Here it is, at last, the end of the journey. Aunt Ellen wrote a "Conclusion" page that included their total expense for travel, gasoline, oil, and total mileage driven. At the end she penciled in "Finis" with a flourish. They Left Yakima, Washington 22 September 1930 and returned 29 December...

This is it. They arrived home at last. Tomorrow the finale! "December 29, 1930 On our last days travel we stared from Eugene at 6:45. Coming thru the mountains of Oregon the trees were covered with a silver thaw. When we reached Portland the wind started to blow and at one place, we learned...

The last two days. Finale page tomorrow "December 28, 1930 Yesterday when the oil was changed the man put in heavy oil so the car was very hard to get started this morning. We lost over a half an hr getting it warmed up to start. We stared up through the mountains from Redding and saw snow in...

"December 27, 1930. We started from San Ardo at 6:10 this morn. After leaving San Jose we took a short cut toward Stockton. At Stockton we changed the oil in the car and had it greased. That took three quarters of an hour. The mileage at that time was 12690 miles. It was nice and clear the first...

Just a few more days and they will be home. "December 26, 1930" "We started this morn from Whitewater at 6:30. The valley was full of orange & lemon trees and palms. Oranges can be bought for 10¢ a dozen, so we bought some. Just before entering Pasadena we saw a hanger and a dirigible in the...

Four flats in one day-Merry Christmas 1930! "Christmas!!!???...We started this morn at 6:50 and when we were 4 miles from town we had a flat. That valley had acres & acres of lettuce fields...At Wintersburg we took a different route than we had planned and got stung. Just out of Wickenburg we...

Inching my way to the finish. Since Aunt Ellen said it didn't feel like Christmas I decided to glam up the pages a little and make it more holiday like for them. "After leaving Globe we began to climb and came to a place 4910 ft high called Top of the World. Going down the western side we had...

Coolidge Dam. Almost all the photos taken on the entire three month trip were only of family, with the exception of the dam. "The Coolidge Dam has just been finished and was dedicated Mar 4, 1930 by Calvin Coolidge. It is 920 feet long counting 2 spillways 250 ft high from bed rock, and has a...

Prepping the photos for this page was a nightmare. The original pictures used on pages 22 and 23 were so yellowed and faded they were almost invisible. I scanned at various resolutions, and used PSE, Topaz, and MyHeritage, trying color and b/w to try and improve them. I've used MyHeritage...

Double page spread continued from page 20 - through Texas. "...50 miles of dirt roads with dips every little ways...saw lots of cactus along the road today. The country was very flat and desolate until we reached Kent, Tex. And after that it was mountainous but without trees...after leaving the...

Double page spread - continuing west through Texas. "The Red River is indeed well named for it is like brick dust. The Brazos R. is also very red. In Fort Worth there were roses in bloom on the south side of the houses. We went by large patches of prickly pear cactus. Some of the leaves were as...

Entered Oklahoma - oil wells and red soil. Had a flat tire (I think this is number 7 so far). "...There was a toll bridge over the Canadian River and we had to pay 25¢ to cross it..." Thank you for looking.

They are on their way home to Washington from Kansas. I may finish this project after all. Thank you for looking.

I re-did page 14 three times and by this time I didn’t care if I used ten palettes. <smile> Love Aunt Ellen's sense of humor. I wouldn't feel safe either in the old car, no seat belts. “Dad was driving and a big Pickwick bus crowded him off the pavement. It was slick and when he got back on the...

Getting back to my 1930 road trip project after some major computer issues. Visiting family and going dancing with cousins and distant cousins. These young people loved to dance. Sixty years later we met many of these same people, or their families.

“…Dad, Gerald, Kenneth & I took Alton to Chicago. Tuesday we went to the bird sanctuary and saw the millions of birds…Wednesday went to Lake Odessa and saw all the 2nd cousins…another trip to Lake Odessa after Alton came back from Chicago.” Alton loved to travel his entire life. The Michigan...

“We went through the twin cities and Alton got a little hot under the collar, but we got through without a scratch…North of Chicago came through a rich residential district and saw Pierce Arrows with chauffeurs and Rolls Royces…the road wound through a beautiful forest of oaks…We came to the...

1930 road trip continues, pages 6 and 7. “…had to change a tire at Glendive, 10 miles out had to fix another (tire)… Cabins nice have real rain water to wash in…had two tires to fix, then had another flat…The front axle is bent on the car and causes it to sway a lot…” Based on Aunt Ellen's...

Continuing diary of 1930 road trip. “No pavement after Mullan (ID)…Roads fair in spots, but spots far apart…Wonderful cabins, terrible roads (MT)…First flat tire…”

Left home at 5 a.m. First day on the road an easy one. "Roads in wonderful condition." (That will soon change.) Saw their cousins; “Made taffy and had lots of fun in general.”