It’s finally December! ….Merry Christmas everyone!
Seeing the light snow falling the other day reminded me of the time when I decided to take my brother’s, Rick’s, car out for a drive. It was in December on Christmas break from school. The Vietnam war was ragging on and my brother Rick was in the navy on a sub tender and I was turning 15 in January.
Before he left for duty, to my surprise, he handed me his keys to his cool 56 Chevy convertible

then said to me, “Could you start my car up once a week and let it run for a few minutes?” With a big grin I said, “Sure!”
Rick giving me the keys to his car was a big honor, but asking me to start it up….well, it made my day!
As the weeks passed I could hardly wait for each Friday so I could go out and start his car, but before I knew it, temptation, and then, well you know what comes next. I was doing more than just starting up his car, I was driving it back and forth in the driveway, just like I did in my 34 Chevy when Mom and Dad were gone.
As time past I drove Rick’s car a little further and further, before long I was driving his car all over town, I would even dress up in his coat just in case some of his friends saw the car and think it was him driving by instead of me.
This December day, like I said at the top of this post, it was a cold day…. I drove Rick’s car over to my friend Don’s, picked him up and off we went, driving all over the place. The next thing I knew we were on the freeway driving to the Lloyd Center Mall faster than I had ever drove before, when suddenly it started snowing.

I was just starting to master shifting the gears let alone trying to drive in the snow! So I decided to get off the freeway and drive back home.
As I got off the Freeway and onto the side streets there was so much snow that the tires on the 56 started spinning and sliding all over the place! The car became very hard for me to drive and that’s when it happened! As I turned the corner I was going a little to fast and the car spun out of control. We started spinning in a circle around and around and around until we smashed into the curb with a big jolt and the engine dead.
Don and I jumped out to see if I had wrecked anything. When I got to the curb I just stood there starring at what I did. It seemed like forever. That’s when I started saying to myself, “If only I hadn’t driven the car!” or if only I hadn’t this or hadn’t done that!. But I did, and now Rick’s right front wheel was all bent up and his trust in me went out the window too.
Now all I could hear was Don saying over and over again what are you going to do. We both got back in Rick’s car, it took forever to get the Chevy started again but to my relief it finally started and wouldn’t you know, the snow had stopped and was now melting off the road. As I pulled away from the curb I drove Rick’s car like a Sunday driver, slow!
After dropping Don off I was now finally back in my own driveway. I was home but not off the hook. For the next few hours I hammered and filed and hammered and sanded till I got that wheel back in shape. It was now as good as a kid could make it. I then found some paint in the basement and hand painted it to match the color of the wheel, then put the wheel back on the car. Little did I know the paint I used was water soluble and would dissolve with soap and water.
Months passed and Rick was finally back home, and of curse the first thing he did on that quite, sunny day was to wash his car. Like I said It was a quite day until he started washing the right front wheel . Suddenly, the water in the bucket turned into the same color as his wheel, and my repair job was now exposed! I was in my room when I heard him yelling my name from the driveway and I knew I was in big trouble.
I went out to face the music. The next day I could tell how mad he was by the big bruises all over my left arm and shoulder. I never did that again…until he bought his 58 Corvette.

Grandpa Tom

My brother Rick for some unknown reason would play pranks on me, then in return when he least expected….. Revenge!…. This went on for some time until one day this game had an unexpected ending. You see, my brother Rick was lying on his back in the living room floor reading a comic when I creped up and punched him in an area …. Well lets just say below the belt!
At that moment in time it seemed like the right thing to do … You know, pay back! But after the hit I knew that maybe this idea of mine was the Wrong One!
Rick must have been that man of steel because he jumped up faster than any human alive and started chasing me!

Good thing I had my PF Flyers on (You can run faster and jump higher)

I was just like Flash in the comics!…Because he couldn’t catch me.

In our home you could go from the living room into the dining room through the kitchen and back into the living room, a circle. Around and around we went. I knew I was getting a big lead on him so when I went back into the kitchen I went out the back door into the garage, and out the open garage door, down the drive way and onto the side walk. As I turned to see if I needed to keep running, I saw Rick grab a hold of the opened garage door and gave it a gigantic hard pull. Instead of the big garage door shutting, it came crashing down, off the track and onto the garage floor with a big crashing noise! The look on his face I will never forget! In an instant the game was over, and time seemed to stop!
After a short time I walked back to the garage. Rick was sitting on the garage steps that led into the kitchen. We didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, then Rick said “Can you help me fix the door?” So I did. After a couple of hours the garage door was back up and like new. Dad never knew the difference.
From that day on there was no more pranks and no revenge from me. I think he and I became more than just brothers that day…. We became friends.
Grandpa Tom

The house we lived in had two bedrooms, one for Mom and Dad, the other for us kids. Rick and my bedroom was designed to mimic a sailing ship’s cabin with built in bunk beds, each having there own Porthole window. Each window could actually open, and if I wanted to, I could stick my head out of, which I did quite often!



