the Glens.”

I will always be grateful for the introduction to these great United States at such a young age. Home movies have preserved “The Trip” for even more lasting memories. We got to meet all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course, Grandma. Grandma passed away the following year.

As the words of that song stated, “…America’s the Greatest Land of All…” we can only add, “Amen!”

Diver Dave's grandsons, left to right, Logan and Christian

06-28-05 ~ Hall of Fame #12

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 08-29-05 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[Billie]

This is a marvelous thread reflecting the joys & beauty of people and america and I guess part of the perspective of life is that this vacation followed tragedies in the USA.. good things followed 911.. good things will follow this.

We will bury our dead and grieve them profoundly. We will give money, we can't afford, to help people we will never meet & who will prolly complain anyway. We will cry for the children who are orphans, the pets who were abandoned to fend for themselves & perished, the "things" people lost, which really weren't that important anyway.

So many of you have such a gift for words, and this was about as beautiful as it gets. Thank you, ((((((((Dolly)))))))).

[JustAmy]

LOL

Leave it to a couple of 5 year old boys to find a way. :)

You were clever little guys. :)

[Billie]

Oh, Dave, what a scary experience you had - I hope that the Forest Rangers were successful in getting EVERYONE out before anyone was hurt, no helpless little animals were trapped, and certainly least of all, hope no one lost anything of value in their haste to get to safety.

This will most certainly be a wedding to remember for your brother in law and his new bride.

$3.25 a gallon for gas? YIKES!!!

[Diver Dave]

Fast-Forward again....

The posted speed in Oregon on US 97 is 55 mph. On our journey home, Mrs d notice how slow I was driving. She said, "Why are you driving so slow? Didn't you see that sign that said the speed limit was 97?"

Yep, I'm sure that Oregon State Policeman would have recognized her logic as he developed writer's cramp with the ticket had I heeded her advice.

A drive up/down US 97 takes one through Klammath Falls, and alongside Klammath Lake. A word of advice... try to avoid driving that route in the early morning or evening hours. A gazillion bugs swarm during those hours and vehicles are a magnet. Had to make a trip to PrimeShine Car Wash yesterday.

Also, Klammath Falls, OR, is home to the Klammath Bucket Brigade from a few short years ago. A view of the "Bucket" in front of the County office building...

[SwinneySwitch]

Prayers up!

[Billie]

Hi, OESY. She did say it very well, didn't she?

I tried your link, but on a dialup, nothing is happening here. :(

[JustAmy]

Thank you for posting the Bucket from the Klammath Bucket Brigade.

That is when I first started getting active with the threads. I think I have a shovel here someplace that I bought when the caravan stopped in Fresno. There wasn't much of a turnout ..... Jim, Chris, GoodieD, Mr JA and me.

I like Oregon .... I would consider moving there if all of my family were not here. :)

[Aquamarine]

Saw this beautiful, interesting Post the first time around, thankfully, since I wouldn't have time to read it again today. The power has been out off and on since the outer edge of the hurricane came through this area. It was surprisingly intense here, made a big mess at our place but no serious damage was done. Feel like I'm on the Hurricane Fitness Program (picking up debris) this year, have never seen anything like it.

Helen GA, a tourist type town about 35 minutes away was hit by a tornado last night and one of shopping outlet malls that I frequent was destroyed, and Helen is in the mountains, so don't let people tell you that they can't hit in the mountains, this is the 4th time that I've seen it happen.
Am so sad about the people who live on the coast who have lost everything and some even lost their lives, am afraid that was the fate of too many with more sad news to come. Please keep them in your prayers as they cope in the days to come.

[Aquamarine]

Hi DD. I meant to ping you to the post above.

[OESY]

Hi Billie--

It's even slow with DSL, so it's probably not worth any extra effort.

[Texas Termite]

Prayers it is!!! Please keep us informed and let us know if we can do anything....for you or for them :)

"TT", Beth & Nana

[lonestar]

Biloxi was one of my favorite vacation spots.

This is an email from a friend near the Mississippi coast.

WLBT sent a helicopter to the coast, and I just saw the pictures - heartbreaking!! Those beautiful old homes along 90 are no longer there or are in shambles.

