My diaries didn't yield anything of significance for this date that I could make a blog post from so I checked my mother's 1973 diary. The first couple lines were: "Leslie didn't get up till noon. Didn't get in last night until 1:30." So what? He was nineteen years old (almost 20). Young men that age often stay out late.
Ah, but her entry for the day before, January 26, 1973, tells the tale: It begins "25°" Halfway down the page after recording what she and Dad had done: "PM - Went to Ron's about 6 O'clock. Went on to R Oak to meet bus. Leslie and Dan were not on it. They hitch hiked home from Maryville. They got a ride to Kansas City. Took bus to Maryville. Hitch hiked rest of way."
Les and Dan were freshmen at Central Missouri State University. (The name was changed to University of Central Missouri in 2006.) Apparently they were just coming home for the weekend. On Sunday Mom wrote, "Leslie drove his car back to College this P.M." His car was a 1961 Chevy as I recall.
I wonder what Mom thought when they met the bus in Red Oak and my brother and his friend weren't on it? There weren't cell phones in those days. She must have been worried.
My little brother is now retired and the author of the Time Will Tell science fiction series. The release of the fifth and final book "Try, Try Again" is planned for February 17, his birthday.
I'm just thinking how miserable it must have been to be hitchhiking in January. Les and Dan could certainly have used some time traveling skills then.
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