AUTOBIOGRAPHY

By Floyd Hadley [Middle of 1992]

Introduction

At age 87, I am in exceptionally good physical condition but I don't believe it was altogether an accident. I have always taken good care of my body and tried to eat a good diet. In my later adult life I have remained active. I never let a day go by without some form of exercise.

For the last 30 years I have taken aerobic type exercises before I get out of bed. I do five routines of 100 each. I use a firm grip on the head of the bed and raise my body as high as I can with my shoulders and feet on the bed, then raise the left foot and then the right with my knees straight. Next first one, then the other knee to my chest, then, with legs straight, raise both legs at once as high as possible, bring them down but do not touch the bed. Next, upper body to the left and lower body to the right and alternate. I also use a trapeze over my bed. This should take about 17 minutes.

When the weather is good I do two, 15 minute miles, fast walk. If the weather is bad I work out on my patio rowing machine and stationary bicycle. For what it is worth, I have been taking vitamin E for 40 years. Another goody is with puckered lips, hold the face tight and expand the mouth as large as possible. I do this while I am taking my morning exercises and walking and when even I am in the mood. I think this helps me to look 60 when I am 87. The older we get the more important it is to keep every part of the body tuned up. My girlfriend is 21 years younger than I and she is positive that I can walk on water.

I always kept a diary when I traveled and the nineteen that I have were invaluable in writing my autobiography. I can still disco with the kids, all out, and I have all of my original teeth.

From the biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, these people were prominent in the history and development of this section of the Great West. John Henry Brandt, my grandfather, who was in the Civil War, married Adeline Bethel in Illinois. They had twelve children, one was my mother Lucy. My mother's grandfather was Jacob Brandt and his wife was Marry Long. Jacob's father was Benjamin and came from Germany.

My father, Elmo was adopted when he was an infant by Harlan Hadley and his wife Sue. His mother's name was Miller

Betty's father was Charles Robert Lee. He and his wife, Nancy Elizabeth Humpheries were born in Anna Illinois. Charles was the son of James R. Lee and Mary Watkins. Betty had two sisters and a brother; Clementine Ruth and Ernie.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FLOYD H. HADLEY

In the fall of 1900 my parents went to Oklahoma in a covered wagon shortly after the birth of my sister, Creola. They took out a homestead in the wide open spaces and tried to start a new life. They could not grow anything in the winter months and due to lack of food and the pioneering existence, they had to give up and return to Nebraska in the spring. Twenty-six years later my wife and I duplicated their adventuresome undertaking.

They lived in the little town of Diller, about 500 population. My other sister, Lelia, was born in 1903 and I came along in 1905. My father was a brick and tile layer. He took great pride in his skill. My mother was the eighth of a family of thirteen. Most of them still lived in the area. My father was adopted when he was a baby and his parents lived across the street from us.

We lived in a little four room house. The only modern convenience we had was a two hole outhouse on the back of the lot! I have a hazy memory of my sisters giving me a ride in a free wheeling, old baby buggy, down a hill. The foreseeable happened. It tipped over and I received a broken collar bone. This incident was an indication of how the rest of my life was going to be.

My first vivid memory was of a Christmas morning in 1908. had been told about Santa coming in the morning and sure enough, there he was in a home-made red suit and a beard made of cotton.

There was a bare-limbed shrub on the kitchen table with ships of cotton and little candles in holders clipped to a few

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branches. The big attraction was the three dolls at the base of the tree, each about a foot high. Two girl dolls for my sisters and a boy doll for me. I was disillusioned later when my sisters said they thought Santa was my father.

We lived across the street from Grandpa Hadley and one block from the 12th grade school. We could come home for lunch. Diller was a typical, narrow minded Midwestern town, on the Burlington rail road. This was before the automotive age and electricity had not as yet reached our town. No roads were paved and the few sidewalks we had were of wood. The closest town with electricity and pavement was five hours away by horse and buggy.

We did have a local telephone company. To make a call you first lifted the receiver to see if anyone was using the line. If not, you turned a crank to get the operator and told her who you wanted to talk to. There were several people on each line and they could listen to your conversation if they wanted.

Everyone had a garden to grow food for their family in the summer and process much as possible for the winter months. By the end of each growing season my mother would have about 400 quarts of fruit and vegetables on the shelves in our basement plus a 10 gallon crock of sauerkraut. We grew our own popcorn and got good seed corn from my grandfather Brandt, which we took to the mill and had it ground into corn meal for our corn bread. The miller kept one half for his grinding.

As I remember, we had old-fashioned oat meal and pancakes with sorghum every morning for breakfast. No coffee or tea, just

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water or milk to drink with our meals. Our big meal of the day was dinner at noon. In the evening it was supper. More often than not, we had fried meat and potatoes with some vegetable in season and always bread and butter. That was dinner.

Sunday dinner was quite often a big deal. We would have company at our place or go to friends or relatives. The adults ate first and the children got the second table. Alcohol was never used by us or any of our friends.

Our town had a store that sold the necessities of life that were available. Much of the food came in big sacks or 50 gallon barrels. If we wanted a loaf of bread, first we bought a 50 pound sack of flour. If we wanted milk we bought it from some one who had a cow, etc. We had several aunts and uncles who lived on farms. We would get a little pig in the spring and feed it our sloppy garbage and greens, in the late fall it would become 200 pounds of ham, bacon, chops, lard, etc. We also raised our own chickens and eggs.

On long summer evenings, we kids would get together for a game of run, sheep, run or jump-jump-pull away.

We three kids went to Sunday School every Sunday and our parents went to church afterwards. Our church was the First Christian. There was also a Methodist and a Presbyterian and in our little town and in our narrow minded environment we were taught to shun the opposing beliefs.

My mother belonged to the Royal Neighbor Lodge and my father was a Modern Woodsman. Between the two they held quite a few

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social events, such as oyster stews and square dances. I, as well as other kids, got to attend some of these functions. They were a lot of fun for the kids.

When motion pictures came to town on a Saturday night we would watch a three reel show. Lelia would play the piano while they were rewinding the reel and getting ready to show the next one. Later on they began to have a news reel before the show. The pictures were jerky and once in a while a film would break and have to be patched but it was a new and wonderful entertainment. My grandfather had an Edison gramophone that was quite a status symbol.

When I was about 8 years old our family went on the train to visit relations in Oklahoma. This was my first chance to see what the rest of the world looked like. I vividly remember the Union Station in Kansas City where we changed trains. That was the largest building I had ever seen. Electric lights everywhere and big bathrooms with modern plumbing. The train ride was about three days. It was hot, dusty, bumpy and noisy.

In 1910, my father built us a beautiful two story, seven room and basement home. It was one of the best around. I visited the little town in 1989 and it was still in perfect condition. Modern pluming was not available but we had the next best thing; a hand pump in our kitchen. The big wood and coal stove in the kitchen was what made our world go around.

We had a piano in the parlor and my sisters both played the piano and violin and were good singers. At any entertainment in

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town, they were always the top attraction. Lelia gave piano lessons when she was 14 years old and was writing music. At the age of 90 she still plays every day and at 93, Creola lives by herself.

I had many friends and the outdoors was my kingdom. Our town had a two story, six room school. Many farmer families were in the district and their children attended our school through the 12th grade.

I started working on farms during school vacations when I was about 10 years old. As I remember, I made about three dollars a week, room and board. I could go home Sundays but worked daylight to dark the rest of the week. In the late fall, I would run my trap line before school, catching muskrats, skunks and possums. My best year was during World War I. The price of furs was high and I sold about three hundred dollars in furs. This was when GIs were making thirty dollars a month. I bought a new bicycle and opened my own bank account.

The war against Germany and the Kaiser made many changes. rapidly learned our little town wasn't a very big part of the world picture. Quite a few farmers in our area were of German extraction and our high school taught a class in that language. There was instant hate. Some people, including those in the Kaiser movement, broke into the school and burned all the German textbooks in the yard. All during the war there were a lot of hard feelings.

My father was not drafted because of his three children.

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But he was in the National Guard. I had two uncles who enlisted. My Uncle Nimrod came home on furlough with a buddy from Texas. His friend fascinated me because it was the first time I ever heard a heavy Texas accent. I remember him saying that his father was a good man because the only bad thing he ever did was kill two niggers. When the war was over it was predicted there would never be another, because of that terrible new killer weapon, the machine gun.

The big event of the year was the annual Diller Picnic. People from mils around would attend. The biggest attraction for the kids was the Merry-go-round. My first move was to buy 20 tickets for a dollar. The Ferris wheel, side shows, carnival games, dances, baseball, political speeches and family gatherings made it a gala occasion. I remember seeing Halley's comet in 1910. It was a little after dark and it looked like a big blazing dragon in the northern sky. People were talking in whispers and were terrified. The rumor was if that long fiery tail touched the earth we would all be incinerated.

We had a big tent and several families would go camping on the river for a week each summer. The Little Blue River was eight miles north and we would put all of our equipment in a box car and unload it at the river. That was a big treat to get to ride on a freight train. We would catch a lot of fish and get dreadful sunburns, swimming in the raw.

In the late fall after a heavy freeze, my father and I would go down on Indian Creek and cut our winter supply of wood. That

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was where I learned how to swing an axe so well. This gave me an advantage over most men when I got on the fire department and had to open up walls in a hurry. The wood was free for the taking. Also, this was the best time of year to rob a hollow bee tree that I would spot earlier in the year.

In the winter months it got very cold at times and we would get some heavy snows. It was great fun for the kids with sleds and ice skates. The farmers would come to town in horse drawn sleighs with little bells on the harness. Our local banker bought the first car to hit town. It was a chain drive Brush and drew a crowd wherever it stopped.

The first electricity got to our little town about 1915. The town stores were first to have it. Just a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not. Some people were afraid the electricity escaping from the wire could cause great harm to them and the environment.

My grandfather Hadley was a shoe maker and owned a shop where he also sold shoes. I liked to spend time in the shop and smell the leather. He taught me how to make little things out of the leather. Every time he would give me a new pair of high top leather boots that I would wear every day till spring.

My grandmother was raised on a tobacco farm and smoked an old clay pipe. You could smell that thing a block away and boy, did I hate it when she would want to kiss me good-by.

They had a cow and I liked to churn the sour cream when she made butter. We had a hand powered washing machine that I worked

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up a sweat on about every week. My mother's father had 10 acres on the edge of town. I liked to go over there and help him. He still had his youngest daughter living with him.

There was a creek running through his property that had some good catfishing and muskrats to be caught in the fall. If we killed more rabbits than we wanted to eat in the winter we cleaned them and hung them on the back porch to freeze.

I bought a pair of tame rabbits from a friend and my father built a large outdoor cage. They kept me busy, cutting alfalfa and taking care of them. I soon learned what rabbits do best. In no time, I had 17. I was not about to let anyone eat my pets. At that time a big dog broke into the cage one night and killed all of them. I was heartbroken but I did not want any more rabbits.

When I was about eleven I got a part time job working in our local restaurant. I soon learned how to make sandwiches and do basic fry cooking. I remember we sold cigarettes and they had to be kept under the counter where people couldn't see them. My boss also sold ice in the summer time and I would help with the delivery around town.

My Christmas present one year was a wonderful little white fox terrier puppy. He and I were the best of friends until I got married. If I picked up a gun or a fishing rod, he would go wild.

Another little trick we had was to heat bricks on our base burner in the living room, wrap them in wool and take them to bed with us on cold nights. We also had a porcelain pot under our

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bed in case of emergencies in the night.

I had an uncle, we called him Wild Bill. He dropped in about every other year for a couple of days. He played wonderful rag time music by ear, on the piano. He played throughout the old west in frontier saloons.

When I got to be a teenager, a new world opened up. I found that girls were different than boys. One of my friends lived on a farm about two miles out of town. We spent quite a bit of time together. His folks owned a fancy horse and buggy. The harness was decorated with many colored rings. It was the height of fashion and something to be proud of. Glen and I would drive around our little town on a Sunday afternoon, pick up some of our girl classmates and go for a ride. We were big shots and taught life couldn't get any better.

