Jennifer’s First Trip 1970

Jennifer was born in late April, and we had not had a family trip in more than a year. We decided to take a short vacation to get out of the house. On our first day, we went to Galveston to let Tammy play on the beach and in the water. Since Labor Day had passed, the beach was fairly empty. Tammy had fun playing in the sand and in the water. It was early September, so it was still hot weather, and the water was still very warm. Eva was never a swimmer, and the water was not something she enjoyed, so she kept Jennifer on the beach and watched us play.

We spent one night there and decided to make the drive along the coast and go to the beaches in Freeport, Rockport, Aransas Pass, and Corpus Christi. If we made it that far, we would decide where to go next. I had never been down the coast road before, so it was interesting because I only had an old Texas map to help me find my way. We got a motel room in the Surfside Beach area. Our motel room was by the pool, so I thought we could go in the pool before going out to eat dinner. By the time we had gotten to the pool, we were covered with mosquitoes. They were everywhere, and time in the pool was short. We ran to get back in the room. That night, we treated mosquito bites.

The next morning, we woke to noise and learned most guests were men leaving for offshore fishing charters. We opted to proceed directly to Rockport rather than allocating time to visit Surfside. We got a room in Rockport and enjoyed time at the beach and in the water there. They had a park area with swings and other playground equipment, and everything was clean and fun. We walked along the docks looking at the fishing boats for a while, then we drove over to Port Aransas and down Mustang Island for a few miles before going back to Rockport.

Next, we went to Corpus Christi, and while we were there, Eva was telling us about the trips she had when she was growing up. They were to either visit relatives or go to Mexico. I had only been to Mexico one time at Del Rio when we went to the Big Ben National Park back in the 1950s. We decided to drive to Laredo to go into Mexico. We got a motel room when we got to Laredo and then found a place to eat dinner. That night, I was reading travel information about driving in Mexico and about typical car insurance not covering certain things in Mexico. We had picked up information about marketplaces within walking distance from the border, so we decided to park near the border crossing and walk over.

As we browsed different shops, Eva shared stories about her dad haggling over prices for items he often called junk—and sometimes leaving without buying even when the seller agreed to his price. That was her Dad just having fun. By late morning, it got very hot walking by all of the shops, so we decided to head back to our car. We had a short wait time getting through customs, and we were all hot and tired when we started our walk back across into the US. Eva was carrying Jennifer and the baby bag; I was carrying Tammy and the items we had bought when Jennifer’s pacifier fell out of her mouth onto the ground.

Jennifer was hungry, we were hot and tired, and we knew we were not going to pick up that pacifier. It did not take much of Jennifer screaming before Tammy began her version. When we made it back to our car, Jennifer got her bottle, and Tammy got something to eat, and they both went to sleep. When we got back to our room, we decided to take the quickest route back home. That trip was 55 years ago, and I have not been to Mexico since then. In 1977, I was invited to attend the Toyota New Car Show in Mexico City, but since neither Eva nor I wanted to go, we decided not to attend.

Starting in 1972, Eva and I made it a priority to take at least one family trip each year. We made a point to get Tammy and Jennifer involved with selecting the places to visit and to give them a chance to see much of the country in the process. I still treasure those great memories we made.