On this day in 1984, just months before the Olympic Games were to begin in Los Angeles, California the Soviets announced they would be boycotting the games. So, I decided to share a memory from my past as today’s Image of the Day.
Along with the 1984 Olympics came their mascot, Sam The Eagle. Sam was EVERYWHERE! Luckily for me I got to go on vacation with my friends family that year. The vacation was in one of those campers attached on top of a pickup truck. The plan was to drive from New Jersey, down to Louisiana, then across to the Pacific, and then follow a northern router back to Jersey. Well, when we got to Louisiana (New Orleans specifically) to visit my friend’s stepmother’s brother they realized we weren’t going to have time to do the entire planned tripped.
Instead we got on a plane and flew to LAX. The goal was to actually stand in the Pacific Ocean, but as soon as we got off the plane we rented a car and headed for Arizona. The destination was The Grand Canyon. What an amazing site it was. I was only 13 at the time, but it is embedded in my memory forever. Now living in Oklahoma I think at some point we will definitely have to take a trip out there to see the Canyon.
Anyway, after the Canyon we made a beeline back to L.A.. Nowhere was Sam splattered all over everything more than in Los Angeles. While there we got to see the Hollywood sign, walk in the Pacific, and even bottle up a few jars of the Pacific to bring home with us, as well as some sand. lol
One other souvenir I brought back from L.A. with me was the stuffed Sam The Eagle Mascot stuffed animal in today’s Image of the Day.
To finish off the vacation bit of the story… We left from LAX headed back to New Orleans to get the camper. From there we headed north through parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and into Indiana where we visited my friend’s oldest brother at the Air Force base he was stationed at. Then across Ohio and onto Pittsburgh, PA to visit the step-mom’s other brother. Finally onward to home in Jersey.
Since I know I skipped some of the travels in the beginning of the story…We went through all of these states from start to finish: NJ, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana…flew to California, drove to Arizona, drove back to CA, flew back to LA, drove through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, PA, NJ.
We were in 16 different states on that trip. I was very lucky to have a friend and his family like that. I got to see and do many things I never would have had an opportunity to do if it were not for them. On other trips with them I also got to go to: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, just barely New Hampshire, and Vermont. That makes a total of 21 of the 50 states. Since then I have also added Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kansas, and of course Oklahoma. So, I have been to more than half (26) of the United States now. Maybe the goal can be to get to the other 22 contiguous ones.
Thanks for taking this trip through my past with me, it was fun remembering it all.
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