The People are Swell at the Riviera Boatel

First letter from Dad, Dated: June 3, 1962, From: Fairbanks, Alaska

Dear Lois, Billy & Carla:

We finally made it to Fairbanks. Everything went fine except for a couple of times, Neil got a little P.O.’d. He even brought it up about dividing up our money again but it didn’t work. He had to borrow money from Jerry to finish the trip.

We arrived yesterday morning started out trying to find a job & place to stay. Are now staying at the Riviera Boatel. It sure is a nice place and the people are swell. They’re even trying to help us find a cabin or someplace where we can cook our own meals.

Also, they’re giving us names of people to see about jobs. Can’t do much on that score till Mon. The Wheel tells everybody he’s practically an engineer & an electronic expert. Don’t know who he’ s trying to fool, himself or somebody else.

The trip went good, and we had no trouble with the trucks. Gas was high but not as bad as some people think. In Canada the most we paid was, I think, 63 cents a gallon (5 qts to our 4 qts). My expenses totaled $124.43 and I got about 16 miles to the gallon. Neil got around 13 – 14 miles.

The Alcan Hiway (sic) isn’t too bad to drive on providing you don’t try to go over 50 mph. The first couple of days on it we had rain & drizzle. It took us 8 days for the trip but would tell anybody else to take longer. There sure is some beautiful scenery along the way, especially after you get past Dawson Creek. I took 3 rolls of b & w film. 1 roll of colored & started on the second, sure hope they turn out good. Tried to keep a record of the colored ones.

Didn’t see much game but did see a lack bear and 2 cubs along the road, couldn’t get a picture, not enough light. Also saw a moose that got hit by a pickup truck, lots of rabbits, gophers & ducks that’s about all.

***to be continued…

Note: The Boatel is still there. It's different now, but it's cool that my dad stayed there in 1962 and the people were swell! I'm sure they still are. :-) https://www.facebook.com/Boatelbar/

Monsters and Molasses Cookies

Since I was only two years old at the time, I don't actually remember the drive to Alaska. But I know, trust me, I just know we had homemade cookies to munch on during the long drive. I'm sure we had healthy stuff too, like carrot and celery sticks and apple slices, but cookies were Mom's thing, so we had ‘em.
   
One of my favorite cookies was (and still are) Mom’s Famous Molasses Cookies. They’re super easy to make, and are absolutely delicious straight from the oven…well, maybe give them a few minutes to cool down.

Memories of coming home from school to the smell of fresh cookies are too numerous to count, but we were always allowed to have 3 or 4 as our after-school snack before tackling our before-supper chores. (Kids actually did chores back then).

Thinking about chores brings to mind my addiction to the old afternoon soap opera featuring a bunch of supernatural characters, and specifically a vampire named Barnabas Collins, called Dark Shadows.

Now, I love a good scary show, but only if I don’t have to go outside in the dark afterward. By waiting until after the show a few times and getting the bejesus scared out of me by my brother, I learned the hard way to get my chores done before watching the show. You see, in Alaska during the winter, it gets dark very early, and if I waited until the show was over, in that mere 30 minutes, the dark had descended. And you know what comes out in the dark. Vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. And brothers.
    
Once my chores were done, I got my cookies and plopped my butt in front of the T.V. to watch the vampire Barnabas Collins, along with assorted ghosts, werewolves, witches and warlocks, terrorize the good people of the fictional town of Collinsport, Maine.

Mom’s Famous Molasses Cookies
3 cups sugar
2 cups vegetable shortening (or butter)
3 eggs
¾ cups molasses
6 ½ cups flour
3 tsp. each of ginger and cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. cloves
6 tsp. baking soda
Most important ingredient: Love (It keeps the monsters away.)

Mix dough, roll into cookie-sized balls, roll in sugar, and bake for 12 -15 minutes at 350 degrees.

ENJOY!!

Postcards From the Road

By the time Lois embarked on her journey to Alaska, Bill had already been gone for over three months. He sent two postcards while making the drive, both short and sweet, no mushy stuff.

To say he was excited to be on the road is an understatement. Going to Alaska was a long-time dream of his and he couldn't believe his luck that his wife would actually let him go. Obviously, he wasn't missing us too much at this point. 😊

Postcard #1, Dated May 25, 1962, From: Florence, Wisconsin

Dear Lois & Kids:

The rip is going good so far. No trouble with other guys. Are making good time and fair gas mileage. Slept under the stars last night. Yesterday was kind of a dull, cold day. Nice right now.

Will write soon.

Love to All,

Bill

Postcard #2, Dated May 29, 1962, From: Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada

Dear Lois & Kids:

We are now at Dawson Creek. The trip has been going along real nice. No trouble yet. Are getting ready to start on the Alcan. Just had breakfast 85 cents, so far everything has been reasonable. Scenery has been beautiful.

Love to All,

Bill

Will write soon.

No Looking Back

In August of 1962, at the age of 28, an amazing woman named Lois Schoppe packed her two- and four-year old kids and their dog into her car and drove up the Alcan Highway. Then a potholed, rock strewn gravel road thousands of miles long, it wound through endless miles of desolate, lonely country. Her destination, Alaska and her husband Bill. There was no looking back.

Except for the one time her eyes were drawn to the rear-view mirror. There stood her dad, waving goodbye with tears running down his face. “What am I doing?” she thought. Then words from her husband’s last letter came into her mind. “…just waiting for you and the kids to get here. All my love and kisses. Your loving husband, Bill.” Wiping away her own tears, she straightened her back, and keeping her eyes on the rad ahead, stepped on the gas. 

Neither she nor her dad knew how long it would be before they saw each other again, but the one thing she did know was that she loved Bill with all her heart and soul and couldn’t wait to be with him, no matter where or how long it took to get there. 

It would, in fact, be over eleven years before she was able to return to lower Michigan and she could, at long last, do more than write letters to the family she missed so much.