There was not enough brick work for my father to do locally so he had to spend a lot of time away from home. When Fairchild Brothers of Endicott started to manufacture bricks, they offered him steady work if we moved there. We sold our beautiful home in Diller and bought the Endicott Hotel, restaurant and barber shop. It was a small town establishment. By then, I had quite a bit of experience in the Diller restaurant and I could be quite helpful up there.

I just completed the ninth grade in Diller when we moved to Endicott. My older sister, Creola, had graduated from high school and after going to summer school at the University of Nebraska, got a job teaching in a one room country school house.

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I also worked the first summer in the brick yard. The work was dirty and exhausting. Many days were over 100 degrees and on the clay crusher, I could not see the man next to me six feet away.

My sister Lelia married a railroad telegraph operator shortly after we moved. This town was on the little blue river where we used to go camping. I liked it because of the good hunting and fishing. The largest fish we caught was a 38 pound Flathead catfish.

I was the catcher on the high school baseball team. The school only had ten grades so I had to go five miles to the county seat city of Fairbury for my junior year. I was stepping up in class. My father bought a 1917 Model T so I could drive to school. That was our first car. At long last I entered the modern world. 8,000 people, pavement, electricity and modern plumbing. I made the football team, at left half-back, joined the DeMolay and had my first formal date to a dance.

My sister who married the telegrapher, lived in Fairbury and I stayed with them if the weather got too bad. The local pool hail was a popular hang-out and I became one of the better players. One of my subjects in school was, mental arithmetic. The teacher said I was the best in the class. That was the first and last time I was ever to hear that remark. Human flies got a lot of publicity at that time and I was one of the boys that climbed every tall building in the city.

Over the years my father had worked for many contractors and at this time, construction was about to start on a new State

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Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska. A contractor that knew my father promised him three years of steady work if he would move to Lincoln. That offer was too good to turn down. I was thrilled when we sold out and moved to the big apple. My sister, Creola, went to the University and I could take my senior year at Lincoln High with its over 2000 students.

We bought a three story, eight room duplex at 1810 M Street, near the center of the city. My mother rented three bedrooms to students going to the university. The big city turned me on. Opportunities for a better life were everywhere.

I very soon became an accomplished ballroom dancer with many friends, joined the Y.M.C.A. for swimming and gymnastics and made the high school swimming and wrestling teams. I studied shorthand, typing and bookkeeping among other subjects. I was preparing for a business administration course at Nebraska next year. I also enlisted in the local Naval Reserves, knowing that next summer I would get paid to take an active duty cruise on the Great Lakes sailing out of Detroit. Harry Reid, an ex-light-weight champion, ran a gymnasium for boxers and I started to work out there. He managed the state champion, The Nebraska Wild Cat, Ace Hudkins. I was in heaven.

The first winter we lived in Lincoln saw the start of a modern miracle radio. The university students who lived at our house built a little crystal set. Lo and behold, music came over the air. The first sets needed batteries for power. B eliminators allowed radios to be plugged in to the house current

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later on. The first manufactured sets cost about a months wages and we would have to tune in a station with three dials.

I worked most of the summer of 1924 as a lifeguard at the big music swimming pool. By now, I was an accomplished diver and swam back-strokes with the Y.M.C.A. team. I took second place in the state championships at Omaha. I also got to take my wonderful training cruise on the Great Lakes, on the U.S.S. Paduka. I was on cloud eight.

Another interesting experience was a hobo trip with a friend. We rode the roads south to the early wheat harvest. We shocked some wheat but I wound up selling raffle tickets for the American Legion, giving away a new car in St. Joseph, Missouri. I came home and got a job in a local plumbing shop to make some money to start the 2nd semester at Nebraska University. I went back to school and made the boxing team. My old instructor, Harry Reed, was the coach and I had a chance to work out with Ace Hudkins several times.

By now, my sister, Creola, was engaged to a LeRoy Mason. He was an accountant for the A.B.A. Oil Company. They delivered fuel oil and had several stations.

When school was out, I was offered a job with the company. I started at $25 a week which was about five dollars more than any of my friends were making. I bought a 1922 Hupmobile touring car and hit the jackpot. A buddy and I were cruising on 0 Street one Sunday afternoon when we spotted two little cuties in an old Model T with a flat tire. We fixed their flat and they

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took a ride with us. Guess what! before the ride was over, I told my little black haired beauty that I was going to marry her. Two years later, I did. I was one year older than she.

Betty Lee was a beauty operator and a wonderful dancer. Her father was a retired Lincoln fireman and a customer of mine at the filling station. Not long after that, my sister married LeRoy. Betty and I were their attendants. I went on another Naval Reserve cruise. This time out of Duluth, Minnesota on the

U.S.S. Paduka. I won the boxing championship on board. Our move to Lincoln was just great for my father. It was the best job he ever had. He spent almost 3 years creating beautiful tile murals. They are still splendid to see.

Betty and I had been going steady for about a year and it seemed like the inevitable next move would be to get married. We became engaged. For some unknown reason, we chose Christmas day, 1926, for the big day. We double dated a lot and there was never a week that we didn't go to at least one dance. Betty was the last child at home but she had two married sisters in Oklahoma and a brother in San Francisco. We started saving money for the big event and bought a few necessities. We found an almost new apartment near the Capitol building to rent.

Our best friends, Jack and Franny, were our attendants at the little ceremony. That evening the four of us went to a dance at the auditorium. When we at last got to our pretty little apartment and opened the door, the place looked like a disaster had struck. There were enormous amounts of toilet paper spread

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over everything.

The next day Betty's family had a nice dinner for my family. We did not want a winter honeymoon; we just took one day off and back to work. Betty did her best to fix wonderful meals and I tried to eat them. Consequently, I gained 18 pounds the first month I had been down to my fighting weight of 160 pounds. I had to back away from the table a bit.

During the winter I drove a fuel oil truck and made $30 a week. We bought one of the best radios and had a lot of pleasure with this new form of entertainment. Many stars from the stage and screen entertained. Most of the better programs emanated from Hollywood and we started talking about going to the coast.

In those days driving to the coast was a great adventure. We decided to go. There was a lot to do. First we would have to start saving money to buy another car. That would be a 1924 Ford Model T Coupe. Betty's folks gave us a tent and camping equipment. Our target day was the 7th of August, 1927. Most of our friends thought we would return soon but that was not what we had in mind. My boss said he would hold my job. The last thing we did was sell our wonderful radio for $250. That was the end; we were ready to go on the adventure of a lifetime.

Three days later we saw our first mountains. I had my first doubts when I had to put that Model T into low gear before we started to climb. The only paved roads we would have was in the city of Denver and Salt Lake. We followed the so called Lincoln Highway. In places farther west, it deteriorated into two tracks

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with weeds growing between them. Sometimes we would drive several hours without seeing another car. There was no tourist accommodation except in big cities. We had an extra tire, inner tubes and patching equipment, which we would use about every day. The old Model T's had three pedals on the floor, brake, reverse and forward clutch. The three worked with fiber bands that had to be adjusted till they wore out and then be replaced, which we had to do in Salt Lake City.

Everything we owned was strapped on the car or was in the trunk. In the mountains the best we could do was about 5 miles an hour, up or down hill. The unspoiled mountain scenery was a revelation to two kids from the Midwest. We found a nice camp ground in Salt Lake and rested up for a couple of days. A wonderful Saturday night dance got our attention. We stayed two nights. We had been lucky with the weather, rain and mud would have been a big problem. I doubt if we averaged over 20 miles an hour for the trip. We got up before daylight, to cross the desert hoping to beat the heat. There was not a formal road to follow, just tracks in the sand, half a mile wide and disappearing in the direction of the distant mountain. I had the car serviced and new bands installed in Salt Lake. It just kept going, slow but sure.

We at long last found that wonderful California pavement at Victorville and there were little cabins for rent with beds. We had it made! This was going to be our utopia. We had a clear destination; the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach. Seeing that ocean

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for the first time, with that beautiful line of breakers will never be forgotten. A few minutes later, we were in the water happy as larks. Our dreams had come true.

We found some cheap little beach cottages and rented one for a week. Now we would have our postponed honeymoon. The water smelled like sulphur and we could not see the bottom of the tub through six inches of water, but they said it was good to drink. Long Beach was notorious for being a retirement mecca for people from Iowa and their annual picnic was a big affair.

We had spent quite a bit of our little hoard of money and would have to find a job. That is not easy to do at times if you are a stranger out of your home environment. We looked in the newspaper ads and spotted one in Hollywood. A new company was starting an auto laundry. The first one on the coast and they wanted a crew. I had washed cars at the filling station in Lincoln and got in on the ground floor. The Grand Opening was in Hollywood style with flood lights and pretty girls. My pay was $4.50 a day. The cars moved down the line on a track and each man washed one section as they went past. After about a week they cut back on their manpower and then I had to wash twice the area for an extra fifty cents a day.

We rented a little apartment in a bungalow court nearby, and Betty easily got a job in a beauty parlor. We were in business! I became friends with a nice guy that I worked with. He and his wife started to run around with us. His name was Vernon Red Meyers. His wife was Charlotte. They were destined to be our

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life-long friends. Red also belonged to a college fraternity. The job was sort of a rat race going nowhere.

Prohibition was not a 100% law. In most states, it was legal to brew beer for your own consumption. So called bottle shops were legal. They sold equipment and material for the brew. They also sold bottles and authentic looking labels for any name brand liqueur; everything but the alcohol. Italians in San Francisco were permitted to make wine for their own consumption and it was no problem buying Dago Red for a dollar a gallon. One of the most popular drinks was Gin, - about five dollars for two fifths. Most of it was made with re-run rubbing alcohol. Bootleggers and speakeasies were easy to find. Local police were known to look the other way for a price.

When one of our customers asked me if I would be interested in $40 a week, the answer was yes. This was during prohibition. This guy was a bootlegger and he needed another driver to deliver five gallon cans of alcohol to retail bootleggers. I gave it a try. It was nice, easy work and I soon learned all the streets in our area. I drove a car with a special hidden compartment and fell into the easy routine. Red invited us to the Phi Delta Beta New Years party. I had the happy juice. It was a great party and four of us decided to go to Lake Arrowhead about 2 a.m. That was a mistake. We got stuck in the snow and had no sleep for 48 hours. I wound up in bed with the measles for 10 days., By the time I got my health back, I was out of a job.

The good thing was I had made friends with several Hollywood

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bootleggers and got a job with one of the best in the Hollywood retail trade. He was Les Willingham, a member of the Fox Hills Country Club. I started playing golf with him every morning. We didn't start deliveries till after 2 in the afternoon. Les had desirable connections. We were friendly with the Hollywood Police force. Many times the Shotgun Squad would knock on my bedroom window at night and I would give them a bottle of gin. Also, each week I would deliver a case to the station for the captain. I had my suits tailored by McIntosh of Hollywood. We were living it up and saving money.

Our big move came when a Chicago gangster by the name of Billy McCoy got run out of that city and hit Hollywood. He wanted to set up a still to manufacture alcohol from corn sugar. He needed local protection so he contacted Les and offered him a partnership. Les was willing but only if I would run the establishment. They offered me $20 a day to take on the responsibility. Now we are in big money. We rented a three story mansion on lower Laurel Canyon Road in Beverly Hills for $350 a month. In 1928, that was big money. Billy had a copper still shipped out from Denver and we put fifty 50 gallon oak barrels in the three top bedrooms. The still was in the basement and we ran hose lines down the hot air ducts. The estate was well landscaped and had 3 acres of trees and shrubbery. We were well hidden from the street. The house was fully furnished. We were careful about everything we did. Billy had a big Studebaker and the trunk held the 10 sacks of corn sugar he brought in every

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day. He would stay about an hour and leave with 10-5 gallon cans of 180 proof alcohol. It was easy to make. I would put 38 gallons of warm water in a 50 gallon oak barrel, add a sack of Cerlos corn sugar, a gallon of malt and 3 pounds of yeast. that would work for about 4 days and was then ready to run through the still. Each barrel produced five gallons of alcohol. We had a clean set up. Betty quit work to help me and our bank account was soon quite substantial. Up to this time, if you got caught, the penalty was a slap on the wrist, and was no big deal. Now, the federals stepped in and dropped the other shoe. They made it a felony. All at once it was not fun and games anymore.

