Story Time ~ 7/28/20

Story Time: Griswold Vacation

This book was in my treasure trove trunk.  It contains professionally shot, color photos of wildlife in Yellowstone National Park.  We took one of the best family vacations ever when we went there in June of 1972.  We pulled a travel trailer behind the station wagon.  Yeah buddy!  We stayed in various KOA parks between Texas to Wyoming.  KOA stands for Kampgrounds of America.  Drives all English majors krazy.  Kool right 🙂

I remember seeing snow on the ground in Colorado.  We were shocked!  We pulled off the side of the road for pictures.  We had left Texas in shorts.  Thank goodness mom had reminded us to pack our jackets.  Boy was it cold. 

We stayed in Colorado to see Pikes Peak and the Royal Gorge.  We actually took the wagon sans trailer up the narrow one lane road to an observation area before turning around and going back down. I hid my eyes the whole way up.  At the Royal Gorge we had a vote between cog train or the tram. The older siblings voted tram which was actually less scary than the drive up Pikes Peak.  Of course, not realizing that I cried.  Pitched a fit (or so I was told) and almost did not get in.  Seeing Old Faithful in Yellowstone was also a treat.   But mostly I remember a stinky egg smell of sulfur.  The stay in your trailer/tent bear warnings blasted through speaker in the campground were a bit unnerving too. 

I only have flashes of images.   I was only 7 1/2 years old at the time.  Even the memories I do have are likely from what I was told or what we talked about for years after the trip.   We were always allowed to get a souvenir and I picked this picture book.  I was a weird little kid. 

Now that I am doing my Swedish Death cleaning, this book is going to Half Price books.  I don’t have the heart to toss it into the trash or recycle.  But I know the family won’t want it.  Since I have decided to downsize versus organize, I feel mucho mas bueno.  

As always more to come.

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