We were successful in gaining entrance into Canada and continued our journey through Canada to Detroit, Michigan. The trip through Canada was uneventful except that we got terribly lost. We started out from Niagara Falls on a four lane highway. Before long we were traveling on a two land highway. A few miles further the road had turned into a graveled surface road. And a few miles beyond that we were traveling on a dirt road that ended at a cow pasture. We sat for a few minutes and watched a farmer milking his cow. That was the extent of our Canada adventure.
It didn't take an engineering degree for us to realize we were lost. Two members of our crew had driven since we left Niagara. So the third party proceeded to relate how utterly stupid the two drivers were. The drivers responded by pointing out that the third member was the designated navigator and it was obvious that he had failed to perform this assignment satisfactorily. It appears that the three participants in this great adventure were getting extremely tired of each other.
We back tracked to the four-land highway and this time we were successful in reaching and re-entering the USA. at Detroit, Michigan. Hurray!
During our travel across Michigan, we experienced our only traffic accident. We were traveling on a two lane highway (one lane each way) that had a very deep gutter on each side of the road. Occasionally an exit bridge had been built by filling in the gutter with dirt that allowed a driver to exit into his farm. Jack was driving and was following an old, slow moving, truck. He finally reached a straight stretch of road with no oncoming traffic and attempted to pass the truck. Just as we moved along side of the truck, the driver came to an exit bridge that led to his farm house. Without signaling (according to Jack) the driver turned left onto the dirt bridge. Jack's only options were to hit the truck broadside or crash down into the very deep gutter or turn left and try to squeeze onto the exit bridge along side the truck. Jack chose the latter option. Unfortunately, because of the narrowness of the exit bridge, the two vehicles collided. It didn't cause any damage to the truck but it did put a deep dent into the passenger-side front door.
The truck driver insisted that he had signaled and the collision was our fault and he was not responsible for any damage that occurred to our car. Hey, we were happy to have survived and left there as quickly as possible. Besides, the dent in the door seemed to fit in nicely with the over all appearance of the car. Later in the day we tried to roll up the window and discovered that there was no longer a window. The collision had shattered the window and it was now small pieces inside the door.
After this experience, we all wanted to get home as quickly as possible. We decided to drive twenty-four hours a day and stop only for gas and hamburgers. If we all became exhausted and needed sleep at the same time, we would simply sleep at the side of the road. We had been on the road fifteen days and thoroughly detested each other and the car. We spent the last twenty-four hours in an intense argument whether the Vernal Bank or the Uintah State Bank was the best. Not one of us a penny in either bank. We were just sick of each other and needed something to argue about.
We arrived back home after sixteen days on the road. After a good nights rest we recovered from our exhaustion and were able to tell anyone who would listen all about out marvelous adventures. By far, the 1930, model A, Ford sedan suffered the most from this trip. It returned with a broken starter and would not start unless it was pushed, a missing hood over the engine, a dent in the passenger-side door, a shattered window inside the door and the sign "New York or Bust" painted on both sides and the rear of the car.
I had left home with $100.00. I returned home sixteen days later with $67.00. You can see that I was not afraid to spend money to have a good time.
Granpa's humor?
Today's groaner: There was a man who entered a local newspaper's pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.
Church bulletin -- Miss Charlene Mason sang, "I Will Not Pass This Way Again", giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
Truth's I have learned during this life: Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-o to a tree.
Genealogy truths: Genealogists live in the past lane.
Another groaner: A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel, and met in the lobby where they were discussing their recent victories in chess tournaments. The hotel manager came out of the office after an hour, and asked them to disperse. He couldn't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.
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