Adventures with Cordy, October 12, 1976

[Below is days 36 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 12, (Tuesday)

Day of departure for the California. TOO BAD, but we were all so thankful for a wonderful, fun, pleasant and safe trip that the good-bys were made easier. We thank you Doris and Jack for being such nice people and so good to us.

"Bye"

Imogene and Lynn

This concludes the 1976 travel diary titled,"Adventures with Cordy." The Fearsom Foursome, anchored by siblings Lynn and Doris, continued to visit each other regularly for many years.

[Photo: Jack, Doris, Lynn, Imogene. Texas, 1976]

In 1984, Lynn was stricken with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. His mobility was severely comprimised, as was his active lifestyle. He continued to maintain his positive attitude and joyful life spirit until his death in 1998.

Jack continued to work well after his Western Auto years. He always had opinions about business and customer service until the day he died in 2001.

Doris, all 4'11" of her, was fiercely proud of her family. Much of my motivation in regards to family history stems from this fact. She would be very pleased with what I've found thus far. She passed away in 2004.

Imogene continued to live in the same house and drive a big yellow Cadillac after Lynn's death. She was an extremely kind and generous person, and it was a pleasure to have known her. She passed away at 96 in 2007.

Thanks for following along in the Adventures with Cordy series. I know these entries were geared toward a small group of relatives who actually knew the players, but I decided to share this bit of my family with a wider audience. I hope you enjoyed it.

Adventures with Cordy, October 11, 1976

[Below is days 35 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 11, (Monday)

Journeyed into Houston to get jack a new pair of "Goody Blue Shoes." His old ones turned gray! Then nice bar-b-que lunch and to Foley's to get Jack two new jump-suits. PRETTY. Lynn cooked steaks for dinner.

God bless those jumpsuits, which Jack continued to wear well into the 1990's, until they went extinct as a fashion choice.

Adventures with Cordy, October 10, 1976

[Below is days 34 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 10, (Sunday)

The Motel delivered orange juice and coffee which gave us a pleasant start for our last day of a thirty day trip from Houston and back to Houston. It could have been rather a sad day really but since we considered what a pleasant month it had been some of the sadness evaporated. As everyone knows, good things can't last forever. We journeyed through Louisiana to Woodville, Texas where we had breakfast at the same restaurant, at the same table and almost exactly the same time, 11:00 A.M., as we did on the first day of the trip, thirty-one days ago. On to Kingwood. Our neighbors, Hazel and Bob kept a watchful eye on our home, plants, etc. even installed two windows on our garage. It was a lot of work and expense for them but clearly illustrates what wonderful people they are. We all went to the Log Cabin Restaurant for dinner (family style) and Jack discovered they made five legged chickens because he ate five drumsticks.

The Log Cabin Restaurant is no longer around, which is too bad because I'd love to eat a five-legged chicken.

Adventures with Cordy, October 9, 1976

[Below is days 33 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 9, (Saturday)

Stopped at noon in Alexandria, La. to watch to watch the O.U., Texas football game, Had excellent lunch and dinner at the Plantation Manor. There were also two play-off baseball games so, all in all, it was a nice day.

The OU/Texas game is a big deal here in this part of the country. I can see why Lynn would want to halt the travels and watch it.

Adventures with Cordy, October 8, 1976

[Doris and Lynn with "supplies," Vicksburg, MS]

[Below is days 32 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 8, (Friday)

Then, on to Vicksburg, Miss. The town looks pretty run-down due to recent floods and adverse economics. However, the Old Southern tea Room is as good as ever. Doris remembered the woman who was there our last trip and invited her to stop by to see them her next trip to California, but Doris forgot to give the address. Lynn took care of this, so she, her boyfriend and five children would certainly visit them next summer, maybe for a week.

Adventures with Cordy, October 7, 1976

[Below is days 31 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 7, (Thursday)

Drove through the Great Smoky Mountains and had a little fog trouble but a beautiful area. Nice lunch at Cartersville, Georgia. The restaurant was owned by a friendly lady who liked to visit. Spent night in Clanton, Alabama.

The road trip must be wearing on Lynn because his entries are getting shorter. There are no descriptions of what they ate, or Jack's "mads."

Adventures with Cordy, October 6, 1976

[Below is days 30 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 6, (Wednesday)

On through No. Carolina to Cherokee, home of the "Cherokee Indians." Doris, Imogene and Jack went to the Indian Festival, could only get three tickets so Lynn did not go. It was raining and they enjoyed tromping through the mud.

