Dave and His Station Wagon

Dave and his trusty station wagon represent one of my best memories from growing up. He was the first one of a group of friends that was old enough to drive and even had a station wagon that could fit everyone. They just don’t make station wagons like they used to. I suppose the monster SUV’s of today have replace them. Regardless, like many of us growing up, we didn’t have much money, but that didn’t matter, one or two dollars thrown into the gas tank got you an evening of fun and adventure with Dave and the rest of the gang every weekend. The times we spent hanging out, cruising around that stretch of the Willamette river between Oregon City and Milwaukie is one of the best times of my life. Another great memory was the trip a bunch of us made to Southern Oregon to find gold. Dave had a great gold sluice he built and we tried our best to strike it rich and found a tiny bit of gold. That was really the first big trip I made with friends and, of course, Dave and his station wagon made it happen. When I left for college and then the Air Force, Dave and I never really kept in touch. I heard about him through other friends, like Dave Stegemeyer, but that was the extent of it. I was truly shocked and saddened to hear about Dave’s passing. His friendship early in my life will remain a great influence and a warm memory .