November 21, 1959

At 6:30 the following morning, Louise got up early and went to the store to get bread, bologna, mayo, and mustard to make sandwiches for everybody. She also got a Styrofoam ice chest, a bag of ice and a few packs of apple sauce for Anna. Anthony, who had woken up an hour earlier, went to the store with her to buy a notebook, pencils, a sharpener, and some crayons. He also bought a few bags of Lays potato chips for everybody to have with their sandwiches. When they got home, Louise started making sandwiches. If it were an Olympic sport, she would have had a box of gold medals. It never took her long to make sandwiches. By 7:30, she had used up all three loaves of bread. She poured the bag of ice into the ice chest and put the sandwiches in it.

Everyone else woke up and put on their clothes from the previous night. Louise put the ice chest into the back of the car along with everyone’s suitcases. Once everything was taken care of, the family packed into the car and went to the diner for breakfast. When they returned to the house, Lawrence and Edward got into the truck. Louise got into the driver’s seat of the car. Anthony climbed into the front seat with Louise. He had his notebook and his other utensils with him. Lawrence started the truck and drove off slowly as Louise backed out of the driveway. Anna, sitting on Bridget’s lap in the back seat, started putting her arms out and grunting.  “I want to sit in Annwy’s lap.” Anna cried. That was how she pronounced his name. He never could understand why she always said everyone else’s name right, but could never say his name right. He chuckled and reached in the back seat and pulled her into his lap. As they drove away from the house, Anna yelled: “bye house”. Anthony looked up at the house and quietly said: “bye house”.

It would be a four day drive. They both went into a gas station to fill up the vehicles, while the kids went into the store to by some candy. They got back on the road afterwards.  Louise drove behind Lawrence the whole way. Fortunately for them, the road was clear of traffic. That was what they wanted to avoid, so that’s why they left early, before the travelers started gathering. Halfway into the drive, both Louise and Bridget started to feel the first bout of boredom. Louise turned the radio on and Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” started playing. Anna bounced up and down in Anthony’s lap. He had planned to write as soon as they got on the road, but he saw that that wouldn’t happen until Anna went to sleep, which he didn’t know when that was going to happen.