Adventures with Cordy, October 5, 1976

[Below is days 29 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 5, (Tuesday)

Back to "Colonial" to get a pewter mug that Doris just could not live without. She used her "charm" on Jack in this little deal and when that kid turns on the charm on there is no defense. Then to Jamestown, the first settlement in America. The Federal Park department presents it so well we could almost see the Indians. We then went through "Carter Grove Plantation" a beautiful old mansion with a historical background. Then crossed the James River by ferry into North Carolina. The river is beautiful and it was easy to understand why the early settlers chose this area as an exit from the rough and stormy Atlantic to a peaceful and beautiful body of water with an almost Garden of Eden landing on either side. From that point on Cordy just headed south and west to his home in California. (Little did he know that his masters were going to trade him off, or he would have blown a gasket, or a bearing, or a wheel or something else that unhappy Cordobas do.) We had dinner at a place advertising "you have tried the rest, now eat the best." After Jack's experience with "Maines Finest Restaurant" (they didn't cook his hot dog right) he was a little dubious, but not for long, the steaks were great!

Carter Grove is really Carter's Grove. It is currently closed.

Anybody know what happened to this pewter mug Doris just had to have? Is it on your shelf?

Back on September 10, before Cordy even left Texas, Lynn commented on the lack of space in the trunk. Given all of Doris' purchases, I can't even imagine how they got that thing closed after each stop.

Adventures with Cordy, October 4, 1976

[Below is days 28 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 4 (Monday)

The Information Center at Colonial Williamsburg gave good indiciation of the popularity of the place. It was huge and really provided an excellent service. The movie at the Center gave a good idea of what to expect, and provided quite a bit of early American history. Colonial Williamsburg is a very impressive place. While standing in line to see a place, and then walk to another, to stand in line again, one is tempted to wonder if it is worth the trouble. But, after the day was over the foursome felt it really is a fantastic place and well worth the while. When consideration is given to the fact that so much important history occured here. We enjoyed Bruton Church, the oldest Episcopal Church in America and Imogene and Lynn offered prayers in a pew with John Marshall's name on it. He, of course, was the early day legal expert and considered by some to be the father of the U.S. Supreme Court. Lynn was not too happy to select this pew because he knew Marshall had given Thomas Jefferson some trouble during his presidency, but he then realized competition of this nature was what made America develop to strength from its infancy. (Lynn could not find a pew with Jefferson's name on it.)

Adventures with Cordy, October 3, 1976

[Below is days 27 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 3, (Sunday)

Left Washington enroute to the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Forest Park. The weather did not cooperate too well and there was fog for a good part of the trip. However we did see enough to realize the beauty of the area. The biggest event of the day, Jack found his favorite cheese popcorn in a roadside restaurant, he bought them out. Then on to Williamsburg, Va. where "That Seafood Place" took excellent care of us for dinner.

Apparently, "That Seafood Place" is still around, but they don't have a web site.

Adventures with Cordy, October 2, 1976

[Below is days 26 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 2, (Saturday)

This was a self conducted tour with Lynn the bus driver. It was raining a downpour and he started his usual patter of conversation and jokes to get the passengers minds from the weather. They did not cooperate in this but were strong in their back-seat driving instructions. We made it though, to a large parking garage with a couple of dozen cars in it, under the Smithsonian Air and Space Bldg. which is truly an impressive place. Doris and Imogene went to other bldgs. to see "First Ladies Gowns," the Hope Diamond, etc. Jack and Lynn toured other bldgs. including the original Smithsonian bldg. called Castle on the Mall. It was another great day even though the weather detracted quite a lot in going from building to building. When we got back to Cordy, the two dozen parked cars had grown to several thousand. Washington is a fabulous place that everyone should visit. However, two or three days is not enough, tow or three weeks would be more like it.

Adventures with Cordy, October 1, 1976

[Below is days 25 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

October 1, (Friday)

Started a nine hour bus tour through the Washington area at 8:00 A.M. The high points of the tour were/:

1. The Capitol, where we were present for the opening of Congress, covering the last session for 1976. Doris hoped Carl Albert would not be there (because he beat Duda at a high school debate in 1928) but there he was, all five feet three inches of him. The Capitol Building is most impressive and delivers a thrill when you walk in, through, and out. We liked it!

2. The White House was equally impressive and after the tour Jack allowed as how he could see why President Ford did not want to move.

3. Lincoln Memorial is absolutely awe inspiring and has to be classed as one of the outstanding monuments of the World.

4. Washington Monument -- Terrific!

5. Jefferson Memorial -- Beautiful Setting!

6. Kennedy Art Center, A beautiful area with many wonderful exhibits, theaters, etc. Unfortunately, we arrived too late for a full tour and we were grouped with many others which prevented the leisurely showing that the place deserves. Among many other things the building housed one of the finest "Boehm" showings in the world. Time prevented the careful inspection that we would have liked. Doris drooled, and drooled and DROOLED! A minimum of two days and evenings could be spent here.

