Topic: Feature: 1963 Bleakney family trip

[Autos_Editor]

Contributor Peter Bleakney recalls his family's 13,000 km camping odyssey in a 1962 Mercury Comet station wagon.

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[PJungnitsch]

"When my sister and I weren’t feeling car sick we were fighting, and conveniently our quarters were set up like a mini UFC ring. With the Vomit Comet’s rear foot wells stuffed with sleeping bags and the tent, we had this sort of flat playpen area to roll around on."

Heh. Awesome story!

[Railton]

Imagine, taking a drive across Canada and some where near tim-buck-to dear old Dad has to make a pit-stop at the hospital for a couple of days! 
Now that's a story!  Sounds like a good movie story. One of the better contributions here. 
Railton

[Mike]

Awesome story!  My family did a similar trip in 1986.  We loaded up our 1985 Pontiac 6000 LE Wagon and drove from Markham, Ontario up through Canada to Vancouver for EXPO '86.  Then we drove home through the USA.  I think our trip was only 28 days or so though.

[chrischasescars]

Awesome story!  My family did a similar trip in 1986.  We loaded up our 1985 Pontiac 6000 LE Wagon and drove from Markham, Ontario up through Canada to Vancouver for EXPO '86.  Then we drove home through the USA.  I think our trip was only 28 days or so though.

My folks too me to Expo 86, too! That was a fun trip. We flew to Calgary to stay with a friend of my mom's for a couple days, and took the train to Vancouver. Despite a day or so delay due to bad weather, that was the best part of the trip, riding the train through the Rockies. I was too young to really appreciate Vancouver, though. Twenty-five years later and I still haven't been back.

The farthest we ever drove was the lame drive from Ottawa to Toronto. I still want to do a cross-country drive, but no way I'm camping all the way. :-P

[tpl]

A nostalgic reminder that in the not too distant past we lived a simpler life without tri-zone climate controls, head rest mounted video screens and 24/7 internet access.  Things have changed for the better but memory lane is a good visit.

Some things are better.  Others not so much.

You didn't have to:
confine kids in car seats
not smoke in the car when the kids were in it
wear seat belts ( on hot days with no a/c)
put up with the road noise of radial tires


You could:
drive down route 66 all the way I think.
buy a car in two-tone pastel colours ( although by 1963, less so)


But I suppose it is better now...just.

[5 Wheel Drive]

That's a funny story.  The "vomit Comet" commant made me laugh.  WTF did Peter and his sister do that put their poor old man in hospital anyway???  No wonder Mom had a board under the seat...

[D70]

I remember vividly the Vancouver to N Y world fair in a VW before kids then many camping trips in the 170 cu inch 3 spd Valiant Wagon with kids. The center pole umbrella Woods tent was essential ingredient for holiday accommodation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4930634690/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4926737653/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/5691923944/

I now have smaller car and smaller tent

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4579009527/

[dragonfly]

 What a great story..Thanks pard...Now...I can still remember the smell of that old canvas umbrella tent...And dad telling us not to touch it, cause if you did, it would leak at that spot(and it did!)...And the old gasoline hand pumped Coleman stove..What a terrific and simple gadget.
 We had a '56 Meteor, (three tone, IIRC, dark and light blue and white)... Your poor dad...And he's still with us?  Tough guy...
              Thanks for this...Jack

[Schmengie]

  What a great story, it sure brought the memories flooding back! My parents had a serious aversion to tenting so on our 'camping' trips we stayed in motels or what passed for motels in the late 50s and early 60s. They had amenities like wood stoves, a hand-pump for water and if we were real lucky, a screen-door to keep the bugs out.  No TV, no radio and sometimes no electricity. These days, 'roughing it' means staying in a hotel with a lousy Internet connection.  

We had a very cool '58 Dodge 2-door, blue and white, can't recall the model right now.The trunk on that car was so big it held all of our stuff with room to spare.

[kenm]

I remember vividly the Vancouver to N Y world fair in a VW before kids then many camping trips in the 170 cu inch 3 spd Valiant Wagon with kids. The center pole umbrella Woods tent was essential ingredient for holiday accommodation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4930634690/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4926737653/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/5691923944/

I now have smaller car and smaller tent

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4579009527/

You just sent me on a trip down memory lane. My grandfather had a '55 (or '56?) Beetle that was the same color as the one pictured. He used to let me shift while he clutched. He drove it until he traded it in on a new '65 Valiant, 170 ci "slant six" auto. He drove the Valiant for 20 years, until he was no longer able to drive. It was a sad day when he had to sell it. I remember driving that 20 year old Valiant and being amazed at how smooth and tight it was........a great car!

[Snowman]

Try driving in January from Chibougamau to Winnipeg in a brand new 1967 Volkswagen Squareback. Dad thought about making a wood stove out of a 5 gallon steel pail by the time we got to Hearst.

[mikemcm]

thanks for the story, loved it. a friend told me of a family camping trip to visit historic forts of western canada. she said her and her brother had two games. who could sleep the longest and who could punch the other the most without yelling and notifying the parents.

[mrthompson]

Excellent story.  The longest road trip my family took was a month long trip to and from Florida in the spring of 1986.  We traveled with another family - friends of my parents and their daughter.  Our family traveled in our 1985 Plymouth Reliant wagon, they had Chevy or Pontiac wagon with the rear facing third row bench.  We used their car to ferry the 7 of us to restaurants etc. once we had arrived at our various destinations.  I remember my dad getting a bottle of Jack Daniels when we finally arrived in Florida (Tampa) which he promptly consumed and passed out fell asleep.  "Why is Dad not coming with us to the restaurant for supper?"  "Uh, your father is very tired from all that driving."    We spent several days in Tampa, then spent a week at Daytona Beach and another week at Kissimmee for the Disney parks.  On our drive home we were snowbound in the Smokey Mountains for a day or two.