How the world has changed since I was a little boy-By
Dallas Max Schneider
(written approx. 1988)
Story Key: I=Dallas
Max Schneider, Dad = Orval Dallas Schneider, Mother =Rosabelle Larsen Schneider,
Grandparents Larsen=Neils and Matilda Larsen
Cars were in, but not with the numbers or the
dependability that they have now. I can
remember with great vividness my Dad preparing the car to go to Hyrum Utah to
visit my Grandparents, Aunt, Uncles Cousins and Friends. It was an awesome task; Extra tires, extra gas and water for the radiator. Let me tell you about this trip to Utah in
1933.
My Dad owned a 1928 Hudson which in this own words
would "Pass anything but a gas station". After Loading the car with all of our
personal items, then came all the other things that I mentioned above. Gas in 5 gallon cans were placed and secured
on the running boards, at least 3 extra tires tied to the trunk and the extra
water stored in several locations around the inside of the car. It was jammed and packed . The passenger list included my Mother,
Father, older Sister LaRae and newly born brother Dee., my mother's 2 younger
brothers Lamont Larsen and Lorin Larsen.
Because of the summer heat we would always leave
about 9pm in the evening and drive all night across the desert.
We start, and spirits are high. The car with my Father at the wheel speed
across the desert towards Las Vegas, a sleepily little desert town. Soon all are asleep but me and my Dad. Even at that early age (I was 5 years old) I
felt that it was my duty to stay awake with my Dad and help him drive. He would set me on his lap and let me hold
the wheel and sleep would flee from my eyes with this wild excitement in my
life. My Dad teaching me to drive! Wow!
who could ask for anything else in life.
I guess I was not as stoic as a I thought for the
next thing I remember is burning night air and the car had stopped. Outside I could hear the voices of my Father
and Uncles. They were fussing with
something under the hood of the Hudson.
My young mind did not comprehend what they were
doing and all I knew was that it was dark, hot and we were not moving. Others began to wake. My one year old brother began to cry and my
sister began to sya in a sleepy whiney voice "When are we going?"
Dad and Uncles finish their work and we are off,
hurtling down the road in the dark of night fifty miles per hour. Everyone settle back into the routine of Dad
driving and everyone else sleeping.
Thirty minutes later the car stops again. Everybody awake, Dad and
nclces repair the car, my brother crying and my sister and I impatient to be
moving. This sense is repeated over and
over.
What has happened is that there is something in the
gas line and it clogs the line from the gas tank to the carburetor. My Dad and Uncles become so frustrated that
unprintable words are spoken and finally my Dad has to sit on the fender of the
car and slowly pour gas into the carburetor and one of my Uncles has to drive
the car slowly down the road.
We would creep this way till we found a gas station
opened with a mechanic that could fix the car.
The car would be fixed, an exorbitant fee charged, and off we would
go. Twenty miles down the road the car
would do the same thing. We limped into
a least 3 gas stations, all with the same results. Fix the car, charge a horrible fee, drive 20
miles out of the range of the gas station, and the car would stop and my Dad
and Uncles would have to repeat the same procedure. We finally arrived at Mesquite, Nevada as the
blazing sun leaps over the western sky.
We ate one of the worst breakfasts known in all the halls of
resturantdom. The car repaired- we
zoomed through the heat of the day for about 50 miles and CLUNK! The car stopped again. Dad back out on the running board all the way
to Cedar City. The mechanic there knew
just what to do and 15 hours later we were safe, sung and well fed and put to
bed at Grandpa Larsen's House.
It took us 32 hours to drive 900 miles. The route has changed. It is now only about 800 miles and can be
driven in 16 hours.
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