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]

Keep in mind, no air-conditioned comforts, four kids crowded across the back seat of the car, windows wide open, I climbed up on the back window ledge and laid down feeling the full effects of the open windows. It also relieved the over-crowded conditions. Subsequently, Don and I alternated that window ledge position for much of the remaining trip.

LOL! I bet your sisters liked it much better with one of you up there behind the seat (unless you kicked them or pulled their hair or something. :) Which one rode in the front seat with Mom and Dad?)

[Billie]

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

Gosh, I remember reading some of those threads, and we featured a few FReepers early the first year who were very active in the Klammath Falls threads - not to mention AT Klammath Falls itself.

[Billie]

Hi, Aqua - thank you for your comments and compliment. I'm happy to hear from you and that "debris" is the extent of your damage. The news and photos I've seen are mind-boggling. It's just unbelievable the destruction and extent of the damage there.:(

[Billie]

Good afternoon, lonestar. Your post .... it's just hard to think of the words to respond. Offering prayers for all who are affected by Katrina. :(

[Billie]

You are loved. I hope you are able to get through to your sister soon.

[Billie]

Thank you, Kitty. Hugs to you.

[trussell]

Prayer pings. I'm sure there are many people who need prayers because of this hurricane. Post 16 and 27 are two specific requests on this thread.

My prayers go up for all who are in peril because of Hurricane Katrina. God's protection over them all.

Blessings,
trussell

If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.

[tiki]

Believe me I'm praying. I will remember your specific requests.

[AZamericonnie]

Prayers for Kara's mother & your family Texagirl as well as all who are affected by this terrible storm!

[JustAmy]

I'm just getting back and will only be here a short time. Back to School Night tonight.

Last Friday, when the school bus stopped to let Marissa off, both Junior and Charly ran to meet her and the bus. This almost made me change my mind about taking them to the SPCA.

Fresno County is passing a law (due to another child being killed by a pitbull) that all dogs will be required to be spayed/neutered and either tied or penned. Charly would not be very welcome in the back yard; Millie is very jealous of Marissa. Poor LouieMax, she has finally accepted that he gets lots of attention from her.

Yesterday after taking Marissa to school, we put the two dogs in the car and took them to the SPCA (with tears in my eyes.)

Since Marissa has been asking for a kitten, we went and picked one for her. The kitty had to be spayed so we could not get her until today. Marissa is thrilled but she does miss Junior.

I'm afraid my ((( Bro ))) will disown me when he discovers what I did. Four dogs are just too many for us. In fact, JA is threatening to give LouieMax away if the new fence does not keep him in. Now that would make me very sad. :(
:(

[Colonial Warrior]

Merciful Father, Bless all those in need and their families!

A prayer warrior at work!

[DollyCali]

aw, I am sorry Amy.. you might call in a few days or make sure they call you if the "kill" order comes thru so you can go get them back!

I know this is all difficult. I sometimes go half crazy w/all teh animals we have here.

[lonestar]

It's been years since I was in the Quarters but my guess is it hadn't changed a lot.

I wonder how the donut place made it. I can't think of the name--"Morning Call" or something.

I've never been more thankful that I live on top of a hill.

[LadyX]

How wonderful to read this gem a second time!
Dave, your descriptions are highly entertaining, and I can just picture
all the in between actions of you restless children..:)

All those car games were familiar, as was reading (and making up!) Burma Shave signs, and we did them with our own children when they were growing up.

Most folks here might not realize that in 1951 there were no Interstate "whizways" anywhere - major highway speed limits were 40 mph.
Growing up, going from Coral Gables (Miami area) to SC to visit my grandparents in the summers in the 40's involved spending the night on the way!
[That was taking U.S. 1 and U.S. 17 - both two lanes wide even in the 60's and 70's. It took 'forever' to get through long, long Jacksonville, with red lights at every intersection..:( ]

As for the no a/c, almost no one had it back then except in a few luxury cars of the wealthy.
That was true in houses, too, and I didn't have a/c in a house until 1966 - base housing at Myrtle Beach AFB, SC. - no auto a/c until 1974 in North Carolina.

Billie, you did such a beautiful job on the presentation and the graphics, and collage of Logan and Christian for the Pledge of Allegiance!

[Texagirl4W]

Thanks for all the well wishes. I just got the call from my sister and she is fine -- still at the hospital on duty, but OK. Thank You, Lord. Now I'll try to relax a while and watch a little baseball.

