Gail and Denvy
Almost 50 Years and Counting
Year Seventeen - 1986
 



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Europe on a Shoestring with a Friend's Car

     In early summer of '85, Gail took a quick trip to the states. During her absence, each Denvy and Gail wrote a letter to the other. The letters crossed in the mail but somehow offered up the suggestion of traveling to Europe. The plans were laid and in late March 1986, Gail and Denvy flew over the North Pole into London. After a couple days exploring the traditional tourist sites, they rented a car in London and on the "wrong side" of the car and street toured southern Scotland.
     A week later they ferried to France, took the train to Frankfurt and were greeted by military friends whom they had known while living in Anchorage. Another couple, also friends from Anchorage, lived in a small village near another military base where she worked. They borrowed the couple's car and house while the couple visited Poland through a pre-arranged tour. They saw the typical southern Germany sites, with a brush through Austria and Switzerland. They watched for new ideas for wooden toys and also bought some German made Teddy bears for the shop back home.
     Back in Trapper Creek, the kids were at home with a young teacher who had just had a baby and appreciated living in the house with running water. However, from the kids' point of view, this was one of the worse things that Gail and Denvy could have done; leaving them a home with someone else while dad and mom toured Europe. It's something they have never forgotten. Gail and Denvy on the other hand thought it was the trip of a lifetime, just the two of them eating cheese, sausage and fresh bread in a park in Germany.
     It seemed like the only appropriate thing to do was to consider another trip to Hawaii. After all, Denvy had put a stack in the snowbank by the house so they could record the depth of the snow as it melted. Unfortunately the weather was subzero at times and the snow never did any melting.