Linda Gossett, Lori Gossett, and Jeffrey Gossett

[00:01] LORI GOSSETT: And I'm 50 years old. Today is August 20, 2022. I'm currently here in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I am talking with my brother Jeffrey and my mother, Linda. And.

[00:17] JEFFREY GOSSETT: I am Jeffrey Gossett. I'm age 47. Today is Saturday, August 20, 2022. I'm in Charlottesville, North Carolina, with my sister, Lori. And we're talking with our mother, Linda.

[00:32] LORI GOSSETT: Hey, and I'm Linda Gossett, and I'm 76 years old. And today's date is Saturday, August 20, 2022. And I'm in Boise, Idaho. And my conversation partners are my son and daughter, Jeff and Lori. Okay, so one of the things that Jeffrey's out here visiting me in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I live originally. We were both born and raised in Boise, Idaho. And through the miracle of NPR, we are talking to our mom in Boise, Idaho, right now. And, mom, you've been in Boise. You told us recently that you moved there after college and you recently celebrated your 52nd year living in Idaho. Is that right? That's correct. Yes. So, but what we didn't know, I knew you moved there after college from California, but we didn't know that you actually had visited Idaho before you moved there as an adult. And you told us you would tell us the story of, like, your first trip to Idaho not knowing that that was going to be where you spent 15 plus years later on in your life. Correct. So I'll give you the background story. In June of 1959, I was a teenager and traveled four weeks by car with the Becker family, father Phil, mother Marie, and daughter Mary Ann. From the San Francisco Bay Area through the northwest states to Canada, we drove through Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, and then back home along the Pacific Coast highway. The Beckers were long time family friends. My mother had met Marie while attending beauty school in the 1940s, and later both families lived a block away in Castro Valley, California. I was invited to go along on this trip as a companion to Marianne, who was a year younger than me. I was excited because this was the first time I'd had an opportunity to see these northern states and Canada. Was this your first big vacation then, by yourself? Yes. Without my family? Without my mother and sister, yes. Okay. That's right. After leaving Castro Valley, that was our home base, we spent the first night in Twin Falls, Idaho. Idaho.

[03:01] JEFFREY GOSSETT: I was wondering about this, because even today, the trip from the Bay Area in California up to Idaho is a long, fairly boring trip when we do.

[03:12] LORI GOSSETT: It all the time. When we were going back and forth between Boise to visit relatives in California at least once a year, we would drive that stretch.

[03:19] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Yeah. And so. And so you're saying that you made it all the way from. From the Bay Area, California, up to Twin Falls all in one day? And this is. I mean, at the time, you know, the. I'm guessing the interstates weren't as well developed and stuff. So how did that. How were you able to make that much, cover that much territory in one day?

[03:41] LORI GOSSETT: Well, we were in a brand new car. The Beckers had just bought this Ford Crown Victoria car, and Phil wanted to test it out for its road worthiness, and he did. And in those days, the Nevada roads, there was no speed limit, so one could go as fast as the pedal would go. So we did that. But we got into Twin Falls late at night, so it wasn't a leisure trip, but there was nothing to see, as you well know, in the Nevada desert. So anyway, I.

[04:17] JEFFREY GOSSETT: In, the road was good. The road. The road was, I mean, like, it wasn't undeveloped or it was. You were able to travel fast and without stop signs and stuff. Okay.

[04:27] LORI GOSSETT: Yeah. Did you. What did you do in Idaho then? Well, we stayed over in Twin Falls in a motel late that night, and then we headed out the next morning for Montana. And I was kind of disappointed because I saw a sign that pointed toward Sun Valley, and we didn't go there, but I had seen the movie with Sonya Henny, the ice skater in the movie Sun Valley Serenade, and I was hoping to see the ice rink where she performed, but we didn't have time for that, so we headed on up to Kalispell, Montana, to some friends of the Beckers, where we stayed. What were you doing? Was this a planned trip, or why were you going there? They were friends. They were friends of the friends that we were going to stay with in glacier as well. They were not my friends. They were the Beckers friends.

[05:20] JEFFREY GOSSETT: So you basically just passed through Idaho.

[05:26] LORI GOSSETT: Not knowing that you're going to spend 50 years there.

[05:28] JEFFREY GOSSETT: And that was kind of it. Okay. A place you slept. Okay.

[05:31] LORI GOSSETT: That was it. Yes. We just whizzed through. So went to Kalispell, stayed overnight there, and then we headed up to their cabin on Flathead Lake and spent the weekend there. And they had a family reunion. And the main thing I remember about that stay was that we made food for the family reunion, and my assignment was helping to make some potato sausage. And my job was to slip the intestines onto the tube to accept the cut up potato and meat that was put through the sausage grinder. And then that was later boiled and roasted on the barbecue, and it tasted quite good. If I forgot about the intestine part, you had never done that before? Never, no. Never seen it done either.

