Several of you have told me you like my travel stories so I thought I would blog one I wrote down in 1978, when Marge Lee, Judy and I drove to California and back. A lot of changes in thirty four years. I hope you like it.
September 17, 1978: We left Norma's at 6:04 p.m. to take Keith (we were driving Marge and Keith's Buick) and Joe home and so that we could pick up Marge's swimsuit. It was 6:12 when we came by the State Bank in Washington. First stop was at Kickapoo Interchange to pick up a package for Aunt Liz from cousin, Bob. Now we're on our way. (Traveling West on I74) Money's been sorted into appropriate envelopes (We all contributed to envelopes for motels, food and gas) Norma is driving.
Just into Iowa we stopped alongside the road and Judy and Norma changed places inside the car as no one wanted to get outside in the rain. It's been raining since the East side of Galesburg. Stopped in Coralville for gas and supper at 9:00. Judy's still driving. West of Des Moines, Judy began talking on the CB to a driver named "Snuffy" His alternator was out on a brand new truck, 19,000 miles and he asked us if we'd be his 'back door' to Omaha. Police know when something is wrong and they go easy on a trucker if he has someone behind him. We enjoyed his conversation. Told him that "Gypsy Lee (Marge) was afraid to talk on CB. Before the night was over "Gypsy Lee" and "Snuffy" were CB pals. When he left us at Omaha we all said "Good by, Snuffy" one after the other and when we finished one very sexy voice came out of the night saying "Good by, Snuffy"!
We stopped at Sapp Brothers at Omaha for gas and coffee about 2 a.m. When we got back in the car and were pulling away, we heard a scraping noise and Judy got out and noticed the muffler was hanging low. There were two trucks in the garage and we had to wait until one was done. Two hours later, with Judy and Marge pacing and Norma dozing, we were ready to pull over the 'truckers pit'. On the door was a sign that said: "Basic ramp fee $6.00". Judy pulled the car over the open pit and when the mechanic went down under the car to check out the trouble, Judy walked right down behind him to check on his work. The clamp had come off the muffler, he wired it up front and back so it would stay put and charged us $5.00 total. About 4:15 a.m. and we're back on I80 going West.
As we pulled out on the highway, we got a CB call for the 'westbound car from Land of Lincoln. This was "Great Dave" who stayed with us to Cozad, Nebraska as our 'front door'. He was an electrical supplies salesman and said he'd just gotten up to go to work. He told us there had been a tornado at Grinnell, Iowa that killed 6 people traveling on the Interstate.
Next stop was Gotheburg, Neb. for gas and Marge started driving and Judy got a much needed rest (Judy did most of the driving on this - or any trip - she prefers to drive) We stopped at Paxton for breakfast and Judy refused to wake up. Marge's breakfast - $2.16, Norma's $1.85, huge portions.
We stopped at Cheyenne at 11:30 Mountain Time and got a room at a Regal 8 Motel for $19.64. Nice room and clean. We took showers, turned on the telly and promptly fell asleep and woke about 6:00 p.m MT. We drove to downtown Cheyenne, saw the capital building and ate dinner at the Mayflower Hotel, very old west atmosphere. The wind has blown hard all day and we heard there is snow between Cheyenne and Salt Lake City.
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