Next to the bunk beds were built in drawers and cabinets and all the walls in our room had Tung and grooved pine boards that were stained and varnished. On the ceiling was a boat steering wheel that was made into a light fixture. When you turned the lights out at night, stars and planets would suddenly appear on the ceiling just like you would see on a clear night on the open sea….. It was very cool!
As time passed my brother Rick wanted his own space so he moved into the basement, it was like having his own apartment. He was then happy and so was I.
In an earlier blog I mentioned a few Television shows that I watched as a kid. One was called the Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. The show was a television hit! It was about a boy named Rusty that was orphaned from an Indian attack, he and his dog Rin Tin Tin were adopted by the troops at fort Apache in Arizona.
Like any kid show, they saw a profit to be made so they started making kid toys that are now collectables.
I don’t remember asking Mom or Dad for any of the toys from the hit TV show but I was given a Rin Tin Tin Fort Apache set.



I had tons of fun on the floor in my room setting up the fort and fighting the Indians. By the way, if your being attacked by Indians you just had to have music playing in the back ground on my old suitcase record player.



The only record I had at the time was a 45 rpm called Davy Crocket King of the Wild Frontier, that I played over and over and over during the Indian attacks…… Ah the good old days!
Another game I played in my room was with a card board box. If you take the box apart and lay it flat on the floor it looked like the letter “t”. On the top of the “t” I would draw a face. The left and right side of the flat box were the arms and at the bottom of the “t” were the legs. It then became a pirate. Why a pirate? Remember ! Because you’re in a ships cabin. Or maybe my box would become a see monster?! I also had Dominos that I had fun setting up in long rows on my floor, I always enjoyed knocking them over and hearing the clicking noise when they hit each other as they were falling down. Another game was stacking playing cards on top of each other to make a tall structure then shooting rubber bands at it. Then there was always game of marbles. If I ran out of stuff to do I could always stick my head out the porthole window!
Grandpa Tom

Back in the 50’s and early 60’s when I was very young, my dad had two jobs. At least it seemed like two jobs. During the day he worked as a machinist from 8:00 AM till 4:30 in the after noon. Then when he returned home, his second job would start….Well maybe I should say, his self made volunteer work would start. And that work was to……Adjust our Black and White Television set. 

This being our first TV always had fuzz, flickering, or static on the screen. It never seemed to go away. I think the main reason for all this interference was that we had no outside antenna.
In the dictionary...It states it’s a “device”. A metallic piece of equipment of variable shape, used in the sending and receiving of television or radio signals. To receive the best possible signals, the antenna should be located on an outside source. Like on top of a house, a tall building, or high tower… Now a’ days a satellite beams down the signal. But back then all we had for our TV was…. Rabbit Ears!

　

The Rabbit Ears were a V-shaped antenna made of two metal rods on a base. It was designed to sit on top of a television set. By manually adjusting the rods to the left, right, up, or down you would then receive the best possible signal. But there was just one problem, each time you changed the channel to see a different program, you usually had to manually adjust the rabbit ears all over again.
After Dad had finished adjusting the Rabbit Ears, he then made it a priority to fine tune the TV, by adjusting the control knobs either at the front, or if you were brave at the back of the TV. All this adjusting seemed to take forever! Soon we were all saying to Dad … It looks great, Don’t move it, That’s good, Stop, Its ok! …Then if that wouldn’t work, Mom would finally say!…“Fred stop” “Move so we can see the show.!” then Dad would turn around with this look… Like.. Oh …I didn’t know you guys were there? Good thing we only had 6 channels, or we may have never seen a television show.
During the week I watched shows like Howdy Dowdy, Caption Kangaroo and Friday night fights. Sunday morning I liked Orel Roberts, then there was Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, cartoons, and The Untouchables, and of course the Mickey Mouse Club, just to name a few.
As time passed we finally got an outside antenna.

I remember Dad fastening the new antenna to the chimney then lowering a flat wire and attaching it to the back of the TV. Then Dad climbing back onto the roof where he adjusted the antenna by moving it ever so slightly. Us kids were the go betweens… Dad would yell down to Rick. Then Rick would yell to me… “Does it look OK? “Then I would yell back to Rick “Yes or No” Then Rick would yell up to Dad “Yes or No!” Seems like this went on for some time . But we got the job done and …… No more Rabbit Ears!!
One day when Dad came home from work, he announced that we were having a new Zenith Color Television console delivered sometime late in the afternoon tomorrow.
The next day after school I stayed home for the delivery. Not only was the Television delivered but the TV man set it up too. It was very cool! I was the first to watch our new color TV! You’re probably wondering what happened to that old Black and White? Well it ended up in Rick’s and my bedroom, and of course with the old Rabbit Ears too.
Sunday nights was a big TV night around our house, the big show of the evening was called… The Wonderful World of Disney. “We just called it Disneyland”. It was a family oriented show. We always had popcorn or some type of desert with the show. One time my brother and I had just changed into our pajamas and were laying on the floor in front of the TV waiting for the show to start. Mom brought in a slice of berry pie for each of us.

Dad got up from his favorite chair and squatted down in front of the TV to change the channel, when he stood back up he took a step back, and stepped right onto my berry pie! The look on Dad’s face …was well… like… if you just stepped in …Dog Do !… look. Then Rick looked at me and I looked at Rick the next thing I new we were both laughing uncontrollably! Seeing Dad hobbling then hopping into the kitchen and trying not to get any pie on the carpet from his shoe, was just as funny!

