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Loren and Helen Joe had no idea that the year 1943 could be crammed so full of major events which would each effect their lives in a dramatic way. The year started off with Helen Joe and Ila moving into a room in Mrs. Earp's home and beginning a new semester at Chico State. Loren continued flying throughout the Pacific with the Southern Cross Airways.
On February 1, Loren was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Army Air Corps. On February 2, after a quick phone call to Helen Joe and an hour of local test flight of the LB-30, he departed with his crew from Hickam Field at about 9:00 p.m. for Hamilton Field near San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay area. His copilot was Major Taylor, the new Squadron Commander.
This was to be the first of many scheduled flights to the west coast to carry passengers or high priority freight for the Seventh Air Force Headquarters in Hawaii and to return crews to the U.S. for leave. Major Taylor's wife and Helen Joe both lived on the west coast, which fact had a major influence in the selection of the crew for the flight. Sgt. Bell Has the navigator, Sgt. Curtiss the radio operator, and Sgts. Dimattio and Simcox the crew chiefs.
The flight was estimated to take 12 hours and the weather was expected to be good except for the usual morning coastal fog in the bay area. Loren made the take-off at Hickam Field and flew the first hour. As was the custom in the squadron, Loren turned the controls over to his co-pilot for the second hour, expecting to alternate flying each hour. However, after about forty-five minutes, Major Taylor indicated that he was dead tired and needed a rest—said he had been working hard all day. He immediately went to sleep and was not available for the rest of the flight.
So Loren flew with no auto pilot for the rest of the night—approximately 12.5 hours flying time. Sgt. Bell, who had gone to navigation school at Hickam Field while in the squadron, was an excellent navigator and hit the Farallon islands dead center right on his schedule. The coastal fog and low clouds had been picked up at about 500 miles off shore but there were breaks in it near the islands and Loren was able to get down below the fog at about 500 feet altitude. The islands were about thirty miles off the coast from San Francisco and were used as a key check point for approaching the bay area.
The flight over was a "piece of cake" for the navigator—by taking readings from the stars he could maintain his position very accurately. However, daybreak brought about three hours when there were no stars and the sun was too low to help with accurate navigation. But Sgt. Bell, like Joe Jacobs, knew what he was doing and he told Loren just where and when to look to find the islands through the breaks in the fog--and there they were.
The fog continued at about 500 feet as they proceeded under it toward San Francisco from the islands. After a few minutes, they spotted the breakers on the beaches, then the outline of the mountains on each side of the entrance to the bay, and then the Golden Gate Bridge, with its towers sticking up into the fog. They flew over the bridge, between the towers and then north up the bay to Hamilton Field. There were no radar or radio controls for flights from overseas into Hamilton Field so each pilot found his own way as best he could.
Loren landed at Hamilton Field at about 12:30 p.m. as the fog was lifting a bit at the field. After checking in with the passenger and freight terminals and closing their flight plan, Loren was able to talk the base motor pool into providing him with a staff car to take him home. The driver took him around the bay to Vallejo where Helen Joe was waiting for him with his mother. The rest of the crew headed for San Francisco.
Loren landed at Hamilton Field at about 12:30 p.m. as the fog was lifting a bit at the field. After checking in with the passenger and freight terminals and closing their flight plan, Loren was able to talk the base motor pool into providing him with a staff car to take him home. The driver took him around the bay to Vallejo where Helen Joe was waiting for him with his mother. The rest of the crew headed for San Francisco.
Helen Joe was in a clothing lab with Miss Richie at Chico State on Tuesday, February 1 when the class was notified by the teacher that there was a long distance telephone call for Miss Fife from Hawaii coming through in a few minutes and that she could take it in her office. Helen Joe had mixed feelings of wonderment. Rarely was anyone allowed in Miss Richie's office. And a telephone call from Hawaii had to be concerning Loren whom she had not seen in sixteen months and who was involved in the war in the Pacific, the details of which she knew very little. She was excited yet frightened as she waited in the office for the call to come through.
After they had exchanged greetings, Loren told her of his promotion to Captain and asked her to go down to Vallejo and be with his mother for the next four or five days. He could give no further explanation concerning his flight or any related information as it was classified and the phone call would be cut off if he did. They had been warned by the operator not to mention flights, places, dates, etc. After a few more exchanges, their time was up and the call ended.
