A Family Car

The blue Plymouth station wagon had served Paul's parents well and they were getting a new Jeep Wagoneer. The Plymouth still had miles left on it so Paul's dad gave it to us. We had not yet owned a car so this was a real blessing to our young family. We had four children and it was nice to finally have our own set of wheels. We lived in Coronado and could walk everywhere in our small town. Paul's dad, aka Pop, helped us by taking us to the grocery store when needed. We sometimes had other rides with him too so we had managed without a car. We also knew how to use public transportation when necessary.

This is the car that I had ridden in to go to the hospital to have at least two of our babies. I already wrote about the middle of the night ride to the hospital with Pop to deliver our youngest baby at Mercy Hospital in San Diego. Paul's parents also took me to the hospital in Coronado to have my first baby. The blue Plymouth was their vehicle then.

They purchased the Plymouth while Paul and I were dating in 1954, unless it was late 1953 as we were beginning our courtship then. It was a 53 model car. It is the car Paul's brother drove to take us to San Diego the day we were married at the Methodist Church in Coronado in August of 1954. San Diego was our destination since that is where we had our honeymoon. Paul had to work that week at the civic center in San Diego and we made the most of the situation. We stayed in a motel across the street from where Paul worked at the time.

This little blue station wagon was also the vehicle that I rode in with Paul's parents when they took me to Fort Ord to meet Paul after his Army basic training in 1955. We had an enjoyable trip going north on the coast highway towards Monterey, California and then to Fort Ord. Paul was ready for some leave time and I was so happy to see my new husband. I was expecting our first child that same summer and this would be the last time we spent together before she was born. Paul was able to come south with us back to Coronado and spend some precious time with me.

The next summer when Paul was in Korea his parents took baby Kathy and me on a vacation to see my grandma and other relatives in Washington state. The Plymouth was the vehicle we rode in on that memorable vacation. That was the only time I got to see Grandma after I was married and a mother. So Grandma got to see little Kathy, but never got to see my other babies. Kathy had her first birthday on that vacation. Paul's father had the car packed with the crib on top and the mattress to the crib in the back seat for Kathy to sleep and play on as we traveled. No child seats or seat belts in those days. I rode in the front with Mom and Pop. The luggage fit nicely in the back of the car.

That little blue station wagon transported family members for years. Paul's parents went on at least one or two other vacations in that car. One trip they took with just the two of them was to see family in Michigan soon after Paul and I got married. They did not get as many opportunities to travel as they would have liked. But they did enjoy life. They enjoyed square dancing together for a number of years.

I think it was 1965 when Paul's parents gave us the Plymouth. I know we had it when we moved to Olive Lane from the two hundred block of F Avenue. It was with us helping us move everything to the other end of Coronado, from near the bay to a block or two from the ocean. Our station wagon took us to church and Sunday school each week as well as trips to the grocery store. Old Blue was used to these trips as she had been used for transporting us over the years when the senior Marvins had her.

One time soon after we moved to Olive Lane we decided it was high time that we go to the mountains in our "new" vehicle. We had not been able to do this without a car of our own. It had been years since we had made this trip to our mountains. They are not very far away, but they may as well be in another state with no way to get there. We packed a picnic and all four children into our car and headed east to our destination. It had been so long since we had been that way. This is when the freeway over the mountain was partly built. I was used to the old highway so it was not all familiar to me. Paul was not used to driving freeways yet either. We had an adventure ahead of us.

We managed to get just to the other side of Alpine when we had car problems. It was overheating so we could not continue east to Cuyamaca or Julian. We were just beginning the mountain road east of Alpine and had to turn back to find another place to picnic. We were blessed to find a park in Alpine that fit our need. This was Dinosaur Park which was a very interesting place to discover. It had probably seen better days but that did not matter to us. We never found it again and it isn't even there anymore. So glad we enjoyed this little bit if local history.

Paul soon learned to drive freeways and get around San Diego with me navigating. We didn't go a lot of places though as we mainly stayed in Coronado. It was nice to have the car available when we needed it. We eventually got another used car and gave our blue Plymouth to a teenager we knew. I don't remember what year that would have been. Our old car was used by a class in high school to learn auto mechanics if my memory serves me well.

In 1972 Paul's Dad was getting another car so he gave us the Jeep Wagoneer that he had used for so many years. The Jeep had seen some good days with the family as well as some sad days. Our children had enjoyed rides with their grandparents in the Jeep. The senior Marvins enjoyed many happy moments together in their blue Wagoneer. Paul's mother had her final rides in this car not long before she died after her long battle with breast cancer. She died on her sixtieth birthday in December of 1971. She had been the hostess at many a family gathering. We would miss her delicious meals and the filled cookie jars. She was the grandmother that never forgot a birthday. I'm sure she would have liked seeing us enjoy our "new" Jeep Wagoneer. It may have been a 1965 model but it was new to us.

In 1973 we bought our home in San Diego, south of Chula Vista, east of Imperial Beach. This is the south part of San Diego somewhat removed from most of San Diego. We sure appreciated having Jake the Jeep to help us move this time. We traveled out of Coronado for this move. Our first time living someplace besides Coronado. My mother was just one mile from where our new place was. She was happy to have us nearby. Our blue Jeep saw us through many adventures. We finally had those mountain trips we so longed for. I learned the map by heart to get us places.

Jake the Jeep was a few cars ago, but we are still in the house we moved to in 1973. We bought several cars that we got a lot of mileage from and then Paul's Dad gave us one more car after he stopped driving. The last one we got from him was a Nissan Sentra. It was a nice little car that we enjoyed for a few years. We bought one more car that we used for a short time. We now use public transportation and enjoy the kindness of others when they offer us rides. Our car history is not really very long, but we have enjoyed going a lot of places along the way. We have collected memories from all the western states and many National Parks. We have enjoyed living close to beaches. And it is not really so far to the mountains and desert. San Diego county has it all. We can do three separate terrains in one day. But we do need a car to do this.

Thankfully we have family and friends to continue our adventures with. When Bill is here from Florida we go more places than we did when we had our car. So the adventures continue.