Rock Ave - Yakima

After leaving Moxee, Mom, Sonya and I moved into this apartment complex on Rock Ave, right off of Nob Hill Blvd. I think we were in the center unit. In the back some new apartments went up, and when people moved in, so did my new friend Genie and her little brother Lance. We rode our bikes all over the neighborhood. It was a happy time in the 70's and you didn't worry about bad people. We sometimes went under the overpass on Nob Hill down by the railroad racks. There was a dead dogs skull there that we thought was neat.

 

 

Margot Lemon and her mom moved in next door, and we would play in the mud together. She was closer to my sisters age and became best friends with Sonya when they met. I was miffed. lol.

 

 

My sister new a couple boys by the names of David Case and Dennis Miller. Case was a paperboy who had a motor bike. They would all get together and hang out with the fat kid across the street who gave me a stack of comic books once.

I remember the five of them as a typical teenage stoner crowd, lol. NOt that my sister was ever a stoner, it was the early 70's though, so there you go. I cussed them out one night when Sonya was babysitting me. They were all watching tv andfor some reason I blurted out "You suckers! You fuckers!"

-I was NOT in a habit of using such language, especially at that age. Now of course, I cuss like a sailor.

 

 

One night we came home to see Margots mom being carried out on a stretcher. She was an alcoholic and tried to kill herself from what I remember.

They all got chewed out by my soon-to-be step-dad, Ben for teaching me such bad language. Truth is, I probably learned it from him and mom.

 

 

Sonya brought home 45's of the top hits of the day. Rocket Man by Elton John, Get Ready, by Rare Earth and Last KIss by J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, among others.

 

 

Rock Avenue is actually, where I learned about rock. Wing's "Band On The Run" was huge at the time. I would listen to the radio in bed on the AM radio I got for Christmas the previous year.

The Night The Lights Went Out IN Georgia was a top-10 hit too.

 

Mom dated a man named Dick, who drove a tow truck, which I thought was about the coolest thing in the world. One day, I came back home from playing with a friend down the street and saw a tow truck parked in back. I ran in yelling "Is Dick here???" That's whn I saw Ben sitting on the couch with a WTF expression on his face, lol. Oops.

 

Ben was around more. He would take mom to the movies at the Country Drive in on Nob Hill, and Sonya and I would hide in the backseat under a blanket. One of the movies was pretty innappropriate with lots of naked people doing naked things. I had no clue what, didn't seem to be porn, but clearly not for kids. I think I slept thru most of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had two friends I played with regularly. Both girls. I can't remember the first one's name, but we pretended and played games. Genie and her little brother Lance moved into the new apartments behind ours and we became friends. She was quite precocious for her age and liked playing "show and tell". I have a feeling she was abused. She told me her dad was arrested for flashing through his living room window. Poor kid.

 

 

Sonya found a white poodle and we begged mom to let us keep it. We named it Cuddles. Mom didn't like that dog for some reason, but we always tied it up. One day been opened the door and Cuddles ran out. We tried to stop her, but ben said "Let her run. She'll be fine. Cuddles got squished by a car 20 seconds after the words left his lips. I'm sure that wasn't a great day for Ben.

 

One day I ran into mom's room withpput knocking (who knocked?) and ben was naked and on top of the sheet. I never saw a fat man move so fast in my life. Oops!

 

The Goodyear Blimp made it's debut during this time, and one of the derigibles too up residence at the Yakima Airport. It flew over the region alost nightly and it was a thrill to watch it hover overhead with it's brilliant, flashing lights and logo. The sound it made reminded was haunting. The propellers spun and wove a mexmerising drone as it reverberated thru the sky upon the fluctuating air currents. One night, I thought I heard it outside my window while I laid in bed, I remember getting up and running out to the front yard. I looked up, and above me was a spectacular, hovering starship, complete with flashing lights, directly above me, and that's all I recall. Obviously a dream...

 

Sonya took me to the Grand Opening of the new McDonalds on Nob Hill. We walked over the overpass and to the event where we got to see Ronald McDonald himself. He was giving away silly little toys and I remember staring at his huge, red shoes. My love for hamburgers, which was founded at Miners and Kempers, took up residence at this new place. We would get coupons for free hamburgers in a loaf of bread, and mom would take me to get the free burger.

 

ARCO gas station was giving out (or selling) Noahs Ark's for kids. You got the ark, then everytime you went in you could get a new pair of animals. I loved the alligators. I somehow managed to bury them in the dirt and lost them forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a "Whirly-Bird" Hellicopter (in the pic, it's called a "Verti-Bird") but it was the same thing. Had lots of fun wit that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also got a new bike for my birthday. My old one was red. This one was a cool lemon-lime two-tone, with a sparkly yello bananna seat. I let a friend borrow it, and he left it in the driveway and it got ran over. Busted in two pieces. I cried and cried. His dad, took it to his shop and welded it back together.

 

My friend Jeffy came by once (his aunt drove him by) he was on his way to a hospital in Sedro Wooley. Never saw him again.