Another trip...

When, several years ago, I recieved a letter inviting me to my High School Reunion. The reason for the Reunion was that the School was being torn down and so everyone that could be reached and had gone to the Academy was sent an invitation. This included my sister Genevieve, my brother Bob and me. It was to be at the Immaculate Heart Academy and we really were anxious to be in on it! They sent the usual data as to Hotels, Motels, etc. It was to be a three day affair. But, I was going to talk about another trip! After the Reunion, (which in my notion was a complete sucess,) we, the three of us, Genevieve, Bob and I started home. Did I mention that the Reunion was in Couer d' Alene, Idaho?? We left for home anyway, after Mass on Sunday morning and went the same way back through Oregon and when we got to California, we decided to take the "scenic" route along the coast which meant going through the Redwoods. Since I had never, and Bob had never really taken time for them, we decided that this was the time. Genevieve's husband Phil was a forest ranger with the State of California a long time ago and so she had been there. She was a pretty good Guide. We took our time and really got a lot of beautiful pictures but by the time we started to leave it was getting on in the afternoon! We went on to Highway One which by this time, (since the previous trip up Hwy. 1) was a pretty good Highway. Still not all that wide or anything but we were traveling in the early evening and it was summer! Genevieve wanted to go past a couple of the State Parks where Phil had worked and where they had lived and so as the old saying goes "time flies when you are having fun!" It was getting later and we had planned to go to another brother and wife's home in Sebastopol and spend a couple of days with them. We kept looking for a small cafe and someplace to spend the night before going on. We got to Fort Bragg and found a restaurant, had dinner and asked where we might find a motel for the night. We came out of the restaurant and found that we had left the lights on in the car and hence had a dead battery!! We called AAA and they came after about 45 minutes and we went inside and asked the people who were running it if there was any place we might spend the night! They told us that the Democratic Convention was in San Francisco and the Forty-Niners Football team was in the Bay area for the last game of the season and hence there was no room at any Inn for miles around! Someone pointed out a small hotel at the bottom of the hill and said we might get a room there but it was up over a bar and all! We thought that that was all we needed so decided to head over to Highway 101 at Cloverdale and take out chances at finding something along that Route. Every little small village or bigger town was full and had "No vacancy" signs everywhere. and when we did stop and ask, just in case, we were told that it was doubtful if we would find anything at all down to San Francisco and beyond!!!! Well, we got to Santa Rosa and since that meant we could either go home or go to Sebastopol, which was closer. I was really tired by this time and we were all getting a little cranky and so I looked in my purse and didn't have any change to call David and Bob was saying, "What should we do?" I said, "Just give me a damn quarter and I will call David and see if they are home and if not we will go home!" I called and Jeanie, his wife answered and said, "You just caught us home! We have been gone all evening! But please do come over and stay a couple of days!" So they told us how to get there from where we were and we arrived to find that they had beds all set up and all and were more than happy to have us!!!! But did we go to bed? NO! We sat and visited for hours! But we were rested when we decided to get back to Lodi and the old routines again!!!!! We, my sisters, and Bob and I, have taken several trips and some were good and some were, let's say, very memorable! I will tell about a trip we took by train to Texas to go to another brother and wife's Golden Wedding! That was, as I wrote in a letter and sent to all my family, entitled The Trip to Hell!!!!! Oh the Golden Wedding was nice and being in Dallas was nice but the trip there was something else!!!!