Croy Gulch

When I started Kindergarten, my family had temporarily settled into a tiny shack on the Klamath River in California. The house was just off the road, so there was always a lot of action going on beyond our doors. This was Croy Gulch.

My parents made their bedroom in the garden, in part to enjoy the cool that the evening would bring and in part to guard the tomatoes from the deer. An old clawfoot tub was in the garden as well, filled with water to be warmed by the sun and where we'd take our occasional baths. We'd wash our clothes by hand and then run them through the wringer, that sat just on the other side of the garden. My brother and sister slept in the main house and the gypsy wagon was my bedroom, which meant I was closest to the road.

One summer night as we all lay sleeping, a commotion arose in the driveway. Bright lights, scuffling, car doors, banging, and then a booming voice: THIS IS THE POLICE! YOU ARE SURROUNDED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!

My mom came flying out from the garden with her hands in the air and was met by a police squadron with their guns drawn. "I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!", she screamed.

What ensued was a standoff between a man who had robbed a store down the river and the police, following a chase that had ended in our driveway. In the end, we were safe and the robber taken away, but it was the beginning of a long string of high drama summer incidents that marked our stay at Croy Gulch.

Living just off the road was a sort of entertainment for us kids and oftentimes, we'd stand at the edge of the driveway watching the cars go by. "Flatlanders!", we'd say about the people in each car that'd pass, imagining they were from the city. The flatlands, as we called it.

They weren't tough like us, we imagined. Because we were adventurers. Tenders of the goats, hunters of rattlesnakes, and always covered in poison oak and big white dots of Milk of Magnesia, applied to dry out the sores.

Our favorite days were the ones when the road crew would come through. When my mom saw them coming, she'd pull out my grandma's old dough bowls and make her famous homemade bread. We'd take the hot, steaming thick slices out, covered in big slabs of butter and feast with the crew. They always made sure to set up their base at our driveway whenever they were nearby.

Eventually, the BLM who owned the land we were renting, informed my parents that they needed to remove the shack from their property. So they threw a huge house tearing down party and then, just like that, we moved on.

Because that's what adventurers do.

Footnote: The 67 Truckin Co. seen on my family car (above) was sort of like our family brand. 1967 is the year my parents met and my dad painted 67 on many of our vehicles and gypsy wagon.

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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.

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Comments

[tabitha]

the best, most interesting, read I have had in many days. Your open style of writing is both lyrical and direct, I wanted to read more!

[Rene Foust]

I love your stories of your childhood! What an adventure you were on. Thanks for sharing them with us.

[Cindy]

Oh my goodness, it is so amazing to hear of the different ways people grew up, the different paths each person takes. It always intrigues me. I love to hear other peoples growing up stories.

[Marni Wilkie]

I love this story!!

[Joni]

I love your stories and adventures from your childhood! Your should write a book, as your memories are a bit more TV-ready than some of the adventures my parents gave us! Ha! I remember a lot of vehicles said "truckin'" in some way or other. Where my brother worked outfitting trucks, all the mudflaps they installed had the name of the business plus "Keep on Truckin'!" on them! :0)
xoxo
Joni

[Mona]

What a great story!!! : )

[Sisters Antiques]

Thanks Serena for the great story and more insight into your life!

[TerritoryMom]

My, my, my, you have some great tales! Thanks for sharing.

[Lauren]

what a fabulous story, you are a gifted writer

[Shelly]

Have you ever written a book about your life? Wow!

[Melissa Kaiserman]

I think you have lived one of the most interesting lives of anyone I know. I love hearing your stories and catching glimpses of the threads that have run through and shaped who you are today. :)

[Mandie]

Love this story!

[Julie]

Wow, what a childhood!

[Linda Poteet]

wow! you had an amazing childhood! who would've imagined!

[Joan Morrow]

I've actually never met anyone who had the same sort of life that I did. We once lived in a camp trailer by the bend in the river. My brother and I had a ball that summer mucking and swimming in the river. My dad made the camper.

[april]

I so admire that you have embraced our childhood and that in your mind and heart have made it an oh so positive legacy. So many people today cry "dysfunctional" and use it as a crutch their whole life for negativity and failure. I am blessed by you, your stories,and your work. THANK YOU!
YES YES YES, you need to write a book and eventually a movie....so much more entertaining then the Harry Potter series! and they are real!

