Bill and Bob, Where Did You Come From (LaFond, Gehring, Imes ...

El Cajon
Eugene and Lois about 1915
Our camping journey from Sweet Home to Oakland,
and on to El Cajon to visit my mother's tam i ly, was
adventurous, with continuous new sights. Tent poles
were shaved from freshly cut trees by my grangfather
and strapped to the nearly new 1914 Ford. The runningboards
were piled high with tent, bedding, erstwhile
belongings, and most important, spare tires. The roads
were poor and the need to repair leather tires with
patches and boots continually presented itself •. Each
night the tent was set up and all 6 members crawled in.
We were all impressed by the big city, Oakland, but
only stayed there briefly to leave my grandparents
to mind the rooming house, while we went on to El Cajon.
When we reached Los Gatos, our first proximity to
the ocean, my mother asked if I could smell the ocean,
I replied, "it stinks". Now with city traffic odors and
smog, the fresh salt air is considered refreshing.
In El Cajon I became acquainted with my mother's
relatives. We stayed with the I mes, or adjacent to the
family. Their house was near the W. D. Hall lumber
yard. (In 1985 it was the site of the El Cajon Cultural
Center). I played with the I mes and Hall children, all
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