I love this story.  In 1961, my dad was “pipelining” (i.e., working on a crew burying pipeline pipe) in Oregon.  My then-teenaged mother hopped in a car with her soon-to-be mother-in-law (and sisters-in-law) and they all headed out for Oregon.  In my mom’s suitcase was the wedding dress she had sewn herself.  And the rest is history.

Anniversary parties aren’t exactly my Mom and Dad’s “style.”  So instead, we (JB, Joyce, Jana and Jeff) went to Oregon on the week of their 50th anniversary.  We visited the church where they got married, their first apartment (the white building with green doors and roof), and the beach where they spent their Fourth-of-July honeymoon.  We even found the pipeline.

I also posted a few great old pictures from that period in 1961 — the pipeliners’ honeymoon.  The pinup girl is my newlywed mom.  A few of the pictures show my grandpa, Joe Cotner (in the overalls) and my great-uncle Bill, all pipeliners in that era.