My family had a little red Rambler that we bought new in 1960, plus a small teardrop-shaped trailer. In 1962, we went on a trip to Nebraska. My husband, Art, our three kids, my mom and dad, cousin Kay and I crammed into the car. That was easier to do in the days before seat belts.
Art, Kay, the kids and I slept in the trailer. The front seats in the Rambler reclined into beds, so Mom and Dad slept there with a quilt over them. When we awoke in the morning and looked into the car, all we could see was their noses sticking out from the blanket.
We spent a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park. Art decided he wanted to do a little fishing. The park had motor boats and row boats for rent. Of course, the row boats were cheaper, so Art rented one of them.
The three kids, Kay, Art and I loaded into the boat. The kids were singing “Row, row, row your boat” and Art was singing along. But the fishing wasn’t so good. Maybe the fish just weren’t biting, or maybe it was all the noise the kids were making.
Art decided he’d had enough so we started back to where the boat belonged. But the wind had come up. Art started rowing. And rowing. And rowing. But the wind was stronger than he was. When he rowed, the kids would sing “Row, row, row your boat” and Art would say, “Shut up!”
But the kids thought it was funny and kept it up until he threatened to spank the next one who even said “row.”
We finally made it to shore, where we pulled ourselves along the line of docked boats to get back to where our boat belonged. We were so far past our deadline that the darn row boat cost us more than renting the motor boat would have.
Art was not happy, but none of the kids got spanked.
We drove through Wyoming and left the trailer in a little burg to be picked up when we returned from Nebraska. When he got out to talk to the guy we were leaving it with, Art was attacked by huge mosquitos. The rest of us stayed in the car and shivered while watching the mosquitos land on the windows to look in at us. They also landed all over Art. Poor Art!
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