[06:19] JEFFREY GOSSETT: And see, I'm surprised, though, with your aunt and stuff, because you had your aunt in California who lived like the ranch life. I'm kind of surprised that you hadn't.

[06:28] LORI GOSSETT: Skipped the intestine sausage part of the childhood until then, or at least I never saw it. I wasn't a part of the makeup. So anyway, then from Flathead Lake the next day, we headed off to Glacier National park, where we stayed with some more relatives of the Kalispell family on Lake McDonald. And this was actually a very old, original log home on Lake McDonald, and it was built by one of the early park rangers of the lady who was an elderly widow, misses goos that we stayed with. This is going to be her last summer in the home before she moved to Kalispell to a retirement center. This was her house. This was her home, yes.

[07:15] JEFFREY GOSSETT: So the ranger, they didn't have housing for the rangers, like he had to build his own house.

[07:20] LORI GOSSETT: Well, there might have been other temporary housing, but I don't know what his position was. But he had his own log home on Lake McDonald. There was a lot of other park buildings around his home. And I understood that after she left, her home was going to be demolished for park expansion.

[07:43] JEFFREY GOSSETT: But it was like, it was the house nice?

[07:46] LORI GOSSETT: It was. It was very nice. Very rustic. No running water and no indoor plumbing. So we hand pump by the kitchen sink. That required constant pumping for all kinds of water for food and washing our hands and that kind of thing. And also for taking a bath. And that was a project because you had to pump lots of water, put it in kettles, heat it on the wood stove, and then transfer it into the big bathtub in the other room. Needless to say, we didn't take many baths because it was too much work. So she had a. She had. She had just had wood stoves and no running water in this cabin. No running water? No. So no modern conveniences at all? Well, we had electricity. Oh.

[08:33] JEFFREY GOSSETT: But not for. Not for heating the water, though. You had to use a wood stove for the water. And then. So then. So then with the lights. Electric then.

[08:40] LORI GOSSETT: Yes, lights, everything. We had electricity. In fact, we watched television, and one night while we were there, we watched the evening news, and we saw where President Dwight Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth were officially opening the St. Lawrence Freeway, or seaway, excuse me, by cruising a short distance together on the royal yacht Britannia along the St. Lawrence river. After the opening celebration, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip continued on their official tour of Canada by road. The news reports mentioned that Queen Elizabeth planned to attend the Calgary stampede the following week, and we joked that we might see her there because we were headed to Calgary. And we had stampede tickets, too. What is the Calgary Stampede? It is a large. It's one of the largest rodeos in North America. It's international, and it has lots of competition, very high prizes for the winners of the various events. But it's kind of like our western rodeos where there's, you know, cattle wrestling and just all the other, you know, things that they. They compete with. And we had tickets. Yes, to go.

[09:58] JEFFREY GOSSETT: How did you get tickets from California? I mean, this is like pre Internet.

[10:02] LORI GOSSETT: I don't know. The Beckers had arranged all this, and possibly from their glacier friends, too. They had connections. So after that, the only other memory I had of Lake Macdonald was the 4 July when they didn't allow sparklers or fireworks along the lake. But we did wishboats, and I'd never done that. They gave us a square of rough cut wood. We've mounted candles on them and lit them and walked to the edge of the lake and pushed them into the water and made wishes. And it was really quite pretty. It was my first introduction to that, and I just remember the flickering candles on the water, which was quite beautiful. And that was for the holidays? That was for 4 July. Yes. That's how we celebrated the 4 July without other fireworks. The next day, July 5, the Beckers and I packed up and we headed towards Calgary over Logan Pass via the, going to the Sun highway, and that eventually goes into Waterton Lakes National park in Canada. What I remembered most about that portion of the trip with the many glaciers we saw over Logan Pass and how cold it was, and we were high up in the mountains. This is what you're laughing. Are you in Glacier National park? Yeah. Well, yeah, we're in Glacier National park still. And it was so cold, we even got out of the car and had a snowball fight. And we were not dressed for snowball fight weather because we just had shorts that we'd been wearing down on the bottom in glacier. And the near Lake McDonald.

[11:42] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Well, that was the 5 July. So, like the. So this is. This is like the middle of summer then, right?

[11:49] LORI GOSSETT: Like, right. And the snow was deep up there. And from what I've heard, the glaciers are not as prevalent or visible from that vantage point today. But you got a snowball fight in July we did, yes. And when we got to Calgary, went shopping to the Hudson Bay Company, which is a store like Macy's. We wanted to get some jeans so we would look more ready to attend a stampede. When we other parts of the trip, it was hot, so we were wearing mainly shorts and pedal pushers. So we wanted.