[LoriD]

Yes, quite the adventurers!

[jenn]

I love your childhood stories! You should definitely do a book on this topic. I'm always curious though, where your other family members ended up in their lives.

[jessie dykes]

i think you should do a book also.starting with your amazing childhood stories,up to how you became a farm chick.i would definitely buy it!

[Julie Harward]

What a story...we were poor but this is quite a life! :D

[Sanna]

Hi Serena,

What an adventure. I just love reading about your childhood and upbringing. So far from mine. I think it´s amazing the way you and your family lived and I am curious to learn more. And, like somebody else were asking, I wonder what became of the rest of your family? I also love the photos you´re showing from that time. Thanks for sharing!

Have a wonderful day!
-Sanna

[Stacy, Applegate, Oregon]

Here I sit in my old farmhouse on land backed by BLM, body covered in poison oak ;/ no rattlesnakes found in the yard yet this year and just a few hours from where I imagine Croy Gulch is, loving your story today Serena. I love that your dad painted “67” on the family vehicles and the generosity of bringing fresh bread to the road crew. What rich memories! Keep on sharing! xoxo

[Kim Sutton]

I think that truly great people come from humble beginnings. They are always grateful for what they have, that way.

[Patrice]

Oh Miss Serena ~ I really REALLY love hearing about your childhood adventures! My own, and my childrens childhood was sort of, umm, normal, and your life was one that I must have read stories about way back then. I'm older than you, but can still relate :) One great big adventure, that's AWESOME!

[Judy]

What a wonderful memory from your childhood. Thanks for sharing it.

[Brenda]

What an amazing childhood you had - I am always facinated to read about it! You should write a book...

[sandy]

I love your stories about your childhood and wish that you would write a book. What a lucky person you were to live that life style.

[Monica]

Thanks for sharing your stories, Serena. I find them quite interesting. And I think taking warm bread to the road crew is a wonderful idea that I think I just might do sometime.

[teresa]

I think what I love best about your stories are...your attitude........ I think your stories are a little bit like therapy for me... thanks for sharing them.

[Diane Clements]

I love your storeies about your childhood and life growing up. What an amazing adventure you had. The way you write and tell your story is with such openness and honesty. Please continue.

[Marilyn Parker]

'67 was a Good Year. The year I got married, the year my first son was born. When you're young most everything looks like an adventure. Although from the sound of it, my 1967 wasn't nearly as much fun as your folks!!
Marilyn in Missouri

[Katie]

My favorite posts are the ones you write about your childhood. They are fascinating. I am never quite certain whether you are healing through writing about an adventurous yet difficult childhood or simply recounting the unusual childhood experiences you had. I sense a sort of wonderment of you standing on the outside of that life looking in. Your home and life are so different now, it must be an odd juxtaposition of experiences to reconcile. Thanks for sharing your lifes experiences with us. Please write an autobiographical book sometime.

[Debora]

Keep telling us stories of your childhood; we are all fascinated by your familys bohemian lifestyle!

[Madge]

When I was a kid I loved to sleep outside during the warm summer months...I sometimes sleep outside in the summer, to watch the stars as they trail across the warm night sky, even now and I'm in my early 60s. Thanks for sharing yourself with us! :-)

[Deborah]

I really enjoy hearing your stories! Have you considered writing a book? You have such a great memory about your childhood that few of us get to experience. I know I'd purchase the book! :) Are you parents still living and do you get to travel down memory lane with them often? I'd be curious to hear if they are still living in the same area. I am from that area and it's very beautiful.

[Gail Jantz]

Loved this story :-)))))

[Patti Parks]

Serena, your road crew story reminded me of when we sold cups of my mothers Muscadine Grape juice that was supposed to be for jelly, to the road crew guys who paved our street one summer!

[Carol V.]

Serena, I love your stories! I know you had some tough times during your childhood, but it sounds like you also had a lot of love. I am some older than you, but have fond memories of my childhood too. We didn't have much money, but had lots of love and great experiences. I love the "flatlander" name. My husband uses that all the time. When our son was little he also called city folk "pilgrims". (also from my husband who thinks he's John Wayne!) Thanks for making my day!

[Jen]

Your childhood and your children's could not be more different, could it? Wow. You should write a book about growing up!