“AFTER WORDS” By turning back to Chapter 28 you will see how we hoped to make our fortunes in something besides selling shoestrings. Each of us bought 200 shares of gold stock from a Mr. Wilburn with whom we rode. Two years later word reached us that our gold stock had doubled in value. Ten […]

About the Authors Winfield Line was born in Linesville, Pennsylvania, founded by his and Francis’s great-great-grandfather. Francis’s birthplace was New London, Ohio. In 1910 the family moved to Howell, Michigan, where they both started school together, although 15 months apart in age. They continued together through elementary grades, high school, and college, both graduating with […]

CHAPTER 37The Final Leg August 3, 1923. 2:00 A.M. Win and I—along with our parents—were sound asleep in a pleasant little tourist camp just outside of Boston. Next day, as we drove into the city the shouts of a newsboy impelled us to pull over to the curb. “Extra. Extra,” he was calling, as he […]

CHAPTER 36 North through the South We spent the Fourth of July in Atlanta, Georgia. We were not celebrating, but learning. Not flag waving, but wondering. Symbolically at least, a little weeping was mixed in with what we learned. We had not planned to be in the capital of Georgia on the Fourth; it just […]

CHAPTER 35 Florida Fever Upon leaving Jacksonville and starting our tour toward southern Florida we knew it would be impossible not to make comparisons with California, which we had grown to love so much. Perhaps no valid comparisons or contrasts could be made—as with the oranges and apples. We would have to see. First stop […]

CHAPTER 34Paper Pavements Winfield and I often argued in friendly fashion as to which ride of our trip had been the most important. My choice was the golden journey with R.E. Skinner down through California’s Sacramento Valley. That was a 186 mile journey through a cornucopia of the Golden State’s agricultural wonders, climaxed by a […]

CHAPTER 33 Texas Tales and Louisiana Lessons Our first sizeable ride in the Lone Star State was with a wheat farmer, Alvin Jones. Our first question was: “Do you think we can count on a day or two of clear weather?” Mr. Jones answered with a slow drawl, speeded up just a bit by the […]

CHAPTER 32 A “Thank You” to the First Americans A pocket-sized copy of the New Testament—no larger than a deck of cards—became a part of our baggage partly because it contained more reading matter per ounce than any other book. When you tote a pack 27,000 miles, every ounce counts. Great treasures can come wrapped […]

CHAPTER 31Our Names Are on the Map Tulsa, Oklahoma was our objective. Our purpose in targeting that city as a special “port of call” was to visit our uncle who was a minister there, at All Soul’s Church. Severe road conditions continued to dog us in this 27th state of ours. But the last seventy-five […]

CHAPTER 30 Slow Journey Through Arkansas Arkansas at last. From all previous knowledge of the state we were not sure there would be any roads at all and more than suspected we’d have to cross it on muleback. Our surprise was great upon finding ourselves on a beautiful broad highway with an abundance of automobile […]