Linda remembers a bread wrapper getting stuck to the bottom early on…and it is still there.
Our family of six, Mom, Dad, and the four sisters – ages 14, 11, 9, and 6 travelled in our big Olds 88 in 1961 so Dad could attend the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod Convention.
We always stayed in
motels with kitchenettes and two beds. Mom made meals each evening at the motel. Bacon tomato sandwiches tasted so good. Lunches
were sandwiches out of cooler.
The Olds had deep
wheel wells in the backseat. Mom put a
small suitcase there and it provided another space to sit. Either Mom or I would ride in the front with
one of the younger ones. The big trunk
held our luggage, a cooler and an army camp cot and extra bedding.
I had just gotten my
learner’s permit and Dad had me drive the first day for about an hour. I sat up straight, hands in 10 and 2, on a
two-lane road and never passed. I’m sure
Dad never relaxed. When he told me to
pull over, I remember climbing in the back seat and sleeping for at least an
hour.
When we arrived in Seattle, we stayed at the City Center Motel within walking distance of the Convention and also a grocery store. The electric fry pan of course was in use.
Chris was playing on
a wall by the motel and fell. Mom took
her to the nearby hospital.
On the way home we
stopped in Wilbur, Washington for church.
During the sermon I remember Mom and Dad exchanging glances. The service concluded and we were greeted and
welcomed. Mom and Dad shook many hands
including the Pastor’s. When we were all
in the car Dad burst out laughing and could hardly tell what had been said in
the sermon. The pastor in describing
overcoming a difficult decision used the idiom “to take the bull by his horns
and look him straight in the eye”. However
what the pastor said was “take the bull by the tail and look him straight in
the eye!”
Somewhere on the
trip home Mom even bought a chicken and fried it in the motel. It tasted so good!
Dad was so proud of
the Olds. The gas purchase and mileage were
recorded at every stop and the mpg figured.
When we were at home, I remember Dad at the dining room table figuring
the whole trip…adding the total gallons of gas, subtracting beginning mileage
from ending mileage and finding the overall mileage. He was pleased! I don’t remember the number just his glee.
In 1967 our family
moved to Storm Lake and so did the fry pan.
My children remember the fry pan going on picnics…sometimes with fried
chicken or chili with hot dogs on the side for chili dogs in the park.
In 2014 it moved to Andy’s home in Decorah. Now it is used for….and fried sweet potatoes. Nicholas makes his grandma’s sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. He slices the raw sweet potatoes, dusts them with flour and salt and pepper, fries them in butter and then adds brown sugar to caramelize!