Grandpa Tom

There was always two things that never failed to happen when I was growing up. One was if it was a Friday night, and Dad drove home in the company work truck, that meant we’d be going to the city land fill on Saturday. We called the land fill the (Dump). The second was ……The Yellow Stool!!!!
I remember the Dump being completely different than it is today. I always thought it was a fun place to go! Each time I went was like a new adventure, something different to see, treasure to find, and strange people to watch, and that was only the second part of the fun. The first part was loading the truck and sometimes a trailer too, then driving there and back with my Dad and brother Rick.

I always wondered, How did we accumulate so much junk? I spent allot of time in the basement or in the garage, and I never noticed any of the stuff that we would be taking to the Dump. I think maybe early on Saturday morning, before I got up, the stuff would magically appear on the floor. I know I never made any of the messes…..Well maybe once or twice. Even our dog Rusty accumulated stuff like half chewed toys, sticks, rags, and bones; heck Rusty only ate canned dog food, so how did he get bones in his bed?
As us guys loaded the truck with our junk, the neighbor men up or down the street would swing buy and ask Dad if we had any room for some of their junk. I soon figured out this was a way men can shoot the bull and still look like we’re working. The next time it might be the neighbors turn going to the dump.
After we loaded up, it was time to go. I can still remember the sound of that trailer bouncing down the road behind the truck. As we entered the Dump there was a fee paid, seems like it was 4 or 5 dollars. Then it was show time! Dad would back the little trailer into the dumping area with no problem.
Before the freeway was built Dad drove a big tractor trailer making deliveries from Portland to Longview every night on the old highway, it took all night for the round trip. So backing up the little trailer was no big deal.
The Dump has it’s own smells too. “Dad said the smell is from rotting food” plus there were Seagulls everywhere. Rick said “The birds eat the rotting food.” Have you ever seen the movie, The Birds… …Creepy!

I also enjoyed watching the people back up there own trailers. It was like watching the Three Stooges’ It was funny. The trailers would go every direction except where they wanted them to go.
Then there were the Trash men. “That’s what Dad called them” I guess they are called Recyclers today. Each trash man had there own little area, with there own little chair that had an umbrella hooked to it. If the weather turned bad they would each go inside there own little one man shack and keep an eye out for any thing to snatch it up. The trash men all looked alike too. …Like Big Clones! Each wore black and white bib overalls, each wore thick framed eye glasses, each chewed on a half smoked cigar. And if they saw anything shiny they could snatch it up before it hit the ground, and don’t even think about picking any stuff back up off the ground. Because it some how became the property of the trash men.
Looking for treasure was fun too. But I could only look for it close to the truck. So if I did find any treasure it then became a challenge to pick it up with out the Clones… I mean the Trash Men seeing you. I found a lot of stuff like marbles, plastic rings, money, a toy sheriff badge, and some army men to name a few.
My best memory of the Dump was the giant orange bulldozer!

It was really neat, you could see and feel the ground shaking, the smell of the diesel fuel, and see stuff being smashed and crushed was really cool ..…. It really made my day!

No I didn’t forget! ….The Yellow Stool!
Yes this was a Constant for me too.
The Yellow Stool was always kept in the basement in the corner of the Furnace room, maybe it was there so no one could hear the screams from the person that sat on that Yellow Stool!

My brother and I knew what was going to happen to the one that sat on that Yellow Stool. When Dad ever said… “Get the Yellow Stool ” Rick and I would look at each other hoping that our name wasn’t called, but one name was always called. If your name was called it was like digging your own grave, then jumping in, or building your own gallows to hang yourself. But one of us always had to go!
Each of us from time to time had to make that long lonely walk into that basement and into that dimly lit furnace room. and wait, and wait! on that Yellow Wooden Stool.
And then it was time. We could hear Dads foot steps coming down the stairs and into the basement. Was the torture going to be quick or drawn out? We never knew?
Then like something out of a movie Dad would drape a sheet over Rick or my shoulders, after that Dad would open a small black bag. Slowly he would bring out the instruments of torture. Dad then would lay each instrument in a straight line in front of us. Naming each. “One comb, Two Scissors, and One small hand held broom” .
Rick and I both knew from earlier experiences that the instruments of torture in front of us would never be used! They were just for show. Suddenly out from behind dads back came…. The electric clipper. The noise of the clipper would make any dead person roll over in there grave.

Dad with one hand on our head and the other holding the tarnished instrument, would begin the torture!
Globs of falling hair landing on our shoulders in our face then on to the floor, the hair was then kicked or stepped on….. I couldn’t breath! I need air!…But then!… In under two minutes it was over! We now could take a breath, and the Yellow Stool was back in the corner, until next time when Dad would say! “Get the Yellow Stool.
Rick don’t forget to sweep up your hair!

Grandpa Tom

Remember when you were a kid? It was always hard to make some money, especially if you were the youngest in your family. For me, I had chores every day. I maybe made $10 bucks a week. My brother Rick, he had his every day chores too. Rick being older, his chores would sometimes interfere with him going out with his buddy’s. So every once and awhile, Rick would ask me if I wanted to make some extra money and most of the time I jumped at the chance. But asking me was far and in between. So I thought of different ways to make money. One of the ways was taking a wagon door to door and ask people for old pop bottles made out of glass.

