February 24, 1946
February 1946. World War II is over and wartime production jobs were ending. During the war, Carl and Georgie worked a number of jobs in several places, finishing the war in Pocatello, Idaho. They elected to return to Iowa, where they both had family, but opted to make a grand tour of the west on the way. Georgie wrote a journal of the trip. The story starts here.
Went to church in Burlingame the next morning with Regis, one of the girls who lived with Earlene, and left Burlingame about noon. We were really grateful to Earlene as she made our visit to San Francisco so interesting.
Drove south on the El Camino Real (King’s Highway) through Redwood City and Palo Alto. Saw the Leland Stanford University there.
Drove through a wooded region and saw many picnic grounds where you pay to for a picnic. Climbed up to the skyline drive. This was beautiful sight as you could look out and see for miles. Drove to Big Basin to see the Redwood State Park. All the roads to in the park were very narrow and the corners so sharp we sometimes wondered if we wouldn’t meet our trailer. We didn’t especially care for the Park. The redwoods as very impressive because of their size but it seems they thrive best where it is damp. Usually one side of the tree was green with moss because of the dampness and the trees are so large they cut out all sunlight. We stopped at the Park Headquarters and took some pictures of the George Washington tree.
Carl and Georgie at the George Washington Tree
On our way to Santa Cruz we passed many summer homes in the canyons. Almost everyone had a name and their construction was typically Californian – quaint. At Santa Cruz we had the usual trouble finding a place to stay. Finally found a motel. The air was so damp in that after we had the lit in the cabin the water streamed from the walls and it was almost impossible to keep a cigarette lit or a match lit long enough to light a cigarette. Our clothes and the bed clothes felt damp.
Walt’s Comments
Michelle tried to work out what tree is the George Washington tree, or at least what tree was called that in 1946. She didn’t have much luck. There are a number of parks and forests in California that claim to have a “George Washington Tree”. There’s a sequoia, a redwood, there’s one in Yosemite, there’s one in Sequoia National Park, there’s one in Calaveras County… but Redwood State Park doesn’t claim to have one. So what tree did they stand in front of? Beats me. But it was pretty big.
Who is Earlene?
Earlene Woehrle (nee Smith) was one of Mom’s former co-workers. I think they worked together during the construction of IAAP, and may have worked on some of the subsequent projects as well. In the photo of the Guthrie & Co. secretaries I’m fairly sure she’s in the back row, second from the left.
As a boy I knew Earlene pretty well. She would come back to Fort Madison periodically to visit her parents. I got to know them too, and all of them were really lovely, generous people.
After the war she worked for United Airlines as a radio operator. She met John Woehrle there, and they married in 1950. They never had children. As United employees, they could fly anywhere in the world on standby for free. Furthermore, as the child of a railroad employee, Earlene could also travel on Amtrak for free. As you might expect, they traveled a lot. Earlene always had interesting stories, and occasionally trinkets, from her travels.
Earlene always seemed to be well-dressed, classy, and unflappable. She had a soft, cool voice and she always sounded relaxed, even when I knew quite well that she was not. At the time I didn’t know of the term “centered” but in retrospect I guess that’s what she was.
Earlene passed away in 2018, at the age of 99. May she rest in peace.
Digging Deeper
Redwood State Park is now part of the Redwood National And State Park.
Earlene’s obituary can be found here.
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