In one case the water surge picked up a casino, carried it across Highway 90 and placed it on top of the reception area of the Holiday Inn. I could not believe my eyes! The Beau Rivage seems to be the only casino that will be operational even though they had water up to the third floor but no structural damage.

I just heard also that New Orleans is a city that has ceased to function. There are no stores open, no electricity, no food, no water and they are trying to figure out how to get people out of there because there is no way they can survive as it is.

Water is continuing to come into the city and they said it would take days to get it out if they can even figure out how to do it and where all the water is coming from. Not to mention the disease from sewage infested water.

So much history and memories lost forever. Again, we can be grateful for what we have, but I just feel empty and devastated by this whole thing.

This is from a friend in Jackson, MS

Thank God, we are all alive and still have a roof over our heads. Yesterday was a day I will not forget nor have I ever experienced anything like it. The wind and rain were unbelievable. We have trees and power lines down, over 200,000 without electricity and a great feeling of thankfulness for all the good we still possess. When I see the devastation on the coast, in N.O. and Mobile, I consider us very, very fortunate.

As I watched TV this morning, I had tears streaming down my face. Those poor, poor people. The coliseum here is packed and those people will go home in a few days to, in some cases (many I fear) absolutely nothing. The blessed part is they are alive.

I live about 300 miles from N.O. and our hotels are full and churches have opened shelters. We have about 1000 people added to our 8000 population. It only seems to get worse.

[Texagirl4W]

What can I say; you are all so kind. The only immediate family I haven’t heard from is one sister. She works at the West Jefferson Hospital in Marrero, La. She volunteers for every emergency there. During emergencies that hospital becomes a National Guard Command Center. They go into ‘lock down’. When the NG takes over there is no one in, no one out.

The last we heard from her was yesterday afternoon. The only way we can communicate is by cell phone and everyone who calls gets the now awful recording, “We are sorry, all circuit are busy”. We know someone who lives 2 blocks from the hospital and by some fluke, that person has phone service and says there is no water on the ground there. Thank You, Lord.

Billie and all, the thread and stories here are wonderful. You and your crew are true gems.

[eyespysomething]

My understanding is text messages are going through better. Don't know why.

[dutchess]

Oh my Texagirl. Just getting here and finally watching TV. I've been "news impaired" and did not realize the scope of distruction. New Orleans is one of our favorite vacation spots...just love the people and "the big easy". My heart breaks for all the people suffering losses. Prayers for your sister, family and friends.

[dutchess]

Oh lonestar, texasgirl. I feel your loss. We usually spend our Thanksgiving (my birthday celebration) in New Orleans. We would LOVE to just walk through the quarter during this "mellow" week watching families "celebrate" on their balconies, decorating for Christmas, a big Christmas concert on the river. How very sad. I'm sure the lovers of Biloxi feel the same way. Prayers bump.

[dutchess]

So glad you're oka aqua. You certainly have had a rough summer weather wise.

Sistahs and finest friend. We've had blowing cold rainy weather all day...I've been very busy with work very annoyed about our weather. Was news impaired and when I just suddenly saw the devastation I was immediately "humbled". My heart and prayers go out to all the victims.

[Billie]

Amy, thank you for your sweet note. I'm sorry to just now be getting back to the thread again. Am glad you enjoyed reading it, and I can tell you *why* you probably missed it the first time - Amy's Place was only a few days old when I posted this almost two years ago. I think you were a bit covered up being a full-time hostess to that wonderful and fun daily thread. :)

[Kitty Mittens]

Joining you in Thanksgiving to our Master for the Good Tidings on your Family! (Prayerfully, All is Well with your sister, since there's no Water on the Ground near the Hospital.)

Wonderful Thread, Billie and Diver Dave!

[Billie]

LOL!!! I know exactly why. Because the 'Texas heat' went on for two and a half days (it seemed). Arizona was hot too, but it didn't take us days to get through it. ;-)

LOL! Okay, I understand now! Yes, it does take quite a lot of hours to drive all the way across Texas (unless you're just driving across the *panhandle*! That would be like driving across many of the other states, and you could do several in a day - a piece of cake!)

We're so used to wide open spaces where you can see for miles and miles, and driving for several hours to see the mountains or get to a lake large enough to put a speedboat on. :)