The California Trip — Part 5 I remember nothing about the return trip. We probably took the train directly from San Diego to Harrisburg. It must have taken, what? Three days? Four days, to get back. Don’t know. When we arrived in Harrisburg, my grandfather John Troutman was waiting for us. He was no longer … Continue reading Homeward Bound

The California Trip — Part 4 And so we arrived at our destination—San Diego, California, where we stayed with George and Kay Troutman, who were related to us in some way that was a mystery to me. [Note: while I’m writing about the California trip entirely from memory, I had totally forgotten Kay’s name; that’s … Continue reading It Never Rains In Southern California

The California Trip — Part 3 We continued on our travels to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, where I got kicked out of a casino. In San Francisco we stayed at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. We took a tour bus, but the only things I remember are the ridiculously steep hills, the … Continue reading I Left My Heart in San Francisco

The California Trip — Part 2 We caught the train at Harrisburg. I don’t know for sure, but it was probably my parents who drove us to the station. It was still called the Pennsylvania Railroad in those days, or the Pennsy for short. There’s my grandmother Edna, great aunt Mary, and uncle Curtis on … Continue reading My Kind of Town Chicago Is

“How would you like an all expense paid trip to California?!” The voice on the phone was my uncle Curtis. The time was early in the summer of 1965 and I had recently turned 16. Curtis was planning a cross country train trip with stopovers in several cities to visit relatives in San Diego. Accompanying … Continue reading California Here I Come!