7. Arlington Cemetery, We considered this a wonderful tribute to all of those that gave their lives for the protection of our coutnry, even though only a small percentage are buried here. The "Changing of the Guards" at the Graves of the Unknown Soldiers is very impressive. There is a beautiful, reverent and fine spirit here that will not be found any other place.

Mount Vernon, By the time we journeyed down the beautiful Potomac and arrived heere we were all tired and thirsty so we visited a fine bar. The bartender put a triple shot of lemon juice in Jack's Vodka Sour (no Vodka) and he had a few dozen comments to make on this. Imogene got 7'up with her V.O. and she uttered a few words. Doris got a free 19-cent glass with a Bloody Mary so she just grinned. Lynn's $2.00 Beer was cold so he had no complaints. Anyway the little pot-bellied, pink-faced bartender was cute. Then to Mount Vernon, lovely setting and very interesting place. We realized as we went through that, again, we were short-timed. A full day could be spent here.

Then back down the Potomac on the highway (we could have returned by boat but elected not to because of cloudy weather, but on a clear day it is recommended) to the rendezvous with other buses for return trip to Motel. Our bus driver had a captive audience (5 people) so he continuously told jokes and he was really kind of cute. Nice looking young fellow, thinking "Look out Vegas, Here I Come." He may make it. Anyone that can herd a big bus through rush-hour Washington traffic and tell jokes at the same time has something going.

All in all it was a good trip and a great day.

The Duda named in the top of the entry is the brother of Lynn and Doris. Besides out debating Duda, Carl Albert was also Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He also has a bunch of stuff named after him.

Adventures with Cordy, September 30, 1976

[Below is days 24 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 30, (Thursday)

Then headed for Washington D.C. through Conn., Pa., and Maryland with rain all the way. Finally arrived at the South Gate Motel after a circle around Washington.

Not much of an update for 3 states' worth of travel. Must have been a lot of driving and a lot of rain.

Adventures with Cordy, September 29, 1976

[Doris, Lynn and Jack]

[Below is days 23 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 29, (Wednesday)

Drove to Concord, Mass. where Doris had some friends she wanted to visit, Louisa May Alcott, Longfellow, Emerson, and others, but none of them were at home, all out to the cemetery. We went to Sleepy Hollow and Doris said "Hello" and when she left she said "Bye." Saw the famous bridge where the Minutemenn fired the shot "Heard around the World."

We continued through beautiful Mass. country and entered Rhode Island at Woonsocket and on to Conn. where we visited the small town of Mystic which is a gorgeous little area crammed with nice shops and a pretty Seaport. Spent the night in Danbury, Conn.

Adventures with Cordy, September 28, 1976

[Below is days 22 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 28, (Tuesday)

On to Thomaston, Maine for a visit through a State Prison retail store. They had many nice articles for sale made by prisoners. It was interesting. Lunch at Bath, Maine in a nice place. The stupid hostess was not too nice but the food was good. Spent the night at Bedford, Maine.

Hey, I've been to that store! It's not one of those things you make a point to visit in Maine. Rather, you just notice the sign as you're driving down the road and decide the prison store is a place you need to see. I bet that was also the case on this trip in 1976. It's an interesting place and they make nice stuff.

Adventures with Cordy, September 27, 1976

[Lynn, complete with lobster bib, Rockland, Maine, Septemer 27, 1976]

[Below is days 21 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 27, (Monday)

Drove through Bangor, Maine on the way to Bar Harbour which is a beautiful place, then along the coast and back inland through the Cadillac Mountains and then back to the coast to Belfast and Camden. Saw many beautiful homes and a bunch of drunks and playing-around wives in Camden, which is Payton Place. On to Rockland to spend the night and eat lobster. Doris, Lynn, and Imogene each ate 3. Jack didn't like lobster so he had a hamburger. A map of Sable Island, Nova Scotia (hanging on the wall) was discussed and explained by Lynn who happens to be the only man [in the group] that ever owned the oil and gas rights in his own name. Of course, Mobil owned him, so that took care of that. We all liked the Rocky Coast of Maine and shall certainly rememeber it a long time. Smelly Lobster Canning Factories and all.

Lynn's worked for Mobil Oil, hence the reference to being owned by them.

Adventures with Cordy, September 26, 1976

[Below is days 20 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 26, (Sunday)

Jack got up at 2:00 A.M. because he looked at the watch upside down or something. We all reviewed the basic element of time reading to him, "Big hand minutes, Little hand hours." He said, "Phooey."

