Pike's Peak Fades In Distance... And Western Jaunt's Completed

[Page 1] US ON A BUS . 9, Sports 27-31 Women . . 4.7 Pike's Peak Fades In Distance... And Western Jaunt's Completed (Charles G. Griffo, news rode all night with the snoweditor of The Indianapolis capped peak of Pike's Peak Star, recently embarked on a greeting us at daylight, a 6,000-mile trip by Greyhound sight that fascinated Chuck, bus through the South and Gregory and Mary and even Southwest with four of his interested Martha who at 14 children while the other 1100 is at the teen-age stage of remained at home with Mrs. sophisticated disinterest to G. Here is his last story.) anything or anyone who CHARLES G. GRIFFO does not sing, dance or play By music. U.S. 40 - Homeward Bound It's back home It was the young bell-hop - Indiana after in Denver who shook his again in a day Pike's Peak and head in amazement after I in Denver, Mount Evans, a stop- brought over seven the Kan- We had planned to gO pieces of luggage, added to over in and through by the typewriter, cameras Oklahoma. sas City DENVER, the mile-high and SO forth and then reeastward out of St. Louis. city, also was the tranship- packed. That bus ping point for the Griffo lug- IT WAS a move. strategic just got on gage, a probably The remainder of the trip fact that U.S. 40, the always will be remembered we had only one small bag National Road, at a small hotel near the bus plus the cameras and therand sat there. depot. mos jug and the radio to We changed We rented a room to clean contend with. original up in and also to transfer the Note to Mrs. Griffo. The our schedule in or- luggage so that we could leave on a Griffo ship on home that which next time we der to see let's pack just about a needed for the re- trip Peak and the other was not third clothes as we Pike's as mainder of the trip. many beautiful mountains around Denver and it was worth it. Out of Albuquerque, we Turn to Page 20, Column 5

[Page 2] Us On A Bus Concluded From Page 1 believe we will need. End note. It was from Denver to Kansas City that our band of four children and a father took on a recruit. A 13-year-old Boy Scout, complete with regalia, was put on at Denver to be met at Kansas City by an aunt. And who watched the little tenderfoot? Yours truly of course. In the process I also became the companion of an 85-year-old woman, traveling from Phoenix to Pittsburgh. A nice friendly soul, she was a gre a t-grandmother and was quick to show the the pictures to prove it. HER MAIN trouble was that during stop-overs she, as she so aptly put it, "become confused about what bus to take next." She stayed with us to Indianapolis and then went on. I hope she made it and I'm sure she did. Looking back now there could be a review of the usual statistics that make up such a trip. The total mileage was around 6,000, give or take a few. The number of times I was asked "What time is it?" was in the thousands. Gregory's shoe laces were tied at least 10 times in each of the 13 states visited. I KEPT NO count of the bathroom trips. I gave up on this category. The comb and brush were lost at least every hour on the hour throughout the full 14 days we were gone. The number of hamburgers eaten I wouldn't venture to guess. The best crack of the trip was when Chuck answered the question, "Do you want a hamburger?" with the question, "Is there any other kind?" We had figured the trip would take close to three weeks but were able to make it in the two without rush. I know that I couldn't have traveled the same distance by driving in anywhere close to the time. As for taking care of the brood, I was quick to brag that there was nothing to it. "I just laid down the law," I told Mrs. G. in letters home. The kids had another explanation. "We took good care of Daddy," Martha told our aged friend as we were pulling into Terre Haute. And that's probably what they'll tell their mother, too!