The day the new law went into effect, we packed our suitcases and walked out the door for the last time. I was reluctant to go from $20 a day back to $5. I got the bright idea I would take our money and invest it into something I thought I was capable of handling; namely, a restaurant.

We hit the want ads again and I found a little steak house for sale. I though we could handle it okay. When I was a kid, my nickname was Happy. Thus, Happy's Steak House was born. We rented a little apartment nearby and went to work with a capital W.

We had been living the easy life so long we had forgotten what work was like. Especially 16 hours a day. It didn't take us long to find out we didn't like this rat race. We were getting homesick and still young and foolish. We got a chance to sell out and grabbed it. We bought a new Essex Coupe and left

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for Nebraska.

It was nice to see our family and friends again, but we didn't like the idea of going back to work in Lincoln. Betty had a sister who lived in Oklahoma City. She told us her husband could get me a job if we came down there. It was worth a try so we drove down. I got a job as a tile setter's helper and Betty went back to the beauty shop business. The west coast was in our blood and we wanted to give it another try.

New Years Day, 1929. I left for the coast and Betty stayed with her sister. I found two brothers to go with me and share expenses. I thought we could take turns driving and go straight through. After about 16 hours, I asked which one would like to drive. They looked at each other and informed me neither one could drive a car. I wanted to save money and decided to get it out and keep going. 1700 Miles in 40 hours to L.A.

I looked up Red and slept for 24 hours. I was also behind on my car payments and returned the car to the finance company. I moved into a room and board facility. Jobs were hard to find in 1929 and I just managed to get by working day labor at various trades. I could not find a job that looked like it had any future. Betty's brother lived in San Francisco. He said he could get me a steady job if I came up there. I went up on the overnight boat, the Harvard and moved in with Ernie and his wife, Margaret. He was an accountant for Libby McNeil and Libby, and got me a job in their warehouse. I sent for Betty and we were happily together again. Betty got a job in a beauty shop on

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Columbus Avenue in North Beach where we lived with Ernie. These were happy times. We had a flat with a beautiful view of the bay on the Hyde Street Hill. Majordo, who owned the Lido Night Club was our landlord and lived one floor below us. The Sunday night one dollar dinner, at the Club, was a must. This was still during prohibition and San Francisco was wide open town.

Speakeasies, wide open bars and bookmakers were all over the city. Most of the citizens were long time residents; Italian, Irish and Chinese. We had a safe city and there was very little violent crime. The cost of living was low and we made many new friends. Most of them were Italian and they enjoyed the good life.

One of Ernie's best friends was a San Francisco fireman, Andy Demo. We socialized a lot with him and his friends. He belonged to The Dolphin Club. The Dolphin, South End and Aerial Clubs were the oldest swimming and boating clubs on the coast. The city granted them space when they acquired the cove at the foot of Van Ness Avenue.

The club members were active all year round. Some of the die-bards swam in the coldest days of winter. The good part of that was the water temperature is about the same all year. Cold - 48 degrees is about average. The clubs also had four wall handball courts and a fast game after a dip was a good way to warm up. Many firemen belonged to the Dolphin Club and the cops mostly belonged to the South End. The Clubs were all male bastions up until recent times. Swimming was my favorite sport

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so I joined the Dolphin Club.

The San Francisco Chronicle held an annual Columbus Day, Golden Gate Swim every year. There would be about 140 entrants from far and near. The spectacle received a lot of publicity. made a special effort to put on a little weight to combat the cold water and get in shape for the swim.

The course was from Fort Point to Lime Point Light House. This was not an endurance swim but a sprint due to the fast changing tide. The start was 30 minutes before low water. This gave the swimmers about an hour to cross the gate before the incoming current could sweep them into the bay.

Each person had to have a pilot in a row boat to keep them on course and out of tide rips. My friend, Andy Demo, was my pilot. Needless to say, the start was always organized confusion. The racers had to contend with unpredictable tide rips in that narrow channel. At times, you could be swimming your best and be going backwards over the bottom. Due to this condition, it was impossible to estimate the exact distance of the swim. Rough water in the rips was always encountered and if there was any wind, many of the entrants got in trouble and had to be taken out of the water.

My best time for the swim was 40 minutes and 10 seconds when I finished seventh in 1934. I received a nice silver trophy for my efforts. I also swam in 31, 32 and 33 and received awards each year. Friends and relatives could follow the race from chartered party boats and there was always a flotilla of private boats

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checking the action. I had my application in several places for a better job and soon got a call from Fiberboard at 1789 Montgomery Street. I went to work for them and soon became a Swift Press Operator printing cartons. I worked on the top floor with a fantastic view of all San Francisco Bay.

The Fire Department was giving an entrance examination and my friend, Andy, wanted me to take the examination. The Stock Market crash was on but the full impact had not yet hit the industry. Over 4,000 took the examination and when the list came out, I was number 73. Due to the economy, I had to wait two years before I was appointed to the job.

We started to grow up and settle down in 1931 when we were blessed with our first daughter, Sunny. We rented an apartment of our own in North Beach. The Cable Car clanged its bell 10 feet from our bedroom window night an day, but we got used to it. When I took the examination, Fiberboard was working three eight hour shifts around the clock seven days a week. We were paid overtime Saturday and Sunday. In 1932, when I was appointed to the fire department, they were down to one 8 hour shift 4 days a week.

The panic was on all over the world. I was making 70 cents an hour. The 24th of December 1932, was the most important and happiest day of my life. There was nothing in the world I wanted more than to be a San Francisco fireman. The starting salary was $180 a month. At the time this was big money working at a job I loved. At long last, we were in heaven.

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Now Betty could quit work and take care of our wonderful baby with another one soon to be, our Diane. We were on top of the world. I was unassigned my first two years on the department and worked in almost every house in the city mostly doing vacation tours.

Much to my surprise, during that time, I encountered discrimination. 95 Percent of the personnel was either Irish, Italian, Catholic and native sons. I was none of the above. This lasted more or less until World War two when the great influx of imported labor put an end to it.

Firemen had many perks that went with the badge, such as free public transportation, green fees at four golf courses. We would often play 36 holes when we were on the night shift. Our badge was good for discounts at most wholesale houses. The excitement of the job turned me on and I pulled out all the stops when I went into a fire. I soon got the reputation of being an aggressive fireman. We made many friends in the department and had a happy life.

At the time I was appointed to the department, about half of the firehouses still had the old wooden floors on the apparatus floor. As you walked in the door, the unmistakable smell of horses was in the air. Some of the old pieces of apparatus still had the shift lever over the running board and made in 1917. The only men equipped with breathing equipment were the rescue squad.

We worked 14 hours on the night shift and 10 hours on the day shift and changed each 7 days with 24 hours and 48 hours off.

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This was eventually changed to 24 on and 48 off. Now it is even more time off each month. We also had to buy all of the clothing that we wore. The only thing free was the badge.

My first big fire was shortly after I was appointed. There were several large lumber yards south of Market street and one of these, a block square, was touched off in three places. We were called in on the first alarm, early in the evening and we were still working when it was time to go off duty at 8 a.m. By the time the new shift relieved us, it was about 9 a.m. We were exhausted. We had been in the heat and smoke all night. The only protection I had was a sponge I had in my teeth and somewhat filter the smoke. When I walked out of the center of the smoldering stacks of lumber, I came face to face with the Big Chief, Brennan. He was of the old school and let me have it.

Take that God-damned sponge our of your mouth before you choke to death! Now everyman going into a fire has breathing equipment.

During the big water front strike in 1934, I was assigned to the fire boat. The city was locked down and we had to stay on duty for three days. The strikers built a big bonfire and we responded and came back with three bullet holes in our fire engine. The year I got my Gold Medal I was the only one to get any meritorious award. Now 60 or 70 citations and awards are granted each year.

We bought a Studebaker sedan and never ran out of interesting places to investigate. Several members of our

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families came out to see us. My sister, Lelia, her husband and two boys moved to Long beach; Ted, as station agent for U.?. at Long Beach Harbor. My father and mother came out and bought an almond orchard at Williams, 150 miles north of us. By now, we had Carole and a good life. Betty took the girls back to Nebraska twice to see her family. I had a good job but we were not able to save any money. There was no health service then and the doctor and hospital bills of our family took all the extra dollars.

One of my fire department duties was to go on theater details and that is how I met the owner of the Embassy Theater on Market Street, Dan McLean. He had a 40 foot cruiser at the St. Francis Yacht Club. He did a lot of sport salmon fishing and liked to have company. Nothing could give me greater pleasure than being on the boat, so very soon, he gave me the keys so I could help with the maintenance, and get the boat ready to cruise.

The big Worlds Fair on Treasure Island started in 1939. All of the land for the Island was dredged from the shallow waters of the bay, north of Goat Island. It took two years to build the Island. The Fair celebrated the completion of the two bridges.

After the fair, we were told the Island would be an international airport. It didn't quite work out that way. The fair was a great tourist attraction, no doubt about that. Billy Rose's Aquacade was the main attraction. The fire department had a full complement of apparatus and men on the Island. My sister

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Creola and her husband came out from Missouri to see the spectacle. I had a theater detail over there for a few watches when I was on disability leave caused by lacerations at a greater alarm fire. Sally Rand's nude ranch with the G string cowgirls was one of the must sees. Another wonder was to talk into a microphone and hear the playback.

In 1939, I got a summer vacation. Betty went back east and I went to Catalina Island with Dan, marlin fishing. Dan paid all of my expenses. We were gone 16 days. I wanted to become a knowledgeable boatman so I started navigation school at the ferry building. In about a year I had my U.S. Coast Guard Boat Operators License.

In 1940 we made one of the best decisions of our lives. We bought a new home at 2707-35th Avenue. It had five rooms with center patio and full basement. We paid $6000 for the home, $600 down. The day we closed the deal we gave the salesman $1 down. I had to borrow $400 from the bank at 4 percent to get the $600. Our first monthly payment was $38. Today, the home is worth $275,000.

Pearl Harbor turned the world upside down. The second and best half of our life started. Firemen had not been allowed to do any work on the side for pay. Now, with the demand of manpower all at once, a great opportunity opened. I started working on the waterfront and then got a job at Acme Brewery. I worked two jobs for about 20 years. We got out of debt in a hurry. Workers were being shipped by the trainload from the

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Midwest and south. San Francisco would never be the same again. There was a possibility of my being drafted. A few firemen had already entered the service. I didn't want to go in as a G.I. so I went to the Navy and presented my credentials Naval Reserve and Coast Guard Boating License. I was given an examination and later notified that I had passed and would go to Pensacola, Florida P.T. Boat School as a Lieutenant,J.G. Immediately thereafter, a new directive was issued that a man with three children and my age would not be taken into the service. History repeated itself. My father had the same thing happen to him in World war One.

We became a two car family due to my working two jobs. The Coast Guard had requisitioned my friend, Dan McLean and his boat for Bay Patrol duty. Dan told me there were several owners of big yachts at the St. Francis Yacht Club that needed skippers and caretakers. These would be good paying jobs, work that would be a pleasure for me and perfect for my time off duty. We were working 24 on and 48 hours off.