[12:27] JEFFREY GOSSETT: So the Hudson Bay company, though, I mean, I've heard of. I've heard of like, you know, the trappers and all that kind of thing. So was the Hudson Bay company store? I mean, was there anything that made you think of frontier trapping, or was it just like a department store anywhere?

[12:43] LORI GOSSETT: It was like a department store, but there were some sections where you could buy indian blankets. And they had cowichan sweaters, which were a heavy knit sweater that I really liked, but it was really expensive. They were in the hundreds of dollars. And they had a zipper down the front, but they had an indian pattern across the yoke. So that was the first time I'd ever seen those heavy knit sweaters. But they had things that were suitable for Canadians and for tourists. But it was basically like a Macy's and we got jeans there. That's all I remember. Then we went on with our tickets for opening night. We didn't know really what to expect. And the only rodeo I had attended was the one in Livermore in California. But I knew that the Calgary Stampede was world famous. The first thing to take place on the official opening of the stampede was none other than Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. They rode out to the center of the arena in a decorated chuck wagon, got out on a platform, and officially declared the Calgary Stampede opened. We were laughing because without trying, we caught up with the royal pair. They then left the arena in their chuck wagon, went to a special seating area for dignitaries, and the other roady events proceeded. What is a chuck wagon? Chuck wagon is just a. They used it for carrying food in the west area when they were working with cattle on the range. It was a place to have food, water, and sometimes they slept in. It was a big wagon, but it had a canvas covering over the top. And here at Calgary, they started this race, I believe, in the 1920s, and it was just a way to add some, another event to a rodeo.

[14:37] JEFFREY GOSSETT: What was the. Was the queen and prince? Were they wearing, like, jeans and cowboy clothes like you guys were wearing?

[14:44] LORI GOSSETT: No, they were wearing city clothes. They stood out, believe me, from the rest of us. So anyway, we watched the Chuck wagon races and I'd never seen them, but there was lots of horses and lots of wagons, and they raced around some. Oh, I guess like barrels in the middle of the arena, and a couple of them tipped over. And so there was, you know, a roar from the audience, you know, reacted. But none of. No one was hurt, and neither were the horses. So anyway, we enjoyed the evening and seeing the queen and the Chuck wagon races, and we were happy to see Queen Elizabeth in the flesh, even at a great distance. The next day, after Calgary, we went on to Banff National park and rode the ski tram up the mountain. It's a ski resort there. And so that was my first tram ride, and I was hanging on for dear life because the thing swayed.

[15:44] JEFFREY GOSSETT: When you say tram, though, you mean. I mean, when I think of a tram, I think of a. Of a train. But you're saying it's swinging. So is this more like a chairlift?

[15:53] LORI GOSSETT: Yeah, it was like a.

[15:56] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Like a. Like a hang your leg off the side chairlift or a gondola.

[15:59] LORI GOSSETT: No, we were enclosed in a gondola kind of thing.

[16:02] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Okay.

[16:02] LORI GOSSETT: But it still swayed. Then we drove up to Lake Louise, which was a destination. It's a beautiful place, and there's a lovely hotel there, a very old hotel, and it's located on a clear lake fed by melting glacier amid rocky outcroppings on each side. From there, we headed south, crossing into British Columbia to Spokane airport. We were there to pick up another friend of the Beckers, Father Paul Ingberg, who was a priest at All Saints Catholic church in Hayward from Spokane.

[16:39] JEFFREY GOSSETT: So you crossed. You crossed from the US into Canada again and then went from Canada back to Spokane, Washington, in the US. And now.

[16:52] LORI GOSSETT: Then back to Canada?

[16:54] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Well, yeah, but now, did you have a passport or anything like that?

[16:57] LORI GOSSETT: No.

[16:58] JEFFREY GOSSETT: So how did you. How did you. I mean, what did they check at the border? Do you remember anything?

[17:04] LORI GOSSETT: I don't remember. I think Phil and Marie and Father Ingberg, you know, answered the questions. We were just kids in the backseat. It's nothing like it today.

[17:15] JEFFREY GOSSETT: I'm guessing you probably didn't have a driver's license either.

[17:18] LORI GOSSETT: I'm guessing I was only 13, so, no.

[17:21] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Did you have to have any id at all?

[17:24] LORI GOSSETT: I don't recall giving anything in those days. I think they just looked at the license of the car. They might have checked Phil's license and insurance on the car and then waved us on. It was very innocent. So you picked up this friend. So there's five of you now in this big car? Yes. Right. And from Spokane, we headed back up to Vancouver, British Columbia, where we visited Stanley park the next day. We took a ferry over to Victoria, British Columbia, where we visited the Bouchard Gardens and later had high tea at the Empress Hotel several days after Queen Elizabeth.

