Every summer when Carolyn Brandt was little would pack her bags and get ready for a new adventure and a new state. I interviewed my mom about her traveling in moments.

Why did you travel so much?
At first it helped with the grieving process of my sister's death ( Patty Steffen) in 1964. Then it got o be a family time ever summertime. It was like a tradition to go to a different state ever summer.

How many places did you travel to?
I traveled in 34 different states. I saw each ocean so I was on each side of the country. I went to a lot of southern states. Also I went to the middle of the country. We went down to the southwest and western states.

Did you travel by car or by plane?
I traveled all the 34 states by car. The car I traveled in was a blue two door Ford. It was better traveling by car because I saw a lot more scenery and experience the trips a lot better. I experience the sites and sounds of America. It was a long process traveling by car and it was also very tiresome. But it was fun so much fun.

Who did you travel with?
I traveled with my mother and my father for most of the trips. But there were times that I traveled with me Grandma Oines. When I got older I traveled with my Grandma, but most of my childhood I traveled with my parents.

What was your favorite places you traveled at?

It was probably going to Cheyenne Wyoming to Frontier Days. My aunt and uncle lived in Cheyenne so it was fun seeing them and also seeing my cousins. We attended the rodeo, parades, carnival, and watched the fireworks every night. I did all of this with my aunt, uncle, and cousins.

What was your best memory from traveling?

The best memory was probably just being with my mom and dad. We got along so well which that made it so much fun. We would talk, laugh, and just have fun on every trip we went on. We just had a lot of fun being together whiled we traveled.

Did you like traveling?

Yes, because of all the different cultures, and also the different architecture of the buildings like in Georgia. Like in Georgia had a lot of different architecture buildings that were very cool to see. Also the different life styles, like in Florida they were more layed back people.

How many trips did you go on?

I went on a trip every summer from 1964 to 1974 so ten summers I traveled to a lot different states.

Did you meet a lot of new people from your trips?

Yes, I meant a lot of nice people who laughed at us because they thought South Dakotans have a different accents since we talk very fast. It was fun to meet new and different people because you learn more about a different life style from those people.


Did you travel to see family or for fun?
Probably both, like in Wyoming to see my family and to Florida was just for fun.

What was your longest trip?
My longest trip was from South Dakota to Vero Beach, Florida. Which took a week to get there, but we stopped every night at a motel. So it took longer for us. Plus my dad had to take coffee breaks long the time as well.

What was your shortest trip?
My shortest was from Nuda to the Black Hills, South Dakota. It took eight hours to get there. But there was a lot of great scenery to look at on the way.

What were the prices back then?
I remembered my dad being mad at the gas prices being .34 cents, the coffee being .19 cents, and also a motel being $50 a night.

How old were you when you traveled?
I was seven years old in 1964 and I stopped traveling all over when I was seventeen years old. I had so many great memories traveling that in was kind of sad just to stop traveling in the summer. I took a lot of pictures instead of writing everything down. I kind of made a photo journal.

What season did you travel in the most?
I traveled mostly in the summertime; because of the school vacation and dad rented out the farm to get time off also some extra money.

Did you ever get lost on your trips?
There was a time or two that my dad wouldn't listen to my mom and then he would go an extra mile to get there. Even though my mom was right with her directions.

Did you have a spot you didn't like?
I didn't like LA, California because of the smog you see during all hours and also the constant traffic every day. The traffic made it louder during the day.

How different are the prices then to now?
Disney World, Florida for a day was like $ 18-20 each person and now it would be $70-80 without the hotel price.

Did you buy a lot of gifts from the different spots you traveled?
Mom and Dad would buy me a charm in the shape of the state. From every new state we went to for my charm bracelet.