[LadyX]

Although my sons and families in Florida were spared the wrath of Katrina, I always closely follow hurricanes, having grown up with them and knowing first hand what terrible things they can do.

Sunday night I made my last reply on the Weekend Thread, with Lakeside answering....

"To: Lakeside

If you're able to log on, Lakeside, I hope you have moved far east/southeast of the projected path of the hurricane, and are safe.
Know that frequent *special prayers* are covering you and yours, and your property in northeast Alabama.
May God be with you wherever you go....

325 posted on 08/29/2005 8:42:54 AM EDT by LadyX ((( To God be all praise and honor and glory -- )))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 324 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

To: LadyX

Thanks, Lady. I'm still here on the lake and going to stay. You just never know where these things will go after landfall but they always seem to recurve over us! I'm usually much more prepared for 'the worst' but this time I just can't seem to get it in gear.<< A good sign it will knock out our power for days! O, well. They are beginning to take down our lake in anticipation for all the rain coming.

I'm much more concerned about the NO area. I heard a little blurb on the news that a levee in Kenner failed. This is not far from Mom & Dad's home. I just got off the phone w/ Mom(evac'ed to her sister's in Texas) who wanted to know if I'd read about it "from that news website you go to" (she meant FR!) and could I get any more info about it there. I told her no one was there to give a report -all the news type folks were either in downtown NO or on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This is all very hard on my parents. So thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

326 posted on 08/29/2005 2:42:01 PM EDT by Lakeside ((northeast Alabama))

==========================================

Yesterday I had to shop and do housework, and was making homemade beef vegetable soup (and beef stroganoff at the same time). Managed to post just once on the Prayer Thread for TexasCowboy, now out of the hospital...in the evening had to prepare for my every-other-Tuesday trek to Aiken for Dr. Whirling Dervish (with his knives-LOL), as I called him today.

I was glued to the television set yesterday watching the hurricane move into the shore on the Gulf and up...simply didn't feel like posting, realizing Lakeside's parents' house must be in the area under water; no doubt no longer have a home.

I thought then of dutchess and GailA and all the Ohio Freepers in the path; and of WVNan perched on the banks of the Ohio River.

THINK ABOUT IT - all the heavy rain falling up through Pittsburgh ends up coursing toward the Ohio River, which in turn goes on to the Mississippi River - - and then the IMPACT when THAT reaches its mouth at New Orleans....very sobering, and heartbreaking. It isn't over yet.

Came home this afternoon, and had to shop some more...we had only a few bands of brief showers, and none of the tornadoes for which we had warnings until 4 p.m.

The worst moment came last night around 1 a.m. when I switched to CNN for different scenes from Fox, and Jeanne Meserve was reporting to Aaron Brown on the section near the Dome under water, and attempted rescues before dark - a pro, she was totally shaken "hearing screams in the dark from persons trapped on their roofs since morning," and no way to get to them, with live wires and leaking gas in the water; rescue boat propellers snagging on a submerged railroad track, etc....

My heart and prayers go out to "ALL" those affected in "any* way by this Tragedy of The Century in America.

[WVNan]

Thought I should check in with everyone. I'm devastated at the tragedy unfolding before our eyes. I can't do anything but pray and pray and pray. Sorry I do not feel up to chatting, but I did love reading about your travels, Dave. I've been to every one of those places you went and your pictures from the 50s brought back a lot of memories. God grant us all peace in the storm.

[Aquamarine]

I'm cleaning that last post up. *whew*

Anyone who is still in the path of this huge storm will be effected by it, especially if they are on the east (nasty) side of it. It's the most powerful storm in our lifetime, when I saw it coming on the Vis Loop it took my breath and brought me to tears knowing that it would leave death and destruction in it's wake.

[WVNan]

Oh Sistah. I never even thought about worrying about us. We're fine here. Just a few rain showers. Living on the banks of the Ohio, but a very large floodwall between the river and my house. Not to worry. In fact I was thinking, as someone else mentioned, that I can open my home for a Freeper family from N.O. if they need one. I don't know how we could get that message to them.

I've thought about you a lot in the last couple of days, wondering how you are doing. I'm looking at a Gall Bladder operation in the next two or three weeks. Will meet with a surgeon next week. Seems such a minor thing to me, I almost hate to take the time. Got to run now. Loveya.