The car I remember the most traveling to Idaho in was a Chevy two tone, four door, coup. Mom and Dad would sit in the front with Richard usually and Sandra, Kathryn, Douglas and I would sit in the back. When we were little it wasn’t too bad but as we grew it got more and more crowded. I remember being little enough to lay on the shelf in the back window. It was really cool to watch the night sky filled with stars. We would leave at 4:30 in the morning and drive all day and get to Idaho sometime in the afternoon. We would all have our pillows and sleep. There was no freeway then the highway was all two way. There would be a break in Salt Lake to visit Aunt Delihlia and then on to Pocatello. Mother would bring cheese and crackers and sandwiches and other easy snacks. Dad would do all the driving. We would play games such as seeing who could find the alphabet on the bill boards along the highway. But the best part of our car trips was when Dad would tell us stories and recite his poetry. Some of the stories were sung but most were narratives. There was the “Cremation of Sam Mcgee”, “The Strawberry Roan” and many others that I knew by heart but can not name any more. Sorry Dad. Dad made a tape of him reciting many of these stories and poems for each of us many years latter and it is a treasure.
We would usually stop at Grandmas first and I remember always trying to imagine Mother living in that small house as a young girl and again when she lived there with Grandma and Sandra and Kathryn while Dad was in the Army. Then on to Uncle Richards and Aunt Vera’s.
There is a hot springs resort close to Pocatello and I remember going there a few times on our trips. Dad never swam and I remember Mother getting into a bathing suit when I was young but never when I got older.
I remember one trip where we stopped at Lagoon for the afternoon. Lagoon had a huge swimming pool and we all went swimming. I don’t remember how old I was but I could not swim very well but I found that if I bobbed down to the bottom of the pool and pushed up again I could travel along and get where I wanted to go. There were some platforms out in the middle of the pool and I wanted to get out to them. So I was doing my bobbing and pushing and my sister Kathryn was sure I was drowning so she came to rescue me. She couldn’t swim any better than me and she wouldn’t let me go out to the platform. Oh well, I felt like I knew what I was doing but to her it looked like I was in real trouble. It all depends on who’s perspective you’re looking at. After swimming we would go on some of the rides. There were not as many rides as there are today. We would go in the fun house, some of us would ride the roller coaster and the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round. Mom and Dad always tried to help us have fun and have new experiences.
Fun memories of Idaho. I’m certain we all drove our Sorensen cousins crazy with our TV addictions. I was especially entranced with the commercials…the doublemint twins, m & m’s melt in your mouth now in your hands. Do remember that Uncle Ed and Aunt Delilah would turn off the sound on the TV whenever there was a comercial? I remember going to visit Grandma Sorensen when Uncle Keith and Aunt Vera lived in a little apartment in the back part of her house and shared the bathroom with Grandma. The had two doors in the bathroom, one went to their bedroom and one to Grandma’s room. Uncle Keith used to chase us around and threaten to tie my shoe laces together so I couldn’t chase Kathy. I think you were probably too little to remember those times. Once I remember staying with Grandma for a few days. I think Kathy was there too. I loved laying on Grandma’s bed and tracing the quilt blocks on her crazy quilt. I could see dress fabric I remembered from of her clothes. I loved that quilt.
I really liked our trips to Idaho except that I, like you, also felt like a poor step child when we stayed with Uncle Richard and Aunt Norma. Do you remember when they would stop and see us on their summer trips to California? They had a travel trailer behind their car and they would stay in the trailer. Once Linda (who was my age) told me that her mom didn’t like to come and see us because we were poor and mom always fixed creamed tuna on toast for lunch! I was so made that I didn’t want to see them again for a long time. I actually loved mom’s creamed tuna on toast and thought it one of the yummy things she made and I didn’t understand why Aunt Norma didn’t value it as much as I did.