Feeling Nostalgic

I think one of the rights of passage into old age must be reminiscing about the "Good Old Days"
I find myself thinking about those days in the 60's and 70's in the pre-internet days more and more lately.
Those family vacations driving to New Mexico and up here to Oregon in the family Chevrolet to visit aunts, uncles and cousins were alot of fun. My parents would stay to the last possible minute and then dad would drive like a bat out of hell to get home for work on Monday morning. I remember my dad pulling over to splash ice water in his face in order to make it home by Sunday.
I think about those orange juice stands that looked like giant oranges along highway 99 before the days of Interstate 5 on our way up to Oregon and Washington.
I miss things like that.
Here is a list of things from my childhood and even young adulthood that I was sorry to see go.
Beer commercial featuring the Hamms Bear or the Burgie Man. Sitting in the left field pavilion at Dodger Stadium eating Dodger Dogs while Willie Mays of the hated Giants was teeing off on Don Drysdale and parking home runs in the seat just below us.
The Blatz beer and Union 76 jingles from LA Dodgers radio broadcasts...Vin Scully was and still is awesome.
Of course there was the drive-in movies with the old cast metal speakers that you would attach to the car window. Do any of you remember the playground for the kids that was right in front of the screen? Nothing like playing on the swing set in your pajamas.
How about the 19 cent McDonald's cheeseburgers or Tastee Freeze milk shakes or actually getting your oil checked and windshield washed while filling up on Ethyl gas.
The memories flood back don't they?
We had one of the first color television sets on the block so of course we were a popular family. The old round picture tube was great for watching Bonanza or the Monkees.
I was fortunate enough to live very close to Disneyland and for less the $10 we could go and ride all the good rides with our "E" Tickets left over from previous visits.
The Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile would come down the street and "Little Oscar" would give out wiener whistles. We kids were convinced that he made all the bologna and hot dogs in that little kitchen he supposedly had in the hot dog shaped vehicle.
Wally the bread man from the Helms Bread would have the best doughnuts while smelling like the whiskey he had stashed somewhere in his truck.
Then there was baseball cards. We all had the dozens of Wayne Causey and Eli Grba cards in hopes of getting a Koufax or Willie Mays. The gum was stale and actually would sometime breaks up in little pieces when you tried to chew it but it was worth it to get that coveted Hank Aaron card to trade for nearly any of the Dodgers.
Of course there are the things about fly fishing in those early years of my adult hood that I sure do miss. You could go into nearly any sporting goods store and buy a Hardy reel and at a reasonable price! Kaufmann's was just a small storefront in Tigard back in those days.The Deschutes and Washougal had good numbers of steelhead back in the day also.
I miss the days when Bill McMillan could be found working in local fly shops. I also, believe it or not, miss those 5 mile hikes up the Deschutes river before the trails when you had to step off of the railroad tracks to let the train go by.
We've gotten too busy and too self absorb to appreciate that time...I know I have.