February 1971

Our family took many vacations when I was young.  My father was famous, or infamous, for coming home from work and without warning, declaring we were going on vacation, leaving that day.  My mother was always willing and these declarations sent her into panic mode.  Meals needed to be planned; kids needed packed, homework assignments needed to be obtained, animals needed to be kenneled and money needed to be withdrawn.  Back then grocery stores closed early, schools planned homework in advance, banks closed no later than 5:00pm and credit cards were a new concept and not commonly used adding a bit of complexity to my Mom’s tasks.  “Where are we going?” was always the big question and Dad always gave the same answer, “We will decide once we get on the road.”  Within a few hours we would be off and heading to destinations as yet unknown.

Often our destination was left up to the family which usually took place by deciding whether to go left or right at each major intersection.  On this trip, the first big decision was determined when we reached Glenwood Springs.  Were we going to go left or right?  A brief discussion ensued.  What did we want to see if we went left?  How about if we chose right?  Left it was!

Now each of the kids had their own list preferences as did mom and dad.  A lot of ideas were thrown out for the group to think about.  Among the ideas were Yellowstone, San Francisco, San Diego, Disneyland or someplace known as Ensenada and Tijuana.  The list would be narrowed at the next decision point, Rifle.   The Interstate system was still very fragmented so much of this trip would be on two-lane highways, giving us a lot of time to discuss our options between decision points.  At Rifle Yellowstone and San Francisco were eliminated and Southern California was the leading contender.  By now it was well after dark so the rest of the decisions would have to wait.  We stopped somewhere along the highway.  Some of us climbed in back and the rest took over the two front seats of the Dodge “Power Wagon” for a good night’s rest.

By 6:00am we were back on the road heading west.  At some point the family came to a consensus, Disneyland it would be.  I remember my parents talking about friends they had living in Los Angeles.  He was an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and they had two young kids of their own.  Mom and Dad hoped to include a visit with them while in the area.  Hours and miles passed slowly by and our next night’s rest was somewhere near the California border. The four kids were all filled with anticipation about getting to go to Disneyland.  We had all heard of it before but this would be our first visit to the park.  We arrived at in Anaheim too late in the afternoon to go in so we found an RV park nearby and settled in.  Our camper was the “slide-in” type that fit comfortably into the bed of a pickup truck.  Dad had purchased one of those Dodge Power Wagons that had four doors and two bench seats. The camper was too small for us to all sleep in the back; so, two of us would be sleeping in front.  The boys drew that assignment on this trip.

The next morning came early, too early.  At 6:00am we all awoke to the camper shaking.  We were convinced Dad was rocking the camper to get us all up; Cindy cried out for dad to stop it!  None of us were amused but then the real shock came when dad announced from the bed above the truck cab he was not doing it.  What was going on?  Within minutes all of the campers were out of their vehicles and standing around, a bit amazed or dazed if you will.  One of them called out, “Earthquake!”  By now the ground had stopped shaking and there was an eerie quiet in the air.  Dad turned on his AM radio and began to get a clearer picture.  The earthquake hit somewhere up in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles and there was significant damage.  We learned after breakfast the park would not open until all the rides had been inspected.  With that news, our parents decided the family would go on to San Diego and see the zoo and Sea World.  Reluctantly, we loaded up and headed south.  We spent the next couple of days in San Diego.  We went to the zoo, the newly opened Wild Animal Park, took a harbor cruise and got wet watching Shamu do her tricks.  News of the “quake” was not far from our minds and neither was Disneyland.

We also headed further south into Mexico through Tijuana and on to Ensenada and beyond.  We looked around the coastal towns and eventually found ourselves in the Baja wine country known as Valle de Guadalupe.  We stayed on the property of Bodegas de Santo Thomas (Winery); and, late that night the owner had a disagreement with a dog that involved gunshots and a lightning fast escape.   We eagerly left the next morning, heading north.  The roads back then were unpaved and deeply rutted in spots, unlike the paved highways and byways in that area today.  It was a dusty and dirty trip back to the border.

Later in the week we headed north and straight to the park.  I do not remember if we spent one or two days in Disneyland, but whatever it was it was a memory of a lifetime.  At some point our parents decided we would go to Sylmar in north Los Angeles to see our friends.  It turned out that they lived right near the epicenter of the quake and may need our help.  The closer we got to their house, the more damage we could see.  Fallen trees were everywhere, roads were closed and many of the buildings had large cracks down the sides.  Our friends’ house appeared to be in one piece, but most of their belongings were in boxes in the front yard.

We spent the afternoon playing with their kids while the adults talked about what happened in the “Big One.”  Rather than sleep in the truck, my brother and I decided to sleep in their front yard in a tent.  That night the biggest of the many aftershocks hit, and I was certain the ground would open up and suck us in.  All the houses in the neighborhood emptied out into the street.

A day or so later, we headed home.  Our trip was quite an adventure.  We saw many new things and even got to experience an earthquake.  All of us wrote about it as part of our homework assignments that fall.