Helen Joe sat dazed for a few moments trying to comprehend everything that she had heard. However, she was happy to have heard Loran's voice and to know that he was well. After discussing the matter with Miss Richie, who had become her friend and confidant, she caught a bus for Vallejo on Wednesday, attending as many of her classes as she could in the morning. She spent that evening visiting with Jack and Margaret, bringing them up to date on what was happening as best she could. Because of wartime priorities, they did not have a telephone and Helen Joe had called a neighbor and asked her to alert them that she was coming. They were waiting with lots of things to visit about—they both had great respect for Helen Joe.
They had no idea of what to expect from Loren so on Thursday Jack went to work as usual at Mare Island in the Navy shipyard and Helen Joe and Margaret spent the day watching out the window and visiting. At about 3:00 p.m. the staff car pulled up in front of the apartment with Captain Stoddard in his khaki uniform and B-4 bag. It was a great reunion with mother and son and sweetheart and, when Jack came home, with two good friends.
Loren noticed that his mother was having more difficulty walking—she was beginning to lose control of her legs. Helen Joe and Loren visited with Jack and Margaret in the evenings, Margaret during the day, went bowling or to the movies during the day or at night, and did a lot of talking and planning. It was decided that they would not wait too much longer--that Loren would try to get leave within the next couple of months and they would be married at that time. They became so interested in what they were planning and in each other that they ignored the need for sleep. They had a lot of getting acquainted to do again.
For the four or five hours that they did sleep each of the next two nights, Helen Joe made her bed on the couch and Loren made his on the floor in the living room. Jack and Margaret were comfortable in their apartment but there were no other sleeping accommodations.
On Saturday, Loren and Helen Joe caught buses at the Vallejo bus station--Loren for a trip around the bay to Hamilton Field and Helen Joe to Gridley to catch up on her school work and to get ready for the next week. Loren rounded up his crew and they checked on their freight and passengers, checked the weather, made out the flight plan, checked the winds and determined that it would be another twelve hours back to Hawaii.
They rested a short time, had a good dinner at the Officers and NCO Clubs and were ready for a 9:00 p.m. take-off when Major Taylor arrived on the base with Mrs. Taylor. After showing her the airplane, the Major was ready to go. It was his turn to make the takeoff which he did very well. It was a beautiful night and the view of San Francisco was spectacular as they flew out over the Golden Gate Bridge.
As with the arrival, there were no departure controls by radio or radar so it was up to each pilot to find his way safely out to sea and to establish a comfortable cruising altitude--usually 8,000 to 11,000 feet with the LB-30.
Major Taylor flew the first hour then turned the controls over to Loren for the next hour and went to sleep. At the end of the next hour, Loren tried to wake the Major for his turn at the wheel. After shaking him several times, he did awake long enough to inform Loren that he had partied all the time he was in San Francisco and was in no condition to fly. Then he went back to sleep again. Loren had never encountered anyone as lazy or irresponsible or as unenthused about flying as was this man! And the Major was his Squadron Commander!
For the rest of the night the flight engineers and radio operator took shifts kneeling by the side of Loren to make sure that he did not fall asleep. The landing was made just as the sun was coming up—twelve hours and fifteen minutes from take-off.
After a few days of rest, Loren departed with Lt. O'Brien as co-pilot and an extra large crew on February 10. They opened up new routes through the islands east of their normal routes, stopping at Christmas, Penrhyn, Aitutaki and Raratonga in the Cook Islands, back to Aitutaki, Penrhyn, Christmas and then Hickam Field.
The Army Colonel at Aitutaki, who was the area Commander in the Cook Islands, had requested a recon flight for the native chief at Raratonga over a group of his islands. This was accomplished and while parking the LB-30 in a parking pad cut out of the palm trees, the tip of the right wing was damaged by a couple of palm trees. Sgt. Thomas made a quick patch for the rest of the trip back to Hickam.
Penrhyn and Aitutaki were flat coral islands with lots of palm trees and beautiful beaches and lagoons. Raratonga was of volcanic origin with flat coral reefs around an extinct volcano with lush growth covering the island. They were all the movie type, beautiful Pacific islands. At Penrhyn, six-inch crabs were everywhere. The crew slept in cots near the beach and the crabs were under the beds, in their clothes and shoes if they were not hung up, and crawling over their toes if their feet hung out of the bed.
The eastern islands were developed to provide fall-back air strips in case of Jap advancements into Fiji or the Phoenix islands and the other regularly used airfields. The landing strips were compacted coral strips and few facilities were provided. Only small housekeeping units were stationed on those islands. The 19th Transport Squadron ran flights regularly to those islands for mail, fresh vegetables, etc. Needless to say,the crews were well taken care of when they stayed overnight—fishing trips, good meals, and entertainment by local natives.
