A Trip To Remember

In 1986 Paul and I planned our trip to remember. We had not done much traveling while all of our children were at home. This would be the first trip for Paul and me together to Montana and Washington. I had been to Montana twice with some of my children. I had also been to Washington, but not with Paul.

We carefully planned this vacation to see family. We purchased the car Paul had his heart set on, a preowned Cadillac. Paul's friend that knew cars, and especially liked Cadillacs, recommended this car. It was a comfortable vehicle and had enough room for all we needed to pack. I planned to take things to family in Montana and Washington. Some of Elizabeth's things were still at our house. She had lived with us from 1980 to 1985. So I needed to take them to her in Billings.

My photo album begins with saying "bye" to Poosey Gato and Laura on Tuesday September 2, 1986. The next pictures are in Nevada and Utah as we headed north. Paul and I had been to these states on earlier trips. We used to have a friend to visit in Utah, which we did at least two times in the early '80s. The kids and I headed north through Utah to Montana the first time in 1979. This is a very scenic area with mountains, lakes, rivers and farmland, as well as beautiful parks.

We continued north through Idaho with more beautiful scenery. We had several nights in motels as we headed north on the way to Montana. On Friday we were driving through Montana, almost to my sister's in Billings. We saw some of Yellowstone but did not stop as we would go there later with family. When we got to the highway heading east all was well until a little fox ran alongside the car. "Foxy don't do that." Next thing you know he ran in front of the car. Oh no, poor thing. We were on a freeway and could not stop. Not a happy moment for Paul as he never hits animals on the road.

We arrived at Betty and Sam's and parked Dagna Deville next to her twin. We both had Cadillacs that were almost identical, just different colors. We would be doing some traveling in their car while in Montana. We unpacked a lot of things for my niece so our car was a lot lighter now.

While with my sister and brother-in-law we went to Yellowstone. Elizabeth was with us too. This was my third time there. It was Paul's first time at this National Park. The first time I went was in '79 with my sister Betty's family and three of my children. Sam was a story teller and I needed to be discerning whether he was telling a tale or the truth. I fell for a big one. The mountains were steep and had areas that did not have a lot of growth like steep trails. Sam told me that is where the bears slide down the mountain. Sounded good to me. On a later trip in 1981 Elizabeth overheard me telling my other sister and brother-in-law this story. She started laughing and asked me where I got this tale. I told her that her dad told me. That is when I learned that I had been had. I fell for Sam's tale.

Some time later Laura and I read that animals do play and that maybe there could be some truth to Sam's tall tale.

After five days with the Hamiltons Paul and I were on the road again heading west. We stayed one night in a motel in Missoula, Montana. The next day we arrived at my Aunt Beulah and Uncle Leo's in Libby, Montana. This was Paul's first time meeting them. They were married more than 60 years at that time. Beulah was Mom's adopted sister. I would have loved to have lived closer to her and get to know her better. We got to stay overnight at their house. They were not in the best of health so I'm sure this was not easy for them, but they were very hospitable. The girls and I had visited them in '81 when we were in Montana, but we did not stay overnight that time.

Aunt Beulah and Uncle Leo have since died. He was almost 100 years old when he died. They died within months of each other. She was in her late nineties.

After leaving Libby, Montana we continued west towards Washington. We saw the Grand Coulee Dam and drove through the North Cascades heading to Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. Next stop after one motel night was at our daughter and son-in-law's. We arrived there on Saturday and went to church with them the next morning. Kathy, John and little Becky went to the Bible Baptist Church on the island.

While we were visiting our children in Washington they took us a lot of places. We enjoyed the scenery of Whidbey Island as well as nearby towns such as LaConner. We ate at the Lighthouse Inn where Paul took pictures of the boats going by. That is when Paul took a picture of a fishing boat that turned out to belong to my cousin's husband. That was an amazing coincidence. We discovered this when my cousin was looking at our pictures quite sometime later.

We had picnics, family gatherings and all sorts of fun on this vacation. We had more family visit us at Kathy and John's in Oak Harbor. We also visited our family in the Bellingham area. My niece Debra and her little family lived in Ferndale and we had a large family gathering there. My cousin Diedra and her family joined us at that gathering. We also went to Laurel to see my Uncle Ray on the old family farm. Uncle Ray was my mother's younger brother. Several cousins and their families joined us on the farm for another family get together. This is the farm that had originally belonged to my great grandparents. A lot of the family lived nearby, especially when my mother was little.

