An American Adventure, Part 4

The Return to Fort Worth

After our arrival on May 30th, I have no more journal entries until June 4th, when I started the return trip to Fort Worth.  At some point I will get the photos of the wedding together and add that portion of the trip as a separate document.  In the meantime, here are the three days of my quick trip home.

June 4:

Left the Wright residence 6:50 to take Cheryl to the airport.  Said goodbye to the Hills and Wrights but promised to see them again by 1975. (We didn’t make this.  Saw the Hills next in England in 1994.)  I will have to fill in details of our stay at the Wright’s and wedding later.  Dropped Cheryl at the airport and saw her on the plane.  (In those days you could go right down to the gate whether you had a ticket or not.)  Headed for Hartford and I-84.  Trip across Connecticut was uneventful and fast.  At the Garden State Parkway entrance I popped a trailer tire.  A service truck helped me mount the spare and I headed into NJ.  Stopped for lunch and to have the new Sears tire mounted.  What a job!  Back on the road at 12:30.  Came across NJ on bad road and hit PA.  Made a few stops for coffee and dinner.  Called Cheryl and then made Cleveland at 21:15.  Travel time:  13.75.  Mileage:  633.

June 5:

Loaded up Posty this morning and departed Ray’s at 8:30.  (Posty was moving to Phx and had an old friend, maybe relative, agree to make the trip with her.  She had a canary yellow 1972 Chevrolet Malibu and we were going to travel together as far as Fort Worth.  She had already arranged to have her furniture moved before she came up to Connecticut for the wedding.)  Stopped for gas down the road and then headed out of town.  Ray took us over some of the worst roads in Cleveland to the highway.  Had a smooth trip down I-71 to Cincinnati where we hit horrendous traffic.  I was drowsy and had trouble driving.  On the Kentucky side Posty missed an exit and nearly ran down a marker.  All okay and we got gas.  I woke up and we hit Louisville just before rush hour.  More bad traffic.  Decided to stop at Horse Cave, about 75 miles north of Louisville.  Found our KOA and settled in.  Weather hot and muggy but bearable.  Early to bed.  Travel time:  8.75.  Mileage:  424.

Posty’s Car was Yellow but this is it.

June 6:

Departed the KOA at Horse Cave at 8:00.  Got gas right away and proceeded down the road.  Made Nashville for coffee and then had lunch about 60 miles east of Memphis.  In Memphis I called Sally (Torpey) but no answer.  Crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas and made Little Rock at 17:00 for rush hour.  What a mess.  Found the KOA in Benton and stopped.  Only 300 miles to Fort Worth from here.  Travel time:  9.5 hours.  Mileage:  452.

That was the last entry in the Journal.  According to the time log I left Benton, AK at 7:45 on the 7th and arrived home at 14:30.  I only remember a few things about the homecoming.  First, Cheryl had flown out on the fourth so she could work on the fifth.  When she got into the hospital, she found that she was only scheduled for the one day and then had two days off.  So we spent the money on air fare and I got to make the trip back alone so she could work one day!

Second, I don’t remember much about having Posty around in Fort Worth so I assume she pushed off for Phoenix the next day.  That would be a two day trip under normal circumstances.  I do remember her grumping about Ray, her travel companion.  He was older and moved slowly.  Posty would have been just 60 in 1972 and was full of piss and vinegar…as she was until the day she died at 92!