Part 2 of Winnebago Escape: Three Merry Widows Follow the Sun (the story of my mother, aunt and Grandmother in 1974 as published in Driving Magazine)
They took just enough money to last them a month, the balance being held in trust by one of the daughters to be mailed in given amounts monthly. By doing it this way, they would be unable to overspend. If they had no more money to buy gasoline for the Winnebago, then that’s where they’d stay until the next month’s cheque arrived in the mail. Naturally hey kept in close touch with the daughter informing her of their whereabouts at all times. In truth, a perfectly logical plan of action.
They took just enough money to last them a month, the balance being held in trust by one of the daughters to be mailed in given amounts monthly. By doing it this way, they would be unable to overspend. If they had no more money to buy gasoline for the Winnebago, then that’s where they’d stay until the next month’s cheque arrived in the mail. Naturally hey kept in close touch with the daughter informing her of their whereabouts at all times. In truth, a perfectly logical plan of action.
Last summer was the
height of the fuel crisis in the United States and here were these unsuspecting
dears trundling across the border in a 20 foot Winnebago with a 413 cubic inch
engine that sucks gas at the rate of l0 miles to the gallon of gas if you’re
lucky. So what happened? Nothing. Only once were they restricted to a three
dollar order which is ridiculous in a vehicle such as the Winnbago – it merely
gets out of the gas station so you don’t block traffic. Throughout their trip which lasted six
months, three of which were spent in sunny California, the three widows never
ran into a gasoline problem.
Joan McGinnis, the youngster of the group who thinks hauling
a Winnebago down the freeway is fun commented, “When I do the driving I expect
someone else to navigate for me. I like
to see some of the scenery and if you drive more than 55 mph you don’t get a
chance to see anything.” As luck whould
have it, that was the speed limit instituted during the crisis, so it
wasn’t as if they were holding up
traffic. Joan didn’t drive when it was
windy, or when it rained, or on the weekends or when it go dark. In other words they drove for a few hours at
a leisurely pace Monday through Thursday leaving the highways to the impatient ones during the weekends.
It would appear that
someone up there watched over them for they had no mechanical problems, no flat
tires, no emergencies or problems whatsoever .
Oh, the odd time they got lost, but again that was no problem as they
didn’t even care which road they took.
All they knew was that they were heading for California and the
sunshine.
1 comment:
I posted your blog on my Facebook Page. I also look forward to my daily e-mail. Linda-Illinois
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