If I remember right, the bottles were worth 3-5 cents each. Most of the time the lady of the house would be home, so we collected tons of bottles and made enemies of the local PigglyWiggly food store. As time passed, many of the stores started saying they wouldn’t take large quantities of bottles. So we started taking smaller and smaller amounts. Another store that we took our bottles to, we called, the Chinese Grocery Store. The owner would always say the same thing when he saw us walking in. “ You boys stop. We not take bottles“…Then us kids would say back…“We’re going to tell our parents”… Then he would say, “ Ok only this time“. I always thought he and us kids were playing some kind of a game, but I’m sure he thought it was some kind of blackmail!

My parents liked shopping at the Chinese Grocery Store because of the green stamps. Plus, on Friday evening you could win a prize if they drew out of a box, your old grocery receipt that had your name written on it. They won a number of times.
Us kids weren’t the only ones going door to door back in the day, a lot of salesmen were making a very good living selling door to door. They were selling things like knifes, books, cleansers, vacuums, fire alarms, siding for you home, candy, hats, flowers, jewelry and more. There was this one guy I was always in awe with and was amazed. He was making a living selling straw brooms door to door. You say, “What was so amazing about that”? He was blind!
When Rick got older he landed a sweet job working in an ice cream store up the street from our house, so I took over his chores. Plus having my own chores, I started making some real money $20 dollars a week. I can still remember receiving my first new twenty dollar bill. I took all of my change and dollar bills into the bank and traded them in for a brand-new $20 bill. Now that was something!
When I was older my Dad would pay me $5 dollars to mow the front and back yard. It would only take me maybe an hour. After mowing the yard from time to time it got me thinking…. I just made $5 dollars in one hour. The Minimum Wage was $1.25 an hour. So I decided to take the lawn mower door to door just like I did when I was younger collecting bottles with my wagon. The next day I started my quest for, The Mowing of the Yards!

Walking up and down the streets it was soon apparent that this idea was going to be harder than I thought. The ladies that answered the door would either say No! or My husband mows our yard on Saturday. The first yard that I was able to mow, was from this real old lady two blocks up the street. She said how much more for edging? I have a edger in back if you need one. I didn’t even know what edging meant. But I said $2 dollars anyway. It took me over 2 hours to do the edging! But I still made $7 dollars in three hours. Still better than minimum wage.
One day while making my rounds with the lawnmower, I spotted this 1947 Studebaker pickup truck. It had a sign on the window for sale or trade. It was a strange looking truck with a tall grill, a three speed on the floor, and a flat head six cylinder engine. It was painted a gray color…It was ugly. But I just had to have it!

As I walked up to the front door, I was met by the owner of the truck. He asked me how much? I just stood there for a second or two because I was going to ask him the same question. How much? He then pointed to my lawnmower. I said $10 dollars because it was a big yard. He said maybe another time. As he was walking back into his house I said, how much for your truck? He turned around and said $50 dollars. Then I said, “Do you want to trade”? I then told him I have $30 dollars cash, if you let me mow your lawn two times this month it will add up to the $50 dollars.
By now we had walked over to the truck, and were looking at it and talking. He said if you mow my yard now and then come back Saturday, and help me clean my garage and take stuff to the dump, then we’ll have a deal. I said OK! Then we shook on it.
After mowing the yard, I went back home and waited for dad to come home from work. I wanted to tell him about my new truck. At first he thought I was joking but then he said, “You did? Where is it, does it run”? I said, “I wasn’t sure. I mean, I don’t know…. But we’re driving it to the dump Saturday. So It must run”! Dad suggested driving over now and taking a look at this old truck. Seeing the old truck first hand, Dad had his doubts until the owner started it up. Then dad said I can’t drive it until I get some car insurance.
After cleaning the garage and going to the dump, I then went home to rest. Later Rick drove Dad and me back to my new truck. I paid the balance of $30 dollars, got the title, then Dad drove my new truck home. The first thing Monday, I got some car insurance and washed my truck.
As months passed by I had no problems with the old truck until one day when I down shifted into second gear. Suddenly a bang noise was heard, the engine started running funny and the oil gage that I had installed showed oil presser over 100 pounds. Rick said that I probably blew up my engine and that’s why I now have a lot of water mixed in the oil.
After a couple of weeks, Rick and I pulled the blown flat head out of the truck and was looking for another. One of my friends called and said that he knew a guy with a smashed up 58 Mercury with a 383 V8 you could probably buy for $15 or $20 bucks. So I did.

 Next thing I knew, we had the front end off the truck, the engine and push button transmission pulled out of the Mercury and Dad had made new motor mounts. Next we installed the V8, the transmission and the rest of the stuff like the exhaust, the mercury radiator and did some rewiring. Then it was finished!
Dad and I stood back while Rick made that old truck come alive. And man was it alive! Rick took off up the street with the tires smoking and wheels hopping. It was one fast truck! A couple days later I put some wider tires in the back and some sand bags in the bed. This helped with the wheel hop. I drove my hot rod 47 Studebaker pickup till I bought my 57 Chevy.

Thanks Dad and Rick
Grandpa Tom

One day my brother Rick drove home in a light blue 2 door 1950 Ford.

Rick and a friend had bought the car earlier in the day for $25.00 bucks. It needed radiator work, some upholstery repair and a good wash job, other than that there was no problem.

