I've been begging for feedback on our 1976 trip to the West Coast. The response on been as expected. Nothing! Hello! Did I take this trip alone?
Well in rummaging through some old pictures, your mom came across some old pictures of our trip and she stumbled upon some notes written by Kelly on the first few days of our trip. The following quote came from her on the second day of our trip as we approached Rapid City, South Dakota. "We went through the Badlands. We stopped at a tourist center. We've been staying at Ramadas. We went swimming in the pool including the slide. We ate at a Chinese restaurant. I had egg fu young, chicken chau mein and sweet and sour pork. Would you believe Chris had a hamburger! I got my sun glasses here. Paul had a blast at the playground with a rocket".
We've looked for more notes by Kelly, but there don't seem to be any.
Continuing my recount of events on our trip, we are in Los Angeles and have completed Disney. We moved to a motel in Torrence, California where Shelby's Uncle Clarence lived. It also happened to be where Marineland was located along the Pacific Ocean. Marineland would build a bigger complex in Florida several years later called Sea World. We stayed in Torrence several days. We scheduled the first day at Marineland. They had huge aquariums and put on a 60-90 minute show with seals, dolphins and a killer whale. It was a warm and sunny day and in the background was the blue Pacific Ocean. It was fun. They had high "needle" type structure that served as the center of a "donut" type carriage. You would sit in the circular donut and it would rise very high into the air while you viewed the spectacular area. It was also a big thrill because it revolved around the needle as it rose and it seemed like you were on top of the world.
Later in the day, we contacted Clarence Steger (George's borther) and his wife Rosetta. They lived in a trailer park in Torrence in a retirement community. They had a recreation center at the complex that provided events from bingo to swimming. The trailer they lived in was large and they were very cordial. Arrangements were made to return the next day for a home cooked meal.
We spent some time in Torrence just "bumming". We stayed close to the ocean and discovered how "the other half lives". Lots of sea-side castles.
At the end of the second day in Torrence, we called my Uncle Jerry located in northern Los Angeles in the Oxnard suburb. He said come on over. Tomorrow! Uncle Jerry!
Love,
Dad
You know I would comment on this trip.....if I remembered any of it!
I really enjoy reading your articles. Keep up the great work.
TBoardenson