It wasn’t until we were making
plans to move to Regina that we realized there had been a mistake on the visas
of my family. We crossed the border into the United States on September 4,
1972. We were told the visa was good for two years. Not true. The departure
date on the visa was August 4.We had to be out of the good old USA by August 4,
1974. That wasn’t a huge problem, as we needed to be in at Canadian Bible
College the middle of August. We just had less time than we had hoped for. We
set our departure for August 1.
It was going to work out fine. My
friend Bill Higgen’s had accepted a position at Hillsdale Alliance Church in
Regina and we decided to travel together. He had to be in Regina by the
fifteenth of August. Timing could not have been better. We wanted to allow four
days for the 28-hour trip 1759-mile drive.
We waited until just after dark on
July 31 to begin our trip north. Neither the Higgen’s nor us had
air-conditioned cars and we would have to drive through the Nevada desert the
first week of August. Well, we didn’t have too, but it was the shortest
distance. We decided if we crossed the desert during the night, it would be
cooler. Wrong.
We had packed both family goods
into one U-Hall truck and left a part of the world we had grown to love. It was
hard to leave our friends, but exciting to begin a new adventure.
It was an ordeal getting out of
the greater Los Angeles area and onto I-15 to get over the mountains toward Las
Vegas. The heat began to be unbearable as soon as we crossed the mountains. We
had plenty of water for the car and to drink (if you like warm water). It was late
(or early) when we pulled into Las Vegas to fill up with gas. The kids were
restless but sleeping. The stop woke them up and they were dripping wet from
sweat. I asked the attendant the temperature and he said 120 degrees. I had
never been in heat like that before.
We did not stay in Las Vegas. We could
see the lights from the by-pass, but that was a close as we got. We filled up
with water and pushed on. We passed through the northwest corner of Arizona.
The sign told us we were passing the backside of the Grand Canyon. There went
another tourist destination we passed up. All we wanted to do was get out of
the heat.
My Dodge completely died in
southern Utah. It had over heated, but adding water did not help. Bill was
driving the U=Hall and towing their car. Neither of us was particularly
mechanically inclined, but it certainly sounded like the battery had gave up as
well. We unhooked Bill’s car and brought it around to try and jumpstart the
Dodge. Bill hooked it up but reversed the cables and burned out his battery (we
learned later). Now we had two broken down cars.
Digging out the map we figured we
were about 15 miles south of Cedar City. It didn’t appear to be the smallest
spot on the road. We decided that Della and the kids would crowd into the truck
cab with Bill and Jan get our families out of the heat. I would remain with the
Dodge and Bill would send a tow truck.
Bill left our families at a motel
near the station sending the tow truck and came back with the drive to get me.
It was hooked up and towed to Cedar City. Bill got a new battery but my car had
more serious problems. I can’t remember what the problem was, but know they
didn’t have the part. It would order the part in the morning and it would be
the next day before they could get it delivered. That meant we would not be on
the road again until the third of August.
While disappointed, the thought of
grabbing some sleep in an air-conditioned motel was very appealing. I crashed
and slept most of the day. Remarkably so did the kids. They slept until early
afternoon and Della got up with them, got them fed and took them to the pool.
They thought that was great.
The Higgen’s met us for supper
where we commiserated about our dilemma and had a very relaxing meal. We were
back at the pool after supper. The temperature here was in the low 100’s –p
much cooler. We were still in the desert and quite a distance yet from Salt
Lake City.
My car was repaired by 10:00 and
we were off after praying there would be no more delays. Two days later and one
more night in a motel we pulled into Regina. There were no more delays and it
taught me never to self diagnose any vehicle and never drive through the desert
again. When crossing the border the guard said you couldn’t have cut your
return to Canada any closer, could you?
It was late when we arrived, but
the church had a place for Bill and Jan for the night and we were back with
Grandma and Grandpa Rose, then the deans at Canadian Bible College.
Both families we now in the city
were we would live indefinitely. We would begin house hunting the next day.
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