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Blog Entry 118 of 122 Gladys Mercier, Arvada.
I like living in Arvada.I am a member of Trinity Baptist Church and have many good friends there.I lived in the same house in Denver until I married, so as you can see, I am a native.My husband and I adopted 2 Korean sons who are now adults, 1 is a State Patrol Sgt., the other is an upholsterer. My husband died Sept.1st,2005. My family is a real blessing to me.I will probably write most about them, especially my great grandchildren (3)

Dumb and Dumber?
Contributed by: Gladys Mercier   on 6/28/2008

Bob and I did lots of dumb things when we were young. We didn't think so at the time, though we may have wondered in the back of our minds if they were maybe not too smart.
We would take a mattress along on vacation trips and sleep on roadside picnic tables when we didn't have enough money for motels, food and gas. We opted for the food and gas. The lack of money didn't stop us from going on trips, it just made us more resourceful.
Once, on the way to California, we pulled into a casino parking lot in Nevada to sleep in our van. Bob parked under a nice bright light, thinking we would be safer. In the morning, we couldn't see out the windshield since it was covered with tiny black bugs that would not go away. We had to go to a car wash and use a big vacumn to get them off.
Our 2 boys liked to play in the sand so Bob decided to build them a sand box in our back yard. Did he go to Lowes and buy some sand? No.... We put a 33 gallon barrel in the trunk of our car, tied it down well and set off for the South Platte river near Deckers where we knew there was a lot of sand just lying there, not being used. Going down to the river was via a very steep gravel road.
We parked on the sand and filled the barrel, got in the car....and were stuck in the sand! We took the barrel out, emptied it, got out on the road , put the barrel back in the trunk and filled it again. Now we were all set. Ha! When Bob started driving UP the very steep road, he could barely move the car and then I felt the front wheels leave the ground. That was enough for me to bail out.
I got out of the car to walk back down while Bob very carefully manuevered his way down, with the front wheels still lifting off the road at times.
Finally he got back down to the river road and we went around the long way home through Foxton where there were no steep roads.
The kids had a geat sand box.



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Showing 1-10 of 11 comments
Submitted By: Jamie VanEaton
posted on 7/12/2008 @ 12:15:44 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I've seen worse things on picnic tables.
Submitted By: Sarah Paige
posted on 7/11/2008 @ 4:07:56 PM
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OMG! Sounds like something my dad would do :o) Love it!
Submitted By: Stan Dyer
posted on 7/10/2008 @ 8:00:24 AM
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Your sand story reminded me of that movie with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, "The Long Trailer", or something like that. Remember the fun they had?
Submitted By: Barbara Neff
posted on 7/6/2008 @ 8:43:22 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Oh, my gosh, Gladys! I laugh out loud that you and Bob would tote a mattress and use it as overnight accommodations on picnic tables as you traveled! Hey, with gas over $4 per gallon and travel expenses soaring, I think you are onto something. Great, great story.
Submitted By: Katherine Jerome
posted on 7/5/2008 @ 7:18:28 PM
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Being resourceful is very smart Gladys........so is knowing when to bail out of a car. All's well that ends well!
Submitted By: Karin Malchow
posted on 7/3/2008 @ 10:23:57 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Never brought our own mattress, but stayed in some motels where the other residents were transients and crunchy insects. Come to think of it, it would have been smarter to bring a mattress.
Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 6/30/2008 @ 9:10:40 PM
Rated Blog Entry
No one will go to Deckers for sand at these gas prices! What an awesome story! We know the road and we know how steep it is (someone should have told Bob there was lots of free sand in Sedalia lol)By the way, I've slept in many "odd" places myself while traveling. Someday we need to get together and talk more about it....
Submitted By: Paul Thurston
posted on 6/30/2008 @ 8:24:29 AM
Rated Blog Entry
That's a great story!! We all have "closet" stories like this. Thank you for sharing.
Submitted By: Tom Treloar
posted on 6/30/2008 @ 6:40:26 AM
Rated Blog Entry
I have done dumb things too.
Submitted By: Bill Prather
posted on 6/29/2008 @ 10:09:40 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Fantastic! Keep up the memories and please, please, please!!! keep sharing them!
Showing 1-10 of 11 comments
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Gladys Mercier

Arvada , CO

Gladys Mercier has posted 122 blog entries and 934 comments since joining on 12/9/2005. Gladys Mercier 's average blog rating is 4.99.
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