Saturday, May 12, 2012

Agnes and Ethel Go West

Another one of the the photo albums I bought at the estate sale last week was titled "First Trip West." When I got it home and was able to really study it, I found this map tucked inside, with Anges and Ethel's route! How amazing would it be to follow their route and go to the same places? At least the ones that were still around. I don't know how possible it would be...

Look, there aren't even intestates yet!
Also, to my complete delight there is a typed out travel journal! Mrs. Smith is Ethel. They seem to have traved together a lot. This journal includes how much they spent too! Something like 189 gallons of gas for the high sum of $2.89! I think in total for their two week trip they spent 200 dollars. Amazing!
Here are our heros, posing with some cacti.
There are all kinds of little souvenirs tucked behind the photos.
A cute place mat from Ruth's over in Colorado Springs! It isn't still open, but there are postcards all over the internet with pictures of their great furniture.
Here they are making snowballs!
There is lots of posing in front of state signs.

More vintage postcards!
Look at that gorgeous water fall! There are tons of pictures of bears in this book too!
Look at this scary lift to get up a mountain!

Notice the photo of Ethel feeding chipmunks! i love the picture of seven falls next to the pamphlets with the same view. Navajo Modern Cottages isn't there anymore either. I checked of course.
Look at all those chicks!
I'll leave you with this great picture of Agnes petting some wild deer!

This is kind of my dream trip. We've talked about driving across the US, but I can only take two weeks off from work at a time, and I think that just wouldn't give us enough time. Maybe someday we will follow in Agnes and Ethel's footsteps. I know I said it before, but this is really probably my favorite find EVER! I find more things I love every time I look through the books. 

27 comments:

  1. These things make me sorta weepy, go ahead & giggle (I was once companion to a 94 year old girl named Jean-Marie who would tell me stories of traveling around the US to all of the National Parks in a brand new car with three other ladies after the war ended)! It's just so wonderful to me that these gals were alive & doing great things & having amazing times together ... & here we are, complete strangers, reminiscing for them. I am glad it is you who found them & brought them home & thanks a bunch for sharing them :)

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    1. please, i got a little weepy on the way home from buying them! i bet jean-marie had some AMAZING stories!

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  2. what an incredible find!!!!!!! it would be super fun to re-create their journey!

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  3. Thank goodness someone who would cherish those albums found them, theyre amazing! Road trips rock i havent done one in an age as road trips with toddlers dont rock, but you could do heaps in two weeks, and we would expect you to journal it as per these two chicks!

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    1. gosh, after taking the dogs to atlanta, i can't imagine how hard it is to travel with kids! and we could leave the dogs at the hotel!

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  4. That really is an awesome find and love how they chronicled it so well. I love to road trip too. We drove from Minnesota to Oregon one time with the kids - Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, The Badlands, Wall Drug etc. Awesome trip. My mom and I also drove from Kansas to Oregon a couple of years ago junking as we went. The BEST WAY to see the country. I hope someday you can follow in Ethel and Agnes' driving footsteps!

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    1. I HAVE to go on a trip like that! my family always went to florida for vacation, so the furthest west i've ever been is st. louis! such a shame. a junking trip would be HEAVEN! we are planning on attending "the world's longest yard sale" this summer and going as far as we can in 3 days. i can't wait!

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  5. I'm a huge fan of vintage photos & scrapbooks and it's wonderful you found such a complete travel book, especially with a typed travel journal and that map!

    I hate driving but still want to do 2 road trips one day: one from Vancouver, Canada down to Mexico and the other from Maine down to Florida. Of course eating seafood and vintage shopping all the way!

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    1. We are tentatively planning a trip for next spring where we fly into washington or oregon, and drive all the way down the coast!

      i've never seen books like this! i feel like i always see boxes of photos that have been pulled out of books and sold as eaches. i guess they can make more money that way. i'm so happy i got them!

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  6. What a wonderful find, it's hard to find complete scrapbooks now, especially with a typed travel log and a map! I've always wanted to do 2 road trips: one from Vancouver down to Mexico and the other from Maine to Florida, of course vintage shopping and eating seafood along the way. :)

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  7. This is so cool! what a find! you definately need to take that trip, it would make a great film!

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  8. This is so amazing, I just can't believe that nobody in the family wanted it! I feel like this would be such a treasured heirloom, it's so nice you're giving it a home!

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  9. What an awesome scrapbook! I'm so happy that you found it and that it didn't end up being trashed or torn apart for the individual items. I'm sure the ladies would be happy that you will keep and cherish it. :)

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  10. so awesome! you know i drove cross country with my mom when I moved from Florida to California..for some reason I was in a hurry to get here so we did it in 3 days.

    I really regret not taking the time to see the sights and i hope to be able to do that in the future.

    So glad these scrapbooks ended up with you--someone who can appreciate them.

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  11. Great find. I always wonder in these situations if the family truly didn't want these things or if they just didn't know it was there! What a treasure!

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  12. THIS.IS.SO.COOL. They needed a Westy!

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  13. These are so amazing, I love them to bits!!!!

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  14. wow, what an amazing find...and what an amazing trip! i definitely think you should try to duplicate it. how fun! i often wonder why no one in the family would have wanted to keep something like this after they passed away...but their loss is your gain, i suppose.

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  15. Such a great find! I love that there's not only pictures but a map of their trip and NOTES! Seriously, what a fun piece of history!

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  16. This totally makes me want to have a travel BFF!

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  17. Maybe you could do a Kickstarter project about it?
    I'm a geek and love finding out how much stuff cost in the past and how much that sum would be now, and it seems that $200 in 1951 would be $1,660 in 2010.

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  18. Awww this is so cool! I want a travel amigo!

    Adrienne
    What Lola Wants

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  19. You struck gold, my friend. Pure gold

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  20. I'm so glad the scrapbook is now in the hands of someone who really appreciates it and feels such a connection.

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  21. That is just the neatest find!! So interesting!

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  22. Oh my gosh, what an incredible find on so many levels. Just wow!

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  23. what a fantastic treasure. it really is so amazing and interesting. i'm glad you found it and appreciate it.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave me a comment!

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