We bought a 1917 Ford car for $350.00. The man we bought it from told us how to drive. We had the front seat put on hinges so that it folded over and met the back seat. We bought a mattress for $4.50. Some of the other items we bought for the trip were: gasoline stove $6.75, mess kits, pot and cups $3.45, pillows $2.00, camp table and box for eats $5.00, two camp stools $1.80, flashlight $1.40, washboard 15 cents, water bag $2.60, khaki trousers (for Cel) blouse and woolen socks $8.40.
We started out with $760 on hand. When we finished the trip, it had cost us $499.23.
The cost of gasoline averaged 25 cents a gallon, costing as little as 20 cents and as high as 55 cents. Tires cost about $15.00 each and the best tires were guaranteed only 3,000 miles. We used an awful lot of oil, buying a gallon every few days. Toward the end of the trip, I had to clean carbon every day. I had to take the head of the engine off to do this. No doubt this was the cause of our getting started late a good many days.
We bought a puppy in Oregon and sold it in Sacramento because we found it too much trouble to take care of.
We had a nice soft bed by folding the front seat over and placing the mattress over the seats. Cel was dressed in khaki and when we reached some of the eastern states people would take a second look at her wearing trousers.
In those days there were no motels and everyone had to stop at camp grounds which were supplied by all the towns. Most of them were free while a few were charging 25 cents for the night. They were equipped like some of the state parks are now in California, with a fireplace to cook, some tables, and some had a place to take showers. We carried the water bag to have drinking water and also for the machine which used quite a bit of water. Water was free every place, even on the desert where they had a sign “help yourself to whatever you need, but don't waste it,” except when we hit the mountains in the western part of Pennsylvania and Maryland, where they charged us 10 cents for water.
The roads, for the most part, down the western coast, through the National Parks especially, and then east as far as St. Louis were simply terrible. From St. Louis east we had good roads. Yosemite National Park charged us $5.00 for using their awful roads.
When we finished the trip, we were interviewed by reporters, a trip like this at that time being considered quite a feat. But we said “never again” would we go through anything like this, supposedly for pleasure.