Trip from South Gate, CA to Montevideo, Uruguay 1947

In about May of 1947, my parents were called to open the Uruguayan Mission. My parents had to report to Salt Lake City so we planned a fun trip there with my aunt Mona, her kids Kay and Mona Lue, and Mona's friend Verda, in one car and my family in another, plus a girl from Uruguay, Alice Banks. She had been my Dad's secretary when he worked for the government and had come up for a visit then planned to return with us. She was the niece of Mrs. Ros, our favorite Crandon teacher. We camped every night, sometimes it was by the side of the road, and visited Sequoia, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. At one point, in Idaho, we were so dirty that we put on our bathing suits then washed in a stream. We took our soap in with us and scrubbed! We arrived in Salt Lake City a few days before the centennial celebration. We went to see "Promised Valley" by Crawford Gates on opening night and saw the parade on the 23rd of July but had to leave and so missed the one on the 24th. I was present when my parents were set apart by President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. and David O. McKay, counselors in the First Presidency.
We said goodbye to Mona, and her family, and other relatives and drove rather hurriedly across the nation, sleeping in motels and guest rooms until we came to New York City. We stayed at the McAlpin Hotel, and ate at a little drug store across the street from it. We had a glorious time wandering around the city looking at everything and seeing many movies. The hotel was in the same block as the Empire State Building and, of course, we went to the top. We also ate at Schrafts Cafeteria and I would order filet of sole because I liked the tartar sauce. We were about a week in New York; there was a strike on, that's the reason for the long stay. We then had to take the train to Philadelphia to get a ship. What a ship! The California Express was a small Norwegian one with accommodations for about twelve passengers; our group made up seven of them.
We weren't supposed to sail until the next day so we all went to a movie that evening. When we got back the ship was leaning against the wharf with the smokestack against the warehouse! The ship had been loaded incorrectly or something. They did get it righted but the ship had a list for about a week of the voyage. Gina, Alice, and I ate at the Captain's table and the rest of the family at a smaller one. Gina sat at the end and the silverware was always sliding down onto her lap. One didn't have to tilt the soup bowl, it had a permanent lean to it. Being a Norwegian vessel, we ate a lot of sea food, in every shape or form. There was a shortage of fresh water so we showered in sea water.
Gina had a cabin to herself and Alice and I shared one. We were all shown around the ship and I even got to steer it, by myself, for about fifteen minutes. It was fun holding the wheel and trying to keep the compass in the right place. We played a lot of Rook and other card games to pass the time in the evenings. I was now 16.
The last night on board was a very rough one. The seas were very stormy and my father, never a good sailor in rough weather, didn't even make it to dinner. After eating, Freddy and Nancy went down and Mom stayed with them; weather never affected her. Gina got soaked by a big wave and decided to call it a night and Alice followed suit. One by one everyone disappeared until only the Chief Mate, one other passenger, and myself were left playing Parcheesi. I was very proud that I wasn't affected by the violent movement. We landed in Buenos Aires, spent the night in a hotel and then took the night boat across the river to Uruguay. Sam Skousen, one of my Dad's former Argentine missionaries, was stationed in Paraguay as the Air Attache, but was in Montevideo visiting when we returned and we had good times with him. He taught us a game, "Oh Heck", which was a lot of fun.