Throughout the month of January, we are scanning and sharing a vintage film slide every day. This week we're featuring family vacation photos from the late 1970s.
Kayaking on vacation.
Joan and Sid's adventures
Joan only spent a decade as Sid's wife, but they dated from the time my mom was seven years old. Twenty years is such a short time. I've already spent 11 years with Jonathan. Talk about perspective.
While they were both living, they loved each other madly, and throughout their courtship and marriage, they experienced many adventures together (here's another recent adventure post). A great deal of them involved Sid's beloved Chevrolet truck, the motorhome, his motorcycle and their speedboat. Until they purchased the motorhome, they used a camper that sat on top of the truck. They were also involved in a boating club, and they won a trophy for their efforts in the late '70s. They also had matching boating jackets. My grandmother kept the trophy and the jackets. They are now in the care of my mother. Last weekend, we hung a photo of their boat in my mother's study. It's important to keep these memories alive, don't you think? They remind us to have fun and live life to the fullest.
Sid's Chevy.
Big fish! Hey Mom, look what's under the truck...
Joan, Sid, the original camper and the motorcycle.
Joan wearing her boating jacket and holding a camera.
Awesome '70s pants, palm trees and putt-putt golf.
More 1970s nature photos
I can't get enough of these 1970s photos from my grandparents' various camping trips. They are just too pretty and make me dream of fall road trips...
If you were planning a road trip this fall, where would you go?
1970s california camping trip
My grandparents loved camping. My mother often talks about the camping and boating excursions they took as a family when she still lived at home. After she graduated, they bought a bigger camper that was always known as "the motorhome." They spent much of their free time enjoying it with family and friends until my grandpa died of cancer in 1984.
Instead of immediately selling the motorhome, my grandma kept it parked at their home until I was five or six years old. For that reason, I remember hanging out in it. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I think those childhood experiences are responsible for my love of vintage campers. I expect Jonathan and I will own one of our own someday. We have dreams of taking a cross-country trip and a trip up the California coast.
I'm not going to lie -- I googled "1977 Dodge motorhome" after I wrote this post. Turns out, a few of these guys are still on the road.
Joan and Sid's motorhome and boat parked in front of their home in Cerritos, California in 1977.
Camping with friends.
My grandpa Sid wearing a very nice apron!
Sid and his friends all donning aprons.
A toast to good friends inside the motorhome.
Also had to share this photo....
A photo of a beautiful butterfly that was taken in their backyard.