Rick said they bought the car so they could turn it into a dune buggy. I said, “A dune buggy, what’s a dune buggy”? Rick said, “You know, a car with big tires so you can drive on the beach or go up sand dunes. You need the big tires so you won’t get stuck in the soft sand’. I thought, oh a car with big tires, I can picture that. But in reality, I had no idea of what they were really going to do to that neat old car.

After a while Rick went into the house, so I climbed in the front seat and started playing with all the knobs on the dash and moving the gear shift lever on the column. It was a lot of fun until Rick saw me in the car and came out yelling! I jumped out and ran around to the back of the car. Rick and I ran around the car maybe 3 or 4 times before he gave up trying to catch me, he then got into the car and started it up. Suddenly the radio went blaring, the window wipers started up, the heater went on high and Rick became this Raging Bull Elephant again and started chasing me around the car. After awhile he stopped… and I slowly made my way back to see what he was up too.
The next day when mom and dad were at work, Rick and his friend decided to work on the Ford. I asked Rick if I could watch them put the big tires on. But he said No! They weren’t ready yet, “So get lost.”
So I went over to one of my friends. Later when I returned home I couldn’t believe what I saw! They had cut the top off the car, the hood and fenders were laying on the driveway, the back seat had been taken out, and 1of 2 doors were off. The whole Ford was either cut up or had been taken apart. Plus no big tires! I said, “What happened to the car”? Rick said this is how you make a dune buggy.
I was kind of sad for the old Ford. Until now, there had been really nothing wrong with it, it ran well, and looked pretty cool too. By the time Dad got home from work Rick had everything cleaned up, covered over, or haled off. I was sure when Dad saw what they had done to the car Rick would get yelled at, but to my surprise the only thing Dad said was, “Make sure you guys install a roll bar and put some seat belts in the car.” So the next day they did what Dad had said. The last thing Rick put on the dune buggy was the big tires. Instead of having 2 big tires in the back of the car, it now had 4 big tires in the back. Rick said they’re called dual wheels.

A couple of days later Rick and his friends loaded the dune buggy onto a trailer and off to Long Beach they went. After that they drove over to Eastern Oregon.
For the next couple of months that’s all that they did. They even went down to Florence Oregon to drive on the sand dunes. They had a blast. But…..After a while Rick and his friends decided it was costing to much to drive to the beach and back so they decided to get rid of the dune buggy. They tried selling it, but no takers. Soon it was under a tarp and forgotten.
After three or four weeks Dad said the dune buggy had to go and he wanted it gone by the time he got home from work. Dad said “Call the junk man maybe he’ll take it away“? Later in the day I told Rick that some of us were going to the old gravel pit to hang out for a while.

Rick said ok. But as we were walking out the door Rick suddenly stopped us and said… “You guys want a ride!” To get a ride in one of Rick’s cars was like winning the lottery, we all jumped at the chance. At that time, Rick drove a 2 door 1947 Oldsmobile that he had painted an Orange color, it also had a flat head straight eight under the hood, it was a sweet ride. So we all went out to the Oldsmobile for the ride. But instead… Rick went out and uncovered the dune buggy and said get in, so we did. And off to the old gravel pit we drove. Instead of dropping us off at the top, Rick drove right down into the pit. Good thing we had a roll bar because that was the only way we could all hold on. Rocks and gravel flying in every direction. By the time we got to the bottom, there was a big dust cloud all around us. It was a lot of fun. After a short while Rick told us to get out, so we did. Next thing I knew, Rick had tied the steering wheel with a piece of rope so the dune buggy could only go in a circle, then he put the car in gear, placed a large rock on the gas pedal then started the car and jumped out. The car suddenly took off all by itself, going faster and faster in a circle, it got so dusty we could hardly see the buggy. After 10 or 15 minutes Rick said. “I thought it would have blown up by now!” But it didn’t, it just kept going. As the dune buggy went around and around we noticed that the circles were getting bigger and bigger, the guys started saying it’s going to hit that big bolder in a couple of laps. Then BANG! The dune buggy ran head on with this big boulder. It pushed the radiator right into the engine and broke the drive line, hot water and steam blew out in every direction. Parts were flying all over the place, but the engine kept going with a clang or chug every so often.
We all came out of our safety and hiding places to see the buggy. Suddenly the engine started revving super high with this ear covering screeching noise! We all dropped to the ground, then the engine made this loud knock!… and that was that…The dune buggy was dead. Then for some unknown reason we all started yelling, jumping and climbing all over the dune buggy. It was like we had suddenly turned into big game hunters that had just bagged this big trophy… but then it was over and time to go. We left the dune buggy where it died and went home.
Later when Dad returned from work, he asked Rick what he did with the dune buggy? Rick looked at me and I looked at Rick. Then Rick said, “Its probably in the rock crusher by now.” A couple days later Rick and I went back to the gravel pit to see the dune buggy, but it was gone.
Grandpa Tom

Another day and another adventure. Rocky Butte one of Portland’s most interesting landmarks will be conquered by us today, not by walking to the top by way of the road, but straight up the side of the butte.

