1954 Bass Lake Vacation Postcards - Post 531 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

In the summer of 1954, our Seaver family of four (father Fred, mother Betty, brother Stan (age 7) and Randy (age 10)) took our first long driving vacation - up to Bass Lake, then over to San Jose, down Highway 1 to Santa Barbara and home in about two weeks.  We had a brand new blue Mercury car without air conditioning.  My father drove the entire way since my mother never learned how to drive.  I remember road games in the back seats - counting cars, finding license plates, seeing horses and cows in the fields.  We went through downtown Los Angeles (no freeways yet) and then up Highway 99 to Fresno and Highway 41 to Bass Lake.

My mother sent at least two postcards to her parents (Lyle and Emily (Auble) Carringer in San Diego.  I recently found the postcards in a bag plastic bag in the piles in back of my desk chair.  Here is one of them, postmarked 15 July 1954 from Wishon:

For city kids who had never been to woods, mountains or lakes, but had been to the beach and the swimming pool, this was a wonderful vacation.  We learned how to really swim, we rowed boats, hiked in the woods, we played ball, and we visited the local store and found different baseball cards.  I spent all of my 25 cent allowance on baseball cards.

My mother wrote on the back of the postcard:

"Hi. This is just a wonderful place.  We have a 3 bedroom house, everything furnished, with the lake and beach just down the hill a few yards.  The kids have been in the water a lot for it's been warm.  We're going to be here another day or two , then up to Yosemite & via Merced to the coast.  Very hot comping up - it showered briefly last night.  We're just back from a hike to the Falls.  Ready for bed - almost 9 & still light.
Love from all - Betty."

There are lots of good memories from this vacation - it wasn't the last one we drove up and down California.

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