It’s summertime, meaning it’s time to hit the road. On a recent jaunt to an outdoor music show, some friends and I recalled childhood family meanderings around the West, often un-seat-belted in the back of a 1970s gas-guzzler.
My family rumbled around in a sky-blue International Scout Traveler that my brother and I dubbed “The Beast.” Hours spent staring out the window, sketching clouds, collecting russet and copper-green sand in southern Utah, camping out in our big green canvas tent. … I’ll never forget my mother’s reaction when she caught me catching lizards near Lake Powell — using her pillowcase.
My daughters remember traveling in the back of our Subaru Forester “Glenda” (named for the Good Witch, of course), listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on repeat. (Chloe still knows every word.) Once, camping in Yellowstone, I got mosquito repellent in Lucia’s eyes. Reacting like the trained wilderness EMT I was, I quickly washed it out using the nearest water bottle, which turned out to be holding Gatorade. Was that the same trip I spilled canned salmon on her head? We were sure the bears would find her irresistible.
That reminds me of HCN copy editor Diane Sylvain’s 2012 essay chronicling a few of her own childhood road trips, and the time that one of the kids (diplomatically unidentified) responded to her father’s remark, “Honey, you look like you need to throw up,” by leaning over the seat and demonstrating that, in fact, she did. “By throwing up. Down her daddy’s back.” And that’s not even the best part. (You can read the full essay at hcn.org/drive-with-dad.)
Have any special road-trip memories or vintage photos to share? Email dearfriends@hcn.org or tag us on social media. And don’t be bashful about those tube socks or short shorts. They’re probably coming back into fashion, anyway.
Welcome Eric!
HCN’s new director of philanthropy, Eric Lane, got to know the Intermountain West by airplane and bus as a member of Boise State’s basketball team. Eric, who was born and raised (and currently lives) in Los Angeles, says his time with the team opened his eyes to the wider region, as he met teammates and their families in Oregon, Montana and elsewhere.
“Coming from LA, you’re taught that anything outside of the city is the middle of nowhere,” he says. But he soon learned to appreciate the small towns and, even more, the people. “Everyone talks about Southern hospitality, but my experience is that the West is full of great people who have amazing stories to tell.”
Eric got started in fundraising at the YMCA where he played ball growing up. Since then, he’s worked at California Baptist University, Cal State Fullerton and elsewhere, and even built his own consulting firm, which tackled fundraising assignments around the region and the world. One project had him working for the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming, where HCN was born in 1970.
He now manages a staff of three (five, if you include me and our Boise-based contract grant writer, Anna Demetriades), overseeing all of our fundraising activities, from seasonal drives to grant proposals to building relationships with friends and foundations who help support HCN’s journalism. All told, this provides roughly 80% of the income that allows us to pay our writers and photographers and keep this nonprofit news organization, well, on the road.
Eric’s latest Mountain West connection: His eldest daughter, Jaelynn, will be attending the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley this fall. Like her dad, she’s an athlete, competing in the long jump and the triple jump.
A correction, and thanks
In last month’s Dear Friends column, I wrote that HCN stopped using “direct mail” to acquire subscribers in 2020. It was actually 2022.
Thank you to all who called or wrote to say that you happily share copies of the magazine or otherwise help spread the word about our work. Please keep it up! There’s nothing like a recommendation from a trusted friend to pique someone’s interest in HCN and in this wonderful, inimitable HCN community.
Feel free to share this link, which lets folk sign up for a couple of free issues: hcn.org/subscribe/trial.
This article appeared in the August 2024 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Memories of summer road trips.”
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