The location we picked looked pretty easy, there was already a well worn trail, possibly made by others with the same need for adventure, plus, as far as we could see the path went straight up, so off the road we went, and up the hill we started.
As we were climbing we started hearing people talking and could hear sounds like chain saws, next thing we knew a motorcycle came roaring up from behind us flinging mud and gravel in every direction; it was pretty cool, the higher we went the more motorcycles we encountered. We met up with the same road that we left far below having taken a shortcut and we knew that the first leg of our adventure was complete.
As we rested we watched the motorcycle riders, the riders were all having there own adventure, hill climbing.
After a short rest it was time to finish our climb, so up we started to the next level, it was apparent that the trail we were on was not made by ancient explores but instead by the modern day motorcycle.
As we clawed and pulled our way to the next level the path turned into loose gravel and large boulders, we had to hop and jump onto each large rock, this was the only way to the next level. Finally we could see the top of the butte with its fort like walls.

Standing in the middle of the road we were all searching for the last trail or path that would take us to the end of our adventure but there was none, only if we walked on the road or climbed the terrace's wall in front of us would end our quest.
We didn’t want to take the simple way so we all started climbing the wall but only two of us could hold onto the mortared stones.

The rest of the guys decided to take the road and meet us at the terrace. My friend Huffy and I started our climb going higher and higher.
Looking up at the wall from the road below didn’t look all that high but the higher we climbed the more I realize that this wall was high and more difficult than it looked, plus my toes and fingers were starting to get numb. Looking over at Huffy I could see that he was in trouble. He had stopped climbing and was just hugging the wall. “Come on,” I said, “We’re almost to the top!”
When I looked over and down at Huffy I saw how high we really were, about 25 ft up, and it freaked me out, it was a really long way down and going up was going to be a chore too. Looking up I only had maybe 5 feet to go.
The other guys made it to the top and were now looking down at us saying, “Hurry up, lets go.” Suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw Huffy sliding down the wall with his belt buckle making a scrapping noise, sparks flying and smoke coming out of his paints! He slid faster and faster until he hit the culvert next to the road with a big cry! He was lying in the ditch holding his leg and crying.

All the guys started yelling, "You all right, did you see that, I saw sparks, did you? "
Seeing what had just happened to Huffy must have given me a small burst of energy, next thing I knew I was now only a foot or two from the top, but that was as far as I could go; I found myself hugging the wall just like Huffy. My fingers had lost most of there feeling and my arms were now starting to shake. I was stuck, I couldn’t move!
The guys new I was in big trouble. Leaning over the wall they could almost reach my shoulders. If only I could reach out with my arms they could pull me up, but I couldn’t. I felt like I was beginning to slip and might fall.
There was a since of urgency in the air, the guys were saying, "Jump up, jump up, we’ll catch you, you won’t fall, jump up." It was time to do something! My toes were totally numb and I knew that if I didn’t do something fast I would fall so I yelled, “I’m jumping” and I did! I jumped up and I felt a slight downward motion but they grabbed me, not by my arms, but by my shirt and pulled me up. They said, with my hands still tight to my chest, that when I jumped up I looked like a salmon wiggling its way up a waterfall.
Exhausted and lying on my back on the grass I tried to unlock my fingers and arms. That was a close one!
Huffy had a sprained knee, a rug burn on his stomach and a destroyed belt buckle. I had another adventure.

Grandpa Tom

One day the guys and I were leaving a Rexall Pharmacy where we had just finished a graveyard soda from the fountain.

As we were walking I noticed a bunch of bikes in the front yard of this old house. It turned out to be a bicycle shop tucked away at the far end of the block so we went in to check out the new bikes. As it turned out, it was a Schwinn bike store. Have you ever heard the phrase… “love at first sight.” It was the first time that I had ever seen a ten speed bike and it was a Schwinn, the Cadillac of bikes at the time.

When I got home all I talked about to my parents was Schwinn this and Schwinn that and that it had ten speeds. I probably sounded like that kid in the movie Christmas story. The boy in the movie wanted a Red Ryder BB rifle. For me it was a Schwinn ten speed! Dad said maybe for Christmas, and that was that, end of conversation!
For the next few months I would walk up to the bike shop and checkout the new bikes, look at the accessories and take home the latest information about my ten speed bike, and of course I’d leave the information mixed in with the mail on the dinning room table. I did that for months.

Finally December and now Christmas; I can’t wait till it’s morning to ride my new Schwinn ten speed. Tossing and turning I just had to get up and take a peek so around 3:00 AM I slowly opened my bedroom door and tiptoed into the hall and shined my flashlight onto the tree to get a glimpse of my new bike. The lights on the tree made everything look so magical and beautiful, and under the tree…. PRESENTS… but where was my bike? I couldn’t see it! ….But then ….I saw something shinny and red from behind the tree, it was a bike! I tiptoed with a big smile back into bed to wait till morning.
Time to get up, rise and shine. No one had to tell me twice. I got up and ran into the kitchen for breakfast, no presents until after breakfast; that was the rule.
After breakfast we all went into the living room to celebrate Christmas. Dad always handed out the small presents first; I think to build up the excitement and anticipation. After Rick and I opened our small presents, Dad said we each had one left. I could see some of my present peeking from behind the tree. After Rick opened his last present it was then my turn!
After months and months of talking, hinting, and dreaming, it now was going to happen! I can still remember it just like yesterday. I was so excited! Dad got up and rolled from behind the tree
a freshly painted, shinny, candy apple red…OLD CLUNKER!

