The Great Road Trip

Freda, Joe, Ernest, Elsie, 1936

The New York to California Road Trip was a little different in 1936.

The cast of characters:

Joe and Freda Sheehan, Elsie and Ernest Dobrovolny
The Car:

What is the car? The unpaved road to California.
I am breaking these photos into two sections. This section covers the New York to California leg. The second section http://www.uwm.edu/~sheehan/road2.html covers their stay in California. This section has the family photos.

See also the Dobrovolny home page at http://www.uwm.edu/~sheehan/dobro.html

I believe the trip was in the summer of 1936. (See photos of Jerry.) None of the photos are labeled. I only have distant recollections of stories about the trip. The photos were unsorted and I have put them in order as best I can. I tried to identify the areas from the photos, but I am certain I have many mistakes. Please, advise me of other possibilities. I think the Colorado Dobrovolny,s will be able to identify many of the Colorado and S.W. sites.

I am not even certain which way they went, but the car was my fathers and they started in New York. Any ideas how or where the two couples met? Next comes Buffalo Bill Monument, then central Colorado, S.W. Colorado, Mesa Verde, Meteor Crater, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, Lodi. Then side trips to San Francisco, Yosemite, Sequoia. Then the return trip went to Mt. Lassen. (The photos become scarce--maybe they were not stoping much, getting a little tired of each other, no money for film, or just tired of picture taking. In any event I assume this was the homeward, rather than outward leg.) They went by Mt. Shasta, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone.

There are about 80 scans. I have another 60 or so photos from the trip, but they do not have people and are mostly less interesting scenery shots. They seem to have avoided photos of stores, towns, restaurants, hotels, and gas stations, or they removed those photos. Three are very few pictures that are out of focus, poor exposure, or poor composition, so I think the photos were extensively culled.

In the beginning:

Just a few miles outside Lockport, New York.
Next stop: Colorado
Buffalo Bill Monument.
With one photo ever 1,500 miles this will be a quick trip.










Mesa Verde








A chain to help you down the cliff.

The Grand Canyon

Ernest walked through the Canyon one night while the others drove around to meet him on the other side. He probably walked from the north to south rim.


He looks fresh, so I think this is a "before" photo.

Damn, I can't take my rock hammer into the Grand Canyon!













Oh My !!


Ernest "Indiana Jones" Dobrovolny looking good at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
The long trail up








Welcoming Party


Been there, done that!
Meteor Crater


New York has nicer trees.
Dad was amazed by a landscape without trees. This was his first trip west.




Nice pants.

Not the best shade tree in the land.

Any guess what's going on here?

I have heard Carolyn complain that our vacations seem to end up as geological field trips. Let's see, meteor crater, Grand Canyon, now this new geological engineering marvel of a dam.



Being a good sport.







Maybe Death Valley.

The story I remember is that they turned onto a playa and drove around in huge circles. Then realized they had no idea where the road was. When it was dark they finally saw a car light many miles away. They just made it to the next gas station.


Oops, out of place.
Next stop: Lodi.
When does an Irish Catholic worry? Just before visiting the minister!
Next page has the family pictures: htpp://www.uwm.edu/~sheehan/road2.html

Most recent revision Friday, February 27, 1998