Throw back Thursday

Thursday, July 19 - Yesterday we traveled through the Columbia River Gorge.  This is probably one of the most beautiful stretches of Interstate Highway in the United States.   I would have taken pictures to show you, but it wasn't as pretty this time.  The clouds on the hillside ahead of us are actually smoke from the Substation Fire.  The further we drove, the hazier it got. 

Last night, I asked Mom if she had any pictures from our previous trips through the Gorge that I could use.  She let me look on her hard drive and I found this one.

It wasn't from any of our trips and I didn't recognize anyone in the picture.  I asked her about it and she said that this was taken in the Columbia River Gorge in 1966.  It's Mom (she's the girl) with her brother John, her Dad, and her brother Gary.  Grandma was always the photographer.  I never met Mom's Dad.  Mom told me that her Dad died when she was 11 1/2.  That's almost exactly the age that I am now.  Kind of hard to believe that Mom has lived with me for as long as she lived with her own Dad.  She also told me that her Dad was born on July 19, 1908, so today would have been his 110th birthday.  She told me that he would spend every winter planning a big family vacation for the summer.  It was usually 2-3 weeks and the whole family would pile in the station wagon.  The year this picture was taken, they went to Disneyland in California, then north along the Oregon Coast, through the Columbia River Gorge, and back to Illinois.  They always ate lunch that Grandma packed in the cooler and this was the day's lunch stop.  Not sure what they were eating, but it must have been good.

I'm glad that Mom's Dad taught her to read maps and plan trips, so we can be going on this big adventure.  She says that we are going to visit some of the places that she went on those vacations and some new places that she and my Dad have found.  Next time I post, I'll tell you more about what we've been doing this trip.

Love,

Doolin