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We drove up to Great Falls from Houston in the summer of 1955, since Dad had been transferred to Malmstrom Air Force Base there. I'm sure these pictures were taken on that trip because most of them were in a box of slides labelled "Trip North" in Dad's handwriting. Many of the slides themselves were also labelled, in Mom's handwriting, so that we know where along the trip they occurred, although some come with their own imbedded identifying captions, like these taken of me at Independence Pass in Colorado:
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I believe the following three photos of Joan, Mom, and myself, were also taken at this scenic stop. For one thing, I'm wearing the same shorts as in the shots above. I don't know if they were taken before or after my frightening run around the meadow, which resulted in rather acute shortness of breath—none of us realized the effects of 12,000 feet of elevation on sea-level-accustomed lungs! Unfortunately the closer-up picture on the right was somewhat blurred. It was also split between two slides; I was able to merge the two files, but only by making it a black and white image; however, I thought it still worth including.
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In some other photos, like these taken by the side of the road with the Grand Tetons as a backdrop, the scenery is an unmistakeable place identifier:
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This photos were probably also taken in the Tetons, although the only note written on the first slide was: "Scout." I guess referring to my pose.... The one of Joan, who seems to be in some distress, was unlabeled.
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Either Mom or Dad must have really been taken with this scene, and my exploration of the lakeshore, since it seems these photos were taken there, too:
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After the Tetons, we made some stops in Yellowstone. Here are three photos, which seem to be at the same rest stop, where I suspect Joan and I got our hands on snow for the first time! Note Mom's stylish oxfords....
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Going by my clothing (same as in the photos above), I suspect these were also taken in Yellowstone:
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We also stopped at Old Faithful (so labelled on the top photo) and Yellowstone's Great Falls, judging by the clothing, on the same day as the snow pictures above:
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One more Yellowstone landmark served as a kid-pic backdrop, this time Mammoth Hot Springs:
This wasn't my first trip to Yellowstone, although it's the first one I remember anything about. Here are a few photos of a much younger me, on a trip we must have taken with Momoo and Popoo. The shot with me and Popoo was dated 1950.
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Nor was it my last. My family visited the park in 1988, which I always find easy to remember because it was the year of the major forest fires. The tiny specks to the left of the pines in the center of the picture at Lake Yellowstone are me and the kids; the plumes of smoke on the horizon aren't geysers gone wild, but evidence of the fires. But of course there was much of the park untouched by the fires, as you can see from the other two photos, so we had a really great visit.
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The last numbered slide in the "Trip North" box was this, which is one of my favorites in the whole collection. It looks like it might have been taken in front of a motel—perhaps when we first arrived in Great Falls? The piece of trash in the foreground looks like an empty cigar package!
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