On The Road, In 1948

We made a annual summer pilgrimage up most of I-5 most years when I was a kid (late sixties and early seventies). We played "leader of the pack" which basically consisted of goading our dad to not let anyone pass him. If he got passed, we were no longer leader of the pack unless we passed them back or they exited the interstate. Fun times. But the most interesting thing, and actually quite common, was getting passed by a group of motorcycles, mostly choppers. We always decided these were Hells Angels, and no doubt some of them were. Some of these groups were really big, and we would count 60 or more bikers. We never worried about not being leader of the pack with those guys.

Nice find there Paul! This was quite a fun set of photos you found! Very interesting how people traveled the highways and byways back then. I have a book called, Orange Roofs, Golden Arches by Phillip Langdon, now out of print, I found a copy via Amazon several years ago, a nice condition used book that came from a library in Dixon CA and was removed from the collection by the library and is about the early days of the franchise system, talking about how it all began when travelers by train had difficulty finding decent food quickly near the tracks when dining aboard was not available to the development of the fast food joint etc. Very interesting and in there it talks about the early hotel/motel development, the Googie coffee shop era etc. Not a stranger to traveling without electronics. My parents were lucky enough to have an AM radio, if they even used it on long trips, I was too young to remember anything beyond some bare memories of the trip back out to Washington St in the late 60's as I was only 4 when we took the trek back out here in 1969 when my Dad got his final assignment where he was asked where he'd like to retire from the Air Force (I do recall staying in several Holiday Inns along the journey back). We'd moved out here in 1964 in a then brand new '64 Dodge 330 station wagon with AC, push button AM radio, 2 standard seat belts, dad had the rest of the positions fitted with them at extra cost, came with a roof rack, full wheel covers and a basic interior as we bought it new in Jacksonville Fl for the initial trip out to Washington State where my family still lives (Dad got stationed at McChord AFB at the time). I grew up entertaining myself when we went on these long trips, we stopped using the old wagon for long journeys after the transmission gave out in '73 just outside of Yakima Washington, by the mid 70's, the old wagon had some 140K miles on it and although it ran in its last few years, it was not without breaking down periodically. We sold it in '76 I think, perhaps as late as '77. As I got older, I would bring my tape recorder and ear/headphones and would listen to music of my choosing on the trips to the ocean or wherever if I didn't actually read, but mostly just looked out at the scenery as it flew by. I will agree that traveling today is much easier than in the past when our cars can withstand the long journeys without breaking down, especially during the summers and that getting to say Medford OR from Tacoma now takes a mere 8 hours down I-5 and back in '64, I-5 through Tacoma was still under construction to a degree and was finally finished in 1971 when the last section was completed to allow for easy travel between Tacoma and Seattle. I remember as a kid thinking the 45 minute-hour trip into Seattle from Tacoma took much longer than it does now that I traverse that span frequently and now with the traffic often, getting home and parked (on the street) in a bit over an hour is a bit of a wonder when traffic can drag that out an extra 30 minutes easily. Still, seeing how people traveled is very interesting indeed. I have wanted to do a major road trip, say the old Route 66 with the old truck I drive now, but finances have kept that from happening, not that my '92 Ranger wouldn't have done it just fine, but being able to save for it was an impossibility under my current income - and I'd have had to get the AC system converted and recharged if doing it during the summer months.

We did a couple of road trips from western WA to upstate NY in the 1950 Packard 4-door. Luggage and pillows between the seats to make a larger area in the back for us kids to play in. We saw our first Wyoming thunderstorm at night...talk about feeling small and insignificant! When I sold my 69 Valiant 318 4-speed to a guy in Wisconsin, I drove it to him. Stayed on I-90 until I got sick of the road and the self-service gas stations with "attendants" behind bullet-proof glass; found a two-lane highway in eastern Montana that took me east-southeast down through North and South Dakota and stayed on it all the way to the Twin Cities. Great ride, real gas stations, able to maintain high speeds except near the relatively few towns, scenery the same as on the interstate. I did have one bittersweet moment in South Dakota; passed a pristine mid-60's Nova coupe, no radio, dog-dish hubcaps, driver in his 80's or 90's with a big German shepherd sitting at attention in the passenger seat; it flashed through my mind that perhaps the dog was his only companion. All in all, I'll take the two-lane when I get a chance and have the time.

We grew up slightly later than that generation, but our driving was similar. Imagine 9 people in a Rambler station wagon. There were always kids laying down in the back. In fact, that was often more comfortable than dodging elbows in the seats. There weren't nearly enough seat belts so they went unused, which lead to an exciting few moments when my mother passed out and drove off a bridge. Amazingly we all survived, most with only cuts and bruises, though my just born baby sister spent a scary week in the hospital.