Thursday, February 23, 2012

LOAD212 - Day 23 - Out West

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 23 was - Road Trip






Journaling Reads:
In June of 1977, my parents loaded me (4 ½), my brother, Jeremy (almost 5), and my sister, Shawn (almost 7), along with my grandma Calloway (my dad’s mom) into a yellow, four door pick up truck (with a camper on the back and no air conditioning) to embark upon a month long marathon journey out west to visit relatives and see the sights of the western United States. We toured 14 states in less than 30 days! The camper had a bed that went over the cab of the truck and I distinctly remember sleeping there, hot as Hades, as we rolled along the highway. I asked my mom to help me tell the story of where we went, who we visited, and what we saw. This is her memory:

I had to get out the map of the US to answer the questions about the states we went through: We took I-94 west through Illinois into South Dakota, stopped at Mount Rushmore. Also saw the Badlands of South Dakota. We drove on into Wyoming to see Yellowstone National Park. Then on west to Idaho to visit Aunt Betty and Uncle Glenn. They had a big ranch with cattle and horses. Went to Bryce Canyon in Zion National Park before or after visiting Aunt Betty. Then went to Washington state to visit Uncle Fred and Aunt Mary. Went to Mount Rainier to climb up into the snow covered mountain. From there we drove back through Idaho into Utah then Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. We drove south from there to visit Uncle Elmer and his wife. The house was on an Indian Reservation and was super hot and dry. Drove through New Mexico to Carlsbad Caverns. (Not sure we stopped, but I thought we planned to do so.) Then went to Houston, Texas to visit Aunt Erma and Uncle Walt. From there we went north to Dallas to visit my brother Billy and his wife Ginger and family. Went east to Arkansas to visit Uncle Jimmie and Uncle LD and their families. Went to Tennessee to visit with Uncle Joe and Aunt Gail. From there we over to visit my Dad and Grandma Ruth and see the Smokies. We drove home through Kentucky and Ohio into Michigan where you all got out...and I think Shawn kissed the ground.

Shawn might have been the first to kiss the driveway when we returned home, but I recall my brother and I enthusiastically following suit. Not being drinkers, I honestly don’t know how my parents survived this trip without alcohol. The fact that we kids came back alive is proof positive that prayer works. I imagine my mom prayed for strength daily. I might not remember the specifics of this road trip, but I remember the feelings I had while on this trip and they are forever etched onto my heart. Journaling Feb 2012

Some observations about the process and the products used:


  1. My husband just told me how ANNOYING it is that I'm ALWAYS on the computer

  2. The yellow fabric sticker border down the left side of the page mimics mountains, but this was not planned.

  3. I used Picasa to create the collage and add the text to each photo

  4. I searched for HOURS for a photo that I KNOW exists of us with my grandma at Mt. Ranier, but couldn't find it.

  5. This trip was the MOTHER of all vacations in my childhood memories.

  6. I experimented with the ribbon treatment along the right hand side and I really like the result.

1 comment:

~Amy said...

Love that you are getting all these old memories down! Great pictures and I love the layout...the pop of blue in the title, the ribbon and the "what were they thinking?" in white! Awesome (and brave) parents!!