I contacted E. I. Veitch who owned the 65 foot Arequipa and started to work at once. Our good relationship lasted 10 years and I was treated like one of his family. Over the years we had hundreds of prominent people on board as guests and I helped him cruise to Catalina Island. I almost doubled my salary and a bigger advantage was that I qualified for Social Security.

By now, I had enough seniority to make a desirable downtown firehouse. I put in for driver of 3 Truck on Post Street and

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was granted the vacancy. Now I was in the center of all the action and we had the only aerial ladder in the city. It was manually operated. One year later we got the first electric, 125 foot aerial on the coast and I was the first man to raise the ladder at a fire. My company responded to almost every greater alarm in the city. I loved the action.

I was in 3 truck when Pearl Harbor exploded. Brennan, the Chief of the department blew his top. His first orders were every man in the department would report on duty. Every man available would respond to all alarms, no lights were to be used at night and no one was allowed to go to bed. The first night, 3 Truck was ordered to put covers over all skylights in the dispatcher's office. It was one of the coldest nights we ever had. When we were half through he gave us orders over a bullhorn to hurry, he said, the .7ap planes were spotted over Daly City. In a little while he blasted out, "Where is that man that gave me that false report?" As the days went on, he didn't get any better.

The Bay Area was bursting at the seams with preparations and ship building. Work on the docks never stopped. The department was swamped with inspections trying to stop hazards that were everywhere. Pure luck as much as anything pulled us through without a major disaster. While I was in 3 truck, I started to study for the Lieutenants examination and made the eligible list. I was appointed in 1950. I was unassigned the first two years but I enjoyed the new responsibility.

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In August of 1953, my company responded to a 4th alarm fire in the old wooden four story St. Johns Hotel on Polk Street. I had our aerial ladder put to the roof where we found several people trapped in rooms on the top floor. The stairways were engulfed in flames and useless. The inside rooms were at risk. I brought a roofing ladder into play and rescued 3 people hanging out of windows of an inside light well. It was a very hazardous procedure. I received the coveted, Bravest Fireman of the Year gold medal for my efforts.

In 1955 I requested a transfer to 6 Truck at Sanchez and Market. This was a big action company with 4 pieces of equipment rolling. We had 18 men on duty around the clock and I was the Senior Officer on duty on my shift.

My home life on 35th Avenue was rewarding. We had a good environment to raise our three daughters. They went to good schools and had desirable friends. Betty and the girls spent a lot of time in our foggy summers with my folks at Williams. There was a swimming pool next door and the kids had a ball. We also made several short trips to our neighbor's house at Meaks Bay, Lake Tahoe. They had a big home and speed boat. Their children were the same age as ours. The girls participated in many social activities. We were proud of them. Betty and I kept up our ballroom dancing at every opportunity.

The girls graduated from high school and Sunny got her college degree in nursing at University of California. Sunny married Frank Riley in 1951. He was an officer in the army.

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They ultimately had four girls. Diane married Herb Lane in 1953 and they had two girls and a boy. Carole married Jim Summers, a golf pro in 55 and they had a girl and a boy.

We had a lot of action out of 6 Truck. We responded to over 1500 alarms every year. One little dandy was a fourth alarm in the basement of City College. We came in on the 2nd alarm and while looking for the best place to attack, I spotted a pressurized hose leading into the basement. I crawled in through the hot smoke to take a look and found myself at the seat of the fire with an unmanned hose nozzle. Flames were everywhere. I put the line to work and started to knock down the flames. After a few minutes, I realized I was in a too hazardous position and backed out, just in time. I was almost overcome with carbon monoxide and started to hyperventilate.

I passed out on the way to the hospital. My body was paralyzed but my ears and brain were still functioning. I heard one of the three doctors working on me say, "I think we lost him. I can't find a pulse." I had the beautiful experience of dying. Everything was peaceful and serene. Needless to say, I came around and was back to work in a few days.

Over the years, I had been in the hospital about eight times and most of the time I was out the next day. This was the old blood and guts days of get in there without protection. Now each man has breathing equipment. After all, I had chosen a dangerous career.

On one of our vacations too our friends at Tahoe, Betty and

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the girls let me off at Echo Lake. I hiked over the mountain pass and dropped down into Desolation Valley alone. This was a pristine area with 10 lakes loaded with fish. I worked my way north fishing lake to lake and releasing almost everything I caught. I only saw three hikers in six days.

I came out at Meaks Bay. Hot and Dirty. I stayed out of trouble until the Polk St. Hotel fire in 1955. This was a 4th alarm in an old five story wooden hotel. An arsonist touched it off at the base of the main stair well. He wanted to kill his girlfriend who lived in the building. Four people died and he was sent to prison.

Upon arrival, we raised our aerial to a 5th floor window and helped several people down our ladder, then we proceeded to work our way down the hall to make sure no others were in the rooms. I was leading the way in heavy heat and smoke. As I neared the center of the building, I dropped into the hole left by the burned out main stairway. It was a big drop, 5 floors. I landed on the smoldering burned out rubble at the bottom of the staircase. I still had my 5 cell flashlight in my hand and was able to walk out of the building helped by two firemen in the vicinity.

They kept me in the hospital four days after this one. My back bothered me for a while but I went back to work. When something like that happens, it makes you wonder, maybe it is later than you think. The fire made National Detective Magazine and a picture of me covered with ashes walking out with help was

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prominently displayed.

We had a nice bank account and one week after I got out of the hospital, I bought a yellow, hard top Buick. Also, a little Caesar travel trailer that we could get into our garage. We were going to go places. I got a summer vacation and we drove our new outfit to Acapulco. This was our first taste of foreign travel.

In 1956, Mexico was a truly delightful, unspoiled wonderland. On our way down via Mexico City, we had to take three ferries across rivers on the west coast. The children were unspoiled and gave us a friendly wave as we went by, instead of holding out their hands begging for money.

We stayed in a popular trailer park on the beach almost in the center of the small city. Now there was nothing but high rises and millions of people. Our girls were on their own and now I could trade a couple of watches and get a week off whenever I wanted.

I loved back-packing and now had the opportunity. I shoved off for the Trinity Alps. I left my car at Globe Mills and started up Canyon Creek to L Lake. It was a rough five days with poor fishing and bad weather. The terrain was rewarding and I had a good test of my equipment and my fortitude.

My next try was in the High Sierras. Betty and a girl friend were going to Reno and I went with them as far as Donner Summit where I got off and hit the trail north to Angella Lake, Layton Lake, West Lake and Summit Lake. The fishing was poor, the mosquitos were vicious and the scenery disappointing. I

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returned to Donner and took a bus to Reno where I found Betty. My next trip was in the high country over Bishop Pass. I

took off at South Lake. It was a six mile climb to top of Bishop Pass, then down to the Kings River just in time to pitch my tent before the rain and hail started.

On August 8, I hiked down the river to Grouse Meadows, caught and released many goldens on my fly rod. Next up, Palisade Creek on my birthday, then Deer Meadow and Upper Palisade hit rain and wind and in the morning, my boots were all frosty inside. Caught more goldens, had a swim and washed socks. Had a hell of a climb to Amphitheater Lake, next, Grouse Meadow, Ladder Lake. Had a 2,000 foot climb to Dusty Basin, over Knapsack Pass. To Barret Lakes. There was no wood to build a fire, high above the timberline and cold night. Long hike the next day all the way out to South Lake. My last memo in my diary read,

Pooped, dirty, skinny, thirsty, hungry, happy, and thank God for taking good care of me.

Our next big trip was to Honolulu on my 3 week vacation to see our daughter, Sunny. She and Frank were stationed there with his wife. We had music and an ever full punch bowl. The matre'd was our bartender. He gave us the red carpet treatment the rest of the cruise. We were interviewed by the local radio station when we landed and given a recording of the interview to take home. We went fishing, saw all the points of interest, attended several military social events and was at a big house party at Hilo Hattie's.

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We rented an apartment at Patterson's Beach Walk just back of the Royal Hawaiian. I learned to surf on the big board. At this time, Sunny and Frank had two girls. On the way over, we met some delightful couples and put the ship to bed every night after the dance. Coming back was not quite so exciting but we had a good time. I won a bottle of champagne for having the best tan on board.

We bought a good 12 foot folding boat and every chance we got we went fishing and camping with our classy Buick and trailer. In September, we took a 4 day trip to Bucks Lake in the Sierras. In November, we left for San Diego, Tijuana, Palm Springs, Parker Dam, Las Vegas and Death Valley. We had a great eleven day tour. In February, we fished steelhead on the Russian River for four days. In March, we fished for sturgeon three days and two days in the Delta for stripers. April, 2 days out of Antioch. May, 4 days at Bass Lake. June was four days at Lake Almanor and Yellow Creek. July five days, Reno and Tahoe.

Betty and I liked ballroom dancing. Now that we had a little spare time, we joined the San Francisco chapter of the National Smooth Dancers. We took lessons every week at the club and went to many full dress parties. When the New Jack Tar Hotel opened on Van Ness Avenue, the club presented an exhibition waltz. We were one of the four couples who danced.

Two other back pack trips were with my daughter's husbands. Jim and I climbed Mt. Whitney, 14,496 feet and then down into the Kern River Valley. We caught goldens to 18 inches and was gone

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eight days. Herb and I packed into Desolation Valley for four days.

My mother died in 1959 but my father continued to live at Williams. Betty started having blackouts. One day, she passed out three times. Carole was with us on the last one which was while she was with her doctor. She was diagnosed as having Parkinson Disease. She started taking Phenobarbital. This helped her condition but she continued to have blackouts periodically.

My back had been bothering me and after a hard working fourth alarm fire at the Labor Temple in January of 61, I had to go off duty with pains in my back and legs. I had a lot of therapy and was examined by several doctors with negative results. After being on disability for a year, I had three vertebra fused in my low back. This was in 1962 and new modern procedures were not followed. I was in bed 30 days before I put a foot on the floor. Needless to say, full recovery was a long slow process. I was given a disability pension as of October of 1962. I had been off duty one and one half years.

By 1961, Sunny had three girls and another on the way. She had a mastectomy and chemotherapy. She had a rough trip but was feeling reasonably good. Diane had two girls and a boy, was divorced and married again to Al Racco, Vice President and General Manager of K.G.O. Carole had a boy and a girl. Her husband was a golf pro.

During my last year off duty, I knew what was going to

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happen and did my best to keep my mind busy with pleasant thoughts. The farther out, the better. I read an article in a National Geographic magazine where four men had driven from Damascus to India in a Jeep. It was a sensational tour and thinking about it gave me a burning desire to emulate this feat.

I had a lot of time on my hands and it was good mental therapy for me to start planning a similar tour. An unlimited amount of time and research was involved. I wanted a small camper we could live in and at the time, a V.W. looked like a good possibility but Betty said she thought it would be a little small to live in for so long a time.

My original plan called for 1 1/2 years. Drive around the world from London with three months in Australia and three months in New Zealand. I had been boating with the coast manager of Mercedes and asked what he thought about transportation. He suggested that I buy a Mercedes L319 D two ton dual wheel van and customize it for the tour. I started drawing diagrams of the interior and investigating what was available. I knew much of the equipment would have to be shipped to London where I could have the van customized.

My final plans called for a Becker Europa around the world radio with a Reems short wave adapter, three way refrigerator, breakfast nook converting into a bed with storage space under the seats and floor boards. A seven foot chest of drawers opposite with a folding bed on top. Three burner propane stove, sink. Louvered side windows, chemical toilet and reversible roof fan.

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I went to the street car barn and bought a big bronze gong to put under the floor boards which turned out to be invaluable in clearing the roads of animals and other impediments. I knew most of this equipment was not available in Europe so I bought three old, big steamer trunks. I bought a good foam rubber mattress and had it cut into the four breakfast nook cushions and had them upholstered for that bed. I had the floor of the breakfast nook raised 10 inches for storage space. Our nesting five piece luggage set fit like a glove under the floor. Our butane tanks fit under the seats. The table top was removable and fit between the seats for the bed.

