4. Fortuna: Meeting Barbara and the Lives and Enterprises That Ensued:

 The house that we rented in California was a nice single story older home right on Highway 101 - close enough that the logging trucks rattled everything as they rolled by.  It had two bathrooms, both added after the original construction.  One had a big claw footed bathtub that we painted with polka dots.  Climate  was warmer than Spangle but much more humid.  Rains, the season  before we arrived, washed out  access roads along the Eel River affecting several small communities whose students went to school in Fortuna. Much to our surprise, the river would gain 14 feet in height overnight. You had to watch the weather carefully if you were going fishing so that you would not get stranded. I quit fishing with one buddy because he took too many chances for me. The marine climate took its toll on our children, we seemed to keep the doctors in business.  

The teaching assignment was similar to what I had been teaching and yet quite different.  My General Science classroom had a saltwater aquarium that gave me an excuse to get out to the tide lands. Metal Shop was much bigger and had a lot more equipment. Study Hall was a terrible job, I had to ride herd on 75 to 100 kids of all grade levels in the school Library.  Keeping some sort of control  with senior boys particularly who made it a point to try to control the situation.  A few tough incidents were certainly not educational but did set the stage for who was in charge.  Of course I drove school bus there too, navigating over some of those roads that serviced the outlying communities that had been stranded by washouts the winter before.

Both Barbara and I got involved in community activities.  We both joined the Methodist Church and attended almost every Sunday, and we put up Christian yard displays at Christmas time. Barbara joined the local ladies club and attended meetings that were mostly luncheons. These helped her become acquainted with more of the locals.  I joined the Toastmasters organization and took on three algebra students for  after school tutoring.  The setting was perfect for the study of Oceanography and I spent a lot of spare time doing just that, including clamming and fishing.  Barbara and I spent a lot of time thinking about building a house. I drew up plans, with Barbara's consultation, for a Saddle Roof House.  There was a wonderful spot for such a house that we liked but it was not available at the time.  Word got around that I was doing architectural drawings and a radiator repair company in a neighboring town asked if I would design a tilt up concrete shop. I made it clear that I was not licensed to do that kind of work but they went on with their plans.  I drew up the plans and got paid for the effort but as far as I know the building was never built. 

My folks drove to Fortuna for a visit and proposed a deal that would give us the farm at Middleton if we would come back to Idaho.  It was an intriguing offer and we weighed the pros and cons.  The fact that the kids always had colds weighed heavily, and we decided to take the offer.  Along with regular activities we began to make plans for the move. I applied for a teaching job in Boise and got a contract which helped in making the move possible.  But first, Barbara was pregnant and we were expecting a new family member.

Amy was born March 5,1959, all with a flurry of activity.  As I recall Barbara was talking on the telephone and the water broke.  That made for a rapid response, grabbing the two kids and the suitcase that had been packed with this in mind, we were off to the hospital. Weather was not a problem with this birth-- all we had to put up with was rain and getting Barb there on time, which we did and the family now had three wonderful children.

The rest of the school year was a flurry of activities; closing down and finalizing the teaching assignment and all the ancillary projects and engagements that had been started, taking care of the logistics of making the move, most of which have been lost to memory.  Somehow, we had brother Byron’s Volkswagen pickup in which to make our move. I do not remember how we got everything in a pickup, but neither do I remember getting a U-haul or a moving van.   I do remember the pickup because it broke down on us at Riley, Oregon, at the junction of highway 20 and road 395. 

 I tried to make repairs that night until the Motel manager told me to quit working because I was making too much noise and keeping everyone awake.  We finally had to call my father for help.  At that time he had an older pickup truck that he decided he could drive to us and pull us home.  That is exactly what happened.  My dad arrived at Riley with a tow rope, and he towed the Volkswagen all the way to our new home in Middleton, Idaho; about 189 miles. I am sure he wished he had not set this move in motion as it took many stops and consultations to make the towing work, but we made it without further incident.

Frank