Months had passed and many hours worked, and it was finally time for our big road trip; Scott’s VW bug was all gassed up and we were eager to go. With our map in hand, cash in our pockets and each destination marked we were now on our way. We would all take turns driving; Scott, Jerry and me.
We drove east from Portland on the beautiful, Historic Columbia River scenic highway along the gorge.
I wish they had more roads like that. Multnomah Falls was one of our first stops, then on to Hood River,
and a short break. From there, Mt Hood then over to Kanita Hot Springs
After a pit stop and some more food we drove past Crater Lake, and on to Klamath Falls. Our next stop would be in the northeast corner of California around the lava beds
then over to Nevada and into Reno. So far so good!
When we drove into Reno it was just before dark; we were all very tired from driving for so long, so we checked into a motel with a pool and took it easy. If I remember, the motel room was around $22.50 per night. Split three ways it was only a little over $7.00 for each person per night. Not bad for back in the day!
When it got dark Reno became alive;
people and neon lights in every direction. The only problem was we were all to young to gamble, but there was still a lot of other stuff to do. The pool was nice!
Early next morning after breakfast we were back on the road: Virginia City, Carson City;
both are cool ghost towns; we even went on a tour into a real gold mine;
hard hats and lanterns. It was a lot of fun.
Lake Tahoe was next stop.
I thought it was interesting how the landscape and temperature had been changing from Portland to where we were now. It was getting a lot warmer.
After Lake Tahoe it was over the Grapevine into California.
Instead of going to San Francisco first we decided to drive down to Los Angeles for dinner with Scott’s Aunt.
She asked us to stay for two days. The next day his Aunt bought us all tickets to Disneyland.
We spent the rest of the day there; I liked the Matterhorn roller-coaster ride the best.
Early the next day we drove down to the Mexican, California border and walked across into Mexico then took a cab into Tijuana.
Back then Tijuana was a very cool place, very clean, no drugs, a big tourist area. I bought a skin-diving watch, a ring, drank beer and had Chinese food; it was fun bartering with the vendors.
Now back in the good old USA we drove north on highway 101 to see my brother Rick, his wife Nancy and his new born son Reed in San Diego.
At that time Rick was in the Navy. We had a Spaghetti lunch, drank beer and had some good laughs. After leaving Rick’s we went to the San Diego Zoo. I saw a two headed snake. We stayed over night in Long Beach.
Early the next day we went to the Long Beach board walk, drove up to the San Francisco Bridge;
after that north to the Red Wood Forest;
boy they are big trees!
We stayed the night in Crescent City California. The three of us needed a good nights sleep before finishing our road trip driving up Oregon’s 101 coast highway.
Up early, a good breakfast and now back in Oregon and on our way to Florence. Florence was a lot of fun. I really liked the sand dunes and riding in the big dune buggy; it was a blast!
After Florence we drove to our last destination on 101, Seaside.
I have always enjoyed Seaside. I have been there many times and I still like going there from time to time. The corn dogs are the best and the hot rods are cool too.
Back in the day Seaside still had all the amusement rides. I liked the Mad Mouse Roller-coaster the best. The bumper cars are fun and the big Ferris Wheel was so tall you could see all of Seaside.
Trip took 7 days in all; Portland, it’s good to be back home!
Photos are worth a thousand words.
Grandpa Tom
When I was hired as a busboy at Poncho’s Restaurant it never dawned on me that I’d be working in one of the most state of the art designed kitchens in Portland. There was always a tour going on. Poncho’s, with it famous red sauce was Portland’s first Mexican restaurant; established in 1947.
From the outside it looked like every other old house that was built in the early 1930’s; the only difference was a long awning stretched over the front entry way, a sign read, Poncho’s Mexican Restaurant, and there was an endless line of hungry customers.
All the busboys had a dress code. We had to wear black shoes, and a white dress shirt worn under an embroidered Mexican vest; which I thought was very festive!
Arriving at 3:30 pm meant that I would be opening up. That’s restaurant talk for; make sure all the food is prepared buy 5:00 pm. or you’re fired! So, I made sure that I re-heated 30 gallons of refried beans, washed and cut 20 gallons of potatoes for french fries, cut bags and bags of soft tortilla shells for our own deep fried corn chips, cut and grated 60 pounds of cheese and made sure that the hard taco shells were stocked for the taco bar.
Besides the busboys opening up in our own area, others were opening up as well in theirs, like the dishwashers, at the salad bar, hostess at the front entryway, in the cantina and of course all the cooks and waitresses.
Around 5:15 the orders started coming in to the kitchen and that’s when the show really started! Back then there was no such thing as a microwave; every order was handmade, fresh in or around the big gas powered ovens or on top of the flat top grill.
After the orders were cooked the huge hot plates were placed onto a big tray. It was then my job as the busboy to carry that tray out to each waitress at their station; At the beginning the trays were very awkward; I was always burning my arms from the hot plates but soon I got the hang of it and it became fun. As time passed I could spin the tray before setting it down at the stations.
I soon started making friends. Most of my new friends went to different high schools. If I worked until closing time some of us would go out after work, it was usually to Carmon’s Restaurant. I would get a hot butter horn and a coke.
Being a busboy was fun, but I also enjoyed working in other areas of the restaurant, for instance, the salad bar. Making salads was only part of the job. I also made a lot of milkshakes, chocolate, strawberry or vanilla,
and if there was any left over I could throw the rest out or drink it. I chose to drink it! What would you do?
One day there was an opening for a dishwasher so I applied for a transfer. Next thing I knew I was now 1 of the 4 dishwashers with a big raise; my busboy days were over!
Over the next few months the four of us dishwashers from time to time would talk about going on a road trip, but I never really took it seriously until Scott drove to work one day in a newly purchased VW bug convertible and said, “Road trip this summer!”
To be continued…
Grandpa Tom
