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Glenn Griffin
Road Trip or I Still Haven’t Seen Elvis Presley
I just got off the phone with longtime friend and THS classmate (GJ) and his lovely wife (VJ, AHS Class 73) who recently returned to Amarillo from a road trip to Big Sky, Montana. They coincidentally ran into fellow THS classmate (SH) who retired to Big Sky. G and V had a great time there, exploring, rafting, hiking and biking. I also talked to fellow THS classmate, Charlie Waller, who is on a road trip as I type this story. All four folks are coming to the 50th Reunion.
Many of us have planned or are planning our road trips to Amarillo for the THS 50th reunion. Safe travels to all those traveling Labor Day weekend. While planning our visit to Amarillo I thought back to my first road trip with CW, during the summer before our senior year at Tascosa…..
Just a little history. I started working summer jobs after my freshman year at Bonham. Northrup Nursery Feed and Seed near 45th and Canyon E-way was my first place of employment. My job included watering plants and trees but I soon found out my primary job was sacking and hauling seed and grain. It was heavy, hard and dirty work that involved going to nearby farms, loading grain into trucks and hauling it back to Northrup’s for sacking into 40-80 lb bags. Or unloading hundreds of 40-80 lb bags of grain and seed off train cars and trucks for delivery to Northrup’s and ultimately to respective farms. It was the type of job that encouraged one to continue their education, if you know what I mean. I made about $1200 that summer and my Dad encouraged me to save and invest most of the money. Which I did. I bought 100 shares of stock in our classmate’s (MP) Dad’s company, Mesa Petroleum at $9 per share. (Thank you Boone Pickens and Mesa Petroleum. Mesa did a lot for me and Amarillo for sure and we are all grateful for that). I bought the stock through another classmate’s (BF) father who was a stockbroker. Soon that stock went up in value to $23 per share. I then sold the stock and had enough money to purchase my first car, a red Chevrolet Vega, with standard transmission, no AC, a 4 cylinder aluminum engine and very good gas mileage. It was great for me at the time: economical, low maintenance and paid for. (I recently read that the Chevy Vega was one of the top 20 “Worst Cars Ever Made.”)
Now, you all may recall that in the early 70’s there were grocery stores at S. Fillmore St. & 10th St. and at the 2300 block of Georgia where the current CD Ski and Sports is. I used to sell empty soda bottles for 5 cents/bottle to those stores for gas money. I know some guys would sell bottles to the cashiers at the front of the store, then go around to the back of the store to the bottle storage area and take bottles out, only to return to the front of the store and resell the same bottles! The ashtray in my car was always full of change: quarters, dimes and lots of nickels.
And some might remember Mr. Watkins’ Service Station (I can’t remember if it was a Phillips 66 or Esso or Diamond Shamrock) near 6th Street and Western St. where Skooterz Bar and Grill is presently. Our family frequently traded at that service station. Gas was about 25 cents/gal and we always had great service there. On one occasion while getting gas, Mr. Watkins told me that he had a son, Tommy Watkins who was a pit boss at the Hilton International Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. He said that if I ever went to Vegas he would contact his son and let him know I was headed his way. And he did. Soon after that visit I started looking at road maps! Road trip!.....
My next contact was to call our classmate, friend, fellow wrestler and hodophile, Charlie Waller, aka CW. (A hodophile is someone who loves to travel by road). We immediately started planning our road trip from Amarillo to Los Angeles, CA and back. A one week trip, just prior to the start of our Senior year at THS. We had ~$150 each, an ashtray full of change, two sleeping bags, one cooler and a full gas tank. (My Dad gave me an Esso credit card for emergencies only).
Friday, at 10:00 AM, CW and I took off headed to El Paso/Ciudad Juárez, our first stop. We wanted to experience the inexpensive shopping, good food and famous hospitality we had heard about from our upper classmates. When we arrived in El Paso late in the afternoon we parked on the US side near a bridge which crossed into Mexico. I gathered my cash and stuffed my front pockets with change from the ashtray, locked the car and off we went, across the border and into a foreign country. It was bustling with people, animals, cars, carts, street vendors, shops and bars. All kinds of chatter could be heard in both Spanish and English. We walked, took in the sights, shopped and purchased cheap souveniers. As the sky darkened and Juarez lit up we decided to forego restaurants, in order to save room for drink! We headed to the infamous Piano Bar, which other classmates had told us about. Tequila shots and bottled beer were a quarter apiece. No ID required. And I had a pocket full of change. “SALUD!” The place had a welcoming entrance which opened to a giant bar with a long brass foot railing and several tables and booths. Past the bar was a large wooden dance floor in front of several brightly lit green felt topped pool tables. Beyond was an uncarpeted hallway dimly lit by a few red light bulbs. Folks were starting to gather in the bar.
