I am so greatful that mom worked so hard and sacrificed so much so that we could have fun.
I remember mom loading all of us in the car and driving to Murray park to go swimming. I remember complaining that I had to go to the kiddie pool because i wasn't old enough to go into the big pool. Mom would tell me to just go and that, after everyone was in, she would send one of the older kids over to get me. I remember her treading water at the bottom of the slide and catching me as I came down over and over and over again. I also remember that there were other kids that would come to the pool. They would ask mom to say that they were with her so that they could get in because their parent wasn't there.
I also remember going camping over the 24th of July... I can't remember if it was 1 or 2 weeks. But everything would be loaded in the truck... did we have 2 vehicles.? ..(gotta love the sketchy memory)... It seemed to me that just our family had a truck load of stuff... 2 or 3 coolers (1 devoted just to Shasta), sleeping bags, blankets, latern, stove, ....anyway after we all got there mom and dad would set up camp while us kids would gather fire wood. I also don't remember if dad spent the nights and went to work from the canyon the next morning or if he drove home each night and slept at home and then went to work. Anyway.... mom was there in the mountains during the day with 7 kids roaming who knows where.... I guess somehow she knew. Sometimes when I woke the older boys were already up and gone. I am not sure if mom was up to fix them breakfast before they went.. but she was always there to fix me something. We hiked all over those mountains, swam in the creek, played ball in the field. At any rate, when ever we came back she was there ready to hear our adventures and to feed us. I think that the only rule that I remember is that we couldn't cross the highway...How she maintained sanity is beyond me. One year it rained and we spent hours sitting in the tent singing Old McDonald.
I hope that each of you will contribute to this memory.... being the youngest I am sure that there is much of my memory that is probably distorted or lacking.
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Originally, it was the 49 Chev packed to the hilt with everything we needed. Then it was the 53 Ford wagon. When Dad got the dump truck he used for Lloyd's Custom Trucking we used that.
I think that once he used the company truck. That was a big no-no for Dad. He felt very strongly that the company truck was for use on company business only.
I recall that for some of the years, Dad would come down into the valley for the week and come back up after the work week was done.
Mom was always there. Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler were there many of those years, and for at least some of them, the Brady cousins would come up as well.
I guess that Mom felt pretty safe up in the mountains. She probably felt safer up there than almost anywhere else. She was surrounded (some of the time) by her cousins and she had he Mom and Dad with her as well.
I remember one Sunday Dad played softball with the boys. He hit the ball so far that it got lost in the quakies in right field. That ended the game right there!
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