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