Not only was CW an outstanding wrestler, (he later wrestled a bear in Dallas and pinned the bear!) he is also an outstanding pool player. After a toast, two shots of tequila and a swig of ice cold beer, CW grabbed a pool cue stick and set his eyes on what appeared to be 2 local guys playing pool with cash on the top rail of the table and 3 friends observing. I knew CW was going to take on the winner. I stayed seated at the bar as he walked across the dance floor to the pool table area and placed a $10 bill on the top rail of their table! To make a long story short, CW let the guy win the first game. The money on the rail was now $20 and the guy said, “Let it ride”. CW magically won the second game by “baiting” his opponent with missed shots and excellent cue ball placement. CW then let the $40 “ride”. I’m sitting at the bar, taking shots of tequila, licking salt off the web of my left hand and biting lemons just having a good time watching “the Master”. $80 on the table. CW started the 3rd game with the breakout shot and made 2 balls. He made one more ball then missed. The opponent made 2 balls, then missed. CW then ran the table, made the 8 ball in the “said” pocket and easily won the game. He picked the money off the top rail, walked across the dance floor and made it to the bar. I noticed his opponent with a cue stick in hand informing his four friends that he had been hustled, and saw they were headed our way! I quickly reached into my front pocket and grabbed a handful of change and threw it onto the center of the dance floor. There was a loud tapping and clattering of change dancing across the wooden floor. Suddenly, all kinds of people were now scrambling on the dance floor to gather the money, blocking the 5 guys headed our direction. I grabbed my sack of souvenirs and we rushed out the front of the bar and quickly got lost in a crowd of people heading back to the border. Somehow, once back in El Paso we found a “crash house” and grabbed our sleeping bags to spend the night. When we entered this house there were only a few people scattered about sleeping. We then crashed. When we woke up in the morning the place was packed with people sleeping. As we left, I put the remaining change from my pocket in a “donation jar” and off we went….
Second stop, Phoenix, AZ, via The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. We enjoyed seeing Phoenix and Scottsdale and even ran up Camelback Mountain. That night we stayed in what was to be Phoenix’s newest, largest and most elegant Holiday Inn only it was under construction! Somehow we found a way up to the second floor of the construction site and unrolled our sleeping bags. We felt safer up there but was it hot. Thank goodness no construction was going on. When we woke up the next morning, we found and used an outside showering area prior to taking off for our next stop….
Las Vegas, NV! In those days there was no cover over “Downtown Vegas”. Fremont Street! Binion's Horseshoe, 4 Queens, The Mint and Golden Nugget and others! We had our picture taken with the Million Dollar Horseshoe at Binion’s. Then at some point I called Tommy Watkins and informed him we would be at the Hilton International early that evening. Next we took a jaw dropping ride up and down the Strip. We saw Circus Circus, Riviera, Stardust, The Dunes, Caesar’s Palace and others as we drove to the Hilton. At the time the Hilton was all by itself on International Boulevard and was Vegas’ most grand hotel. We entered all smiles and bug-eyed, and met Mr. Watkins. He was a really nice, well groomed man, in a suit and tie. After we introduced ourselves and exchanged a few pleasantries he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out four tickets! He said, “Boys, I’ve got 2 tickets for Elvis or 2 tickets for the Burlesque Show. Which would you like?” ……Well, to this day, I still haven’t seen Elvis! We really enjoyed the burlesque show which ended about midnight. We then headed back to Fremont Street for an early breakfast at Binion’s and more gambling. About 5:30 AM we found a KOA Campground, threw out our sleeping bags for a few hours of sleep. Then off we went….
Whew! Next stop, San Diego, CA. Beaches and the San Diego Zoo. From there up to Anaheim, CA and Disneyland. We were probably the last visitors to leave Disneyland that night. We found another construction site to park at and I seem to recall we slept in the car that night. We awoke early due to the din of large construction trucks about our parked car. Surprisingly, they didn’t bother us and we left soon after we woke up. Then up the coast we went…..
Next stop, Venice Beach, and thank goodness for outdoor showers! We enjoyed the beach, swam in the ocean then cleaned up and off we went to Sunset Strip. Someone there told us about Burbank, CA. So, off we went to the Johnny Carson Show. At that time the show was filmed in the early afternoon and admission was free but you had to wait in line. Which we did. I guess the folks waiting were called “seat fillers.” Which we were. Now, I’ve forgotten who the guests were but just recall it was a really neat experience. Once the show was over it was back down to Santa Monica Beach then to Westwood Village and Hollywood Blvd. We roamed around that area until late in the evening and grabbed a bite to eat. Big, thick, juicy cheeseburgers from a well known local chain called Fat Burgers. Unforgettable hamburgers for sure. It was getting late so we looked for a place to stay and sure enough found just the right place…. The Beverly Hills Country Club! The parking lot was dark and empty. We parked far away from the clubhouse but near the enclosure fence. We grabbed our sleeping bags and up and over the fence we went. I recall we found a place to sleep, the designated putting-green practice area where the grass was nice and short. All went well until about 4:30 or 5:00 AM when the automatic sprinkler system came on and we quickly got soaking wet. We moved to a dryer area but as the sun rose we were soon run off by a greenskeeper who escorted us out the front gates, sleeping bags in hand. Both CW and I realized it was time to start heading home…..
After one more trip to the beach and one last dip in the ocean, we headed east and made it to Flagstaff, AZ for the night. Flagstaff is and was a quaint place at about 7,000 ft elevation. It’s cold up there at night, even in the summer. And colder yet, sleeping outside, no tent, in wet sleeping bags in a campground area. Which is what we did! The morning couldn’t have come soon enough! On our way east again to what I have always called, “The Holy Land,” ……Texas and Amarillo.
From Flagstaff to Amarillo, at 60 mph in those days and only stopping for gas took forever it seemed. As we rolled into Amarillo, I know we both said a little silent prayer for the safe trip we had. It was nice to get home. My ashtray was empty of change. We had a great road trip. Our senior year at THS started in the next few days. Goober
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