World’s Fair...continued...Washington State

We crossed the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon.  The river marks the state line between Oregon and Washington for about three-fourths of the way to the Idaho border.

We took I-5 north, which followed along the Columbia for about 40 miles before it turned west toward the Pacific Ocean and we continued north toward Olympia.  It was a beautiful drive...very green with lots of trees and some small rolling hills.  To the two of us from Lubbock, Texas...flat and brown and very dry and dusty...the drive was like Utopia.

While in Olympia, we ate at the Olympia Oyster House.  It is famous for the tiny oysters harvested from Puget Sound.  We ordered fried oysters and were served huge mounds of the little things.  They were so-o-o-o good!  There might have been raw oysters on the menu, but we won’t go there!

We went on to Seattle and the World’s Fair, our main destination.  As we got into the area, we discovered how expensive it was to park for an event like that.  All of a sudden I told Bill to follow that car.  The man driving it had a World’s Fair patch on his uniform.  He wound around through neighborhoods and parked.  We parked right behind him and followed him for about a block, to one of the entrances!

We probably took pictures, but over the years, with our lifestyle now, those things are mostly gone.  We do remember going up on the Space Needle and enjoying the magnificent view of the area.  The Space Needle was built as the main attraction for the Seattle World’s Fair, and still remains open.  

We also ate at the restaurant on the very top.  It revolved slowly, 360°...a very nice place to eat.  I can’t remember a thing about the food, but the view was awesome!

About all else we can remember was going to downtown Seattle, not far from the fairgrounds.  We went to Pike Place Market, one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers’ market in the country.  There is a fishmonger, where they throw the fish back and forth according to what the customers order.  It is a special attraction of the market, which is built on a cliff over looking the waterfront.  There are three levels of shops, artists, produce stands, and restaurants.

Before leaving the Seattle area, we went down to the waterfront area and walked around seeing the sights.  I’m sure we ate fish and chips, one of Bill’s favorites.  There were several good choices of fish places.

We continued our journey north toward Canada!

World’s Fair...Continued

Our tent was an Army pup tent.  The back of it was enclosed and was held up by a stake pounded into the ground.  The front was open.  We tied it to the Porsche.  There was no stake.  This was okay because it was a security thing.  If someone was messing with our car, we got a warning.

Some of our camping places have been lost from our memories over the years.  A few of them were special for one reason or another.  Those few we will share with you. 

We can remember driving into Winnemucci, just about in the middle of nowhere Nevada.  It was before the Interstate went through that part of the state.  When we got there, after dark, we were directed to the City Campground.  It was completely unsatisfactory for a little tent like ours, or any other size, for that matter.  The campground was grown up in huge tumbleweeds.  There was not a bare patch of ground in the entire area.

That night we slept in the Porsche.  It was an experience we hoped we wouldn’t have to repeat very often!

We went to the coast of Oregon.  At that time we thought it was one of the most beautiful places on earth...and we still do.  It is a drive we make whenever we get the chance.

We stayed at Sunset Beach State Park, outside of Coos Bay.  The ocean was especially beautiful at sunset.  The campground was really nice, with vegetation on three sides of each camp site.  Ours had lots of blackberry bushes, with lots of fruit.  We ate our fill.

It was about 9:30 or so when we set our tent up and went to bed.  At a little before 10:00, an Oriental family moved into the camping spot just across from us.  There were a mom and dad, plus two small boys.  Their tent was quite large, the kind with floor.  Wow, that was really uptown, compared to ours.  They first staked each corner in place, and then all crawled inside.  The wire structure inside must have been difficult to assemble.  Each time the tent would start to go up, the little boys would run across and hit the other side.  And down would go the tent, on everyone inside.  We laughed so hard, it is a wonder I didn’t wet my pants.  This “circus act” went on for over half an hour...the parents putting it up and the kids knocking it down.  It was so funny, and the parents not once raised their voices.  The experience is one of our favorite to tell over the years.  It still brings laughter into our lives.

We went further north on Hwy. 101 to Florence and stopped at Honeyman State Park.  It is at the north end of the Oregon Dunes National Rec. Area.  After getting our camping place we hiked up a dune at the edge of the lake.  It was a tough climb in the sand, and we were surprised at the number of people that climbed up, and ran down as fast as they could onto the lake to see how far they could slide across the water before they stopped.  Some of them were out in the water fairly far.  I can’t remember the two of us taking part in the “lake insanity.”