From February 17 to March 2, Loren and crew—Lee Metcalf co-pilot, Lt. Joyce navigator, and 110 Sgts. Graves and Curtis--were involved with Steve Rosetta and another LB-30 crew in an escort mission for P-70s from Hickam Field to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The P-70 was a Douglas A-20 which had been converted to a night fighter with radar and other search equipment. There were six P-70s with three LB-30s for escort.
Because of the short range of the P-70, stops were made at Hilo, Christmas, Canton, Wallis, Fiji, Efate, and then Henderson Field. After leaving Wallis,Steve led all nine aircraft in formation through a frontal area of clouds. When they came out of the clouds, one of the P-70s was missing. The rest of the flight landed at Fiji and search missions were launched with the LB-30s—with no success. The pilot of the missing aircraft was rather inexperienced and probably became disoriented in the clouds and lost control of the airplane. No trace of the pilot or the airplane was found.
On March 6 through 11 Loren with Lts.Walters and Zidzik and Sgts. Moor, Bennetti, and Bogardus made the trip again to Guadalcanal and return via Canton and Fiji. One of the engines on the LB-30 gave them trouble on the return trip, and it appeared likely that it would have to be shut down several times. However, they made it back to Hickam with four engines operating.
Loren obtained his two weeks leave and departed on one of the Squadron's flights on March 17 to Hamilton Field. Dick Jones and Paul Hundsdorf were the pilots, their first time for the trip. The weather was about the same as usual, fog in the bay area. Jones did not like flying under the fog so he looked for a hole over an airfield—landing at the Oakland Naval Air Station.
Loren caught the Greyhound bus to Vallejo and, after a short few minutes visit with his mother, continued by bus to Woodland where he and Helen Joe were to meet. After the February 3 visit, Helen Joe had caught up on her work and had been able to get back in the weekly routine at school. By letter she was aware that Loren would be home on a two weeks leave about the middle of March. However, there was nothing definite about their wedding plans. She worked hard to stay ahead in her studies and to be prepared for the events as they came. She and her mother did some shopping for the wedding but found little that pleased her except a coat and a night gown and robe. She had more to do but there were not too many choices available in Gridley, Chico, or Marysville.
Loren called on March 16 and told her that he would arrive at Hamilton Field two days later. Miss Richie provided the office again for the phone call and after the call, talked to Helen Joe about what was happening. Helen Joe explained that Loren was arriving in a couple of days and that they would be married as soon as they could make the arrangements.
Miss Richie was concerned that quite a number of girls from her classes were meeting the servicemen from the Chico Air Base and were getting married after knowing the boys for only days or weeks. It seemed that the war fever and the military uniforms were sweeping the girls off their feet. She was hoping that her most promising student was not doing something like that. She was very concerned and wanted to help. After Helen Joe explained that she had known Loren for sixteen years, had lived across the street from him for thirteen years, had been engaged to him since October 1941, and that they had planned to be married in February 1942, she was happy and most cooperative as far as the classes that Helen Joe would miss, her grades,etc.
Helen Joe packed her bags as best she could for the event and caught the bus for Gridley and Woodland. Getting ready for one's wedding during the war was simpler because of the many restrictions, but it was not as much fun. By this time gas rationing was in full effect and auto travel was very limited. Leather shoes,meats, sugar, butter, and other fats were all rationed.
Shorter skirts were in vogue because dress material for civilian use was limited. It was needed for shirts,sheets, and uniforms for the soldiers. Loren eased the situation a bit by bringing home with him three orchid corsages for the bride and the two mothers, and ten pounds of steak from the Parker Ranch in Hilo.
It had been agreed that the wedding would be held at Gene's home with President Warren of the Woodland Branch performing the marriage. It appeared that getting to the Salt Lake or Mesa Temples with friends and relatives was a difficult task with the travel restrictions that existed so they settled for a civil marriage for the present time.
There was a three day waiting period in California after filing for the license so it was important to get the application in immediately. Gene's help with his friends in the county office made it possible for the marriage to take place on Sunday, March 21, 1943.
There was a three day waiting period in California after filing for the license so it was important to get the application in immediately. Gene's help with his friends in the county office made it possible for the marriage to take place on Sunday, March 21, 1943.
