CALIFORNIA

Dad was working but things were pretty tight. We had a spring vacation and I planned to work during the break. There was a men's store down in Redlands. I'd been in there a time or two buying things. I went in there and was talking to the fellows there and told them I was going to work out in the orange patch. They got the biggest kick out of that. Well, you have berry patches but orange groves! I'd gotten a job in the orange grove and told them I was going to work in the orange patch. I worked in the grove for Mr. Parks and earned enough money to buy my graduation suit�a dark suit but white flannels for baccalaureate service.

Mother and Dad had an apartment rented in Joe Clapp's parents' apartment house, and I lived with them. Somehow, Addie Clapp complained because I made too much noise. The other people in the apartment house were old bachelors and they complained because I slammed doors and talked too loud. So we had to move out.

Milla and Hunter lived in the southwest part of town a couple of miles away. We moved into their house. They had a spare bedroom for Mother and Dad and a one-room basement with a stove. Mother cooked for us there.

When I moved to Redlands, of course Peg wasn't there. She was back in Puyallup. Twice a week I got a letter from here and she got one from me twice a week. That helped a lot.

We went to church at San Bernardino, about ten miles away. There were a lot of real nice girls over at church and they were real friendly. A bunch of us young folks, a half dozen to a dozen would bum around together and have big times. But, I was never interested in any of the girls. I remember my dad got real disgusted with me and bought Barbara Wixsom home with us for Sunday dinner. Barbara was a nice girl, but I just wasn't interested in her. I worked the summer I got out of high school for Maurice Clapp in the tire shop, retreading tires. His shop was right next to the apartment house that I got ousted from.

I remember taking Dad's Model T sedan to a church conference at Central Church in Los Angeles. I had a whole car load of young folks, Charlie Landon, Lawrence McCauley, Dora, Wilma and Frances Dexter; I think it was. We got to the city limits and I said, "Okay, some of you folks tell me where to go."

They didn't have any idea of the address or anything about where I was supposed to be taking them. So I drove around. I drove up to a service station and inquired. He didn't know but he said, "Now, just down there a block lives the pastor of the Methodist Church. He's pretty well acquainted. You go ask him."

I went and asked him and he told me right where to find it. We went and had a big time. But I was just astounded that none of the folks knew the address of the church.

On July fourth, Maurice and I went down to the beaches; Laguna, Newport and Balboa. I wasn't used to spending money. I put fifteen dollars in my billfold and hid some more in one of my pockets. We got there and I was fishing around in my billfold.

Maurice said, "Is that all the money you've got?"

I'd spent about all of the fifteen dollars. I said, "No, I've got some more."

He replied, "You'd better have."

We rode a lot of rides. There were amusement parks along some of the beaches. It wasn't anything special but it was my first experience at the beach. I was working for Maurice Clapp then.