Bellah Brother Reunion Trip: One

The three of us haven’t taken a road trip together in over 50 years—since Craig (then 15) and I (13) traveled to see our brother Bobby (19) at his summer job in Arizona.

Bob, who was working as a tour guide at Grand Canyon Caverns near Kingman, had invited us to see the caves and meet his newly minted fiancée, Adrianna.

I guess he invited us. It’s just as likely our parents put us on that westbound Greyhound in Amarillo to get some peace and quiet.

Anyway, our journey began on an early morning in early August, and before we returned, we would have experienced our first overnight stay in a bus terminal (the thing broke down in Gallup), our first sight of the Pacific Ocean (a 20 hour suicide run where we parked Bob’s ’61 Chevelle Super Sport beside a busy California Highway 1, jaywalked to the beach, shed socks and shoes and waded into the not-so-ideal surf at Long Beach), and our first experience hitchhiking (a Havasupai Indian in a new Cadillac took us the 10 miles from the bus terminal in Peach Springs to the Route 66 attraction of Grand Canyon Caverns).

It’s only the three of us now. Mom and Dad or gone, as is little sister D’Lynne. So Bob, who lives in Lubbock, and I decided in the Spring to invite Craig to travel from his home in Omaha, and spend a few days together in our old family vacation spots in northern New Mexico.

I’ll pick him up later this afternoon at the airport in Albuquerque. Will let you know how it turns out.