In 1956, near the middle of summer, my dad purchased a brand new 1957 Ford, Fairlane 500. It was gun-metal gray and white and, I believe, was the first new car my family ever bought. Dad even got the salesman to part with his gold pen that he signed the contract with. We all thought that was funny.

We left to vacation in Arkansas and Oklahoma the next day. The thinking then was to not drive the car over 50 mph for the first 500 miles. That made our trip a very slow start, indeed.

I remember taking US Highway 60 out of Phoenix and traveling through the mountains. It was evening by then and Mom pointed out what appeared to be a structure fire on the other side of the canyon as we passed by.

We spent our time on my Grampa’s farm. My brother and I explored every inch of it, swam in the hole in the creek,  ate cantaloupe and watermelon til it ran out of our ears and just had a great time.  When our vacation time was over we loaded the car with memorabilia and some of the melons and other produce from the farm.

Coming back we took a different route. We left Oklahoma where we had visited with some of Mom’s sisters and started back west toward Dodge City to at least drive through a famous old west city. We made our way toward Denver next where we took in the sight of the Denver mint. I remember seeing the quaking aspen trees along the highway as their leaves fluttered in the breeze.

I don’t remember too much more about that trip except for the return home. I’m sure Mom & Dad had an ulterior motive for the trip home other than an educational adventure for my brother and me. They always had a good time in Las Vegas and the route they chose would pause there until they were ready to call it quits and head for home.