"Sometimes the unexpected makes the best memories."
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My whole family was nuts about old cars when I was a teenager, Model A Fords especially. And we liked to take them on road trips in the summer. Sometimes we would have twenty people along for the ride.
On our most ambitious trip, we drove up to Calgary, across to Vancouver and back to Los Angeles. We had the usual break downs, accidents and wild adventures along the way.
We were making good time on the day our destination was Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, and had planned that evening's dinner at the Chateau Lake Louise. The Chateau is one of the finest hotels in the world in a magnificent setting on the shore of Lake Louis. We packed nice clothes especially for that evening, while our wardrobe for the rest of the trip was just tee shirts and jeans.
In the lead of our caravan that day, I came to a sign that read 'Lake Louise 3 miles' and also 'Lake Louise 5' miles pointing in opposite directions. We took the shorter route not realizing we might as well have chosen to drive up Mt. Everest.
We did all right for a while, but gradually the terrain became so steep and narrow that the motorhome pulling a trailer loaded with a Model A couldn't make the grade. So we decided to tow it, with the Suburban, which also had a trailer with another disabled Model A on it. We didn't get much farther, though we spent about an hour trying, getting filthy in the process. We met lots of nice Canadians though, since they couldn't get around us on the narrow road, they tried to help. When the Royal Canadian Police came on the scene they ordered us to "Get this menagerie off the road!"
We did, backing down the mountain. The five-mile route turned out to be flat, as we headed to the small hotel where we were to stay. Running very late for our dinner reservation, we tried to move the time back to no avail.
So we had no choice but to pile twenty of us in the motorhome and race to the Chateau just as we were. We bore a striking resemblance to the before scenes from The Beverly Hillbillies.
As we walked into the elegant restaurant surrounded by other diners finely attired I couldn't help noticing the portrait of the Queen. And I do believe that is the only time that a portrait has made me blush.
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