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

 Another rainy day, “That’s it, I can’t wait any longer. I need a different way to make money, there’s just no way that I can mow lawns in the rain, there must be a another way!”
It was my junior year in high school when I decided mowing yards up and down my street in the rain was not working out! Maybe I could fine a job in a restaurant? Two of my friends had recently landed jobs in a restaurant; one was working as a car hop at A&W drive-in on Sandy blvd, the other at the Original Taco House on 82 ave. in Portland. They both said their jobs were a lot of fun! 
Thursday after school I started looking for a job. I first asked for a job at the Chinese Grocery store on 74th where my parents shopped, but they only hired family. I said to myself, “Looking for work was going to be tough. “ So, I bought a Big Hunk candy bar for the energy!

Then I went to the Roseway Theater on Sandy blvd but they just hired someone the day before, after that Winchell’s Donuts on 75th & Sandy. Not hiring…I ate a doughnut so I could keep going!

Then over to Fred Meyer; filled out my first application…It was for a box boy. After that Dairy Queen across from the old Fire station just before you go down the hill into the Hollywood district I filled out another Application. It was hard work so I ate a Banana Split it was only $.75... I felt better!

Once in the Hollywood district I applied at Yaws Drive-in. It made me thirsty. So I had a Coke.

Next I drove over to Carmen’s Restaurant; I filled out another application… I needed to keep my strength up so I ate a hot Butter Horn with melted butter on the top… mmmm Good!

From there I drove further down Sandy Blvd to the 7Up bottling company; not hiring. Next over to Ponchos Mexican Restaurant… I filled out another application. I was told to wait… gee I thought… this is something new…. And by the way this was my very first interview. 
The interview was only about five minutes long, but that’s all it took… I got the job!  My very first job… a Busboy! 
My new job would start on Friday after school from 4:30 pm to 11:30 pm, the days to be decided. 
I was so excited about my new job! I wanted to drive home as fast as I could so I could tell every one.  But first before going home for dinner I stopped at Taco Bell, for a small snack…Three Beef Tacos and a Combination Burrito.

Then after I got home and ate I told Mom and Dad the good news….This story is making me hungry!

To be continued...

Grandpa Tom

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