Stopped at Maple Museum at St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Bought maple syrup, maple candy, etc. and on to a big maple syrup breakfast a few miles down the road. Next stop was a country antique show where Doris stole some cut glass for $140.00. While it was being packed, Lynn heard on of the ladies calling Sears, asking them to rush more cut glass, they were out, Western Auto had bought everything. Then to Skowhegan, Maine.

For the uninitiated: Jack and Doris owned a Western Auto at the time of this excursion, hence Lynn's joke about Sears vs. Western Auto.

Adventures with Cordy, September 25, 1976

[Below is days 19 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 25, (Saturday)

The Blue Spruce was cold, no heat or hot water in the early morning -- Jack went to the office at 6:30 to complain and the proprietor hung a sign on the door that said "office open at 8:00 A.M." Having been in business several years, and observing opening and closing hours he accepted this in a fine manner. To the Middleburg Inn for breakfast and to warm up, then mailed Harry's Happy Birthday check at a pretty little post office. Back to the Blue Spruce to load the car to leave, Jack happened to see the owner outside and went over to say "Good-by." We could not hear what was said but there was lots of arm waving and we think several remarks were said regarding each others ancestry. The discussion was a draw... [copy of the entry is cut off here, but the last words of the paragraph are "heart attack."]

On to Plymouth to the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. This was a peaceful place and presented quite a contrast with other historical points we were to visit later, which were also connected with former presidents.

Then to one of the first and largest Granite Quarries in the country, and into Barre where we changed Cordy's right front shoe, it hurt! Had ice cream cones and buttermilk for dinner, but no water, waitress said it was poisoned.

I love this entry, because the Blue Spruce showdown is classic Jack. Lynn's description of the scene is really funny (at least to those who personally knew this group).

If Jack were still alive and you brought up this story today, he would definitely remember it. You would get an earful for the next 90 minutes about how NOT to run a business. 30+ years later, he'd still be mad. That's my grandpa.

Adventures with Cordy, September 24, 1976

[Jack socializing on the ferry. New York, 1976]

[Below is days 18 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 24, (Friday)

North through the Adirondack Mountains through beautiful country. It was a nice peaceful drive with the co-pilot napping and the passengers talking as usual, until we crossed a bridge to see a waterfall cascading and the pilot screaming, "We have to see this!" The co-pilot sighed "oh shoot". It developed all we had to do was climb a trail for a mile then ride a boat out -SIMPLE! Doris led the foursome in her usual display of bravery, daring and spirit of adventure. It was, of course, a little disconcerting when the leader covered her head and eyes most of the time, but she said it was only to show that she could walk blindfold through a gorge of only a drop-off of 300 feet.

We finally got on that damn boat. The leader was drenched bouncing through that stupid canyon. Finally we lurched off this thing and boarded a bus that lurched us back to the card shop.

Cordy then took us to another boat, crossing Lake Champlain to Vermont. It was a nice and pretty trip. Jack stayed in the car throughout the one hour trip as he did not want to meet or visit with anyone. Lynn gets a little put out with him sometimes because he is so bashful.

After leaving the Ferry the object was to find a nice Motel. Lynn kept count and we passed 89 beautiful places to stay with all kinds of restaurants connected, but it developed we were going to a place called Middleburg Inn, 200 miles down the road. We finally got there and Cordy's gas tank was empty and Lynn's bladder was having problems. The Inn was not modern so we continued to the wonderful Blue Spruce Motel. Lynn's bladder was having more problems and he very discourteously grabbed the room key out of the proprietor's hand. The proprietor screamed at him but Lynn felt he should check the rooms before renting. Ha.

I think Doris was the driver this day, since she was also referred to as the leader. How funny that she made this spontaneous detour. Now I know where my dad gets it (well, it's true!).

The photo above is the best view we have of Cordy. Obviously, Jack isn't as bashful as Lynn indicates. He's chatting with some other passengers.

Adventures with Cordy, September 23, 1976

[Doris at the Baseball Hall of Fame,

Cooperstown, NY, September 23, 1976]

[Below is days 17 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 23, (Thursday)

Cordy then headed us North as he wanted to park in front of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N. Y. while the foursome celebrated that past history of Baseball. Cooperstown is the home of Abner Doubleday who started baseball and also fired the first shot of the Civil War at Fort Sumpter. Doris accidentally, so she said, stumbled into Abner's statue and knocked it off its pedastal. After we got out of jail Lynn tried to exlpain to her that the Civil War was over and we lost. She said, "It may be over but we haven't lost, yet." So be it!

There are those "we" references to the South again. Lynn and Doris were born in Oklahoma.

Any family members know if this statue story is true? Anyone else and I'd think it was a joke, but Doris would be the most likely of that group to bump into a statue.