Left high and dry in 1955

Washington Cascades

And old nineteen 50' truck going over cascades

   A six-year-old headed for a life, of five finger discount (only until seven years old) after seven my Mom r-,married and I received some strick rules from my new father)That's true.  My biological father, “Dick Robinson” whom I have mentioned in three other posts and left us four kids and mother high dry disappearing out of the blue. Back then, in most cases, the deserting father could only be divorced by running an ad in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (I assume that was the paper she used). So she ran an ad for a few days, probably saying, “Dick Robinson please come back.” If there was no answer, she could then legally obtain a divorce from him. We had a house full of furniture and a new car to sell. All was mortgaged to the hilt. Back in the 1950s, it was common to forgive the debt due to my mother’s situation. If she returned it all, would they do this today? I know that’s not done today.

   My uncle Buzzy picked us up in the Mont Lake neighborhood. And in his 1955 Chevy pickup, we left Seattle, with the next stop being Leavenworth, then on to Richland, WA. All of us kids had to sit in the back with blankets and pillows, except the baby, Mom, and uncle. It was midwinter, and the journey was long and arduous.  There was no four-lane highway. It was a narrow old road winding through the cold and snow, estimated to have been built in the 1930s. The road wound through the snow and ice for most of the way. The road was warped and had potholes. A journey that currently takes four hours from Seattle to Richland would have required approximately 20 hours, because you couldn’t drive at night on that road in the 1950s. You could hardly drive in the daytime.

  I have driven the road in 1968, when it was still the old 1930's road.(as a note, ) I found it extremely hard to travel the road and navigate the potholes, and we were in a 1963 volkswagen that was made for the narrow road. Although it barely made it up the steep mountain pass. (barely!!)

   (Back to the story) When we arrived, there were three frozen kids: two, four, and six.  An overnight stay in Leavenworth, Washington, was necessary. They started for home early in the morning.  The next day was sunny and freezing cold. They rotated kids into the front cab of the truck by the heater to keep them from freezing. It was eight more hours!! A stop was also required in Ellensburg due to snow and ice on the roads, so we stayed at the motel in Ellensburg and thawed.  (more to come tomorrow)