pt 4
so,after a memorable visit in lansing i found myself heading north on old 27.this was the first time i had actually driven the route myself. the further north i went the more i recognized the lanmarks.drove thru mt. pleasant,i knew i was getting close.on the road between m.p. and clare i remember some of the oil rigs.just on the outskirts(i thin) of clare i could see cousin algers place,or at least where it should have been.going thru clare it seemed like nothing had changed...and why should it have? it had been about 50 months since i had last been there,not enough time for a whole lotta change.not like it would be now,40 years on.based on the pics i have seen,the hotel may be the only landmark i would recall,well that and mill end,if it were still there.the bowling alley has changed as i understand it...just like everything has.
driving out of town i noticed the city limits seem to be a lot farther north of clare then they were when i left.i later found out the town wisemen had extended the city limits and added "no u-turn" signs so that the local teenagers would have farther to travel when they would "bomb town" on friday and saturday nites.this little teen age ritual had been going on for years but apparently the townfolk didn't really like seeing cars full of teenagers on a seeming endless loop,north to south,then south to north.over and over and over.i mean really now,it seems pointless in retrospect.but what the fuck else were we supposed to do? except gather up our change and allowances to buy gas and cram into a muscle car and cruise town all evening...
when i say muscle cars that exactly what i mean...one guy had a roadrunner another a "super bee",which was basically a suped up roadrunner.i often wondered how these guys afforded these vehicles...musta been the parents,and new these a cars were about 3 grand each.fortunately gas was about .30 a gallon in '68-'69.
anyway,one of the landmarks that always got me excited was a sign stating "do not pass" which we as kids had simply called the donutpass.that meant we were close...real close to the destination.grammas house !
and here i was,on my first solo trip,seeing that sign up ahead.good times were soon to follow...
4 comments:
Now you have to pass by the donuts (cops & donuts) to get to donutpass. Yes, the bowling alley looks like they are trying to make it more exciting, I saw a live entertainment sign out there, a band.As well as an inflatable bowling pin outside!!! And the Amish have a "make your own bowling ball workshop coming up...ok not really on that last part. Thanks for the write up. Thank's for the mammories...oh wait that was another e-mail you sent! I enjoy reading this stuff. I read some quote that said something like,"When the past is calling - be sure to pick up the phone, you may learn something."
"The more things change the more they stay the same" has turned into "the more we are to blame." Maybe they'll have those mammaries at the bowling alley. Amish mammaries? Oh God.....
If you can recall more (or just make it up) this would be a great book and movie. Bill and Steve's Big Adventure. Oh shot they did a few movies like that. Bill and Ted, Pee Wee Herman, and probably Yogi Bear.
one note: We went back and fooled around the construction vehicles at Grandma's, back off of Beaverton Road to the west, as that year they were building the highway 10 access curve behind Grandma's about 1/2 mile. that was a very special hour we all spent together to me, just the guys, like in the old days when we were little, just horsing around together. I also vaguely recall we tried to find that black box we thought we buried in the garden around 1967, but couldn't remember where.
Finally, it certainly was not the same at Grandma's after we grew up, and the Hoovers had moved to California. But somehow, Grandma still calls us all home to the place we loved and called our second home. If I make it to heaven, I hope Heaven is at Grandma's house, and not some castle in the sky. I'd rather smell the Queen Ann's lace and cow manure, go fishin' in the Sanford Creek, and build TV studios in the basement, and go golfing, than sit around talking to strange angels who have so much euphoria that they must grow their own weed in back of the castle.
big d,i hear the past calling...but not really sure i want to pick up.some things are better left alone,in the past...as i will explain in the next few posts.
tom,dont think i can recall enough details...unless i make a bunch of shit up.wish i could have written this down 20 years ago,but...
there are so many details i have forgotten.digging for the box we had buried 5 or 6 years earlier,stuff like that i had no recall of till you mentioned it.there are some things i would dearly like to remember.andi can't...sux getting old
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