Traveling Back in Time

Sagebrush and Mesa Country between Laramie WY and Salt Lake 1938  © Diane B Reed

While we had some nasty weather over the last week I took advantage of the down time to sort through some old photographs from my parents. Among them are a number of pictures they took on a rather adventurous trip they took in 1938 from Ohio to the West, including a stop in Seattle to visit my uncle and a tour of the coast of California. We had discovered the photographs of the trip a few years ago, including pictures of their traverse of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. Notes on the back of the photos commented on the steep road and the white-knuckle experience. We weren't aware of their trip until we found their pictures, which was shortly after we had returned from our own vacation trip which included a similarly harrowing passage over these rugged mountains which run from 5,500 to over 13,000 ft.

Blosser Auto Court, Laramie Wyoming          © Diane B Reed

There are lots of great pictures of old-time motels, including this one, the Blosser Auto Court in Laramie, Wyoming, which featured a garage for their car. A note on the back of the photo reads "Third night out. Betsey in her bed, but all set to go."

Boeing Pan Am Clipper on Lake Washington 1938    © Diane B Ree

I'm still looking for a journal or some record of their trip, it would be interesting to know if they found themselves in the Walla Walla Valley during their trip. But I did find a fascinating picture of Pan Am Clipper NX 18601 being completed by Boeing on Lake Washington in Seattle. This plane, which became the Honolulu Clipper  was scuttled on November 3, 1945, 650 miles east of Oahu when its engines failed and repairs could not be made in heavy seas. Fortunately the crew and passengers were all saved.

It's about that time of year when we start thinking about summer trips, but it would be hard to  match the adventurous trip my parents took through the West in 1938.