On Saturday, Emily took Helen Joe and Loren to Sacramento to try to find, in the larger stores, a wedding dress. However, the traditional long white wedding gowns were not available. A beautiful street length, powder blue dress and a light blue coat with a red fox collar and a matching hat were purchased for the occasion. The war time restriction eliminating civilian dress for the servicemen for the duration of the war made Loren's preparations simple--one clean white shirt for his dress uniform. Also during the waiting period the required physical examinations and other preparations were made.
The wedding was at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday and was attended by Helen Joe's mother and father, her sisters Mabel and Florence, her brothers Calvin and James, Uncle Will and Aunt Dora and their son Bob and wife Marvis. Loren's family included his mother and Jack, his sister Mary and Babe, his brother Bill and wife Donna, and Gene and Emily and family.
The ceremony was short. Bob Fife played the wedding march, Gene sang "I Love You Truly", and Helen Joe's father gave the bride away. Helen Joe's younger sister Mabel was the bridesmaid and Gene was the best man. Helen Joe was beautiful in her powder blue wedding dress standing beside her husband in his military dress uniform. The wedding ring had not arrived from the jeweler in Phoenix so the engagement ring was used. Emily, who had been most gracious to Loren and Helen Joe in preparation for their wedding in her home, provided a delicious buffet for all the guests after the ceremony.
The plan had been to spend their first two wedding nights in San Francisco but there were no rooms available. One of Gene's former music students was on duty as the telephone operator and she took upon herself the task of finding them a room for their wedding night. After much calling, the best she could do was in Vallejo. So they settled for the Casa de Vallejo. Helen Joe's father and mother dropped them off there on their way to his doctor’s appointment at the U.C. Hospital in San Francisco.
On Monday morning the wedding band arrived in Gene's mailbox. The newlyweds caught the Greyhound bus back to Woodland, put the wedding ring on the bride's finder, then caught the bus to Sacramento. Helen Joe felt much better with the full set of rings on her finger as they registered at the hotel in Sacramento.
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| There are pages and pages of wonderful photos in this new edition of One Flesh. |
On Monday morning the wedding band arrived in Gene's mailbox. The newlyweds caught the Greyhound bus back to Woodland, put the wedding ring on the bride's finder, then caught the bus to Sacramento. Helen Joe felt much better with the full set of rings on her finger as they registered at the hotel in Sacramento.
As Loren and Helen Joe looked back upon their first few days of married life, they realized that no one could have known less about what to expect from the physical relationship of a husband and wife than they did. Neither had had any experience nor had they read or studied much about the subject. However, they had great love and respect for each other and were sensitive to each other's feelings and needs. They found in this relationship, as they had while they were dating, that as long as they were each concerned primarily about the happiness of the other, that their relationship developed naturally and ecstatically. They enjoyed being with each other--they had fun together. They laughed at their ignorance and mistakes and were thrilled by what they learned about each other.
They were extremely happy that they had selected each other and began to realize the meaning of the council given by the Lord at the marriage of Adam and Eve--"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." Never had they known the feeling of oneness that they were now experiencing! They both had strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and loved each other on that basis. Even the fickleness of a wartime courtship and marriage seemed to bring out great love between them.
Helen Joe's father had arranged with his brother Leland, who was the Superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad shops in San Francisco, to get two tickets for the Southern Pacific Daylight to Los Angeles from Sacramento. Tuesday morning they boarded the train in Sacramento and enjoyed a beautifully sunny trip down through the San Joaquin Valley as spring was breaking there
.At Merced an elementary school friend of Loren's, Jimmy Wardrobe, boarded the train and recognized and greeted them. Later he sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers to their hotel in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles they visited Aaron and Ruth, went to the famous Paladium for some dancing, visited Helen Joe's Uncle Isaac Fife family, and went to a premiere at Grauman's Chinese Gardens.
.At Merced an elementary school friend of Loren's, Jimmy Wardrobe, boarded the train and recognized and greeted them. Later he sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers to their hotel in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles they visited Aaron and Ruth, went to the famous Paladium for some dancing, visited Helen Joe's Uncle Isaac Fife family, and went to a premiere at Grauman's Chinese Gardens.
Reluctantly they boarded the Greyhound bus for the trip back up to northern California, stopping at Ceres on the way to visit Babe and Mary, and arriving in Gridley in time for a wedding reception Friday night. The buses were packed all of the trip up the valley and Loren sat much of the way on his suitcase in the aisle next to his wife. In spite of all of the wartime restrictions, the members of the Gridley Ward came forth at the invitation of Randolph and Mabel Fife to pay their respects to Helen Joe and Loren on Friday night as friends and relatives. They were generous with presents and their display of love and friendship. There was music, dancing, a program, and refreshments and a chivaree.
