Strolling down memory lane
We didn't get out of Orem until about 4:00 in the afternoon...lots of last minute things to do, taking care of the dog, and the cat, and watering, and packing, etc. etc.
We decided to go to Bicknell, a tiny little town in the Utah hinterlands that we lived in nearly 50 years ago. I was very small; my earliest memories are from Bicknell. Mom hadn't been back since, and had reservations about it, ("You can't go back.")
In the intervening 50 years, Bicknell had changed from a sleepy little village of 300 souls to a bustling town with...400 people.
We stayed at the Aquarius hotel, run by one of the Brinkerhoff boys (Emil, who had been in the grade between Connie and Jean, but as it was a two room schoolhouse, had been in each of their classes). The parking lot of the hotel was where our old house was... he pointed out bits of the foundation remaining, and a few pieces or rebar still sticking up. We figured out where the dining room had been, and the fireplace, and the outhouse, and dragged up old names and stories. Jenson's store was still there, although closed...I remember clutching my 2 cents of allowance (yes, it's true) and barely able to see over the counter, trying to decide which penny candy to spend it on. I think Emil enjoyed the reminiscing as much as we did. We had a down home meal in the Down Home Cafe in Loa, and walked around looking at all the same old (even older!!) buildings, the tiny theater, the post office, the general store. It was very satisfying.
We decided to go to Bicknell, a tiny little town in the Utah hinterlands that we lived in nearly 50 years ago. I was very small; my earliest memories are from Bicknell. Mom hadn't been back since, and had reservations about it, ("You can't go back.")
In the intervening 50 years, Bicknell had changed from a sleepy little village of 300 souls to a bustling town with...400 people.
We stayed at the Aquarius hotel, run by one of the Brinkerhoff boys (Emil, who had been in the grade between Connie and Jean, but as it was a two room schoolhouse, had been in each of their classes). The parking lot of the hotel was where our old house was... he pointed out bits of the foundation remaining, and a few pieces or rebar still sticking up. We figured out where the dining room had been, and the fireplace, and the outhouse, and dragged up old names and stories. Jenson's store was still there, although closed...I remember clutching my 2 cents of allowance (yes, it's true) and barely able to see over the counter, trying to decide which penny candy to spend it on. I think Emil enjoyed the reminiscing as much as we did. We had a down home meal in the Down Home Cafe in Loa, and walked around looking at all the same old (even older!!) buildings, the tiny theater, the post office, the general store. It was very satisfying.