Yep, that’s right, an old clunker with white finders. No Schwinn, no ten speed, and no new bike!
To say the least I was devastated, but I managed to say thanks anyway. Kaye says she can read my face like a book; I hope that it wasn’t the case then, but it probably was. Rick came up to me later and said that he helped Dad paint the bike. I looked at the bike and said, “It is a cool color.”
Later Christmas day I took the CLUNKER out for a ride. I noticed It had new tires, seat, and the wheels had been polished up, probably with an SOS pad. It also had new handle grips. Just as I was thinking that the white finders had to go two of my friends showed up. They each had a new bike, one had a new Schwinn Sting Ray.

It was really cool with a banana seat with high handle bars; he showed me how he could do a wheelie. My other friend had a new Schwinn ten speed, it was a candy gold color with white handle raps and the wheels had the quick change levers. It looked fast! It was Just like the one I wanted!

Then they said lets ride!
As we were riding around I started noticing things about my OLD bike. I could do more things on my bike than that new ten speed could do! Like, I could jump curbs, go through mud puddles, I could climb a mud hill, I could go down a mud hill, I could slam on my breaks and slide maybe 20 or 30 feet, I could ride someone on my handle bars, I could peel out in gravel, I could pull 2 wagons tied together. Heck, I could even ride down the steps on our front porch on my NEW bike! Plus I could go just as fast as that old ten speed.
Thanks Dad and Rick!

Grandpa Tom

When I was in 7^th grade most of my friends and I were playing tetherball and shooting marbles, but unlike the rest of the guys I had a car. Yes you read it right, my very own car. It was a 1935 Chevy four door standard;

it was built before I was even born.. I got the car because I asked the right question at the right time.
You see it all started when my brother Rick got a call from my cousin Steve in Longview WA. Steve said that he had too many cars and had to get rid of some, so he thought of Rick. Steve told my brother if he could pick it up it would be free. So by Saturday Dad, Mom, Rick and I all got in Dad's Rambler wagon and off to Longview we went. When we arrived at Cousin Steve’s home it was time for lunch. After lunch Mom and Dad started visiting with Mom’s sister Vivian and her husband Uncle Mark, so Rick, Steve and I went out to see Rick’s free car.
The car was a lowered blue and white 1956 two door Oldsmobile, it had a couple of dents here and there but other than that it ran good; inside the car there was a lot of chrome, plus it was the first car I had ever seen with electric windows, it looked really cool.
Soon it was time to go so Rick thanked Steve and then drove his free car away. As I was getting in Dad’s Rambler I yelled out to Steve, “Hey Steve, you got a car for me?” To my surprise he said, “Yes!” Then Steve told us this story, “When I went to college over in Pullman I drove an old car to school every day, then one day it wouldn’t start so my buddy and I pushed my car into his backyard; its been there ever since; it’s a 1935 Chevy; it might make a neat hot rod so if you want it, it‘s yours; I’ll even let you use my trailer to pick it up.”
After a couple of weeks Dad, Rick and me drove back up to Longview to pick up Steve’s trailer. Then off to Pullman we went. As we left Longview it started to rain; it rained and rained all the way there and all the way back.
When we got to Steve’s friend's house, Dad backed the trailer into the backyard so the car could be loaded. Seeing my first car in the shape that it was in was still very exiting, even though it had four flat tires and years of debris inside.
Dad opened the hood and said it didn’t look too bad; Dad removed the old battery and replaced it with a new heavy duty one; Rick and I started filling the tires up with air and going through the debris that had been accumulating over the years. Then dad got a gas can out of the Rambler and poured some gas down into the carburetor; Dad said, “Lets see if it will start.” To our surprise it started right up and stayed running. We were all quite excited but sopping wet from the rain. Rick said, “Now we can just drive the car onto the trailer, we don’t have to push it.” After my car was secured it was time to go home.
After driving for sometime Dad and Rick started talking about the temperature on the Rambler, this was the first time Dad had towed anything heavy, Dad seemed concerned about the hills ahead of us. As we started up the grade I could see from the back seat that the needle on the temperature gauge was moving higher and higher but by the time we reached the top the needle had leveled off and was well below hot. Dad was a happy man; the Rambler made it to the top without having to stop for a cool down. I think I heard Dad make a little giggle! It also made Dad a Rambler man for life. After the hills it was onto the freeway and then into Portland.
As we backed into the driveway at home the trailer made a spark in the night as the tongue gouged a mark into the sidewalk going up the driveway. Then silence, we just sat there a moment. For Dad and Rick the adventure was over but for me it was just the beginning.