My slow recovery was frustrating. In spite of therapy, I still had to wear a heavy back brace. My retirement went into effect in October of 1962 just 9 months after my surgery.

I had been told we should leave the Mediterranean coast about the first of October in order to get through the 2,000 miles of unimproved roads in the high country east of Tehran. I wanted to spend about five months in Europe, so we would have to leave home in March. We found a responsible couple to rent our home, while we were gone and made arrangements to travel by train to New York and take the Queen Mary to London, where our Mercedes would be waiting.

Words can not describe my feelings as we boarded the train in Oakland, on the 14th of March for our great adventure. Butterflies and eagles were flitting around in my stomach. everything went as planned. The train ride was relaxing. For

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the first time in ages, I could lean back and do nothing but enjoy the scenery.

We enjoyed a two day stay in New York and boarded the Queen Mary with our three trunks and five suit cases. We started with the best ship afloat and enjoyed every minute of the cruise to South Hampton. Betty won a bottle of champagne in a silly hat contest and a $50. Bingo. One night the dance was called off because of heavy seas.

We disembarked and took the train to London. We reached the Mercedes salesroom about 2 p.m. and there sat our big, white, impressive home for the next year. I had been in touch with the dealer before and he found a nice board and room place for us to rent, near M.T.S. Coach Builders in Hownslow.

After some negotiations they agreed to do the conversion according to my plans for $1000. They had two men working on the job most of the time. All the wood used was solid mahogany and they followed my plans to the letter. She was ready to roll in 28 days. In the meantime, Betty and I toured London and the surrounding countryside. The weather was mostly cold with some slush.

I had joined the Automobile Club and worked my way through endless red tape to get various documents and legal papers, for travel in Europe and beyond.

We kept in touch with our daughters and told them we would leave for the continent on April 25th. We got in our fabulous van and started my first experience driving on the left side of

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the road, in London of all places. Me, still wearing my back brace and completely out of my element. It was a traumatic experience and to think we were among the first people that had ever attempted to drive around the world. Could we do it or would one of a 1000 things happen to thwart our ambitions.

We bid goodbye to our new friends at the boarding house and headed for the English Channel where we boarded the ferry to France. We were on our way. It would take some time to get the bugs out of our equipment. The place to start was with the rattling pots and pans. We found a nice campground in Paris, took two city tours and drove around on our own for three days.

We were happy with our good start and then started west for Spain. Every few miles famous cities and areas in France tempted us to spend days or weeks drinking in the beauty and history of the country. At night, cars ran in cities with just parking lights on. The bright spot was Glitzy Biarrity. What a blatant display of wealth.

The instant we crossed the border into Spain, the clock turned back 100 years. We had several rainy days and got our first 1250 mile car service. The bugs are about gone and we are gaining confidence in our ability to continue indefinitely. Portugal and Lisbon was next where we found a Muni Camp with a store, pool and restaurant. We stayed a few days on the nice beach in Estoril, just like So. California, with a plush gambling casino.

Gibraltar was our next point of interest. We drove to the

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top of the Rock on a murderous road. This little English Colony had fantastic tax free shopping. Cigarettes $1.00 a carton, etc. Had been on the road 21 days when we got the ferry to Tangier, a 2 1/2 hour ride.

200 guides gathered around us when we docked. A guide is a must for the Casbah. Morocco was our first country of Veiled Women. The Arabic culture was much in evidence and intriguing. Rabat to Casablanca, where we found a great camp ground on the beach. 90% Of the campers were from Germany. Continuing on to Kenifra, Qued Zem and Fez. Visually the country looks like biblical times. After seven days, we returned to Gibraltar, where we started east on the Riviera.

There were 100 places you would like to stay the rest of your life, if you could afford it! A side trip to the little country of Andora was interesting. One thing the wonderful Riviera does not gave is good sand beaches, but there are a million private yachts in the innumerable harbors. Monaco was a must stop to make our small donation at Monte Carlo. South into Italy, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Florence, Lake de Bosena and Rome. It required several days in Rome to see all the places of interest.

The Adriatic Coast was next and then north to the little mountain top country of San Marino before we reached Venice for a few days stop over. Betty bought some of their famous glassware. Lake Como, Milan and St. Golhard Pass in the Swiss Alps, to Interlaken, gave us enough scenery to last a lifetime. A ride on

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the ski lift at Grindelwald was a thrill.

Next, Bern, Lucern, back into France and on to Luxembourg. The border formalities varied in every country but so far we had not encountered any particular difficulty. Our Green card was carte blanche all over Europe. I spent some time in Switzerland getting necessary visas and permits for the East and Russia.

India was the worst country. I had to post a $1,500 cash bond for my van to enter. I did not get a refund until I returned home. I informed our family as to where to send our mail so we could receive it on arrival. I had an invaluable American Express card and I used their offices in various cities as a mail drop. I could cash a $500 check at any of their offices. My daughter Carole, had power of attorney and paid my bills each month as they became due. Also, I had an impressive looking official letter of introduction from Mayor Christopher of San Francisco, with the city seal and red white and blue ribbons attached. I had already used this more than once, to my advantage, to cut through diplomatic red tape. We were relaxed and confident of our ability to conquer all obstacles that lay ahead. We were having a ball.

We continued through Belgium and Holland. Betty did some more shopping in Delf. President Kennedy was in Germany and the radio gave him great coverage. Our short wave was invaluable. We could tune in the States and Betty could follow her Giants baseball games. Hamburg, Germany, was our next stop, then on to

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Denmark where we caught the big ferry boat to Sweden.

Our odometer just turned 7500 miles! We went east on our way to Norway. Now, trees, mountains and open country were much in evidence. Most of the cities had modern buildings along with older picturesque architecture. We found the best R.V. camp of the tour in Oslo, the first with free hot water. After four days of discovery, we took a 40 minute ferry ride to Ulvik, then 90 miles of good one way gravel road, with unsurpassed scenic beauty. Another 40 mile ferry up a fjord and then to an 800 year old Stave Church at Gjovrk. We were so far north it didn't get dark till after 11 o'clock. I know we passed a 100 places that had the best fishing in the world. We crossed Norway and back into Sweden at Arvika. The border crossing was unmanned.

The next stop was Stockholm, where we did some extensive sight seeing. I got visas for Iran, Pakistan, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia at various embassies. I received the first disappointment of the tour. I had been told in Switzerland that I could ship to Helsinki, drive to Moscow, and come back to Berlin, but the Russian Embassy informed me I could not get a permit unless I hired a guide at $25 a day and expenses. Forget it!

On July 18th we crossed back to Denmark and toured south to Germany and the Berlin corridor, two hours of red tape got us permission to drive down the heavily guarded road to Berlin. At this time, there was still a lot of war damage visible in West Berlin and much, much more in East Berlin. When we arrived at

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Check Point Charley, Nixon and a party of gold braids were on the wooden reviewing platform overlooking the wall.

The American Express tour of East and West Berlin was very revealing. It showed us the haves and the have nots. When we got to the East side, an Eastern guide boarded our bus and tried to make us think life was better than it looked, but what we saw told us otherwise. We camped at Wiesbaden, the university city of Heidelberg and Stuttgart where we went to the Mercedes factory. Some of the top brass inspected our conversion with great interest. We were the first to go around the world in a Mercedes van camper.

Outside of Munich, we looked at the infamous concentration camp of Dachau, where millions were put to death. At the U.S. Army base in Bad Tolz, we visited an army captain and his wife we had met traveling in Norway. We were treated royally at the Army Base. We bought many souvenirs along the way and they had them packed and shipped home. They also took us to the big commissary where we loaded the van with staples that would not be available where we were going. A great dinner dance on the base was a pleasure.

The Bavarian Alps were quite scenic and the local architecture was picturesque. We had an emotional parting and was on our way to attractive Salzburg and Vienna. The American Express tour of Schonbrun Castle was outstanding. 1400 Rooms and vast luxurious gardens. How about 138 coffins of the Hapsburg!

The minute we crossed the border into Yugoslavia, a

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different life unfolded. From cars to walking and tractors to oxen. Zagreb was a big, dismal old city. Rijeka on the coast was a little better. The Dalmation Coast got a big play in the summer with campers from the rest of Europe. Not much available to buy but the cost of living was low. The campgrounds were acceptable.

August 9th, I was doing okay, just wearing a light back brace. We could have had room and board for $4 a day. There were many ancient cities built of stone along the coast and innumerable offshore islands. Rock walls on the hill sides went on and on forever. Farming was done with a hoe and shovel mostly by women. We saw a restaurant on the beach that had a 10 lb. lobster ready to cook. Several campgrounds had good outdoor dances. Betty was happy she could listen to her Giants ball games on our radio. Very unusual to see an American tourist. We found good campgrounds at Split and Omis.

We wanted to continue down the coast but on account of the recent disastrous earthquake at Skopje, had to cut inland via Mostar and Sarajevo to Belgrade. One day we stopped along a stretch of deserted road for lunch and four soldiers in a jeep pulled up and threatened us with guns. They told us in pantomime to get going. It was a no-no to take a picture of any building, train, bridge, etc.

We encountered 300 miles of the dustiest road imaginable. worked two days in Belgrade cleaning our equipment. The local economy was a disaster. I showed one group of citizens our Sears

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Roebuck catalog that I had brought for just this purpose and they couldn't believe their eyes. Each begged for a page with a picture of merchandise for sale.

The rail roads were all narrow gage with dilapidated rolling stock. As we toured the country, we encountered several ethnic groups. There was no sand on any of the beaches. Belgrade, the capitol was falling apart. On our way to the border of Greece, we toured Skojyi. The earthquake left the city a disaster refugee cap. We crossed the border and 13 miles below Salanice, found our utopia, a beach resort fit for the gods. It had beautiful sand and all modern conveniences. Even a first aid center. A good cheap restaurant where a glass of wine was seven cents, that was cheaper than coffee.

At last, we had warm weather. This was about the 4th night of our tour we didn't have to have at least one blanket. We met three girl hitchhikers from San Francisco. They had been on the road two months and were having a great time. We continued to Athens where we found a good campground on the beach ten miles from the city. Needless to say, we toured all the ancient ruins and places of interest. We hit the 13,000 mile mark. Athens was a side trip an we had to return to Salonika on September first.

There was fewer campers on the road now that school was about to start. We picked up our welcome mail from American Express and cashed another $500 check. We had been eating out quite a bit because the food tasted good and the price was right and I caught the inevitable Tourista! We had good medication and

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I was soon off the pot.

Our European Green Card was no longer good and from now one, we have to buy third party insurance in each country. Also, most require a visa. Some are free. We are back where oxen was the only power available and the rest of the economy is similar.

Now Istanbul or as the locals call it, Constantinople. Half the few cars on the streets are taxies and all have bent fenders. Beware. We took several tours by bus, the Blue Mosque, Thieves Market and a long ferry boat ride to the Black Sea. The blending of European and Asian culture makes this one of the most unusual spots on earth.

The local military was much in evidence. While trying to park at the Hilton Hotel, I got a gash in a tire and had to buy a new one. I used my letter of introduction by San Francisco Fire Chief Murray at the central fire station and was treated to a formal inspection of all personnel on duty, about 50 men.

The road south to the capitol city of Ankara was narrow, bumpy and had many old slow moving trucks to contend with. It was two days of frustration. We found a campground at Ataturk farm, overlooking the city. In the morning, the camp radio started blasting away at 6:30 a.m., but the water was not turned on until 8 a.m. From now on we will never be able to drive at night. Some trucks do not have tail lights and some run without head lights.

Now we start seeing camels again. Taking pictures of people is a big no-no especially of women. We encounter high desert

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mountains via Adana and Horns on our way to the Syrian border. We now saw the picturesque Arabic countryside. Round mud homes and veiled women and in turn, they had never seen anything like us. If we just slow down, we draw a crowd and if we stop, it can be hazardous starting out again. After Tripoli, red tape holds us two hours at the border of Lebanon. Now we saw signs of reasonable prosperity again. We passed hundreds of windmills pumping salt water into evaporating basins.