Lester Call and Kay Orme had provided a saddled horse for the chivaree. Near the end of the reception, the horse was brought to the old recreation hall south door and Helen Joe was invited to mount in her wedding dress. They did give her a chance to get in the corner and take off her only pair of wartime nylon stockings before she was helped into the saddle. Then Loren led the horse and the procession of all the guests up and down the main street of Gridley.
Although many of the young people their age were in the service or were working in defense plants or in the cities, Loren and Helen Joe were impressed and pleased by the number of friends who came to wish them well.
Lester Call and Kay Orme had provided a saddled horse for the chivaree. Near the end of the reception, the horse was brought to the old recreation hall south door and Helen Joe was invited to mount in her wedding dress. They did give her a chance to get in the corner and take off her only pair of wartime nylon stockings before she was helped into the saddle. Then Loren led the horse and the procession of all the guests up and down the main street of Gridley.
Although many of the young people their age were in the service or were working in defense plants or in the cities, Loren and Helen Joe were impressed and pleased by the number of friends who came to wish them well.
For the next week, Loren and Helen Joe visited with their families and friends in Gridley, Vallejo, Woodland, and Burlingame, where Uncle Leland lived, and Helen Joe attempted to do some studying in an effort to keep from getting too far behind in her classes. She was a very conscientious student and loved the classes that she was taking and wanted to learn as much as she could from them. However, she loved her husband and always made him feel that he came first in her life whenever he could find the time to be with her. Loren appreciated the position that she was in and respected and admired her for the way she handled the situation.
Loren had expected an airplane from the squadron to arrive at Hamilton Field shortly after April 2. He was to replace the pilot who would then take leave. He and Helen Joe checked into the Picwick Hotel above the Greyhound bus depot in San Francisco and maintained contact with Hamilton Field Operations while they enjoyed the city.
Loren had expected an airplane from the squadron to arrive at Hamilton Field shortly after April 2. He was to replace the pilot who would then take leave. He and Helen Joe checked into the Picwick Hotel above the Greyhound bus depot in San Francisco and maintained contact with Hamilton Field Operations while they enjoyed the city.
The airplane arrived on the fifth with Major Taylor as the pilot. His copilot took leave. On the sixth, Major Taylor expressed his intention to take his wife for a ride in the LB-30 and invited Loren to bring Helen Joe. Loren learned from the Major that there was an Army regulation authorizing such a flight annually for the orientation of wives or parents. They made the flight for forty minutes on the sixth and another one for an hour and twenty minutes on the following day.
Unfortunately the Major insisted that the ladies ride in the back part of the airplane where they saw little and heard lots of noise. On the eighth of April the crew took off for Hawaii and Helen Joe departed by Greyhound for Chico and back to school after a three weeks absence. She immediately delved into her studies in an attempt to catch up. However, the routine of school was interrupted again by another phone call from Loren on April 13 from McClellan Field in Sacramento. He was on a quick trip to the depot to pick up airplane parts. He took the bus to Chico and spent another lovely night with his wife "after hours" and departed the following day for Hawaii.
On the flight back to Hawaii on April 8, Major Taylor was the aircraft commander and had to do his share of the flying. However, that was his last flight with the squadron as he was replaced by Major Steve Rosetta as Squadron Commander. With that change, Capt. Stoddard became the Squadron Operations Officer with Capt. Paul Hundsdorf as his assistant. The result was more local flights for both, training and checking out new pilots, and fewer flights down through the Pacific. However, Loren and Paul were able to work out their time in the office so that each had some of those interesting flights over the next few months.
For Loren those flights were as follows: April 16 through 18. Loren and Lee Metcalf and crew participated again in the escorting of a group pf P-70s to Hilo, Christmas, and Canton islands.
For Loren those flights were as follows: April 16 through 18. Loren and Lee Metcalf and crew participated again in the escorting of a group pf P-70s to Hilo, Christmas, and Canton islands.
April 20 and 21. Loren flew with Dusty Woods and crew to Midway Island to escort the P-40s back to their Hawaiian base. One of the fighters developed a vibration in the tail section of the airplane about halfway through the flight. It was necessary that the pilot slow his speed to just above stalling speed and drop out of the formation. Loren flew the rest of the flight home with the disabled fighter--flying in formation with him to navigate for him and to watch the tail section for signs of any further trouble. They returned to Hawaii with no more problems.
