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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Randy Flew to Vancouver, B.C. in 1956 -- Post 536 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

Recently, I discovered an envelope of small photographs saved when my mother died in 2002 - it was hiding in plain sight in the Genea-Cave! 

In August 1956, my best friend and neighbor, Butch, asked me if I wanted to fly to Bellingham, Washington and see Vancouver, British Columbia with his parents on their vacation.  I asked my parents, and they said yes, thinking it would be a new experience for their studious eldest son.  And it was!  This was my first airplane ride.

Butch's parents were both veteran small plane pilots - his mother was a Powder Puff Derby participant every year which was a women's air race across the country.  

We left San Diego, and stayed the first night in Sacramento, then on to Medford, Oregon (where we almost lost the plane in a thunderstorm while it was tied down).  And the final destination was Bellingham, Washington.  From there, they rented a car and we went across to Vancouver in Canada.  They had friends or relatives there.  We visited Capilano River Park, and went across the suspension bridge.  I don't recall much else!

I know we took this photograph of me with several native American statues (?) in Vancouver (but I'm not sure they were at Capilano) or in Bellingham, I just don't know for sure.  


I looked for photos on the Capilano River Park website and Google Images and saw only totem poles, not lifelike statues like the above.  Same for Bellingham park images.  Maybe a reader will be able to help me identify the setting.

After the sightseeing and the visit with their friends or relatives, we headed back to San Diego, stopping in Medford again (no thunderstorm this time!) and San Francisco (we landed just ahead of the Eisenhower presidential airplane which came to San Francisco for the 1956 Republican National Convention.  We saw him pass by in a motorcade.

I loved the trip, whetting my interest in flying and geography.  The plane was not pressurized - it was a 4-seat Cessna I think - and so we flew at 10,000 feet altitude and could see the scenery go by relatively slowly.  

Apparently, my mother worried about her 12-year old son the entire time we were gone, but I'm sure my father was happy to have fewer distractions while I was gone.  

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1 comment:

  1. Hi Randy,
    I live near Vancouver, B.C. and visited the Capilano Canyon park a few years ago but don't recall seeing any of these carvings. You got me curious, though. So, I did some exploring on Google Images and sure enough, I found a postcard from the 50's with an image of a carved First Nations man similar to the one you are posing with. It may even be one of the same carvings in your photo.
    I've tried to copy and send it to you but no success. This is the best I can do: https://picclick.com/Capilano-Suspension-Bridge-Vancouver-BCPostcard-Canada-122116166973.html

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