Moving To Indiana Then Idaho

Part Four: Jan and Judy Find Lots Of Places To Ski.

We returned from Norway in 1957 and headed to Indiana University. We skied Caberfae near Cadillac, MI, a couple of times, but otherwise, our four years at IU were devoted to my studies and having Bloomington’s New Year’s Baby in January 1960. Where and when would we ever start little Erik on skis?

When I graduated in June 1961 we had a second child on the way, and I had a job offer from the University of Florida. Then came a call from Moscow, Idaho. The chair of the Humanities Department wanted to expand offerings in American Studies, and he had contacted the well-known IU program to see whether any newly-minted folklorist was interested.

This was the only job I ever took without a site visit and a personal interview. Everything was done by telephone and letters. The offer came as a telegram. It worked out perfectly: Moscow was a pleasant small town, the university was solid, my colleagues were smart and friendly, and—best of all—there was a nice little ski area just north of town.

The North-South Ski Bowl had a couple of rope tows and a log warming house. Here is a photo of Judy and me with toddler Erik ready to ski. His baby sister Amy, was with a sitter. Yes, I’m still wearing that old Norwegian sweater.

Besides our local area, we visited other ski resorts in our region. We skied Mt. Spokane a couple of times, and returning from a meeting in Seattle I skied Snoqualmie Pass. When I gave a lecture for an extension course in Boise I brought my skis and had a day at Brundage Mountain near McCall, a place Judy and I also skied together. By then we had replaced the front clip on our Norwegian skis with first-generation “safety bindings.”

In early 1962 I was surprised by orders to join the US Army and fulfill my ROTC obligation. Even this led to some  skiing.

On my way to join my class at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, I visited my parents in Lansing. My dad suggested that we go skiing. But was there time to drive up north? Not a problem. A new little area called Mt. Brighton was on I-96 down towards Detroit. In my dad’s garage I found some gear that fit, and thus I had what turned out to be my last ski day in my home state. Hard to believe that little old Mt. Brighton is now part of the Vail empire.

I was assigned to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, for a year. Judy and the two kids joined me, and we found a local ski club that met in a neighborhood bar. Their meetings were the last time either of us were carded to buy drinks. We never took a ski trip with the club, but we did get to some eastern ski areas on our own.

Judy’s aunt lived in upstate New York, so we could leave the kids with her and go skiing. Here’s Judy in 1963 at the now-defunct Petersburg Pass. It’s not clear whether she was planning to ski an expert or a novice trail.

Back in Idaho a major new area opened in the mountains above Sandpoint: Schweitzer Basin, now Schweitzer Mountain. We skied it in January 1964 when Judy was pregnant with our second daughter, Dana, born in Moscow in June. The views from the mountain looking past the frosted trees to Lake Pend Oreille were stunning.

In spring 1965 opportunity knocked in the form of an offer from the Edwardsville campus of  Southern Illinois University. I felt I should not pass up a chance for a promotion to Associate Professor and time off for folklore fieldwork. So back we went to the Midwest with our three little kids, hoping that eventually we would be able to teach them skiing.

To be continued . . .