Mom and I were talking friday night catching up on things. We hadn't talked for a week and caught up with everything that was happening in our lives. Towards the end of our conversation she mentioned that one of her neighbors was fixing up an RV to sell. He is a mechanic at a local dealership and picked up one and was working on it. She had been talking to him about it and asked him what he was looking to sell it for. She told me the price. It was a pretty good price. I asked more about it and then after that we ended our call.
After I hung up I got curious and got on the computer and started searching for pictures of the RV. I didn't know what year the RV was but based on the price figured it was an older model. He was working on a Chinook. While searching for pictures I came across pictures of an old Toyota RV that was just like the one my grandparents drove. These two pictures that I found on the internet are like the two that they had.
My dad's parents traveled all the time to different places. Their love was fishing. They loved to fish for trout and went to all the best places to fish. They even had their special bait recipe for it. Marshmallow with fake salmon eggs. That thing was tiny but they loved it. The first one was totalled in a rollover accident. They don't remember what happened and thankfully walked away with only concussions and bruises. Despite the accident they immediately went out and bought another one to go on the road again. Many years were spent on the road in the RV with another couple named Noble and Verda, who also had one, fishing in lakes and rivers all over the country. They weren't full timers but darn close to it.
When I was little they took me fishing a few times but I didn't like it because I could never sit still long enough to be patient and wait for the fish to bite. The last time I caught a fish was when I left my pole sitting on the back of a house boat while inside playing yatzee. I would go back once in a while to check my pole. Late that night I looked out the back sliding glass door and saw my pole slam to the side. I ran out with out thinking and grabbed the pole. Now you need to understand that I was huge and 9 months pregnant at the time. I started reeling in that pole paying careful attention to keep my line away from the boat props. Meanwhile I am yelling over the generator for everyone inside to let them know that I actually caught a fish. That sucker felt like he weighed a hundred pounds and I didn't want to loose him. After what felt like years they wondered where I was and wandered outside. When they realized what was happening they tried to take the pole away from me. "Don't you dare touch that pole. It is mine.!!" I worked hard and reeled in a 5 pound white catfish. He was funny looking. I was so proud of myself for not loosing him and decided that it would be the last fish I ever caught.
Oh, so you know, he didn't taste very good.
Fun reminiscing. I remember fishing with my father. My older brothers were the ones who got bored and didn't want to go. I loved it because I got to be the special one with Daddy. Oh the orange soda at the tavern after didn't hurt either.
ReplyDeleteNice post, enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteThanks. There are many memories of trips I enjoyed when I was little. Fishing wasn't my best but camping and traveling was.
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