At this time, Beirut was the most modern and prosperous city in the eastern Mediterranean. Modern conveniences were available for the wealthy. We had met the Nelson Evans, when we were traveling in Norway. He was the administrator of the American University Hospital and had invited us to stay with them when we passed by. They were most gracious hosts and guided us around the area. Also, we were invited to several social events with local dignitaries. One thing interesting was that their housekeeper's husband died and his brother sold their 14 year old daughter to a 65 year old man who already had two wives. This was legal.

We took on another big order of groceries at the University Commissary. Bought third party insurance for the Middle East. $30 for 27 days, had cholera and typhoid booster shots. Even in

1933, there were 100 thousand Palestinian Refugees in dirty camps on the edge of the city. We drove down the coast to the biblical cities of Sidon and Saida, also, the 3000 year old Crusaders Castle. We were in Beirut ten days and had a very hot spell of

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weather. This was going to be a problem from now on finding a place to park for the night. Damascus was easy. We parked at the Army Officers Gun Club with the help of my letter of introduction. On the way we looked at the ancient ruins of Balbek which was more impressive than the Acropolis in Athens.

Damascus was the location of the biblical street called straight, the tomb of John the Baptist in the Omayad Mosque and the 4th century tomb of Saladin, truly an ancient city.

We crossed into Jordan and the cities of Amman and Jerico. We did not see a blade of grass for over 100 miles going to the Dead Sea. Hot! Hot! We stopped for a swim at a plush hotel. The water was 95 and much saltier than the Great Salt Lake. In Jerusalem we parked in the police compound. We hired a guide for the day and he kept us busy. There are so many points of interest. At this time, we were not permitted to cross into Israel and return.

It was now the 3rd of October and time to start for India. We had no second thoughts about accepting the challenge. The 15,000 mile number came us as we started east. We parked at the Jordan River for a swim and do our laundry. This was a deserted Death Valley. We were using a local map and were in Jordan but the map called it Alurdeneyah. This was just a sample of names on foreign maps. We saw about one truck an hour and at night, we just pulled off the road and parked behind a sand dune.

We were stopped at about 5 army check points each day. I was obligated to have a cup of cold tea at the Jordan border and

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paid the price. Tourista again.

The narrow road followed the oil pipeline from the sea to Baghdad. There was only one little shack at the Iraq customs and the lone official would not let us continue because I did not have a visa. I had been informed in Beirut I did not need a visa for Iraq. The guard said I must return to Amman to get one. While I was telling Betty the bad news, A V.W. bug drove up. The couple looked like Americans and I told them my sad tale of woe. The driver said our name is Desmond and we have been in Beirut on a vacation and on our way back to Baghdad. Also, he was the American Counsel in Baghdad. I was so happy, I had to cry. He flashed his credentials and we were on our way. It took two hours of red tape and six signatures to get my visa in Baghdad. The city and area was similar to Damascus.

Outside of a few modern buildings, the other 90% looked like pictures of biblical times, both the people and architecture. We passed as many military check points as cars and the soldiers would try to burn cigarettes. It required three hours to clear the Iran customs. We had to take blood tests and take pills for malaria. We saw natives being strip searched. Each city had only one filling station.

We hit the jackpot at Kerrnansha. A G.I. Advisory Base. There were 31 men on the base and were they ever glad to see us, and we them. They had most of the modern conveniences, but were homesick. They let us buy the things we needed from their commissary, and also gave us the address of the next base at

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Esfahan. Periodically, we passed bands of nomadic Kurds with everything they owned on their camels. God, but were they ugly. We saw quite a bit of irrigation but very primitive. The only building material was mud. So many people surrounded our van in one town I had to blow my horn and stomp on my street car gong to clear a passage way.

We were higher in the bare mountains and the nights were cold. Crossed two 8,000 feet passes before reaching Tehran where we parked in a factory compound. Snow on the mountain tops. A man at the factory brought us tea and sweets on a beautiful silver tea service. We had a mail drop at the Tehran American Express, got several letters and cashed another $500 check. We were going on a city tour but the place was a gridlock. Queen Elizabeth was there.

We found a filling station and got out of town. Hit the jackpot again at the GI Base in Esfahan. Colorful city of 700,000. One story high. An army captain gave us an all day tour of the area in his jeep. The big bazaar had 5 miles of one room shops. It would have taken a month to go into each one. We were treated like royalty at the base. The Peace Corps also had a base but their big problem was the educated class will not do any manual labor that gets their hands dirty and the poor people do not have the ambition to produce more than enough for a bare existence.

This was the end of surfaced roads. For 2000 miles, dust, pot holes and wash board for the nine days. Mostly barren

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mountains and desert. Very few inhabitants. In all of the east, 95% of the time we had to resort to sign language to communicate. We stayed at a British Mission in Kerman. I got my hair cut from a street barber for 20 cents. About every 50 miles we would go through a small town of mud huts.

One night we parked in a radio station compound and at Zahedan we found a small GI base for communications where only six men were assigned. We met a big truck from England with seventeen young boys, headed for Australia. Passed a good sized abandoned town 3/4 covered with sand.

At last we picked up surfaced roads. At Dalbandini, Pakistan, we parked at the government buildings for two days to clean the dust out of our equipment. Almost no agriculture of the last 3,000 miles. We then parked at the American Aid Station in Quetta, a nice city oasis with big trees and vegetation. All the women are in Purdah and very seldom see them on the street. The city looked like a colorful motion picture set with jillions of pedestrians and bicycles. At last, highway signs in English. Had a downhill mountain road for 50 miles to Jakahabod following a dry river bed. Many migrating nomads with camels.

In Pakistan, we will be able to park in government compounds, so called, Dack Houses. They have primitive accommodations but we will just park in their compounds on a nice lawn. Most of the surfaced roads were only one car wide. It does slow traffic, if any.

Next, Sukkor on the large Indus River; an ancient, decadent, colorful, filthy, dirty city. On to Multan, Khanewal and

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Montgomery. Each large city in heavily populated area with extensive irrigation. Half of the time we have two wheels in the dust to avoid oncoming traffic. Most of the good arable land is owned by a few Potentates.

Lahore is one of the largest cities in Pakistan. We were guests of the fire department chief. He and his wife were well educated and they and their friends all spoke perfect English. We got the red carpet for two days. Here, fireman lived at their station with their families. They have subsistence and $21 a month. They were only off duty 24 hours each week. The chief had us to his home for dinner and took us to a very unusual wedding. We were back in hot weather again.

The famous Shalamar Gardens are one of the local attractions.

October 24th we started a side trip over the Kyber Pass to Afghanistan. Many heavily populated areas around the cities of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Kohat where the world famous gun factories make duplicates of many well known brands of firearms. The local natives are visually a different minority. Something that we have encountered many times on our travels. Cameras were not allowed on Kyber Pass. The military were much in evidence and at the border, we saw the most ferocious looking men imaginable. There was heavy truck traffic over the pass and the cabs were decorated in a fantastic manner, a bright colored jungle.

We returned to Lahore and continued to India. We had seen

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millions of bicycles but not one ridden by a woman since we left Europe. Two hours to cross the border into India, then another new world enfolded. An unbelievable mass of humanity, bicycles, rickshaws, buses and trucks. Saw three camels that were killed by a truck. In Armitsar, we stayed at Mrs. Bahandari',s #10 hotel with its pretty landscaped grounds. The general populace looked nice and were comparatively well dressed although beggars were much in evidence. If a man has clean clothes, he probably speaks at least some English which is the official government language. We toured the infamous Golden Temple, a periodic battleground.

Again we took a long difficult side trip to Kashmir in the Himalayas. Some of it was one way roads, change every other day. Lush countryside, hairpin curves but too many trucks, buses, animals and pedestrians. Terraced farmlands, army everywhere and an 8,000 ft. pass. On one overnight stop, a soldier gave us a can of tomatoes and a bouquet of wild flowers. We gave him a pair of ladies nylons in return. We had many pairs that we used as gifts and bribes.

We had to lay over a day in one place to let 500 army Mercedes diesel trucks pass, coming out of Kashmir for the winter. Snow on the mountain tops. At last, through a mile long tunnel into the gorgeous valley of the Kashmir and the city of Srinagar. At one construction sight, they were using a cement mixer and thirty women were carrying the cement in baskets on their heads. We stopped at the American Express and were mobbed by over 100 guides.

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When we hired one who spoke good English, the others backed off by his orders. Our guide arranged for us to rent a 100 foot long 3 bedroom houseboat with three servants and all meals for $10 a day, on famous Dal Lake. The busy season was over and we received instant attention wherever we went. The guide was $1.50 a day. Gardens, palaces, fantastic scenery and bargain shopping was the attraction.

We bought some great hand carved furniture and had it shipped home. We were in one of many rug factories and saw a 24' X 60 rug that 15 people had worked on for three years. They were asking $6,000. A common sight for the last 5,000 miles has been of men smoking Hooka water pipes.

In the winter, people carry little bowls of burning charcoal under their robes for warmth. This is an impoverished country. Saw vast fields of little purple flowers. Hundreds of people picking them. They extracted the pollen from the stamen and guess what; saffron. We drove out the toll road to Madhopur Guest House. On the ways we saw over 40 wild monkeys, some large grays and others were small brown. A mongoose ran along the road and we passed three naked Yogi Men. Also, a man killed by a truck. Dentists, barbers and other tradesmen squat in the dirt on the side of the road to ply their trade. Also men wearing a wrap around garment squat anyplace and every place if they have to go and smile as we pass.

New Delhi. The capitol city has an unbelievable number of sacred cows wandering around disrupting traffic. All cities have

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the same problem. We were expected at the Central Fire Department headquarters and got the red carpet again. Chief Advanie and his wife showed us around the city, half new and half old. We attended some social functions with them and had a dinner with their friends at their home. There was a big wealthy class, well educated and sophisticated. This applies to all of the larger cities. The city is unbelievably large and without a guide, you wouldn't dare go around the corner.

To Knight and the Taj Nap. What a place of beauty and unforgettable, so old and yet looks new with semi-precious stones inlaid in marble and intricate carvings everywhere you look. The surrounding area is flat, every inch under cultivation. Oxen pull large leather buckets out of deep hand dug wells for irrigation. Women work on road gangs carrying baskets of rock on their heads, some with a baby on their hip.

Drinking water has been an ongoing problem since we left Europe. We had 3.7 gallon jerry cans. At times, we just added Halazone pills, also boiled a doubtful supply and we could always buy distilled water if we could find a pharmaceutical supply house. Malaria pills was a must.

India has 400 languages, cultures and minorities abound. Their individual features range from blond and blue eyes to the blackest black imaginable, in the southern tip. Jewish around Cochine and Portuguese in Goa.

The all pink stone city of Jaipur was unique. At the city of Puskar, there is a lake that is Holy. It had 400 little

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dilapidated temples around it and the millions of little stunted fish were not eaten but the faithful bought little sacks of food to feed them. One hand full of food would cause an explosion. The lake was surrounded by small shacks where you could buy food I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. There were 200 flies to the square foot. People drank the putrid water.

Wild monkeys are everywhere in India, even in large cities and can be quite a problem. It is against their religion to kill anything except people(???)

We travel day after day and do not see another tourist. Many times this has given us a problem. People try to open our doors and look inside. In Udiapur we were stopped in the street by an American couple, Dr. Reiser and his wife. He was a Farm Management Advisor at the local Agricultural University. Again, his educated students would not get their hands dirty.

He had us at his home for dinner and showed us around. We saw ancient temples, some with pornographic sculptures which is commonplace in India. Mrs. Reeser took us to an island, Glass Lake Palace, now an expensive hotel. It was 250 years old. It had suites with all glass furniture and mirrored ceilings. Some rooms had inlaid marble, all very oriental. The Arabian nights were pikers by comparison. Next, was Chittor Fort on a high hilltop where, according to history, 3000 women jumped to their death to escape capture.

