Busier and More Interesting

With the start of the Spring semester my life got even busier and more interesting. On top of my normal class load, and my homework sessions with Anne every Monday through Thursday nights, I now had swim practive every afternoon for 2 hours Monday through Friday.

I was in very good all around condition, but I was not in competitve swimming shape. Add to that the fact that all these guys were the stars from their high school teams, even a couple of high school All Americans like me. In addition, most of them had competed in water polo in the fall semester. Bottom line, the first couple of weeks I was sucking wind to keep up.

Coach Donor ran tough practices but he had a great sense of humor and kept the practices loose. We did not have a superstar but we had a very good, very solid team. The powerhouse in our league was Foothill Junior College coached by the great Nort Thornton. He actually had a couple future Olympians on his team including Gary Ilman. Coach Thorton later became the men’s swimming coach at Cal Berkeley. The California state championships would be held at the Foothill Junior College swim complex.

Sausalito and San Francisco

Anne and I continued to go on fun dates. One weekend we went to Sausalito – just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Sausalito had lots of quaint shops, a bunch of great restaurants and some spectacular views of San Francisco. The view at night was even more spectacular.

Another weekend we went to San Francisco. We lucked out with perfect weather. We rode the cable cars and toured the city. That night we went to dinner at the Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel atop Knob Hill. After a wonderful dinner, we went to to Top of the Mark at the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel for a view of San Francsico at night. During the day we explored one of my favorite places from my childhood – Golden Gate Park. Great walks, fun things to do and some world class museums including the De Young Museum of Art. San Francisco where I was born, has one of the great natural settings of any city in the world.

Our swimming team did pretty well in the dual meets and I was starting to get into great shape. Turns out we had one of the fastest 4 by 100 yard freestyle relays in the country. We did not have that one super star but our 4 guys were really good. We were looking forward to the championships at Foothill.

Foothill is in Sunnyvale and the day of the championships it was really hot. Our relay swam in the trials in the morning and qualified for the finals. We had the second fastest 4 x 100 free relay – second only to powerhouse Foothill. In the finals we actually held our own until the anchor leg.  Unfortunately for us Foothill’s anchor was Gary Ilman. By the end of Gary’s awesome swim, the only race was for second. We finished strong and won the silver medal. Our second place time was the second fastest time in the entire country – second only to Foothill, of course. Gary, second from the left, won an Olympic Gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

We were all very proud. My leg on the relay was the fastest I had ever swum in my life. So I was quite happy with a personal record and a silver medal against National class competition.

And, just like that Spring semester was over. Despite the added demands of the semester, I got a B in our math class. Anne got an A. She got her acceptance to UCLA and would be going to school there in the fall.

Anne’s father owned 1,000 acres of prime farm land in Ilinois which generated a substantial income. Anne and her family would be going to their farm for the summer. We had our last date and she was gone.

I worked 6 days a week at Clyde Devine Swim School that summer. I was not planning to go to school in the fall. I was saving money for a trip. Between what I had left over from my oil money and what I made that summer at Clyde’s, I was planning to see as much of the United States as I could. That summer I also learned that all 4 members of our silver medal 4 x 100 freestyle relay made All American.

Summer ended. Anne came home briefly. We had one date and she headed south to UCLA. I picked up on the fact that Anne’s parents was not too impressed by me with my 56 VW bug and no real plans for my future.

The War Heating Up

The Vietnam War was heating up. I realized without a college deferment, I would be drafted. So I signed up as a 6 month reservist. I would do 6 months of active duty in the regular Marine Corps starting December 31, 1964. Then I would serve one weekend a month and 2 weeks of active duty every summer for 6 years. But this way I could make plans and not have them disrupted by getting drafted.

I started planning my trip in detail. I had about 3 ½ months from now until I had to report to the Marine Corps. How much ground could I cover driving my 56 VW bug an average of 250 miles a day with extended stays in places like New York City and Washington DC?  Regular gas was .30 a gallon. I could get 300 miles from my 10.5 gallon gas tank. Cheap motels were less than $10 a night. Meals at national chains like Howard Johnson’s were cheap. I felt confident that the money I had saved would comfortably last me the whole trip.

I had my low cut hiking boots, my Levi's, my colored t-shirt, my long sleeve Pendleton shirt, my parka and the cap I wore when I back packed. I packed an extra pair of Levi’s, an extra t-shirt and some extra socks. I had my maps with my route all planned out and a road atlas of the United States.

I was ready for my next adventure.

Thank you for listening.

As always, I wish you and your family the very best of health.
Joe