It is summer 1976 and we are 17 days into our West Coast trip. Because I don’t remember the exact dates, I know we are getting close to Paul’s birthday on June 29th. He turns four. I’m sure the celebration was large and many gifts were bestowed on the the little fellow. If I know your mom, she had bought birthday gifts before we left and had them in one of the suitcases.
The launch point to head home was Bastow, California located on Highway 40 and on the western edge of the desert. I know Death Valley National Park was not too far away. The plan was to travel from Bastow to Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 4 days with an allowance for a 5th day if we got side-tracked. I admit that I don’t like desert but most of all, excessive heat. I’d had been told to traverse the desert in the early morning when it was cool. So we left early on a Tuesday morning. 6:00 AM. The trip across the arid desert land was about 150 miles and I think the early morning temperatures reached 90 degrees. The desert releases all kinds of pretty colors as the sun rises so it turned out to be a nice ride.
Interstate Highway 40 would take us all the way to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where we turn turn Northeast on Highway 44. As we came out of the desert, I remember signs telling us that the elevation was as we slowly rising as we approached the mountain ranges. Somewhere around Flagstaff, Arizona there was a sign “Grand Canyon, 60 miles North, Exit 1 mile”. A poll was taken excluding Paul and everybody decided they wanted to continue the journey home. The hell with the Grand Canyon, it was just a big hole in the ground. In hindsight, I wish we had taken the Grand Canyon diversion. The truth was that everybody was tired and wanted their own bed.
The next motel was Albuqueque, New Mexico. Uneventful. Good food, nice swimming pool.
The following day we ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It ended two long days of travel but we were within striking distance of home.
It was Thursday and we had targeted St. Louis. Time to have a little fun. Once we arrived in St. Louis, we visited the Arch and took a ride up to the top. If you are claustraphobic, you don’t belong in the tram that takes you to the top of the Arch or even the limited space for sightseeing at the top. It was an encounter Im sure everyone will remember. The rest of the day was spent at Busch Gardens in St. Louis. I honestly don’t remember a lot about Busch Gardens but we’ve got the pictures to prove we were there. The pictures show amusement type rides and entertainment.
Friday morning was important because the intent was to make it home by nightfall. Going home was almost as exciting as leaving originally. Going through Chicago at 3:00 PM was slow as usual but our Sheboygan arrival would be close to 7:00 PM. I think that the 4th of July was on Monday so that if we made it home on Friday night, we had 3 days to recover.
We arrived home close to 7:00 PM. We had survived 3 weeks together in a Chevrolet Station Wagon. It would take time to realize all that we had seen and done. The credit card bills would not start arriving for several weeks and I think I had a job to return to on Tuesday morning. I don’t know how my employer could function at work without me but my guess was “very well”.
That trip in 1976 was the only extented 3 week vacation we would ever take. It was the event of a lifetime and created many memories that will linger forever. We covered 16 states in 21 days. Imagine you kids returning to school in the fall and when they asked you what you did last summer, for once in your life you couldn’t say “nothing”.
Love,
Dad