May 4. A B-17 was lost in the water near the Hawaiian Islands and a search mission was launched with every available airplane. A B-25 was available with no qualified pilots to fly it and it was turned over to Loren to assemble a crew and get it out on the mission. It was a great challenge to imitate Col. Boyd-- read the handbook and fly it! Sgt. Thomas had been a crew chief on the B-25 and with his help, Loren and Dusty Woods flew the mission in that "noisy beast" with no problems of any kind—except that they found no trace of the lost airplane or crew.
May 11 through 16. Loren had been given the responsibility of training and checking Col. Goss in the LB-30. The Colonel was the personal pilot of General Delos Emmons, the new Seventh Air Force Commander. On the 11th they departed with the General and one of his staff for a trip down south, landing at Canton and stopping overnight at Penrhyn. The following day they landed at Bora Bora and the General, his aide, and his two pilots were flown by four Navy float planes to Tahiti for three days of leave for the General.
That island was under Free French control, had no airport, and was nearly untouched by the war. The General and his party were guests in a hotel that had grass shacks on the beach as part of its accommodations. They were fed royally, were entertained on the beach under the moon by Tahitian girls and boys, given presents, and offered female companions for the night. No one seemed offended when Loren declined the last offer and stayed by himself in his grass shack. They departed from the harbor in the same float planes, picked up the LB-30 and crew at Bora Bora and flew to Aitutaki for the night. They landed at Canton the following day, arriving at Hickam Field that night.
May 25 through July 19. Loren with Lt. Tamosan as copilot and a large crew for leave purposes, took one of the LB-30s to the Sacramento Air Depot at McClellan Field to have the rubber wing tanks removed and to seal the wing skin. This was to give an increase in fuel capacity for longer flights. It had been estimated that the job would take thirty days but actually took nearly double that amount of time. Lt. Tamosan, who had been an aircraft mechanic, stayed to assist in the job and the rest of the crew members departed on leave.
Loren was responsible for the mission and was on temporary duty at the depot, remaining in phone contact with crew members and the depot. Because of the delay, it was necessary for Loren to arrange transportation with Hamilton Field for the excess crew members to get back to Hawaii as they returned from leave.
May 25 through July 19. Loren with Lt. Tamosan as copilot and a large crew for leave purposes, took one of the LB-30s to the Sacramento Air Depot at McClellan Field to have the rubber wing tanks removed and to seal the wing skin. This was to give an increase in fuel capacity for longer flights. It had been estimated that the job would take thirty days but actually took nearly double that amount of time. Lt. Tamosan, who had been an aircraft mechanic, stayed to assist in the job and the rest of the crew members departed on leave.
Loren was responsible for the mission and was on temporary duty at the depot, remaining in phone contact with crew members and the depot. Because of the delay, it was necessary for Loren to arrange transportation with Hamilton Field for the excess crew members to get back to Hawaii as they returned from leave.
It was during this trip that Helen Joe and Loren really had their honeymoon. After Loren had made all necessary arrangements at Sacramento, he went to Chico to find Helen Joe beginning her semester finals. He was intrigued by the privilege of watching Helen Joe finish her classes and study hard for her finals—having missed more than three weeks of classes during the semester.
When finals were over (Helen Joe did well as usual) they spent a week or so visiting family in the areas surrounding Sacramento and then went to Yosemite Park for a real honeymoon—all by themselves for four days. It was spring, a little early for the big crowds, crisp and beautiful and one of their most memorable vacations. They walked up the trails, saw the sights, played together, visited with each other, and loved each other passionately. They came and went by their now most common mode of transportation—the bus and train. But even that experience was pleasant.
For most of the rest of Loren's time with the depot they visited with his mother and helped her by installing handles and hoists so that she could get herself in and out of bed and to the bathroom. She was not doing well and Helen Joe decided to spend the rest of the summer with her and Jack.
While maintaining contact with the depot, Loren and Helen Joe had some fun times in San Francisco--it became their favorite city. Helen Joe's cousin Myrtle Yorgason came from Ogden, Utah and spent a few days with them in San Francisco. They saw plays, musicals, and shows and went sightseeing—having a good time.
When the airplane was ready to go, Loren picked it up and after a thorough flight check, landed at Hamilton Field. After taking Helen Joe and Lt. Carl Jensen for a ride over the bay area, Loren and his crew departed for Hawaii and Helen Joe returned to Vallejo.
