The Big Trip
By
Gene Guinn
. Times were tough for almost everyone during the Depression and a severe drought made it even more difficult for farmers. Two of Mom’s brothers, John and Monroe Groseclos and their families moved to California in search of jobs and a more prosperous life. Another brother, Joe, and Mom’s sister, Lucy, continued to live in Oklahoma.
Dad found a farm in NE Oklahoma (SSE of Tahlequah) that he could buy for $2,500 with periodic payments to be made for several years. That farm was in an isolated area at the end of a very primitive road. The mailbox was about a mile from the house. There was no electrical, gas, or phone service, but it did have a well, four springs, a river, and a lot of trees on about 300 acres.
We wanted to move in the summer of 1939, but there was one little problem. The renters were not to move out of the house until the end of the year. Therefore, it was necessary to build a cabin for us to live in until they vacated the house.
Mom and Lucy and her husband, Jay Matthews, wanted to visit their relatives in California while Dad built a cabin. Jay had a job as a school teacher and he had bought a new Chevrolet pickup in 1938. Their first son, John, was about a year old in 1939 when the decision was made to go to California for a visit.
There were seven of us to make the trip: Jay, Lucy, John, Mom, Virgie, Keith, and me. Pickups were much smaller then than they are now. Fenders and running boards made the cab and bed much narrower. Therefore, at least four of us had to ride in the bed (back) of the pickup. Keith and I had never been anywhere beyond NW Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma and we were very excited at the prospect of a new adventure.
In late May or early June, Dad took us to meet up with Jay and Lucy in Oklahoma for the trip. He then returned to the farm to build a cabin while we were gone.
We took Route 66 west. There were no interstate highways in 1939 and the existing highways were narrow and crooked with some sections not yet paved. We started out with a canvas cover over the back but the wind caused so much flapping and popping that Jay took it down and we dealt with the wind as best we could. When John was in the back with us, Keith and I played patty-cake with him to help keep him entertained. We made it to Amarillo, Texas the first day.
We spent the second night in either Grants or Gallup, New Mexico. Motels then typically consisted of separate cabins with kitchen facilities. It cost us $3.50 for a cabin with two beds and a kitchen. Keith and I got to sleep on the floor.
The next day brought one of the great thrills of the trip; we saw a snow-capped mountain for the first time. We decided to drive close to the mountain and then stop for our lunch of cheese, crackers, and baloney. (We couldn’t afford to eat in restaurants or cafes.) The clear air and large size of the mountain caused us to misjudge the distance. We drove and drove but the mountain didn’t appear to be getting much closer. We finally stopped for lunch before we reached the mountain. It was about 2 p.m. before we finally got to Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks.
We spent the third night in Needles, CA. It was hot and there was no air conditioning. The trip over the Oatman Mountains the next morning was exciting because of the narrow winding road and the heights. Someone told me later that I eventually asked, “Are we back down to earth yet?”
Later that day brought the next big thrill, a view of the Pacific Ocean. We stopped in Los Angeles to visit a relative (probably Eudie, one of Uncle Joe’s sons, and his wife) who lived near Long Beach. There were not enough beds for everyone so Keith and I got to sleep on a pallet on the floor (again and again). There was an amusement park in Long Beach at which we spent some of our money at 10 cents per ride. We were afraid to ride the roller coaster. The bumper cars were my favorite. Our 14-year-old cousin, Juanita, was also visiting and we enjoyed her showing us around.
Another adventure was a visit to the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier anchored nearby. The sailors escorted visitors around the ship and explained the operations. There was a large elevator platform that could be lowered below deck (possibly to take planes down for repairs). The sailors lowered the platform with us visitors on it. When it stopped I backed up for a better view up through the elevator shaft. There was no border around the platform and I backed up too far. There was just enough clearance for a slender 11-year-old boy to fall between the platform and the wall of the shaft. Fortunately, something stopped my fall and the sailors quickly pulled me to safety and recommended that I be more careful.
After our visit in Los Angeles we drove to Delano to visit Uncle John and Aunt Ella and Uncle Monroe and Aunt Mary Margaret (“Maggie”). They lived about a mile apart. We stayed at Uncle John’s place and Keith and I walked to Uncle Monroe’s place to visit them. Uncle Monroe had a truck that he used to haul hay to the cattle. He let me drive the truck on the farm as he read a newspaper. He pretended not to notice as I drove his truck off the road into a shallow ditch.
They had chickens and cooled the eggs in a chamber that he had made with wood framing and burlap bags. Water drained down over the burlap and evaporative cooling kept the eggs cool until he could take them to market.
It was about 110o when we started back to Uncle John’s and we were barefoot. We avoided the blacktop paving as much as possible but had to cross the road a couple of times. The hot asphalt stuck to our bare feet and we had to remove it with kerosene when we got back to Uncle John’s house.
I got in trouble with cousin Paul. I got my hands on a BB gun and started shooting at his younger sisters, Anna Mae and June Gordon. He let me know in no uncertain terms that I shouldn’t do that even though I used the lame excuse that I didn’t have any BBs and that I was only using small gravels.
On our way back to Oklahoma we came by the Grand Canyon and felt that the extra travel was justified even though gasoline cost 11 cents per gallon.
Dad met us at Uncle Joe’s place near Eufaula, OK. He had finished the cabin and was ready for us to move into it. I didn’t think much about his accomplishment at the time but, in retrospect, I can’t imagine how he was able to build even a small house by himself in just a little over a month with nothing but hand tools.
But, he did, and it provided our only shelter until the end of the year when we finally got possession of the “big” 3-room house.
