A Road Trip Down Memory Lane

Hello Friends!

We're stepping out of the garden and away from the cottage today for a trip down Memory Lane ~~~

There are a handful of words that bring delight and joy to my spirit ~ some of these words are funny, or require some thought, such as "discombobulate" or are just happy sounding words, such as "marshmallow" or "sunflower", and some aren't really words at all, but are just lovely, silly words, such as "jumbleberry" or "mimblewimble".  There are other words, however, that string together and intrigue me or invite me, and two of these words are "road" and "trip" ~ Road Trip!

I love a Road Trip, and a couple years ago this was my interpretation of the prompt "Route 66" for the annual ICAD challenge ~~~

I haven't been on a Road Trip in some decades, not properly, and maybe the last time was wa~a~a~y back in 1984 when my lovely Dad flew out to San Francisco and over three weeks we drove across America to Virginia Beach. Now that's what I call a Road Trip indeed.  Here are a few photos from that epic journey, please don't expect fantastic compositions, they are photos of photos, for back in the day it was 35mm film and the photos have aged over the decades between ~~~

Let's start at the very beginning ~ remember back in the 1980's when scrapbooks and photo albums looked like this? Three ring binders which we covered ourselves with padding and fabric, adding a frill, and the insides were nothing more than photo sleeves with no room for movement?  We've come a long way, baby!

and we're off ~~~

At the time, I lived in Northern California, in a small village called Ferndale. After we picked Dad up in San Francisco, we back tracked 150 miles to show him where I'd lived for a year ~~~ I can see the little church I attended every Sunday, middle right!

Daddy in the Redwood Forest

Heading South ~ no trip to CA is complete without a winery tour!

Then it was on, south, to San Francisco where there were many things to see, so here is a selection ~~~

Golden Gate Bridge at Sunset

Alcatraz

Skyline

Dad with my 'Californian English Springer Spaniel' Gwen

Then we carried on further south to Carmel and took in the sights of the world famous Seventeen Mile Drive ~~~ secretly, we hoped to see Clint Eastwood!

Then we turned inland, and visited the abandoned ghost town at Barstow ~~~

We spent a night in Las Vegas ~~~

and the next day we continued to journey east, and the next major stop was the spectacular Grand Canyon ~~~

We then followed the road to Arizona where we were in total awe of the giant cactus, and, as Daddy was a massive fan of westerns, a trip to the set of Old Tuscon was a must ~~~

There's a rather large gap now because some of the photos have gone missing, but we ended up, safe and sound in Virginia Beach before heading north to Washington DC for a few days before Daddy flew home after his month long visit to America, and a trip of a lifetime ~~~

The dilemma I now face is whether or not to upgrade these photos to a new album. I'd love to see them in a scrapbook format, but then I'm taking away part of the history, the time in which this is how photo albums looked. Maybe I'll tidy up my photos of the photos, have fresh prints made and make a new scrapbook with them?

Recently, a lovely and generous online friend of mine went on a Road Trip, up, and down, the Pacific Coast North West {some more words that, when strung together, tug at my heart strings ~ for I long to be there, Seattle, Puget Sound, Olympia, and so on} and guess what? She took me, and a few others, along for the journey!  We were all very well behaved, well, we were for most of the time.

Anyway, to bring me along on this virtual journey, I've received, in the post over the past few days, a series of lovely post cards that have made it feel as if I really was there, and isn't this such a kind and generous thing to do? Here's what I got in the post over the last week ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xoxo