Joe loved to take the family out for occasional Sunday drives so we would all pile into the old station wagon and go out to the mountains of California or the observatory or some other place The kids would sit in the way back (the third row) where the seats faced out the back. They’d wave to cars and trucks. No seat belts in those days.
When we took family vacations during the summer, we mostly camped, using a big old canvas tent, old style cots, and flannel/cotton sleeping bags. One year, we drove the family to the World’s Fair in Seattle, camping along the way. Another year, we rented a cabin near Yosemite.
Then water skiing came along (thank you to Evie and Pete Compton for that introduction) and we bought a boat and a camper. We’d go to Lake Elsinore or the Salton Sea or Mission Bay as a day trip, or to Lake Havasu to camp and ski for a few days. Then we discovered the Rio Hardy in Baja California, and we’d go there for several days at a time. Often, Evie and Pete and their friends and family would meet us there. We’d water ski and lay on our rafts or in inner tubes in the water for hours. We leased a “place” – a basic concrete pad covered by a thatched roof (no walls, just poles at each corner). At one end of the very small river was Jesse’s place. Jesse had an open-air restaurant where we would occasionally eat. I remember that we all ordered frogs legs once – they came grilled on little skewers. Mostly, we brought our own food for all the meals.