As we drove on north the next day we went off Hwy. 101 to Pacific City.  This area is home of the Dory Fleet.  It is made up of flat bottomed boats with tall sides.  A small motor pushes the boat out through the surf of the ocean.  When it come back to shore, it comes as fast as the waves and motor can bring it.  As it slides up onto the beach, someone on board raises the motor.  They can come quite a ways up onto the beach, at which point a person at the front jumps off and secures the dory with a rope.  It was very exciting to watch.

We took the road along the ocean to Tillamook, where we were able to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  After the tour where we saw the cheese making process “up close and personal.”  (Remember this was 1962, when we were allowed to get close to the operation.  It has changed over the years.), we sampled the different kinds of cheeses made in Tillamook.

And then it was on to Portland!

Seattle World’s Fair

In the summer of 1962, we decided to go the World’s Fair in Seattle, Washington.  Our plans were to camp out all along the way.  That meant the Porsche had to have room for two people and their luggage, but also a tent, bedrolls, pillows, and an absolute minimum of other camping gear.

Our solution to the problem was a luggage rack.  Since accessories for the Porsche were very expensive and I had access to an acetylene welder, I decided to make a rack.  

The Porsche was rear engine so the rack had to be about four or five inches off the air intake grill.  I accomplished that with spacers.  We couldn’t chrome it so we painted it a light gray.  It was at a 45° angle so I put a small lip on the bottom for things to ride against.  It worked well, and solved our problem.

When we left Lubbock, gasoline was 19 cents a gallon.  That area of Texas was notorious for its gasoline price wars.  As we got further away we began to pay more, but it was a nice way to start a trip.

The first time we stopped for gasoline we had a catastrophe.  The fuel tank was in the front trunk where we stashed our camping gear.  The opening for the nozzle was very large to make it fast to fuel when racing.  The station attendant put the nozzle in, turned the pump on, and walked away.  When he came back, the trunk and our gear were full of gasoline.

The term, “not a happy camper” was first used that day to describe Bill.  Until then, I had never seen a guy with smoke coming out of his ears.  Fumes were not only coming out of the the trunk, but out of Bill’s ears.  From then on, he took care of the gasoline duties himself!  

Scuba Diving

Bill and I both liked to scuba dive.  Back in those days, there weren’t regulations concerning equipment or use of scuba gear.  

We made our own tanks.  There was a huge Army surplus place in Pecos, Texas, about 240 miles southwest of Lubbock.  Our air tanks were from a WW II bomber.  I think the material we used for the straps to hold the tanks on came from there.  We had quick release buckles that were Army issue, also.  We attached our regulators to all of this, filled the tanks with air, add our masks and swim fins and we were ready to go.

One of our favorite places to dive was at Balmorhea, Texas.  There was a clear lake with fish and interesting rock formations.  Several years ago we stopped by the place, which is now a state park.  It had expanded, but was still very nice.

Several times we drove to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, to dive.  One time we went with Bill’s friend, Roy Gladson.  He drove a Buick that loped down the road.  Add that to the fact that he wasn’t a very good driver.  He would speed up, take his foot off the gas, let it slow down, and then race back up in speed.  We both suffered motion sickness and never rode with Roy again. 

There was a place in Santa Rosa that had clear water.  It was a great big hole in the ground surrounded by large rocks.  It is now developed, with restrooms, picnic tables benches, etc.  

Also, at Golf Lake, a few miles out of town, was an interesting place.  We had to walk for about 1/2 mile to the best place to get in the water which was shallow and clear.  We were swimming along when all of a sudden, we were over a black hole.  I was so startled I nearly bit my mouth piece in half.  Bill said I was thrashing around in the water so wildly, he thought I had been attacked.  If sheer panic can be considered being attacked, I was...attacked!

We also enjoyed diving at Possum Kingdom, now a state park west of Mineral Wells, Texas.  We liked to dive toward a cliff, go down and into a cave.  People without air tanks would go down and to an air pocket, stay there until they had enough oxygen to swim back to the surface.  The first time Bill came upon legs dangling in the cave, he thought he had found dead bodies.