I guess there was a tradition in our family that dad would take one kid on a trip with him. In the early days, Dad was on Safeway business in so-cal and he would have one of the kids sent down to spend a couple of days. I know that Mike and Ann Marie both went to the bull fights in Mexico. Went to Disneyland, or stuff like that. I think John did similar. I guess by the time that I came of age, the so-cal trips either became old or something cuz that plan got shelved. Instead, dad said that we would do some weekend trips together. Just get in the car and go. No plans. no map. just a couple of guys on the open road, looking for a nice hotel with a good swimming pool. Some of those trips were the best times. One was the worst.
<p>Sonora – a great time. if dad knew where he was going he didn’t let on. We cruised the freeway, then country roads heading towards Sonora. Dad was always a proponent of enjoying nature (look at all the greens!). There was one stretch of endless winding country rode that rounded a bend and offered a million dollar view of the sierras. I remember how nice it was for both of us. We pulled into a hotel in downtown Sonora that looked good. I think what we liked was that it had a second floor outdoor pool. Got a room and went for a swim. Dinner of burger and shake in the hotel coffee shop. I remember that dad struck up a conversation with a couple that was eating dinner. I remember thinking that was cool. I think we walked around town a bit then it was off to bed.
Santa Rosa- a great trip. We stayed at the flamingo hotel. Great pool and great room. they had both high and low diving boards and a real deep end. I think we were there during the week and think we stayed at least a couple of days. We got room service and ordered lunch by the pool. There was a combination lifeguard cocktail waitress that sort of supervised the pool area. She was older, smoked and wore Lavern and Shirley style cats eye eyeglasses. On our last morning we went out for a swim. there was commotion around the pool area. We come to find out the the old cocktail waitress had gotten drunk the night before, slipped and fell into the pool and drown. Dead. There were people swimming in the pool so we set up camp and did the same. On my way up the high dive for my first dive of the day, I noticed something gleaming in the sunlight from the bottom of the pool. Dove in and retrieved the same pair of eyeglasses that the cocktail waitress ws wearing the day before. I came up and swam to the side of the pool and handed them to the people standing around.
Sacramento- the wood-lake inn was nice. big complex with a nice pool and man-made lake in the middle. What I remember most about this trip was that then SF Mayor George Mosconi was there all weekend as well. I think it was a political stay because this campaign manage type was with him 24×7 and had an Brooklyn accent and would always be calling him GOYGE!! GOYGE!!. It was always about the pools where we stayed and this was another nice big one. The man made lake had fishing (we tried with no luck) and boat rental. Me and dad rented a paddle boat and he fell in the lake trying to get out of the boat. It may have been funny but I don’t remember him laughing. I still have the picture of him in my mind when he surfaced.
Not sure where the clear lake trip fit into our plans but it must’ve been after the fun trips to Sonora, Santa rosa and Sacramento. if dad was drinking on either of those other trips, I don’t remember it or he hid it well. But its all I remember about the clear lake trip. I know we had a small hotel room up the hill, near the pee-wee golf course at the Konocti Harbor Inn. It may have been dinner the first night. We were seated in the fancy dining room at a table for two, against the wall. There were many many tables in the place but it was mostly empty. We sat down and ordered. For some reason, I order trout. I think I’ve only had fish sticks up until this point but for some reason trout sounded good. somewhere after ordering and when the meal came, dad said he had to go to the bathroom or something. he left. I waited. And waited. and waited. I’m not sure how long I waited but it felt like an hour time. The food came. The trout didn’t look too good all of a sudden. wasn’t prepared for the whole fish with eyes looking at me. People started to come in to eat and looked at me siting there all alone. I kept watching the door, hoping that dad would come in from the direction away from the bar. No such luck. When dad came back he was noticeably drunk. His old drunken self. I was so pissed that I started to cry. Here i was 3 hours from home. Alone with dad, who was drunk as a skunk. We either finished dinner in a hurry of just left right then. We went back to the room where I lay on my bed and cried and cried and cried. I told him that I wanted to go home. NOW!!!. It was late and he was drunk that that wasn’t an option. He tried to console me but I would have none of it. NONE!!! I was never so sad and disappointed in my father than I was that night.