[18:08] JEFFREY GOSSETT: So what exactly is high tea?

[18:11] LORI GOSSETT: Well, it's a light lunch. It's open faced sandwiches, cookies and brownies, and various flavors of tea. And it's served in an elegant dining room with lots of beautiful silverware and china glassware. I'd never been to anything like it, and I was kind of, you know, awestruck by what I was surrounded by nothing that I had ever had. Had. Had. I'd never had tea.

[18:42] JEFFREY GOSSETT: And where was it? Where was this?

[18:44] LORI GOSSETT: In the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia.

[18:49] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Is that a famous hotel? Is that fancy?

[18:51] LORI GOSSETT: Well, that's where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had stayed there ahead of us on this trip. So they were a couple days ahead of us, and we missed them.

[19:02] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Okay, so wait, so you were at the stampede with them, but then they beat you to the hotel?

[19:11] LORI GOSSETT: Correct.

[19:13] JEFFREY GOSSETT: But how did they beat you to the hotel?

[19:15] LORI GOSSETT: They went straight across British Columbia, and we detoured down into Washington, into Spokane.

[19:24] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Oh, yeah. Yeah. So you. So you just missed them then, right.

[19:29] LORI GOSSETT: So you didn't get a chance to say you only got one chance to see the queen? Not quite so, because on the way to Spokane, after we left Lake Louise, we drove south and we stopped at a fruit stand and purchased some apples for a snake later on. This part of the trip was on a winding, steep road like our Idaho mountain roads are so in the forest someplace, through a forested area, and it was high above a river below. When Phil noticed a tourist turnout sign with water and porta potties, he stopped for our snack break. We were the only car to park on this turnout, and it was large enough for about four cars. It was a small area bordered by a rock wall where one could view the river canyon below. We all got out, used the porta potties and washed the fruit and took turns looking over the rock wall. While we were eating our fruit, two royal canadian mounted policemen wearing their traditional bright red coats and riding motorcycles drove into the turnout.

[20:47] JEFFREY GOSSETT: But they were all dressed up like they were. Like they weren't wearing. Like they weren't wearing work clothes. They were wearing fancy clothes.

[20:54] LORI GOSSETT: No, they were official Royal Canadian Mounted Police in dress uniform. They looked, or they got off, or they looked at us sternly. One got off of the motorcycle, checked out the porta potty, got back on the motorcycle, then drove back up the road. A few minutes later, they returned with two more royal canadian mounted police on motorcycles escorting an open limousine with a well dressed couple sitting in the backseat. The gentleman was tall and wore a suit, while the lady wore a white and black printed dress and a hat. One of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police got off of his motorcycle, opened the door for the lady to step out. To our amazement, we recognized her. It was no less than Queen Elizabeth. She walked over to the porta potty and stepped inside. Meanwhile, Prince Philip walked around the limousine, then toward the rock wall, and looked over the canyon below. After Queen Elizabeth finished, both walked back to the limousine, took their seats, and drove off with their royal canadian mounted police escorts. The four of us couldn't believe that we just witnessed. We shared a Porta potty with Queen Elizabeth, and no one had a camera in hand to document this amazing encounter with british royalty. Did they say anything to you or wave or anything? Nothing.

[22:20] JEFFREY GOSSETT: And they. And so they just took off. And we just stopped. And then you just left you all there, just kind of sitting. Didn't even wash. No autographs or anything?

[22:32] LORI GOSSETT: Nothing.

[22:33] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Horrified.

[22:34] LORI GOSSETT: They didn't even wash their hands. We were dumbfounded. What can I say?

[22:39] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Well, and there. So there are only four police with.

[22:43] LORI GOSSETT: Them, two in front and then two and back.

[22:48] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Like today, there'd probably be, like 100 people in planes and stuff.

[22:54] LORI GOSSETT: Very cool.

[22:54] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Yeah.

[22:57] LORI GOSSETT: So after that, after we got back home to California, Queen Elizabeth had returned to England from her grand tour of Canada, and the palace announced that she was pregnant. And with her third child, Prince Andrew was born in February of 1960.

[23:15] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Oh, so that's right after. Okay.

[23:18] LORI GOSSETT: So you were, like, one of the first people to. Congratulations, witness Prince Andrew in some form, but you're.

[23:24] JEFFREY GOSSETT: But you're only. But your only exposure to Idaho is just the one, the one night passing through.

[23:33] LORI GOSSETT: But it sounds like you got. That was your first time going up to the Pacific Northwest area, right? And. Exactly. Yeah. Then you returned. Yes. That's my story.

[23:43] JEFFREY GOSSETT: It's neat, mom.

[23:44] LORI GOSSETT: That's neat.

[23:45] JEFFREY GOSSETT: Yeah. Thanks.