Now we were in the tropics. Women wore massive ear and nose rings. Children were naked and some men wore G strings.

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21,000 miles on November 18th. The Ajanta Caves from 500 B.C. carved in solid rock on the vertical face of a mountain. Buddhist Monks worked 1,000 years on a half mile front carving the massive religious display. Farther on we saw the Ellora caves. They are similar. Some natives use beetle-nut in this area. Bombay. Red carpet again at the headquarters of the Home Guard in the center of the city. The chief in Delhi told the commander we would be coming. Between trucks being old with no maintenance and incompetent drivers, the highways are littered with accidents. we parked in a square block of manicured lawn. The sophisticated Mrs. Maneckje, the commander's wife, visited and asked us to her home for lunch. If I had a video of the luncheon, I could sell it to Hollywood. I was introduced to the chief officers of the police and fire departments. They gave us extensive tours of the city.

Bombay is one of the largest cities in the world. We saw enough to fill a book. The day President Kennedy was assassinated, the captain of the guard came to our van and told us the sad news. Much to my surprise, he was crying. The tragedy was big news in Bombay. He asked me if I thought Johnson could handle the job. I made tentative arrangement to ship from Madras to Singapore. We spent six days in Bombay and never saw an American tourist. Three day drive to Panjim in the little colony of Goa, formerly Portuguese. Very tropical and pretty. Bananas are 1 cent each. The people are Catholic and hate India.

Long drive to the partly modern city of Bangalor. Monkeys

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on the highway were a problem. Several miles of ant hills, five feet high. Saw many open dug wells up to 30 feet in diameter and 100 foot deep. Water being pulled up by hand with a rope over a pulley. Another 100 miles to the big city of Mysore where the large, garish Maharajah palace in marble, silver, gold, carved wood and stained glass was a big attraction.

There were other temples and ancient forts. In southern India, 90% of the populace go barefooted. A short drive to Mudamalai Wild Life Game Sanctuary. We had a half day ride on an elephant into the sanctuary with three beaters to scare up the game. There were Indian bison, spotted deer, cheetah, more elephants and many exotic birds and monkeys. We were in jungles and high mountains for ten days. At Octacumund, 7,500 feet, there were big areas of terraced tea plantations, coffee and quinine trees planted years ago by the British. Even the villages looked like England. We were invited to stay at the English Club. It was Saturday and they had a festive dinner dance party.

We saw many native women bare to the waist and at Chocine, we found a 2,000 year old Jewish culture much in evidence. Near the southern tip of India, the natives are blacker than black and dressed in rags. Many miles of roads are only 1 1/2 car wide cluttered with everything that moves. Fabulous South Sea atmosphere and beaches. In one area, one out of about every twenty people had huge Popeye legs from Elephantitis.

It was many days since we had seen another tourist. Our unusual appearance causes us problems everywhere we stop. The

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memorial to Mahatma Ghandi is on the tip of India at Cape Comarin. Some women have their ear lobes stretched four inches with heavy ear rings. Some of the most unusual spectacular temples we saw were in the southeastern part of the tip.

At 23,600 miles, we were headed north to Madras. We parked in the U.S. consulate compound. Several letters at American Express were most welcome. We saw a lot of heavy cargo coming off the docks, on wooden carts, pulled by manpower. Our shipping company informed us they could not take our van on board the Rajula for Singapore. I found another ship sailing in 12 days that could load our van, the Yugoslavian, Jesenice. The bad news was it did not sail for 18 days.

Christmas was our 37th Anniversary. A Mrs. Coward from the consulate invited us to her home for Christmas dinner. With time to kill, we went to an Indian government beach bungalow at Mahabolipuram for a week; $3 a day with meals, interesting, but primitive. Many intricately carved 2000 year old temples in the area, some were pornographic.

We attended a consulate concert with American musicians before Christmas, a pleasant interlude. Had Christmas day with the U.S.I.S. Cowards and their family. They had a large well furnished home with three servants. What a pleasant day! I made final shipping arrangements on December 26th and went back to Mahablapuram for a few days. This time the German and Japanese Ambassadors were there with their families. Wonderful swimming beach. India had prohibition but I bought a bottle of scotch at

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the consulate for New Years Eve. Betty got a permanent wave at the Conemara Hotel.

It was our lucky day. We met the Consul of Costa Rica and his wife at the hotel. We had dinner with them in Cochine about two weeks prior. They took us to their charming home for cocktails and then we went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner. After dinner, they had entry to the exclusive Gym Kahana Club for a midnight formal lawn ballroom dance. About 400 beautifully groomed people were there. Mostly all local big shots. Mr. Chambers introduced us to many charming people. Happy New Year!

New Years Day, we were invited to an open house party at the American Consulate. The next day we boarded the Jesinice, then the red tape started over the lack of a car net for the van. This was a very hectic 12 hours but at last our agent brought it on board and we sailed at midnight. There were 14 passengers, mostly from England and Australia. Many were sailing round trip from Yugoslavia to Japan and would be on board five months (God forbid).

We found out we had stepped into a snakes nest. The captain was at war with the passengers and turned off the air conditioning as punishment. Also, they had overbooked and our cabin was in the crews quarters. Four miserable days to Penang, Malaysia, where we were allowed ashore for one hour, then two more days to Singapore. On the morning of January 10th we had to leave the ship without breakfast. It required all day and

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several cab rides to get a permit for the van, drivers license, insurance, etc., before we could leave the dock. We parked at the American Consulate.

Fabulous city for shopping in 1964. We joined the plush American Club on the edge of the city. A wonderful resort. The first problem was shopping for a ship to the States. At the A.P.L. lines we found that the President Taft was sailing on February 12th, 27 days to L.A. Singapore was hot and sultry, but we saw the Tiger Balm Gardens, Raffela Hotel and 20 other must see things. We got a newspaper feature write-up and a television crew made a newsreel video of us and our van. The editor had us to his home for dinner and we got a copy of the film.

We needed a rest and had about a month to kill so we headed for the cool mountain resorts in northern Malaysia. Due to the heavy tropical rainfall, most little homes are built on stilts in the rubber country.

At Kuala Lumpur, I had a personal letter of introduction to Claud Fenner, an Englishman, who was chief of all Malaysia Police. His father was the chief before him. He picked us up in his Bently limousine and drove us to his home for dinner. He also got us permission to stay at the world famous Selangor Golf Cub, a full resort with 2-18 hole courses. We had full guest privileges. This was a tropical modern city with many historical building and attractive estates.

We needed a rest and drove 150 miles to the very British R. and R. cool mountain resort of Cameroon Highlands. Hairpin curves

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through tropical jungle and breathtaking vistas. Saw a snake longer than a car cross the road. There are about 20 resort hotels around a golf course. We stayed at the Smoke House Inn. Many people recognized us from our being on television and in the Straights Times. It was 20 degrees colder than Singapore.

There are still native tribes in the mountains living a cave mane s existence. I played my first golf since my back operation. Shot a 98 on an easy course. There were many tea plantations in northern Malaysia. After a week we drove to a similar resort, 150 miles to Fraser Hills. We were close to Bangkok but warned against driving farther north at this time.

February 2nd. Back in Singapore at the American Club. We had to stay on top of our departure date and again the lengthy red tape of getting proper permits to sail with the van. Our sailing date changed about four times. At last we boarded the Taft on February 11th and sailed on the 12th. Our booking agent told us we were lucky to get accommodations on the Taft and guess what!? We were the only passengers on board. The good part was that we had the best stateroom overlooking the bow and under the bridge. We ate all meals with the officers, who were all Americans, for a change. We had free access to the large refrigerator. As a rule, we were invited for cocktails before dinner.

Manila, February 16. We hire a car and driver and cover the area and did some shopping. Hong Kong was a 36 hour cruise. We did Kowloon, the New Territories of China, had lunch on a floating

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restaurant at Aberdeen and more shopping. A lady from London came on board, now we could have a foursome for cards by drafting the friendly purser. The Captain gave me dividers and charts so I could work out our course for my enjoyment. We were taking heavy seas over the bow off Formosa and had to slow down. As we near Japan, we received television programs, such as they were. for instance, the Rifleman was dubbed in Japanese dialogue.

Kobe. Betty stayed on board and I took the train to Kyoto, toured the city and boarded the first class Bullet train for Tokyo. The modernization of Japan was eye popping. Had a hot bath and massage by an 18 year old husky girl and took the train for Yokohama where I rejoined the ship.

Now it was easy. Only 5,500 miles to L.A. We rolled in a trough for two days, had snow off and on.

Had to use wet table cloths to keep the dishes off the deck and slept with pillows front and back. Sleeping hills helped. We played hearts every evening to relieve the monotony. I spent a lot of time revising my notes. After we crossed the international date line, the sea flattened out.

We docked in L.A. on March 12th. We were welcomed by newspaper reporters and our old friends Red and Charlotte, from our bootleg days. Had to pay $1,781 to get the Mercedes off the dock. We drove to my sisters in Anaheim. Two days work to get the crap off our van. Called our three girls and headed for home. One year and two days.

After we returned from our world tour, Mercedes gave us six

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limited edition prints of their vintage cars. The oldest car was made in 1894. These are now appraised at $10,000.

We spent quite a bit of time with our girls and my father at Williams. Our home was still rented. Our wonderful van did its job perfectly but was a little slow for stateside travel. We sold it and bought a Chevy pickup, a 24 foot trailer and a 12 foot Gregor boat.

We took a little shakedown tour to L.A., Vegas, June Lake, Tahoe and back to see how Sunny was feeling. She was having a rough time but there was nothing we could do. She wanted to gut it out. She was a brave girl.

We went to Lake Almanor and back to spend three weeks with our neighbors, the Sommers, who were at their summer home at Meeks Bay. Back with my father for a few days, then Trinity Lake and over to the Klamath to fish salmon. W, gave a slide show of our world tour at the Club House. We fished two weeks and had three cases of smoked salmon. We left and made all of the stops again to be with our family.

September 29, 1964. Left for the Florida Keys, with 6,000 miles on our new (?) outfit. Laid over in Sturgeon, MO, to see my sister Creola and family. Next, Springdale, Arkansas, to see Betty's brother, Ernie, his wife and two boys. Our next point of interest was the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We sampled the fishing at several recreation areas across the country. We only stayed two weeks in the Keys. The fishing was not that great and it was hot, humid and buggy. On the way back along the gulf, we

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had a Grey Line tour of New Orleans and took a peek at Piedras Negras, Mexico.

Betty's old beauty shop friend, Patsy, lived in Tuscon, so a stop there was a must. We enjoyed two weeks at Palm Springs. We called home and found that Sunny was worse. Debby had to have brain surgery, Carole had a miscarriage and Frank's mother, Mrs. Riley, was dying. Outside of that, everything was all right(?).

We went to Sunny's. I did a lot of work around their place. We parked in her driveway. We all had a nice Christmas at Diana and Betty and I baby-sat at Sunny's New Years Eve while they went to a party.

We spent some time looking for a home to buy and at last decided to take a new home on the Golf Links at Spring Town. This was an adult community near Livermore. We moved in on the 30th of January, 1965. We worked and bought and worked and bought and worked. We were happy with our wonderful home on the golf course. I could play golf for $100 a year. In the meantime, we had put our home in San Francisco up for sale and got $32,000 for it. Now, it is worth $275,000.

Moving into our new home was a start on the last part of our lives. Our children had families of their own and no longer needed our mothering. We were proud of all three. They brought us great pleasure to see them develop into such wonderful adults.

Sunny had given us four beautiful granddaughters and had

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been a perfect mother. Diane was very energetic and her magnetic personality brought her great popularity. Her first husband, Herb Lane gave her two girls and a boy. She had two more boys by Al Racco. They had a fulfilling life in San Francisco and New York. She is now married to Bennie Gonzales.

