Vacations
I did not realize how lucky I was to have such nice travel vacations or lake resort vacations as a child and teenager. Every other summer we went on a sight-seeing vacation, and visited most of the states at least once, except New England. The travel was mainly in the western states, but some in the eastern mountain region. The lake resort vacations on alternate years were always at Lake Okoboji near Spirit Lake in northern Iowa, and we always stayed at Rabel’s Resort.
Mother and Dad were very strong on education and had us read up on the places we were going to visit. On the travel vacations my sister Geri and I had to keep a daily record of where we had been and what we had seen or what we had learned. On these travel vacations my sister and I had to make a written report of the interesting things we saw. If we ever got to arguing about something, Mother would say, “How are you coming with your report?” and that was enough to make us stop arguing.
We visited many national parks and national monuments. Some of the interesting places I remember were Carlsbad Caverns, the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Bryce Canyon, Zion, the Grand Tetons, Little Bighorn, the Petrified Forest, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Montezuma’s Castle, Rocky Mountain National Park, Hot Springs Arkansas, Kings Canyon, the Redwood Forest, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite, Pipestone Minnesota, Wisconsin Dells, the Great Salt Lake, and California and the ocean. Some of the eastern trips were to the Great Smoky Mountains, Niagara Falls, and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
On these trips we did not stay in motels. (They may not have even been “invented” yet.) When we were on the traveling vacations our afternoons and evenings were spent in tourist log cabins, which were the forerunner of motels. They were pretty rustic compared to modern-day motels. But they were “modern” in the sense that they had a bathroom. Also they had a little kitchenette. We used the kitchenette to cook our meals rather than eat in restaurants. And this was in the 1930’s so there were no fast food places. McDonald’s and other fast food places had not come along yet.
We loved the Lake Okoboji times too. I taught myself to swim and dive. My sister Geri, who was two years younger than me, loved the shallow water, but wasn’t ready yet to try anything else. At Lake Okoboji our cottage was quite large and sometimes Grandpa Kast came with us, and once I remember Auntie Lee was with us. Also nearby there was a public park on the shore of the lake that had a lovely sandy beach. We loved going there. These are some of the memories I have of Lake Okoboji.
Lucky me to have had such wonderful summer experiences in the 1930s and early 1940s. To see one of my summer scrapbooks, click here.
After Dad retired, Mom and Dad had a place in Texas where they went every winter. As they got older, they didn’t want to make the long drive anymore, but they still wanted their car in Texas with them. So they had one of their children or grandchildren drive them down to Texas each year in early winter, stay for about a week, and then Mom and Dad paid for their airfare back to Iowa or Minnesota. Then when it was time for them to come back to Des Moines in the spring, they flew another child or grandchild down to Texas, stay for a visit, and then drive them back. Most of us got this treat at least once.
Lots of wonderful memories.