Back at Kathy and John's on the island we celebrated Becky's second birthday a week early, before we had to head home. One of the large packages we had brought on this trip was for Becky's birthday. It was a cute doll house. We have pictures of Becky with her presents. We have pictures of her with family. We also have pictures of her with lots of pretty scenery. There are Dutch windmills on Whidbey Island, as well as pretty tulips. Of course there are pictures of her with these. Appropriate that now she is married to someone with a Dutch heritage. So her baby, Jacob, is half Dutch.

Whidbey Island has Deception Pass and a bridge at the north end. There is a ferry at the south end of the island. There is another ferry from the island to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. Paul and I had to say "bye" to our dear ones on Saturday September 20th. We headed to the ferry heading west to Port Townsend. Then we headed south and then east towards I-5 and Vancouver, WA and then across the Columbia River to Portland. We continued south, towards California with motel stops along the way.

The car had been good to us to this point. But I was getting uneasy about the smell and then it began to overheat. We made a number of tries to find out the problem. We still got to enjoy the scenery in Oregon. I also enjoyed the Redwoods. I was disappointed that Paul was not as excited about the Redwoods as I was. I always enjoy the Redwoods. This may have been Paul's first time there, but he was getting tired of driving at this point. I don't drive and driving is not his favorite thing to do unless he is going for a lot of birds.

As I said we tried to find out why the car was overheating. We went to different stations along the way. I think we changed a hose. At another stop we got a new water pump. Everything was just a temporary measure. After one service station in the middle of California when we thought we had the problem solved we gave a lady and her boy a ride to their car. They were waiting for a friend to tow them. Not long after we said goodbye to them our car said no more. We were in the middle of nowhere. We had to wait for someone to help us. The wait was not long before the Highway Patrol came to our aid.

The C.H.P. called a tow truck for us. We did not have to wait long for the tow truck. The next thing you knew we were in Coalinga in a motel and our car was at the garage for diagnosis. The last pictures I have of that trip is our car being towed. Not in a picture mood after this. Actually the last picture Paul took is a billboard of "Jesus is Lord of Coalinga."

We ended up in Coalinga for three days while the car was being repaired. The only good part is that the real problem was found on the car, and repaired. It was a little plug that needed to be replaced, but it required major disassembly to find it. It should have been done before we bought the car.

This was some time after there had been a bad earthquake in Coalinga and there was still evidence of that event in the area. The motel left much to be desired. At least there was a decent restaurant in town.

What made me decide to write this is in remembering the worst motel night anyone could ever expect to have. The man that checked us in must have had a few drinks under his belt. He was just filling in for the manager. We paid him and he showed us our room. We were getting settled in for the night when he came to the room and accused us of ripping him off. He accused us of stealing the money we gave him. We nicely told him otherwise. Then he went around telling other people at the motel that we had done this awful thing. It was the most nightmarish thing ever.

Quite some time later, maybe the next morning, he came to our door and said that he found the money. He apologized profusely. What could we do but to accept the apology? We didn't even tell the manager what had happened to us. We probably should have. We stayed in that motel two more nights, but in a different room. We had checked out hoping our car would be ready, but no such good news. That is why the different room. There was not much choice in motels either. I never would wish the motel night from hell on my worst enemy.

Thankfully when we left Coalinga we were through with car problems for that trip. We enjoyed the remaining miles heading south, except for worrying about possibilities of problems. They did not happen. We arrived home with photos to put in albums and stories to tell.

pictures from vacation album- family picture at Debra and Pete's in Ferndale, WA-
John, Kathy& Becky; Diedra with Marie& Nathan; Paul, Shawn and Debra.
Bear Tooth Pass on the way to Yellowstone National Park with Sam, Betty,
Elizabeth and Paul. Next picture is Aunt Beulah & Uncle Leo in Libby, MT.
Windmill with Kathy, John & Becky- Oak Harbor, WA.  Two year old Becky
with birthday cake.  Caroline, Becky, John & Kathy at Peace Arch State Park.
Last picture- Dagna Deville.