MY DAD PART 2

Dad, Jay, Evy 1954

To continue on with the record of the cars my dad bought, and the miles he drove, here the details get a little fuzzy for me.  I do recall my older brother, Jay, purchasing a Nash Rambler at some point.  He was still in high school I think.  Somehow, when my youngest brother, Wayne, was about one year old, that would be in about 1957, my mom, Jay, me, Evy, Davy, and Wayne decided to drive the Nash to Spokane from Alexandria.  My mom refused to drive into Washington D.C. but she would drive 3000 miles across the country.  Jay helped with the driving and I sat in the back seat between Davy and Wayne while they stood on their heads and kicked their feet.  I was charged with holding their legs and feet away from kicking anybody sitting in the front seat in the back of the head. Evy must have sat in front also.  All I remember about that trip was that I never babysat again.  (That might have been related to why I allowed Davy and Wayne to take apart the Baby Ben alarm clock.  My mom asked me if I had been watching them.  I said, “Yes, I watched them take apart the clock.”) I had posttraumatic babysitting stress after that.  Evy took over and was in charge of the boys from then on. 

Dick and Wayne in Virginia 1961

So because we took Jay’s car to Washington, my dad must have kept the VW Microbus in Virginia.  

A few years later in 1961, that bus was to take an epic trip from Virginia to Washington, with eight people aboard. Not only did we have my dad, mom, me, Evy, Davy, and Wayne but my grandfather Edson.  He had been staying with us since December.  We decided to visit his relatives and old hometowns on our trip across country for his sake and to gather some genealogy of the family.  My cousin, Dick, had flown down from Alaska for some sightseeing and band camp.  He arrived about the first part of June and we left on our journey for out west about the 26^th of July.  He recalls being soaked one night as he slept outside the Microbus under a tarp, which blew off during a storm. (I notice the storm was on July 29, my birthday. We had all forgotten it. The storm topped it off as a good day to forget!) Dick also remembered that the bus had a difficult time chugging up the continental divide with 8 people aboard.  My footlocker for college was strapped on top. 

Edson relatives in about 1961

Grandma and Grandpa Stowell with the grandchildren 1961

Valentine, Dodge truck, Dad, and Heather in about 1982

My dad was to purchase about three or four more cars in his lifetime. His last vehicle was a Dodge truck. 

Below is the report written by Mom about our trip that summer of 1961.