Grandpa Tom

  The outcome of this story may have had a different ending if it wasn’t for the sun coming out. Personally, I think the sun coming out saved my life!
  Aha summer, a time to sleep in, zzzzzzzzzzz. Then, a knock on my bedroom window!
  “Wake up, wake up!”
  For a split second I thought I was in a Tom Peterson TV commercial. Tom Peterson sold furniture and ran late night TV commercials that started with him yelling, “Wake up, wake up!” Dean was one of the guys that I ran around with and for some unknown reason he was knocking on my bedroom window. As I was getting up; Dean opened and crawled through the window and said, “You got any of this stuff, rope, candles, matches, Kool-Aid, flashlights, candy, bread, gum? If you do, go get it, and come with me!”
  I got some of the stuff on his list, then I said, “What’s up?”
  Dean said something about his brother and a cave. “Hurry lets go!”
  Dean and I went over to his house where some of the guys were waiting and others were just showing up. Laying all the stuff on the living room floor from each of us, and looking through it, we all decided that we had everything we needed for an adventure. About this same time Dean’s older brother came in with a older boy that I had never seen before. Dean’s brother yelled out, “Quiet, everyone stop talking, we got something to say!“ Then the older boy that was with Dean’s older brother started telling us about a cave and said, “What I’m about to tell you guys I have never told anyone ever before, and I‘m probably the only one still alive that knows how to get in and out of this creepy old dark cave. After he was finished telling us what it was like inside the cave he stopped talking, and looking each of us in the eye he said, “I’m going back today, you guys want to go, you in, or out, or what?”
  None of us said a thing for a second or two, we just looked at each other. Then like someone turning a light switch on we all began talking a hundred miles an hour and making noises like a bunch of wild animals, then suddenly; everyone got very quite, and out the door we went. At that moment I thought we were ready for any situation.
  After walking for sometime I realize that we were heading to a place in the city that we had all been to a number of times and yes, we had even been in a man made cave in the same area.
  I wondered if this was the same cave that we already had been in, and if it was, we also knew that you could only go in for maybe a 100 feet before you ran into water. The further you went in, the deeper the water, so we had always turned back; did the older boys find a different way in? I had always been curious about what was under all that water, now maybe I would find out!
  As we reached the entrance to the cave the gang and I took turns shining our flashlights in and as always it was full of water.

We hadn’t noticed that the older boys didn’t stop at the cave, they just kept going. When we realized that, we had to run to catch up. When we caught up to them they were standing on top of a giant pile of boulders.
  “This is the cave, it’s under all these big rocks!”

  The pile was at lest 15 feet high by 20 feet wide. For some unknown reason someone had piled a big bunch of boulders over the entrance of this cave. It was probably to keep kids like us out but this older boy had found a way in.
  Dean’s brother and his friend climbed down off the pile and pointed to a certain boulder in the pile and told us to follow them. The gang and I watched them as they squeezed their way in and through the big rocks and out of sight. Then it was our turn; for 7 or 8 feet, like snakes, we each squeezed through, under, around, and over boulders until we finally made it to the other side and into the cave.
  Once inside the cave it was just as he described: it was pitch black without our flashlights, there was a big cavern with small tunnels leading away from one another. Some of the tunnels had deep holes in the ground, some of the holes were so deep that all of our ropes tied together weren’t long enough to reach the bottom. If you fell into one; that would be it. Also, there was a lot of wooden beams lying on the ground and some looked like they had been in a fire.
It felt like our time in the cave went pretty fast but we were there for two hours. When it was time to leave we just had to find our way back to where a sliver of sunlight shown through the boulders and we squeezed through.
  After we got back home we talked about the cave for days and days. As days turned into weeks we all decided it was time to go back but this time we would take more rope. We all had things to do in the morning so we decided to meet up at the cave at noon.
  I was the first to arrive. By 1:00 o’clock I was getting impatient. It was getting cloudy and I thought it might rain so I decided to get a head start on the guys and snaked my way into the cave without them. I started looking around; I felt like I had everything I needed, a rope, flashlight, candy; I even had candles and matches.
  After sometime had past I was wondering if anyone was going to show up. I decided to go back to the opening. I thought maybe I had taken a wrong turn when I couldn’t find the sun shining through the boulders. I started climbing over the rocks and tried squeezing my way through different spots I thought looked familiar but only to return and try again and again. I realized no one else was coming and I was trapped, maybe lost! Then in that dark moment the clouds outside moved and a beam of light peered through the rocks.

Grandpa Tom

One day the guys and I were playing some sort of game in the street; I can’t remember what we were playing but whatever it was it was soon forgotten, as it is to this very day! And that’s probably because of what we all saw in the sky coming our way!
We lived south of the Portland airport and were accustomed to the noise of airplanes taking off from time to time, except for the jet fighters which were very loud, so seeing planes in the sky was no big deal, but this was no airplane, sure it was some sort of flying object, but what was it? Some of the guys started saying it was a UFO, I thought to myself, “A UFO!”; the only UFO that I ever saw was in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, and that was a scary movie with a giant robot that could destroy the earth so I was a little freaked out when someone said a UFO!
As the object got closer and closer I could see it wasn’t a flying saucer or even a plane. It now had a familiar look to it, it started taking on a shape that we had seen before, in fact, many, many times but this was a lot bigger. It was huge and the biggest that I had ever seen…..“Well, what was it?” you ask!…. it was a giant red balloon with something tied or hanging to the underside. It must have been at least 6 feet diameter and was hitting the treetops traveling around 10 miles an hour.
People up and down the block came out of their homes to take a look and some were saying that it was a weather balloon. “What’s a weather balloon?”….well, just for fun why don’t you look it up!

The big balloon then hit the street and started to rise again so us kids took after it to try to catch it but it was going to fast and just out of reach, but we still ran after it. Each time the balloon got to the end of a block the cross wind took the balloon higher and higher and we got more tired and tired. Soon the big balloon was gone and out of sight so we went home.
Two days later I heard that some kids found our big red weather balloon deflated in there front yard and mailed some of the stuff back to the weather bureau.
It was fun trying to catch the big balloon, we talked about it for many days, each time the story was told our finger tips got closer and closer to the big red balloon.

Grandpa Tom