Monday, July 04, 2011

July 4, 1967

Okay, okay. I know. I've been lax. More lax than ever.

I'll try to do better. I will. And yeah, Star Wars nerds. I know there is no "try." Heh.

The problem seems to be that, while I come up with lots of ideas for this blog, I've just been too damned lazy to sit down and put fingers to keyboard.

So today, I'm going to call in a guest blogger from the past. Long past? Yes, and my past.

Meet 11-year-old Cathy (so soon to turn 12!) as she reports faithfully in her diary the events of July 4, 1967. She is on a cross-country road trip with her parents, her little brother, and the family dog. My comments/annotations in brackets. Enjoy!

Today we started out thinking that we would reach Yellowstone tonight. Well, we didn't. We stopped for lunch and some shopping at Spearhead [Spearfish?], S. Dakota.

First we went shopping in a souvenier [sic] shop. Johnny bought a Mt. Rushmore T-shirt. I bought a giant Apache tear for Linda [who was, at that point, my best friend]. Then we went to another souvenier [sic] shop. I bought a cedar box. We went to a pizza parlor and we saw the man toss the pizza dough.

On July 1st we saw a butcher cutting up meat for the first time. [Ever?]

Then we went on. I wanted to see the passion play but I didn't have time to.

[As you can see, SOME of my interests have changed over the years. Obviously, shopping for cheezy souvenirs and poking around in rock shops are obsessions that have lasted a lifetime...]

We then went to a place in Wyoming and got some rocks and film. It was called the Alabaster Shop. We went on to the rockies and continental divide and an awful windy [i.e., winding] road. We stopped at a service station and got some rocks. I got Indian Money (aragonite) and some Apache tears.

[Does it surprise anyone that young Cathy grew up to ace the infamous Rock Test in Geology 101?]

We stopped at a place in Shell called Spence's Camper Court and when it got dark enough, we shot off fireworks. Others had firecrackers and scared the dog.

Cathy

Happy Independence Day everyone! Hope we can all spend the holiday as carefree as an 11 year old on a cross-country road trip!

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3 Comments:

Blogger G. W. Ferguson said...

Must. hear. MORE! From 11-yr.-old Cathy!

6:56 PM  
Blogger Cathy VanPatten said...

Most of the entries are pretty pedestrian. For example, the entry for today (7/10) is as follows:

We went to the zoo [in Portland, OR]. We tayed almost all day. We had Cinese [sic] food for dinner. Uncle Bob came over with Aunt Margery, cousins Jammie [Jamie?] and Mike (Ah!) [I must have liked Mike!] and the new bride, Penny.

LOL! I remember Uncle Bob (he was at our wedding, but with a different wife...), but not Aunt Margery (Marjorie?), cousins Jammie Mike, and bride Penny... Now, I DO remember meeting my mom's half-sister's girls, my cousins whom I will not name (but whose names I will never forget). They were stone bitches to me, but they just LOVED John. Go figure! LOL!

I may post more from the 1967 trip if I can find more interesting, longer entries. The journal also has other trips in it--ends in 1970. It was always a trip journal, so it's pretty much all summer-related.

5:17 PM  
Blogger Cathy VanPatten said...

That should be "we STAYED," of course.

5:18 PM  

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