I jumped on the pile of blankets,
sheets and pillows; we were on our way to Reno, in my Dad's 1950
Chevrolet business coupe. This was going to be my first trip outside
the state of Washington. I did not know how long and dreary the trip
would become, at 50MPH on old highway 99.
The next large city going south out of Seattle was Tacoma. Just
before you entered Tacoma, there was a steel bridge over a river, and
down along the river bank, was a Hobo encampment. My father slowed
down as we crossed the bridge so I could see the cardboard shanty
town. On the other side of Tacoma was Fort Lewis.
There were signs along the highway, that read "Give a Soldier a
lift". There were little turnouts, with a covered bench for the
Soldiers. My father pulled over, into one of those turnouts, and we
gave a lift to Soldier going to Portland Oregon.
My father pulled in at a motor Inn, my mother got out of the
car, and walked up to the office. In a matter of minutes, my mother
came out of the office with the manager; they walked over to a little
cottage. When my mother came out of the cottage, she was shaking her
head no. We ended up going to two other motor Inns, before my mother
found one she liked. Unknown to me at the time, my mother was looking
for bed bugs in the mattresses.
It was a warm summer evening, when we entered "The biggest
little city in the world" you could hear the roar of slots, and the
chatter of coins. The casinos were ablaze in flashing and blinking
lights, in designs of cowboys, starbursts, and flamingos. WOW! What a
place.
I had fallen asleep in the motel room, my parents came into the
room and woke me up. My father was holding a bag in one hand, and with
the other, he was holding up his pants. My father dropped the bag of
silver dollars on the bed, and then started dumping handfuls of silver
dollars out of his pockets. My father had won $500 in silver dollars.
I ran my hands over the coins and even threw a few up into air, it was
just like a scene out of an old pirate movie. The next morning, my
father turned the silver dollars in for paper currency.
On the third day, we drove up to Lake Tahoe. Most of the time, when we
were in a casino, I would stay with my mother, but once in a while I
would just wander off to look around. Any time I wanted a coke, I
could walk into a bar and order one. I just purchased a coke, from the
bartender, and when I tilted my head back to take a drink, that's when
I noticed the naked lady in the fish bowl above the bar.
I drained
that coke bottle, staring at that lady. I was about to order another
coke, when a hand took hold of my arm, and my mother led me out of the
bar. When my mother was telling my father where she found me, my dad,
just laughed. I returned home, with memories of dazzling lights,
silver dollars, and a naked lady. Nice trip.
Go
to Rewind the Fifties Home
