JIM “PAPPY” MOORE: The Grand Journey West Part III

By JIM “PAPPY” MOORE

Our two weeks at Grandma and Grandpa Linscott’s home in Lewiston, Idaho allowed us much free time to explore the city in the middle of summer. The weather was mild and usually sunny. Walking about town was fun in the picturesque community on the banks of the roaring Snake River.

Daddy took me to a movie, the Disney classic film Song of the South. It had humans and animated characters intertwined. It was in color and it was entertaining. For a young boy my age, it was a happy story of amusing and well-meaning characters.

I was accustomed to ranging far and wide as a young boy at home, and my parents allowed me great leeway in the safe, happy town of Lewiston. I learned of the minor league baseball town there and made a beeline to their games. Upon arriving there I found out that retrieving foul balls which went outside the baseball grounds and returning them to the ballpark personnel earned a young lad food at the concession stands. I did that and ate my fill of hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream bars, and snow cones.

After I filled up on food from the baseball park, I would run over to the nearby workshop the city had for kids in the summertime. Imagine my surprise when they let me use a jig saw and provided me with wood for making various projects! I quickly chose to make a bookcase with bookends which looked like Idaho’s distinctive shape. I soon had two bookends shaped exactly like Idaho. The rest was easy, as I constructed the back and the bottom of the one-shelf bookcase. Mama and Daddy were surprised to see the two-foot by one-foot wooden completed bookcase, but they made room for it in the trunk of our Oldsmobile.

Grandma worked her flower garden and I helped. There were the loveliest Snap Dragons, which I played with and used like little puppets, pretending they could talk. Grandma really chuckled and it made her smile. She was usually very serious, partly by nature and partly because Grandpa’s declining health. He suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. His hands trembled some, making it difficult to button his clothes and such. Both managed, however.

We loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa Linscott on our bi-annual trips there. From their home we would hit the road again, traveling further northwest to the Puget Sound area of Washington State, where Daddy had preached for a period of time in the late 1940s. We took a ferry out to see the community where Daddy had preached. We visited elderly church members there, and an old man gave me a turn of century silver pocket watch. It did not work, but I treasured that watch throughout boyhood. It predated the 20th century and was an elegant object even if it did not function as a clock. 

From there we next headed south to Portland, Oregon where my mother’s oldest sister, Zella, lived. She was married to Arthur Schwartzenhauer, a dentist. We barely knew him. He was a dentist several years older than her. They had three children: Sheryn, Sheryl, and Dale.

Leaving Portland we would drive down the west coast and then into California. We were headed to Pomona, California where Aunt Vannah lived with her husband, Don, and their two boys – Kenny and John. 

Before we got to Aunt Vannah’s we would see sights along the way. We saw the Great Sequoia trees. Their majesty and size are indescribable. They are so large there are roadways cut through the base and cars can drive through those holes. These giants of nature are unique. Their awesomeness cannot be exaggerated. 

Next week the Moore kids continue their trip through California sights, arrive at Aunt Vannah’s, take in a tourist attraction, and head on to Arizona in Part IV.

Copyright 2022, Jim “Pappy” Moore. All rights reserved.