The Gilliam Blog - All the Blog While Its Blog

I engaged Dad in an exercise tonight to assess his mental acuity. I'm proud to say his recall was extremely sharp, if not downright uncanny.

I asked him to take us through every stop along the way of our 16-day trip out West in 1974. Without much prompting he regaled us with stops and stories along the way. Mom and I of course contributed color commentary, but for the most part Dad was back at the wheel of the Caprice Classic in this 12-state sentimental journey -- with strains of a Glenn Campbell 8-Track Tape subconsciously playing as the soundtrack in our minds.

Lisa, as always, was mesmerized. Our only wish was that Scott had been with us to share in the memories like: 106 degree temperatures in Salina, Kansas . . . kicking the prairie dogs at Crater Lake . . . .the Air Force Academy . . . miniature golf in Estes Park. . . .Laura asking Mom to read page after page of an imaginary book .. . .the taste of pickle and pimento loaf that will be with us forever . . . a snowball fight at the Continental Divide (sans Scott) . . . eating at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Salt Lake City . . . the Mormon Tabernacle Choir . . . an innertube ride down the Snake River (sans Scott) . . . .the forest fire in the Tetons . . . . voting at the Dog Races in Rapid City . . . Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse . . . Wall Drug . . . meeting George Burns at Yellowstone . . . the night we found the motel room in Cody, Wyoming that had three beds and a TV from 1960 . . . the fountain at Kansas City Royals Stadium and the five double plays we saw turned there . . . the circus in KC . . . staying at the Holidome upon our return into St. Louis . . . and of course that fateful night when Russ blindsided and pinned Mike to the hotel room bed to be declared The Mammy in the The Mammy Championships.