An Early Trip to Mexico

Another Memory from Son Sean's Questions

Back in the early sixties, we bought an Aristocrat trailer for camping. One day, we got a flier in the mail advertising an escorted tour of Aristocrat trailers to Mexico. Being adventurous, Forry and I and our, at that time, two kids signed up to go. The trip would involve a month in Mexico during December. We were not the most popular people with either set of our parents as we -- and the grandchildren -- would not be home for Christmas!

We left home the last week of November and returned the first week in January. We had a International Travelall that we used to pull our Aristocrat. We put an old crib mattress and some quilts in the back and that's where the kids spent most of their time playing. (Definitely pre-car seats and seat belts!) We met up with the group of seventeen trailers in California and crossed the border at Tijuana.

We were escorted throughout the entire trip by the Mexican Green Fleet. Equipped with all kinds of tools and extra gasoline, we had a green jeep in front of and in back of our caravan. We traveled all the way down to the Mexican border with Guatemala, staying at campgrounds all along the way. We had a motorcycle police escort into Mexico City. We were surprised to see guards armed with machine guns in banks and stores (and were advised to quickly hit the floor if anything happened...). We traveled from Mexico City down to Acapulco where we had a chance to go diving in the bay (Forry ate his first ever -- and only -- raw oyster!)

If I remember correctly, there were seventeen trailers on the trip. There were a couple of other families with children, but I think Sean was the youngest. Mexicans used to follow us down the street and would reach out to touch Daughter Mary Mae's long white-blonde hair. The kids were actually great ice breakers and even with the language barrier, we had many interchanges with Mexican families.

It was a wonderful trip, full of new experiences and sights. We met some wonderful people and enjoyed the hospitality of the Aristocrat Corporation. The next summer, another Aristocrat Caravan, touring the Northwest, unexpectedly pulled into the ranch yard with a dozen trailers. They spent the night circled in our dooryard. Such fun to have a surprise visit.

I got a chuckle when I looked up Aristocrat Trailers on the Internet.  It turns out they were manufactured between 1956 and 1974, with the company folding then said to be due to the shortage of gasoline. Now they are considered heirloom trailers and people are restoring any of them that can be found!