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The Western Expedition

by Sheldon Helle 1988

INTRODUCTION

Dave,Lawrence (Dig), Lyle, and Maurice (Mo) were all Helle cousins. Each carried the surname of Helle. During their teenage years they did a lot of traveling together. In 1953 when they took the expedition to the west coast they were from 16 to 18 years old. Maurice was the youngest at sixteen, lyle was seventeen and David and Lawrence were both eighteen.

The boys had saved for a long time to finance the trip out west They would camp along the way and cook their meals over open fires to make the trip as inexpenaive as possible.

They had always gotten along well and I believe had planned this trip for over a year. Our sons were very mature for their ages and we, as parents, were not the least concerned as we were confident they would be O.K.

The parents of the boys were:

David

Lloyd and Opal of Avon, IL.

Lawrence

Delbert and Nellie of Farmington, IL

Lyle

Sheldon and Hazel of Savanna, IL

Maurice

Delbert and Nellie

They traveled over 7,000 miles on narrow, winding roads, as this was before the before modern highways and interstates of today. They drove Lyle's 1939 plymouth, which was fourteen years old in 1953 but mechanically sound. Most boys called these Plymouths after the ship "Mayflower" that landed at Plymouth Rock with the pilgrims. Most of the time they traveled at a speed comparable to ours of today.

Even though Lawrence and Mo were the only brothers among them, they were all four about as close as any brothers could be during those years. Marriages and the untimely death of our oldest son, Lyle, broke up a great friendship.

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It was 1981 when I first was Inspired to put this little book of memories together, and I asked Dave if he could recall some details of the trip. The following letter was written by Dave, and tells more than I had hoped for. ( Sheldon's son Lyle was killed in a accident 1966)

Dear Sheldon,

I am unable to find the log of our trip in 1953 but will try to put to paper my memories of the trip to the west coast. Many things stick in your mind through the years; things that were scarcely noticed at that time.

We started the trip at 2:00 in the afternoon of the last Saturday in June, 1953. Starting place; Sheldon's house in Savanna. We loaded up Lyles 1939 Plymouth which we called the old Mayflower and weighed in at 4,400 pounds loaded. Empty it weighed 3,400 pounds. Aunt Hazel gave us so many toll house cookies that we still had some left to feed the bears in Yellowstone.

It was hot the day we left. We traveled up Route 92 to Route 16 In Southern Minnesota. We drove all night and when morning came we were in a different world. We cooked breakfast in western South Dakota. Then we saw the Badlands, Wall Drug and the Black hills. These were amazing sights to four boys from the prairies of Illinois. Lyle was the only one of us who had been out west before.

We saw Mount Rushmore and then headed for the Big Horn mountains. Near the Big Horn we first noticed the illusion of going downhill while the old Mayflower was in second gear,. pulling for all she was worth.

Probably the one thing I remember most about the first day was seeing great distances. We saw towns that took an hour to drive to. Back home In Fulton County, Illinois you never see a town until you are in it, and then only the part you are in.

That evening we camped along the highway near the entrance to Yellowstone Park. I almost forgot to mention that while going over the Big Horn, Lawrence was sitting in the back seat, really nervous about going around the curves with sheer drop-offs, when Lyle made a joke out of It, saying: "Dig's got the dribbling sh - ' a"

When we woke up the next morning there was frost on our blankets, quite a difference from the hot summer weather we were used to. We didn't waste any time building a fire. That day we saw the wonders of Yellowstone Park. Gas was 43 cents at Pahaska, Wyoming, an outrageous price at that time. From Yellowstone we went into Montana, drove through the mountains all day, and had a brake hose go bad toward evening in Missoula. We were only going about 30 M.P.hr on the level so we were lucky.

That night we went to a movie in Missoula. It was the first 3 D movie we had seen. We wore those little special three D glasses. Just as we walked in an Indian threw a tomahawk and we all thought we had had it.

Then we vent on to Coure De Lane and Spokane,Washington. then traveled on down through the Columbia River Valley. We were disappointed in the Columbia but probably because the weather was bad.

Seaside, Oregon is where we first saw the Pacific Ocean. We all just stood and looked for a long time in silence. Then we started daring each other to see who would go in the deepest. Always willing to take a dare, some of us were soon running full speed into the waves over our heads.

We then drove down the coast on highway 101 into California and seen the Redwood trees. We had thought the Douglas Fir trees were big, but we hadn't seen anything yet!! We took a picture of the Mayflower as it came through the tree with the road through it. That evening we camped on the beach near Ukiah, California and during the night the wind came and threw sand all over us.

On down highway 101 and over the Golden Gate Bridge; we looked close to see Alcatraz Island; on down the coast to Los Angelis. where we sneaked into the Universal International Studios. We didn't get far until a guard spotted us and out we went. We went to a movie that night. a drive-in I think. After the show we couldn't find our way out of town, so we slept in the Mayflower in an alley.

We went on to San Diego and into Mexico at Tijuana. We enjoyed Tijuana, walking around town and buying some trinkets. I remember one little boy was as short as a ten month old baby would be back home but he ran around the yard like he was three or four years old. Many of the Mexican girls were very beautiful but the older women seemed to age quickly.

We came back across the border, swiped some oranges from a grove and headed for Las Vegas. It was real hot going to Nevada and we stopped at a country gas station and went in and drank about fifteen bottles of pop, gave the Mayflower a drink and then took off. Las Vegas didn't impress me much. From there we went down to Boulder or Hoover Dam. We stopped along the road to cook supper that evening and as I ran down the hill with a roll of paper, I jumped over a rattle snake. I called the boys and they came down and looked at it. Then I took a rock and hit it right in the head the first throw. We cut off the rattles and brought them home with us.

I think Hoover Dam was the most impressive man made thing we saw on the trip. We went on to the Grand Canyon. it was an overcast day so the colors didn't show up as much as they would on a sunny day.

Next we went up to Kanas, Utah where we heard about a desert movie being filmed nearby. We drove about thirty miles and when we got there everything was gone, but we saw some camel tracks. Rod Cameron and Joanne Dru were in the show. I saw it a couple years later.

As we drove on we saw cliff dwellings. If I remember right. that night we hit several jack-rabbits with the Mayflower. Being Impressed with the size of their ears, we cut them off and threw them in the trunk. The next morning we had a trunk full of ticks and out went the ears.

We went up through Provo to Salt Lake City where we saw the Mormon Temple and Tabernacle. From there we went east on highway 40 into Colorado. We stopped and ate in a park in Steamboat Springs. We realized later that Lawrence had left his leather jacket there on a bench with about three rolls of film in the pockets. so most of the pictures of the trip were lost.

Having decided in San Diego to drive day and night till we got home; we went on through Kanas, Nebraska, and Iowa till we arrived back in Savanna. I believe our total expenses were $226.00. I personally returned with a love and a fascination for the west that is with me yet. We were four happy boys on that trip with little thought of what life had in store for us.

Dave Helle

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A few years after Dave sent this letter, the Log book of the trip was located. Penciled in a small note book that still had the be price on it. were day by day notes of the trip. These were brief and may have omitted some of the details that Dave has recalled, but are interesting, telling the story of an adventure that would be a treasured memory for the boys.

The following pages were copied from the log book. NEXT