Carole was always a pleasure to be with. Always dependable and predictable. She married her high school boyfriend, Jim Sommers, a golf pro. They had a nice girl and boy. She is now married to the artist, John Steel. They live 30 minutes from me and enhance my life. They are both successful in their commercial endeavors and are world travelers.

Our daughter, Sunny, had a disposition just like her name. She was a brilliant student and wanted to be a doctor. She finished her first two years at Cal and decided to get her degree in nursing instead. She and Frank Riley had been going steady for some time and he was in the army by the time she graduated. She put her future on hold and got married. They moved around quite a bit and at long last was stationed in the East Bay.

Sunny had three girls when she found a lump in her breast. the doctor at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital let it go much too long before radical surgery. In spite of the brutal radiation therapy, she became pregnant again hoping she could leave Frank with a baby boy. She was in and out of the hospital many times. We spent a lot of time with her when we were home. She was a brave girl. The last month she lived she used all the energy she could muster to write four very long, loving letters. One to

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each of her girls to guide them as they grew up. Her health deteriorated rapidly and at last our wonderful daughter passed away.

We paid $19,400 for our new home. There was a great social program at the recreation center. Two of my fire dept.. friends were neighbors. On January 6, 1966, we locked up and shoved off for Mexico, via Hermosillo, Guymas, Los Mochis and Mazatlan. Red and Charlotte were at Las Palmas trailer park. We were happy to be with them again at such a delightful place. The Saturday night dances drew over 100 Gringo Park residents. Great fishing, surfing, parties and the good life! We kept our boat at the Yacht Club. Red had a Honda 90 trail bike and I decided to get one as soon as we got home. We stayed two months and on the way home I got lucky. At a trailer park in Tucson, I bought a four month old Trail 90 from a guy in the park. We logged 4,150 miles on the tour.

In 1965, my father's health failed him and he had to be hospitalized. The doctor said his heart was twice the normal size. He was 89 years old. I was with him the last two weeks. We put him beside my mother in Williams.

Betty's health was not good, but she enjoyed life.

Our summer was rewarding. I was thrilled with my trail bike and went on several short camping trips in the High Sierras alone. I played a lot of golf and was runner-up in the championship's first fight. One lucky day I had six birds in

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nine holes. I have the card on my bar. My handicap got down to 7.

We had a large circle of friends. Being invited to a cocktail party for 20 before a dance was the usual.

[19]67 And [19]68, back to Mazatlan for three months. Found a front row space at a new park right on the beach at the Ole. Now with a bike, I rode with the gang on long boondocks trips, about twice a week. With offshore fishing in our boat, hitting the surf every day,dances, bingo, bridge and parties, we just didn't have time to fit everything in a seven day week.

In 1969, I bought a larger truck, boat and trailer. My truck was a 3/4 ton Ford with a 28 foot trailer and a 14 foot Gregor boat with two motors. We wanted to do a little exploring so we left for El Paso and started down the east coast of Mexico for the Yucatan. Tampico for Tarpan was our first target.

Tourist facilities on the east coast were not as good as the west coast. Veracruz was a big, dirty and busy city. On our way to Campeche, we had to cross four rivers on dilapidated ferry boats. Very rough roads. We broke two springs on the trailer and had them repaired.

The Yucatan is quite tropical but very little rainfall in the winter. The Aztec ruins at Uxmal and Chichen Itza were interesting. We continued on the tip at Puerto Juarez and took the ferry to Isla Miyeres. At the time it was a lot continent, now it is overrun with tourists off of cruise ships.

We crossed Mexico to the west coast. Bad roads, mountains

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and hairpin curves to Oaxaca. We pulled into a parking space in a nice trailer park and a wheel fell off of the trailer after we stopped. The good thing was this was an interesting area, a nice colonial city with a golf course and ruins dating back to 750 B.C. 6,000 miles on the odometer. I had to have the axle and spindle rebuilt at a local machine shop and have the bearing and races shipped from L.A. After two weeks of frustration we were back on the road.

We pulled into Acapulco on February 14th. The city was twice as big as 1956 and our wonderful trailer park was a high rise hotel. One week was enough. We were anxious to get back to Ole. Drove through Mexico City without stopping and on north to the new road just finished into Puerto Vallarta, charming and unspoiled little beach city before it exploded in expansion. At that time, you could see many blond and blue eyed Mexicans in the city traceable to the generations of Norwegian and Swedish sailors who came to the harbor on sailing ships. In a few more days, we were back in Mazatlan with our friends.

I smoked for 42 years and tried to quite repeatedly, without lasting success. I quit again and this time it worked.

Friends of ours who were in Ole were going to the states for a month and we got their spot, right on the beach. A big cruise ship was in the harbor and six of us crashed the dance on board. We caught so many fish we had a problem giving them away. We were over to Red's for dinner and they taught us a new card game, Shit on your neighbor. I tried my belly board in the heaviest

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surf of the year and got slammed down, smashed my nose, had six stitches. March 23, the beaches were cluttered with college kids on their spring break.

March 29, left for home. 8,826 miles. Home for four months before going to Seikieu, Washington for salmon. Found a great park for fisherman, Co-Ho-Resort. We could see Vancouver 15 miles across the St. of Juan De Fuca. Red and Charlotte arrived on our 14th day. Our park was full, with 140 outfits.

One day we fished all the way to Canada and caught double limits. About half the time, the weather kept us off the water, then it was bike day. We were there 25 days, our two best fish weighed 22 and 25 lbs. We gave several fish to neighbors who didn't catch any and brought five cases of smoked home. A 30 day trip.

We picked up the Spring Town routine again and visited Diane and Carole. I worked on my neglected golf game. For a change we had Christmas and New Years at home and left for Mazatlan the third of January. We bought a small deep freeze and filled it with goodies not available in Mexico and when we are ready to come home, it will be empty and we sell if for more than we pay for it.

Ole has been sold out for two months but I paid for a reservation before I left last year. We can get K.G.O. quite well after dark. The Honda gang was larger than last year. I now had my street car gong on my truck. For practice, I hit plastic golf balls up and down the beach to keep my swing fluid.

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A duplicate bridge instructor moved into Las Palmas park and started a game. That was the start of my addiction, now I have 273 international Master Points.

I went marlin fishing with Dean Gilbert in his 18 foot boat. We followed the fleet and wound up 30 miles offshore following a pair of fins. About noon, we looked around and there wasn't a boat in sight, and poor visibility. We had to guess our compass course and by the time we hit the beach, we were out of gasoline and we found out later we were 25 miles south of the harbor. We dropped the hook outside the breakers. Dean swam ashore to attempt to find rescue and I stayed with the boat. Early the next morning, I attracted the attention of a commercial fishing boat going up the coast. Got some gasoline and drove the boat home. If we had a pint less gasoline, we would have drifted to the South Pole. The coast south of the harbor was uninhabited and Dean had to walk cross country to the highway to get a ride into Mazatlan. As it turned out, I beat him home by two hours. Needless to say, we had a lot of people very upset.

A 65 year old man in the park bought a 24 year old Mexican girl for his wife from a marriage broker. We crashed the dance on the cruise liner, Statendam. Had a good day with one boat caught 34 Sierras. During Easter week, between the hippies and the Mexicans, the beaches are a no-no. We sold our deep freeze and left for home on March 31st. We stopped off at Trailer Village in Mesa, Arizona, one of the largest and best equipped in the world.

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Back to our delightful Spring Town routine. June 5, we drove to Tahoe and stayed with our friends, the Sommers, for five days. We left again on my birthday August 9 for another shot at the Salmon off Sekieu.

Had a side trip to Hope, Idaho to see friends from Mexico that lived near Lake Pond Oreville. They had a nice cruiser on the lake.

At Sekieu, we ran into a long stretch of bad weather and poor fishing. On August 17, three people drowned when their boat capsized. On August 30, we moved to Illwaco at the mouth of the Columbia River. There were 30 trailer parks in the area and 700 boats on the river. Fishing was just fair. Betty caught a 30 pounder. Twelve boats were swamped on the bar over the weekend. On September 9, a neighbor had to take his 26 foot cruiser up to Portland for repair work. We put my Honda on board and had a delightful cruise up the river and rode back double on the bike. Home on September 14th. 2,922 Mile tour.

Had a short stay at home and with Carole and Diane. Just about the time our friends found out we were home, we shoved off again for Mexico.

Early start on December 4. Guymas looked good so we stopped over three days and caught yellowtail to 25 pounds.

Mazatlan, December 12. Just in time for the first dance of the season at Las Palmas. The park had a big Christmas party for Mexican orphans each year and we all donated gifts, to make them happy. We went to the Christmas Eve dance party and spent

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Christmas Day, our Anniversary with our friends from Idaho, the Harveys. We crashed a mid-week dance on board the Oriana.

Fabulous New Year party at Las Palmas, 150 people. The fishing and weather has been wonderful. I now have a 175 Yamaha Enduro. My partner, Milt Solomen and I came in first at Duplicate Bridge for the 5th time. After the Saturday night dance, 12 people drove downtown for hamburgers. We had to take one lady to the hospital. She was showing us how many hot jalepeno peppers she could eat and got the hiccups. One of our bike riders was killed by a drunken Mexican truck driver. March 1971. This is a tough life. We have to get out of bed every morning, shave, eat breakfast, ride a bike, eat lunch, go fishing, swim, have cocktails, eat dinner, dance or play cards and go to bed! I won the duplicate championship for the season.

We were getting ready to go home but a bomb fell. Telegram from Carole, our home in Spring Town had been ransacked. We hit the road! Our loss from the burglary was about $1,000 and collected $600 from our insurance company.

We stayed home 5 months. Carole got a divorce and married John Steel, a well known artist. Carole has a boy and a girl. Sunny left four girls and Diane had two girls and three boys.

We left for our annual salmon fishing trip. Trinidad, Cal. was our first stop at the nice Deer Park Lodge. Had some good days, smoked and canned 78 half pound cans. August 22, left of Sekieu, Washington. I got a bum rap traffic ticket that cost $17. I followed a long line of traffic for over an hour and the

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minute I reached the head of the line, a cop tagged for holding up traffic. We caught six humpy salmon and gave them away. Arrived home on September 2, via Lake Shasta. 2,045 Miles.

We had a good life at Spring Town but the lifestyle in Mexico was more enjoyable. After three months we started south again, more roads under construction this year. We got there just in time for the big, four year anniversary party, free beer, hot dogs and a marimba band for dancing. Las Palmas had the Pinata party for the orphans. Party Christmas Eve and New Years big bash. We are one of very few people from the outside that are welcome at Las Palmas. I have given slide shows, stayed there our first year and have furnished them with some good dance tapes. Nebraska beat Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

January 15. Buckley and I boarded the ferry to La Paz with our bikes to tour Baja. Had an interesting tour of discovery, down to the tip and then north to Santa Rosalia and back. 848 miles in six days. Pristine desert mountains and deserted beaches. Several bikes crossed the mouth of the harbor and rode the deserted beach 25 miles down to where we were stranded last year.

There are two more trailer parks. This year and both are almost full.

February 12. Fiesta time again. We rode to the top of Ice Box Hill to watch the fireworks. I got a letter from home telling me my U.S. Patent for a boat launcher had been granted.

March 16. After a going away party for us, we left for

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home. Stopped in L.A. to see Lelia and family. We were home three months this time by the time I had my golf game back, it was time to go fishing. I had a new 350 Yamaha. Short trip this time to Trinidad and the Deer Creek Lodge. Had a week of windy weather.

No boats out so I rode my bike to Orick, Witchepeck, Hoopa and along the Klamath and Trinity rivers. Caught 10 salmon on the 4th and 5th and carried 32 one pound cans. John and Carole came up to check the action. Had several rough days.