The Red Hat

I remembered a piece of Disneyland family lore the last week when we were in Disneyland.

As a 5th grader, my dad had decided to take me on a road trip the entire length of California. I had studied California in school and it was time that I knew what it was all about.

He and I traveled up 101 and over to Redding and experienced the upper valley. We stopped in Redding and he bought me a bright red had similar to a swiss fedora without the large brim. I thought it was a great hat. People, men and women wore more hats in that day. The 50's were hat years.

We visited Eureka, and stopped by a relative that was working at the Hupa Indian Reservation. I caught a small steelhead fish there. We also visited a friend that had a couple of boys my age that had a rope swing over the Eel river. It was great until you fell into the river because it was ice cold.

After we visited the Northern California fiends, we picked up Mom and Mikie Sue and headed to see Grandma Florence and Buck down in Sunland in Southern California. We were able to go to Disneyland when it was less than 2 years old. What an adventure. I really enjoyed the buckets that connected the edge of Fantasyland with Tomorrowlan d. The cars.. oh my the cars. And the muletrain adventure into the painted desert. There was the train and the jungle cruise and misson to mars and the house of the future.

I had a little independence. So my parents thought they could let me loose a little in the park. After all, they could spot me anywhere with my red hat. The red hat got lost soon after they let me go. They spent the day looking for the red hat and I spent the day using my E tickets.