Besides the wedding of Grandma and Walter, our family’s biggest event in 1965-66 was a trip to Indiana. This was our family’s first long road trip. We drove a 1962 Ford station wagon, with an air conditioner unit attached beneath the dash in the front. The back was a big flat area where one or two kids could lay down and sleep.  (No seat belts necessary in those days.) John was too young to go with us, so we left him with his grandparents.

Our Quaker denomination held a general conference every three years. The denomination and the conference were both called Friends United Meeting. It was held at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in July 1966, and my parents were selected as delegates from the California Quakers to this national conference. People who came were housed in campus dormitories, and programs were planned for children of all ages. I was finished with 8th grade, so at home I was heading into high school, but in Indiana 9th grade was still Junior High – so I was a senior member of the Junior High activities at FUM.

I hated road trips, being confined for long periods of time in the car. One way my parents helped me get through it was to assign me tasks. I kept track of all of our expenses on the trip, and since I loved maps I became the navigator. In those days the auto club would, upon request, issue a “trip-tick” that was customized to your trip. It was a little paper book of maps, each page showing one leg of your journey, and together they showed your path to your destination, much like a GPS or maps app does electronically today. I kept track of our progress, marking it with a pen as we went along, and issuing instructions to my dad who was usually at the wheel. In those days the interstate highway system was far from complete; we took U.S. Route 66 most of the time, and Interstate 40 when it was available.

I remember stopping after dark at the intersection of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico so we could stand in four states at once. We drove in the cooler parts of the day as much as we could, because when the sun was out it was HOT. We always carried a styrofoam cooler full of ice and everybody chewed ice cubes as we drove. There was lots of competition for that front seat by the air conditioner, because it wasn’t really effective any further back. 

I also remember driving through St. Louis, Missouri, on the day of the all-star game for major league baseball. It was being played in the stadium in St. Louis as we drove through the city. The temperature was 104° on the freeway and 110° on the ball field; Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax was the starter for the National League. And we had a flat tire on the freeway. Boy was my dad mad!

We finally arrived at Earlham. This was the Quaker college that my grandmother had graduated from in 1926, just before she married my grandfather. We kids were assigned rooms according to our age groups; we did not stay with our family. I don’t remember what we did, but I know that they kept us busy for the whole week while our parents went to meetings. The buildings were not air-conditioned, and I was overheated and sweating all week. It was humid, and didn’t cool down in the evenings. I decided that I didn’t like Indiana.

After the conference, from which we have no pictures, we visited some of Dad’s relatives in Indiana. Kennard and Reba Stout lived in Russiaville, which I soon learned was not pronounced the way it looks. It’s pronounced “ROOshavill.” They ran a combination furniture store and mortuary in that town, and had granddaughters that were close in age to Peggy and Sue. They owned a big piece of property and horses, which my sisters enjoyed riding with their Stout cousins.

Peggy on Stage

Peggy was still taking ballet lessons at this time, and she got to be in a production of “Cinderella.”

Like me, Peggy enjoyed participating in Junior Theater productions. I think this one was “Hansel and Gretel.”

Dad had business meetings in the Bay Area every year, and they were opportunities for our family to take a mini-vacation to Carmel, a beautiful little city on the California coast near Monterey. We always stayed in the same little cottages. We played bingo in the evenings, competing for the prizes that Grandma would always wrap up in fancy paper and ribbon.

During the days we would go to the Monterey Bay aquarium, or to a big park in the same city, or drive the 17-mile scenic drive that went by the Pebble Beach golf course and had wonderful ocean views. It was fun to walk around the shops in Carmel, too. It was always a fun trip.

Here’s our family just after arrival at our little white cottages in Carmel. 

Here’s a photo of the four of us kids taken at the beach, probably at Newport.

Here’s Peggy with our new puppy, Charlie Brown. We think that we got him right after watching one of those Peanuts TV shows for the first time.

Poor John, as the youngest he was subject to all sorts of ordeals.

Here are the four of us, plus Charlie Brown, at Christmas 1965. We got a new COLOR TV set for Christmas that year. That was a pretty big deal.

Grandma plays with John on the beach.

Peggy looks over one of her birthday gifts. What could it be?

All four of us had that window of opportunity when we were big enough, but still light enough, to stand on Dad’s shoulders in the pool. We loved doing it!

Mom is teaching John to swim in this picture. All four of us kids learned to swim, taught by our parents in Annie & Grandpa’s pool.

Here’s Mom with all four of us in the pool across from Annie & Grandpa’s house. All girls and women had to wear bathing caps in those days.

Dick and John enjoying a swim together.

Portrait of John, taken in 1966

This is Sue in what looks like a new school outfit. This photo was taken in our back yard on Davista Dr. You can see the screened porch in the background. The tree behind Sue bore fruit, but it was not edible.

Here’s one of the four of us kids at Sea World. Not sure what Peggy was doing…

This was our family portrait for the First Friends Church directory in 1966.

Dave poses in 1966 with his collection of bowling trophies in the back yard.

In 1965 and 1966 the Dodgers again repeated as National League champs, winning the World Series in 1965. After 1966 they went into a prolonged slump that lasted into the 70’s.

In 1966 I had surgery on my left thigh to find out why I had the recurring swelling, but this proved to be a waste of time as I still have it. My orthopedist later told me it was a herniated muscle, but it gives very little trouble.

In March of 1966 Klane Robison invited me to join Kiwanis. I attended a few of their meetings and decided this was the right thing for me to do. 

Not that I needed the contacts for business, but I did need to branch out and meet people of the community. I have never been sorry for making this decision. I was a member of the Whittier Rio Hondo club for almost 25 years and then when we moved to Oregon I joined the club in Newberg. In 1971 I was asked to ‘go through the chairs’ meaning I would be Vice President for the year 71-72, Pres. Elect for 72-73 and then President for 73-74. I was apprehensive about accepting the challenge, but I had a good experience and enjoyed it very much. Being President made me learn to be more at ease in front of an audience. 

As Vice President I was responsible for fund raising and as Pres. Elect  I was program chairman. At that time the program chairman was responsible for the programs and speakers every week. Now they divide the responsibility with a committee. Most of my years in Kiwanis I have served as Treasurer and am now serving as Secretary of the Newberg club.

The summer of 1966, Doree and I ventured across the country in our red Ford station wagon to Richmond, Indiana for Friends United Meeting triennial. Dave and Peggy went with us, Sue stayed with Aunt and John with Grandma.