We spent a few days with Uncle Edwin in Glendale, resting up and knowing it was probably our last visit with him as he was too sick with asthma to come back east and it would be many years before we would return to Arizona.

Finally the day came for us to leave. We had breakfast with Uncle Edwin. We packed up the car, taped the refridgerator shut in the trailer and filled our water tank for possible vapor lock. We hugged Uncle Edwin goodbye with tears in our eyes. We loaded the children and Inky in the station wagon. Roland backed up to get in the right position to head out to the street.

CRUNCH!  We had backed into the water pipe. Water sprayed across the back of the trailer. Roland climbed out to see the damage. The pipe has just been knocked loose.  Uncle Edwin waved his arms and said, “Keep going. I’ll fix it. No problem”

We did. We left him standing on the desert, water spraying up behind him, waving until we were out of sight.

I remember little of the trip east. It took many days. The weather was brutally hot. The heat cut into the tires and caused flat tires each day. Here’s a photo of Roland down beside the wheels, as he was frequently all the way back home. Lesley, being aware of the sound of each tire going flat, realized that if she stood behind Roland as he was driving and made a hissing sound he would slam on the brakes thinking it was another flat tire. This didn’t make him laugh as much as she thought it would.

Finally we reached Quincy and Braintree, Massachusetts. The grandparents were beyond happy to see their granddaughters and us.

More photos to come.