Road Trip, vol. 1

Seventy-five years ago, Uncle Alvin and his three best friends decided to take a trip from their homes in Belle Plaine, Minnesota to California. Alvin kept a diary of the trip, into which he poured his daily observations. Climb into Milton's 1931 Chevy 2-door with Alvin, Milton, Sydney and Earl, and let's make our way to the Golden State. (Note: with the exception of two photos I'll post in a later installment, the pictures I'm including are for interest only, and were not taken on Alvin's journey. They are, however, photos of the places Alvin and his friends visited.)

January 8-9, 1933 Left from Milton's at 10 p.m. The first night we drove over fairly level country and did not see much scenery. We had an awful time getting to Des Moines, but finally got there and lost Milton's gloves. Got into Missouri yet that morning at 8:15. Had breakfast just over the line near Rineville. We then drove on, entering the Ozark Hills that morning. We drove through some pretty scenery though the hills were not high. That afternoon we arrived at the Bagnal dam, going through a deep cut in a hill just before we got there. We walked part way across, taking a time snap from the dam. The lake was apparently flooded into a series of ravines, quite dry. The lake winds over a considerable section of country, and we saw it a number of times after we left the dam. The dam itself is a concrete structure about half a mile long. That night we drove to Buffalo, arriving there at 8:00 and camped there. It was the first night we set up our tent.