MEMORIES OF DAYS GONE BY

Well I am home from my road trip to Nampa, Idaho where I grew up and where all my family lives.
First of all let me tell you about my first road trip alone. Yes, all by myself. I was so excited to be doing this because I have never traveled to another state all by myself.

I had planned to leave on Thursday morning really early about 7AM. On Wednesday I took my car in for service to have the oil and air filters changed and to have my tires checked. My car is a 2004 Crossfire and I don't drive it much since we moved to Coos Bay because it rains all the time and I like my little sports car to stay dry and clean and shinny right? So it only has about 45000 miles on it. The man at the Chrysler dealer told me that my air filter had sand it it! Without thinking that I had not had service done on this car in about 4 years since we left California because again, I don't drive it much I thought that strange but after telling my husband he said well DUH! we did live in California and I drove it 79 miles round trip on the freeway everyday to work. Okay that is where the sand came from! Then he told me my tires were split and needed to be changed right away.

I took it in to Les Schwab Tires here in Coos Bay and the gentleman there told me that my tires were a special size because it is a Crossfire. The front tires are smaller than the back tires and they are wider than most tires. He told me he had two for the front but would have to order the back tires from Portland. Ugh! I explained that I needed to leave the next day for Idaho and he promised that the tires would be delivered by 7Am the next day so I thought okay what is an hour or two?

We arrived at the tire store at 7AM and no tires. We waited until almost 11Am and they finally arrived. They were put on my car (almost $900.00 later) and off I went.

I was almost to Portland which is about 4 hours away when I started having problems with my eyes. They felt dry and so I stopped at a Target and bought some eye drops for dry eyes. It seemed to help so I put on my sunglasses and got back on the road. Less than an hour later going trough The Dalles my eyes were starting to blur really bad and I was having problems focusing. I again stopped and bought sone eye drops for tired eyes. This helped for a grand total of 15 minutes. It was horrible, I couldn't see clearly, my right eye felt like I had a log in it and both eyes were dry feeling.

I ran into road construction almost all the way through Oregon and it was raining with high winds all the way from The Dalles through Baker City. I was determined to make it the entire trip in 10 hours. I mean what is 10 hours right? I did not feel tired I just needed to shut my eyes as they were not working and I was really having problems seeing about 28 miles from Baker City. It was getting dark and I thought, please Lord get me to Baker City so I can stop for the night. I had a long straight shot to Baker City and I could see the lights of the town so I turned up my stereo, looked around to see if there were any cops and punched it. I was doing 85 MPH in a 65 MPH zone when out of no where there was a cop with his lights on right on my tail. Ooops! Needless to say I got a ticket. $286.00 !!

I crept on into Baker City and found a nice place to stay for the night. I put cold packs on my eyes and went to bed. The next morning they felt a bit better until I got back on the road. I made it to Caldwell, Idaho where my niece lives around 11AM. That night my right eye was itching really bad and still not normal. I thought it was just the strain of driving for so long. I went to the nearest drug store and got some more eye drops for tired, dry, itchy eyes and it seemed to help a lot. The next morning my right eye was stuck shut! Over the next few days it seemed to get better but as soon as I got on the freeway to go home it started again so again I had to stop in Portland for the night. I went to the eye doctor when I got home and I have a cold in my eyes and am on steroid drops for two weeks! Other than my eye problems, the wind and rain and road construction I had a good trip.

Between the ticket and the tires I could have flown but glad I was able to do this trip on my own and plan to do it again next year :)

I had a wonderful visit and I want to share some photos with you.

I grew up in Nampa, Idaho. My sweet niece Mandy took me on a tour of some of the old places that were different when I lived there.

This was the old train station when I lived there. Now it is a museum. It is such a beautiful building.

This was a radio station when I lived there. You could see the Disc Jockey sitting in that window spinning all your favorite tunes and you could walk up to it and request a song. Now it is a Real Estate Office.

This is the old PIX Theater where I would go to the movies. I was sad to see it is closed but they are working on opening it up again. Lots of memories there for sure. Remember the movie The Blob? Oh my gosh me and my girlfriend went and screamed along with all the other silly teenagers. I look back now and that movie was so phoney! It sure scared me at the time

This is the old Skating Rink I used to go skating at almost every Saturday. I met my first love here, his name was Ronnie Phillips. He was killed in a freak accident in 1986.

This is one of the oldest cafe's in Nampa. It is closed now but my niece, Cassidy and her husband Shawn just rented it and they are going to open a pizza shop.They are gutting it right now to remodel. If you ever get to Nampa go visit them. It will be "Messenger Pizza and Brewery". "The Messenger" was the name of the first News Paper in Nampa. They were featured on the front page of the local news paper today now known as Idaho Press Tribune... Here is the article...

BEST WISHES CASSIDY AND SHAWN, AUNT PATTI IS ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST FANS!!

NAMPA – A group of Nampa natives plan to transform the vacant former Little

Kitchen restaurant into a new downtown destination.

With a lease agreement for the 3,000-square-foot space signed this week, the

new occupants are busy rejuvenating the former restaurant into a pizzeria

and Canyon County's sole micro-brewery.

Shawn and Cassidy McKinley are teaming up with David and Jenn Schram to open

the Messenger pizzeria and brewery, hoping to renovate the space in time to

open by October.

Jenn Schram said the prospective operators have recently started the process

to get necessary brewing licenses and permits, and have already purchased

brewing equipment for fomenting.

The space already has basic restaurant infrastructure equipment such as

hoods and drainage. The McKinleys — known among friends for hosting “epic”

pizza parties at their Nampa home — hope to convert the kitchen into a

proper pizza-making facility. They also plan to make and sell artisan breads

Schram said the space on 1st Street South between 12th and 13th avenues

offers plenty of room for brewing downstairs and and an open lounge area

upstairs for patrons looking for handcrafted pizzas or brews.

She said she is excited about opening the business in downtown Nampa.

“The downtown area has changed so much with places like the White Pine,

Downtown Skate Shop, Brass Razzoo and others,” Schram said. “It's a

different set of businesses going in down there, and there's now a lot more

things to do downtown, which is really exciting.”

The Messenger pizzeria and brewery owners will hold a small private

fundraiser party this weekend for the project, but also plan community

This is Lakeview School (I never saw a Lake!) I attended 4th, 5th and 6th grade here. I walked to school everyday about a mile. What a great old building. IT looks the same.



This is Central Junior High School built in 1929 located right across the street from my niece Cassidy. My niece Mandy and her Aunt Sherry and I walked across the street and look around and took pictures. This is where I went to school in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Lots of memories here :)

This was Lonestar School. My Mother went to grade school here. It was purchased and turned into a house. Yes, someone lives here now! I want to go tour it! It looks like a mansion now.

Check out the front door. As a retired designer I can just imagine the possibilities in there.

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This is where I lived with my Mother as a teenager. It used to be so big to me but now it is just a small framed home. Did you ever notice that things look bigger when you are younger.

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This is is our first home in Nampa where we lived before we bought our own home. My youngest never lived here but David and DAngelo did. Lots of memories here :)

This is Cassidy making pizza at her home for a pizza party given just for ME! She makes the BEST pizza ever.

My brother Randy and his daughter, my niece, Sadie were there.

These are some of my memories of days gone by. Sad in a way that things change but that's life. Time marches on right?

Next post I will cover my wonderful niece Mandy and her cute children and visits with my Aunts and Uncle.

To be continued.......