"UP ROOSEVELT HILL"
=================================================================================There were very few times when our whole family went any place together but one of those times was when we went to visit Daddy's brother Forrest and his family and his 3 sisters Eva, Nelly and Elly. Our car didn't have enough seats in it for all of us to sit on a seat so Mervin and I always had to hold one of the younger kids on our laps. Thelma sat on Mamma's lap and Andy sat between mamma and Daddy in the front seat while Mervin, Viola, Emma, Glenn and I sat in the back seat. The trip usually took about two hours but it always seemed much longer to those of us who had to hold our younger siblings. When we were almost there we had to go up a steep hill called the Roosevelt Hill. We wondered if our car would make it to the top but although we went chugging along at a very slow pace, we always made it to the top without getting stuck. When our car finally turned into Aunt Eva's driveway, we were all glad to be able to get out and stretch our legs. It was good to see all of our Cousins and aunts and uncles. There were so many- counting our family there were 26 cousins in 3 houses so as you can imagine, we had a wonderful time playing. Uncle Forrest and Aunt Margret lived a couple of miles from the others but it was fun to visit them too. They lived on a farm and there were lots of things to see there. Uncle Forrest had only one leg and I was amazed at how well he could get around with his crutches. Our next stop was at mamma's sister's house. Aunt Mayme lived in monroe. She and her husband, Willis, and their 4 children lived in a log cabin. They had a barn on their place where the boys got to sleep when we visited them because this is where we usually spent the night. There were two boys in their family, Frank and jack. Frank was a real tall boy for his age. The girls were Lavena who was my age and Idella who was two years younger. We girls slept on the wood floor with only a blanket under us. That floor seemed awfully hard. The next morning we were usually the first ones up. It wasn't long before we forgot the hard floor when we got to playing. Once when we were visiting them I got to go with Lavena with her class on a field trip to Seattle. We rode in a school bus. I liked getting to know all the kids but I think the part I enjoyed the most was when we stopped at "Ye Olde Curiosity Shop" on the waterfront. I was fascinated with the shrunken heads and the tiny letters printed on the head of a pin. There were so many things to look at. The ride back home was fun. We sang songs and laughed and played games most all the way home. We stayed one more night at Aunt Mayme's house and then we all climbed back into our car and started home. We all agreed that was a wonderful trip but we were also glad to be home again. It would probably be another year before we would make that trip again.
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