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Family Stories
A potpourri of stories about various family members or events
I know which way to go
The following looks at one event of the 2.5-week trip we took in 1969 to the East Coast region. See http://alhibbard.com/blogs/familyStories/overview_of_1969_trip_east.php for the whole story. That overview and this focused story are also both based on a trip diary that mom wrote.
On Thursday, August 14, 1969, about 4:00 in the morning, our family arrived within 30 miles of Montreal, our target for the next day. The day before, Wednesday, we started from near Mackinac Bridge, stopped to see the locks at Sault St. Marie, went on to Sudbury, Ontario to look at the nickel mining area, and we finally got to Ottawa (the capital of Canada) about 2:30 a.m. Most of us were sleeping for many of the last hours, but some of us woke up when we stopped in Ottawa. I am sure that Dad was tired from driving and needed a break. We looked at a few sites near the Parliament and then drove for about another 1.5 hours, and we all slept. Until 6:00 a.m.
At that point, we drove to the parking area for the city by the metro and had breakfast. I don’t recall if we took the metro to the Expo 67 or had some other means of transportation, but it was helpful to get there early since our Travelall with a small camper in tow took up some space. Our goal was to spend some time at this World’s Fair that was initially held from April to October 1967 and then extended for subsequent years at a lower level of events. It has been reported that it was the most successful world’s fair of the 20th century.
We started touring the various buildings and venues together, the six of us. The U.S. Pavillion was a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. It was impressive.
U.S. Pavillion
As with going to any large fair (we used to regularly go to the Benton County fair, which seemed large to me), visiting such a place involves lots of walking, stopping, viewing, and realigning with the group. Because different exhibits have different interest levels for various people, a group of 6 does not always stay tightly together. At a certain point, now I am not sure if it was in the late morning or early afternoon (we spent much of the day there), I found myself separated from my family. I looked all around and saw no familiar faces, forms, or clothing. Then, I started frantically running off in various directions and coming back, and trying another direction. And again. Finally, I decided to set myself put. In hindsight, I have no idea why I decided to stay put. Perhaps our parents had recommended this to us, or I had read about doing so in the many adventure books that I had read. I was 11 years old at this point. I don’t remember the details now, but I remember the place I chose to stay had a somewhat circular structure, and it was a bit higher up. Perhaps this gave me some visibility in several directions. It may have been the following location, but I can not be sure.
Possible waiting location
I waited. And waited. It seemed like a long time. I started thinking about how I would handle things if I couldn’t reconnect with my family. I knew where I was (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and I knew where I wanted to go (St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States). I also knew that French was the main language in Quebec, but some of the road signs also had English. I determined that I would have to start walking if I could not reconnect with my family. And I was confident that I could do it. I knew that I had to go roughly west, but also some south. What I didn’t know was that it was almost 1200 miles. Nor did I estimate that walking 25 miles per day (not so hard for one day) would take 48 days (which would be a much greater feat, with much sorer feet). Good thing I didn’t think about this since then, I would have worried about being late for school to start. I was about to have my first year as a sixth grader in Agassiz Junior High (in Fargo, ND). Yes, there may have been a few other details that I didn’t think about.
I know you are wondering if I was ever found by my family. Yes. There was a joyful and tearful reunion. I was so happy. I don’t recall any scolding by my parents, but my joy may have erased that portion of my memory of the event. I do remember not worrying or being afraid as I waited, but being concerned. I never considered myself lost, just separated. As (Daniel Boone purportedly answered) to the question “Have you ever been lost”, said “No, but I was a might bewildered a few times.” I also was bewildered.
Published 2021-01-29. Revised 2025-06-30.
If you find any error(s) in the text, please let me know. Thanks. Contact me with errors or comments using hibbardac@gmail. [Back to the top] [About the author, Al]
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