Boarding school was not the kind of place that it implies. Most kids I know had a good time at boarding school. Some may have balked at attending in the first place, but it would be the exception for them not to continue the following year. The friends made at boarding school stay with you for life.
With that said there is no one that I know that did not look forward to “six-week leave.” As I lived to far from Laurelwood to go home, it was nice to catch the school bus into Portland to do some shopping when it dropped the kids off.
This particular leave I rode the school bus in to Portland, just to look around, and do some shopping with my roommate Don Ringering. It was a Thursday and we poked around Portland for a few hours, and as it was starting to get dark decided to head back to the school.
Laurelwood was out in the country and I mean county. There in fact was no single road to Laurelwood. You could as it were take up to a half dozen or more routes to get there and each of these had at least six road changes.
Laurelwood was out in the country and I mean county. There in fact was no single road to Laurelwood. You could as it were take up to a half dozen or more routes to get there and each of these had at least six road changes.
So here we were on the Sunset Highway waiting to get a ride on the Beaverton Tigard Freeway, which would take us to Farmington Road, which would take us to the Hillsboro Highway for one mile, where we would catch Bald Peak Road, which would take us to Laurelwood Road and to Laurelwood Academy.
After waiting and waiting what seemed forever, we at last caught a ride in a cool looking Plymouth Golden Hawk. This was a hot looking car back in the fifties. A friendly looking guy sat behind the wheel, with a big smile on his face and asked us if we would like to hop in. We didn’t waste any time escaping the inclement night and with the vague hope that he might at least take us to the next road. He was probably in his thirties and it seemed to our amazement quite happy to take us all of the way to Laurelwood. This surprised me as it was quite out of his way. During our ride however, he told us that he worked for some agency that dealt with troubled youth. I realized then that his passion for youth might be the reason for his kindness.
We had a good visit during our ride to Laurelwood, and the ride ended far to soon as I thought the Golden Hawk was a pretty neat car. I noticed later that he came by the school from time to time to visit our English teacher Miss Burton, so there was more to this random encounter and his seeming kindness then met my eyes.
After waiting and waiting what seemed forever, we at last caught a ride in a cool looking Plymouth Golden Hawk. This was a hot looking car back in the fifties. A friendly looking guy sat behind the wheel, with a big smile on his face and asked us if we would like to hop in. We didn’t waste any time escaping the inclement night and with the vague hope that he might at least take us to the next road. He was probably in his thirties and it seemed to our amazement quite happy to take us all of the way to Laurelwood. This surprised me as it was quite out of his way. During our ride however, he told us that he worked for some agency that dealt with troubled youth. I realized then that his passion for youth might be the reason for his kindness.
We had a good visit during our ride to Laurelwood, and the ride ended far to soon as I thought the Golden Hawk was a pretty neat car. I noticed later that he came by the school from time to time to visit our English teacher Miss Burton, so there was more to this random encounter and his seeming kindness then met my eyes.
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