Our first winter in California!

I told in a blog about my Father that he came to California to work in a sawmill. This sawmill, the Blagen Lumber Co., had a mill closer to Susanville,before this, which is pretty far North of White Pines where they, (the Blagens) opened up a new mill. We, the family did not come down with Dad because we had to wait and see what kind of living quarters there were, etc. Well Dad finally sent for us and one of my Uncles, my father's youngest brother, Roy, and his wife and one of his children, my cousin, Lois, said they would drive us to California in a big truck! Has anybody seen the Movie, "The Grapes of Wrath" where the people of Oklahoma came out to Ca. after the big "dust" storms that came to their state and covered their fields, and sometimes their houses with dirt! It was a very devastating time. Well, that was us coming to Ca.! We weren't driven out by dust but this way, by truck was the only way we could all afford to come to Ca. with a lot of our furniture, etc.What we did bring was our springs, mattresses, my Mother and Father's bed, the baby crib (even though David, my youngest brother was about two!) of course all our clothing, bedding, a couch, a rocking chair, and our piano there was probably a dresser or two in there too! My uncle and Aunt and Mother rode most of the time in the cab of the truck and all the rest of us, the way we had the furniture piled up. sat on, of course the couch,some of the boxes of clothing and household goods. The piano was covered with a large quilt. We usually were singing or laughing at my cousin Lois, who was quite the comedian for her age! I remember we passed a little, really old cemetary and she says, "When I grow up I want to live here!" We asked her why and she says" because it looks like nobody dies here!" We got as far as Bend, Orgon the first night and pulled up beside a field with a big Oak tree in it, pulled out the matresses and a few quilts, made our beds, and my Uncle built a bonfire and we proceeded to cook a dinner! Can any of you imagine doing that now? Our dinner was not much, I assure you, but it did taste good after the meager meal of a sandwich and a glass of water, warm at that, because we had no way to keep it cool! After a pretty sleepless night, we got up and ate a breakfast, I can't remember what we had packed for that! Probably corn flakes and milk and Uncle Roy had made another fire and made some coffee for himself, my aunt and Mother! We had no place to wash up and as for the usual bathroom facilities we took turns going behind a bunch of bushes. When we got to a town, then our line was long at the service stations!!By that night we had pulled into Weed, Ca. Mother talked to my Uncle and told him to rent a cabin or two at a housekeeping "Motel" where we could have a decent meal and a decent night's sleep!! Poor Mother!! And to think she lived as long as she did! We got up on the 2nd day of our trip and had breakfast at the Motel, cooked it in our rooms! These housekeeping rooms came with a small cookstove, with an oven, AND we had a bathroom to wash up and go to the toilet in!!! Seemed like heaven! I was almost 19 and what girl today, or boy, for that matter would even think of that kind of a trip! We passed through Lodi and the reason I remember that is that we stopped and got hamburgers! We had to head into the foothills of the Sierra Mountains from here! Needless to say, everybody was getting very, very tired! But we had no money and had to make it up to where my Dad was that night! It was so hot here in Lodi that early evening but the folks here were talking about probability of a thunder shower up in the foothills! Oh goody! That was all we needed. We got to a town named Murphy's and the storm hit! Thunder and lightning and we grabbed a big canvas tarp that we had with us and covered all of us in the back of the truck! The Murphys Hotel had a big sign hung right across the highway that announced the coming attractions at the Hotel We pulled the sign down with our truck and my cousin Lois stood up to see what was going on and I was sitting where I got, what seemed like a bucket of water, right down the back of my neck!!! Oh joy! We had to stop and my Uncle got out and explained to the owner of the Hotel what happened and I guess the owner didn't want to come out in the rain because he said that was alright just go on to where we were going!!!My Father was waiting for the family in front of what was to be our "home" for the winter or until something else could be done! It was a big double tent! My Father had built two double sized bunk bed frames out of lumber from the mill and had that ready in one of the tents! In the other was a small stove and a big picnic size table with benches on either side of it, all made from lumber from the mill! The men, my Father and Uncle started moving things out of the truck! Oh yes, my Father had also built a cupboard for the dishes and food out of lumber! My older brothers, all four of them, had one of the bunks in the one tent and my sister and I had the double bunk on the other side of the same tent!!!Dad and Mother had their bed and the crib, etc. at the end of this big table! Then when most of the things were unloaded, my Uncle and Aunt took Dad's car and went up to the Highway and found a motel for the night! The next day came the joy of moving the rest of the things from the truck, etc. My Uncle, Aunt and cousin left for home around noon! I'll have to tell you about our "life?" for winter in a double tent!!That starts a whole new chapter! Glad so many of you are enjoying these "blogs"!