JUDITH DARLENE HAMMER

MAY 31, 1938 – AUGUST 8, 2023

Part 12 was published November 13, 2023, and can be found here.

Glacier National Park

On our way to visit this park, we went through Minneapolis. Cousin Roger lived there, so we spent the night with him. He took us out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was raining hard when we were ready to leave. He pulled his car up on the sidewalk next to the restaurant door so Judy wouldn’t get wet.

Cousin Roger also took us to the Minesota state capitol building, where we climbed to the top of the building. We then climbed out of a window and onto a ladder which took us to the top of the dome. Roger also took us to where we could see the giant four-lane bridge that went from St. Paul to Minneapolis that had collapsed.

Glacier National Park was a beautiful place. Part of it was in America and part in Canada. They took us by bus from the America side to the Canadian side.

We spent a night at Pete and Maricela’s at their home in Winfield. They took us to a park that had many different varieties of flowers.

Prince Edward Island

Judy and I rode the train from Chicago to Truro, Nova Scotia. On these long trips, we rode in a sleeper car. The scenery was fantastic.

At Truro, we rented a car and drove across the Northumberland Strait to Prince Edward Island. We toured the island. We then toured Charlottetown. A very interesting place. The biggest attraction was Anne of Green Gables. This opera had been performing for 30 years, and this was their last performance. While standing in line, we met this lady from Texas. Her son was the new County Agent for the county - Cheyenne County in Colorado. His wife has just had triplets. It was in all the news for eastern Colorado.

Judy and I enjoyed our train trips.

One time I went back to the lounge car to visit with the local guys. I was wearing this belt buckle that my brother-in-law made for me. It was a silver buckle with my brand inlaid with turquoise. The Canadians wondered why I would wear a buckle with “Eh” on it. In Canada every sentence ends with “Eh.” For example: “How are you doing today, Eh?” “Where are you from, Eh?” “That’s a nice-looking shirt, Eh.”

While touring this area, we were driving through a dense forest when three moose came out of the woods and crossed the highway. We were talking to some local people, and they said that it was very rare to see a moose.

Darrel and Yvonne to Vermont

We took our good friends, Darrel and Yvonne Schallenberger of Kit Carson, on a train trip to Vermont. We had a layover in some town between Chicago and Vermont. This town had a big movie theater that showed four different movies at once. We had time to watch a movie. We chose the only G-rated one showing. We were the only people watching the film.

The fall colors in Vermont were beautiful. I can’t remember where we got off the train and rented a car. We visited a railroad museum and an old village. We met up with Jim and Berry Besse and visited a marble museum. From there we went to Niagara Falls, which was awesome.

On our way back, we had a layover in the same town with the big theater. Yvonne was so tired she just sat on the bench by the railroad station. Darrel, Judy, and I took a walking tour of different attractions.

Judy and I enjoyed our train trips, but it is always good to get back home.

Next: Train Trip to Oregon