As I was going through my parents 35mm slides looking for vacation photos from my childhood for this chronicle, I realized that our small family went on several big vacations in the 1960's. It brought back lots of memories and made me remember how much of the western United States I was privileged to see as a young boy. So tag along as I try to dredge up what memories I can from 50-60 years ago about these old pictures my parents took on our vacations.**
My cousin and I trying out my family's new Dodge Van A100 with pop up roof- Seattle, WA 1966.
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Me riding the monorail through downtown Seattle. While the World's Fair was a few years gone at this point, the monorail was still chugging its way through the downtown area. While the primary focus of this vacation was visiting family there was always time for finding fun things to do.
Of course I was also there in 1962 during the World's Fair but I was far too young to remember much about that trip.
A couple shots of me and the A100 along the Wenatchee River. We are on our way east to Yellowstone National Park but of course we have to stop in Wenatchee along the way... to visit more family. 😃
We lived in Los Angeles at the time so some of these vacations were marathon road trips. My mom and dad would share the driving while I, an only child, passed the time watching the scenery go by and imagining the things that must have happened on these lands long before my time.
Like I said therewere always sights to see...
Though some of them seen through the lens of today probably weren't showing the best side of humanity.
Of course there were always plenty more natural wonders waiting just around the next bend. Later in life while researching my family tree, I discovered an ancestor of mine had been part of the first expedition into this area to document its wonders.
As my dad documented these natural wonders my mom and I often became part of the scene.
Check out the eagle flying down the river to snatch me away. 🙂
Old Faithful Geyser.
The Grand Tetons in Wyoming with and without me. 😁
A more traditional form of travel here in 1962... the family station wagon. Oddly enough many years later I now live close to and have visited these areas in Central Oregon.
I also ended up spending 40 odd years living and working around the Portland/Vancouver area shown here as we passed through in the 60's.
And lastly some views of the Columbia River Gorge where I lived for a couple years before moving to Central Oregon. It almost seems like some kind of destiny that I ended up living around some of these places I visited.
Moving on, a shot taken on Route 66 through Needles California.
While the road trips were great and I saw a lot of sights from the road. There were other types of vacations.
Here we are boat camping on Lake Mead. I distinctly remember being a little nervous here as I was piloting the boat about how narrow that passage was ahead. Haha, silly kid. 😂
Strike a pose!
And of course an airplane vacation around the Grand Canyon.
As I close out this post I realize what a fortunate childhood my parents gave me. We did so many things together as a family. I could have easily made this post 3 times as long. I understand now that these vacations helped shape who I am today, where I ended up living and my love for the outdoors.
In the end though it was all about being together as a family. I would give anything to be able to talk to my parents again and reminisce about these adventures. Hopefully somewhere in the future that can happen.
Goodbye from little me and my dog as we visit our property in Utah, 1962.😁
For now though I have these photos that help me remember those good times.
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Please feel free to make comments or ask me any questions about this post.
Photos taken by my parents. 35mm slides digitized by me with some Lightroom post processing.
Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!