Brave or crazy kid!

I thought you might enjoy a journal entry of Frank for a hobo trip he, Jake Weirman, and a friend named Swede took the summer before their senior year in high school. This is from a little notebook found among Helen's papers after her death. The year is 1931. "Friday May 29th we left home at 1l'clock. We walked to the top of the Hormansville slant and got a ride to Santaquin. We walked from Santiquin almost to Mona, there we got a ride in a truck and rode clear to Moroni. We walked from Moroni to Mt. Pleasant, ate supper and went to bed. We were so tired we couldn't turn over. But Jake and Swede weren't. They went to the dance. I went to bed and ended a perfectly good day. Saturday May 30th. We arose and ate breakfast. We weeded a woman's garden to pay for our breakfast. We lay around all day waiting for a freight train to come in. We ate another meal and still waited for a freight train that never came in. While we were waiting some girls came along and wanted us to take them to Moroni to the dance so we took off our overhalls and went. We came back and went to bed. Sunday May 31st. We arose about 11 o'clock, ate breakfast and went down to wait for the train. While we were waiting some little girls came along. They had a "ukeley" and we fixed it for them. Then we were invited to dinner and we ate some more. Then to our astonishment we heard the freight whistle so we scampered down to the depot and the ungrateful thing went right through. We were disgusted with freights so we took to the highway again and caught a ride to Ephraim and from Ephraim to Manti. We walked from Manti to Sterling about 20 miles. We got a ride from Sterling to Centerfield. We looked for a bed and found a pretty good haystack. We crawled in and covered hay over us. But it was cold no matter how much hay we put over us there would be a draft from somewhere. Jake and I got up about 2 o'clock and made a fire. That was much better. At dawn we arose for a new day. Monday June 1st. We arose at dawn and started on the highway. The first ditch we came to we all proceeded to wash our face, neck and ears. There we resumed our walk again. We walked from Centerfield to Axtel about 10 miles. We stopped at the store there and bought a loaf of bread and a can of beans. This was our brekfast. We then caught a ride from Axtel to Richfield. We caught a ride from Richfield to Junction. We walked from Junction to Circleville and caught a ride from there to Panguitch. We saw 2 deer on the way and much beautiful scenery. We passed Bruce Canyon and when were about to Alton the guy we were riding with ran out of gas. He went to town and got some. Then we went about 5 miles farther with him and he turned off our course. We were 5 miles from nowhere. But luck was with us for we caught a ride to the next town and were walking along looking for a place to sleep when we got a ride to the next town, which was Orderville. We walked out of town aways and built us a fire and tried to go to sleep. We slept about 2 hours. Tuesday June 2nd. We left Orderville at 5 A.M. walked to the next town which was Mt. Carmel. We bought some bread and beans for breakfast. We walked from Mt. Carmel to a construction camp where we tried to get a job. The boss said nothing doing. He was going to lay some men off. We went back to where the roads forked and waited till we got a ride. We rode through Zion National Park on the side of a car. The scenery was sure beautiful. This guy we rode with was only going to about the middle of the parkj. We waited a while and caught a ride with a guy in a gas truck who took us to Zion Forks. We were going to St. George but changed our minds. We caught a ride to Cedar City. We bought some stale cakes. This was our supper. We caught a ride to Paragonah. There we thought we were going to stop for the night. A very nice man and his wife gave us some cake and told us that we could sleep in an old house across the road from their service station. We went in and made a fire in the fireplace and we were almost asleep when the man from the service station came and woke us up and told us that he had a ride to Beaver for us. We reached Beaver about 11 o'clock. Looked for a bed and couldn't find one so we went and propositioned a man at a service station to let us have a cabin. He let us have one for 69 cents. We ran into a kid that had left Salt Lake today. He didn't have a coat, hat or any money, so we let him sleep with us. Wednesday June 3rd. We got up about 9 o'clock, went to a restaurant and got some hot cakes. We then started on the road. We got a ride in a milk truck and while we were riding along we say Eve and Perk, so we got off and talked about the old town. Then we walked about five miles and got a ride in a truck. The truck was going to Logan and the driver told us there was a lot of work up there so we decided to go to Logan. We reached there about 4 o'clock the next morning. Thursday June 4th. We walked out of Logan headed for Logan Canyon. We stopped to wash and clean up. Then we got a ride up the canyon and when we got there we asked the boss for a job. He said nothing doing as usual. We caught a ride from Logan to Salt Lake in another truck our old standby. We walked up to Joe Vincents and got something to eat. Then we went up to Conover's and ate again. We then went up to Williamsons and talked to her for a while. The we started back to town. When we reached town we had walked about 40 blocks. We caught a ride to P.G. (Pleasant Grove) and we got a lot of rides between Salt Lake and Spanish Fork. When we reached S. F. we bought some stale cakes and started walking. When we got almost to Salem our feet were so sore we couln't go on so we parked for the night. Friday June 5th..." And here the little journal ends. There are two penny postcards that Frank sent Helen while on the trip. The first dated May 29, 1939 Mount Pleasant, Utah Dear Helen, Foot sore and tired we reached here about seven o'clock Friday. We will be moving on in a day or so, so don't answer this. I have been thinking about you all day when I have been walking along. As there is no more room I will close with love, Frank. The next card is dated June 1, 1931 Glendale, Utah Dear Helen, I am still thinking of you even though I am 350 miles away from home. This hobo life is sure monotness and the meals sure are few and far between. Last night we slept in a hay stack in Centerfield. I almost froze to death. I wish these cards were larger. Love, Frank

3 of the Taylors

Steve wasn't able to attend Jon and Wendee's wedding, but Tom and Kathy made it, so here is a picture of the three of us. Also a picture of Tom and some of my children, and Kathy and I and her girls.

Jon and Wendee

On Tuesday, May 27 2008, we had the marvelous privilege of seeing Jon and Wendee married in the Bountiful, Utah temple. They were both ecstatic, and so were we all. We had a wonderful day of celebration, and are so happy to have Wendee in our family. For the time being, they have Alyssa living with them in North Ogden, and Jon is looking for a job. He was working for UPS in Gilbert, and they approved a transfer for him, but UPS here hasn't found a place for him yet. We're praying that all this will work out, and we know that it eventually will.