NOTE: There is a blank section in our journal here. So I’ll fill in what I remember.

We packed up the trailer and the car, said goodbye to Uncle Edwin, and took off for California. As I recall it was a very long one day drive so maybe we stayed somewhere for one night. I don’t remember. But finally we arrived at Florence’s house and met her new cowboy husband. He looked exactly like a cowboy should look, tall, skinny, sun darkened face and a big smile for us.

Nancy (Helen’s daughter) Florence, Cowboy Harry (holding Lesley), and Roland (holding Sandy)

Florence and Harry had their own small ranch with a few horses. Harry insisted that Roland and I try out riding their horses. We did our best. Roland ready to gallop off.Jane not far behind.

We had a great visit with Florence and Harry, whom we liked very much. We parked our trailer at their ranch. From there we took side trips around southern California, Escondido, San Diego, Ramona, and more.

Roland found a job building another small house. He was in charge of a group of Mexicans. The first day they were pouring the cement foundation. When he came home that night he said, “All I knew how to say in Spanish was agua and mas agua.” (Water and more water). He thought the job would last about one month.

Lesley loved the ranch but became quite worried when Harry showed her a huge hypodermic needle he was using to give a horse a shot. She was afraid it was for her, but was very sympathetic when she realized it was for the horse.

The days in Glendale passed quickly. Uncle Max arrived with his new wife Rosemond and their adopted son, Steve, who was about 10 years old. While they were visiting we celebrated Lesley’s 4th birthday with birthday cake and ice cream and games. She dressed up in her new cowboy hat and toy pistols with holsters.

She also received a new bicycle

Steve and Lesley enjoyed flying a kite over the desert. However, once it was way out in space no one wanted the job of reeling it in, too much string to rewind.

After about a week Uncle Max and his family drove on to California to visit friends.

Roland was finishing up the jobs he had committed to and we also started to think about moving on.

But first there’s a little background information you need to know:

Several years before we left New England Roland’s mother’s sister, Helen, and her husband, Ken, and two daughters, Nancy and Priscilla, moved to Escondido, California. Her other sister, Florence, middle aged and unmarried, went out to California to visit Helen. She was on vacation and due to come home when Roland’s mother received a telegram saying, “Getting married. Staying in California.” It turned out that Roland’s spinster (and very formal) aunt had met and married a cowboy while visiting Helen. The family was shocked.

We were about to leave for California to meet the new cowboy uncle and visit Helen and her family.

For a month and a half we lived on the desert, parked beside Uncle Edwin’s little house and kitchen trailer. The wind blew all the time. Every once in awhile a “duster” came along. That’s what the native’s called it but I thought it was a mini-tornado. If I had clothes drying on the clothesline the wind would scrunch them all up in one spot on the line. If Roland was out building a house he had to jump in the car for shelter and the wind would send his pile of lumber flying in the air, landing in a heap. One had to fight the wind to do any outside work.

One day we found a little Jack rabbit running on the desert. Roland placed him in my shoe to take a picture. He peed in my shoe. Then we set him free.

Baby jack rabbit

When April 11th arrived we celebrated Sandy’s very first birthday. Fascinated by the birthday cake she reached out to touch the lit candles. The ice cream and cake were a big hit. In the late afternoon, when it was cooler, Lesley took her for a ride in her wagon. Then she played outside in her playpen. 

We all enjoyed the desert. Roland found steady work building sheds and small houses. We liked being near Native Americans, watching them and learning their ways. The man always walked in front followed by his wife who carried the money to pay for things. The children were well behaved.

The landscape was dry and flat (and windy) but open, so different from all the trees in New England. The sunrises and sunsets were lovely. The sky was BIG.