Marriage and Gold Prospecting

John, my brother, got married to Sue Brown in 1976. For their honeymoon they went to Southern California, where they planned to go to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and all of the tourist attractions in Southern California. They also planned a trip to KEEN engineering, to buy a 3" suction dredge for us to use  for gold prospecting. But I get a little ahead of myself.

John and Sue got married on a Saturday 3 days before John turned 30. I tell everyone that he was 30 when he got married. The reason I say he was 30 is because as we were growing up I said that "My brother wouldn't get married until he was 30." He is not cheating me with three days. So he got married when he was 30.

They were married in a small church in Santa Clara. There were about 30 friends and family. Mostly friends because all of our family lived back east, most of them in Pennsylvania. Sue's family was there, about 10 to 15. It was a very nice ceremony with a little humor. Of course I had the job of helping John get ready. So when John wasn't around I took his shoes and with white shoe polish I wrote HELP. HE on the sole of one shoe, his left. And LP on the sole of the right shoe. Now when he knelt down, you would see HELP on the soles of his shoes. Now it was about 10 minutes before the ceremony and we were waiting in an area outside of the church. John was just pacing around and I was worried that all his pacing was going to wear off the shoe polish on the soles of his feet.

Finally it was time and we walked into the church and stood at the alter with the priest waiting for Sue. The wedding march played and Sue came down the aisle. She was beautiful and was taking her time. She was aware of the word on the bottom of John's shoe. We told Sue so that if there was any laughter she wouldn't panic. If she hadn't known and during the ceremony she heard them laughing or giggling she would have panicked thinking, her dress was torn, her hair was falling down,, something, so we gave her a heads up. She was a good sport.

Now we were at the point where we had to kneel. I was John's best man and Sue had her maid of honor and we also had to kneel when John and Sue knelt. As soon as we knelt,  I started to hear some giggling at the front of the church, and it slowly started to move it's way towards the back of the church. Pretty soon everyone was giggling, they were trying to keep the giggling to a minimum but it wasn't easy. And the most exciting part was that John put his feet side by side. It was great, no gap between the letters HE and LP. HELP looked like it should, all one word. I know the friend of ours that was taking pictures got a very good picture of the feet. I am sorry that I can't scan it and include it with this story but those pictures were lost during one of John and Sue's moves.

The reception was also small, we had it at one of Sue's friends house and we used the garage and back yard. We had a great time and the happy couple had a great time. After most of the formalities were done, you know, the toast, first dance, garter throwing, bouquet tossing and so on, John and Sue make their way to the back yard to open presents. They got everything they wanted. They didn't need a lot because they had been living together for a while and had a lot of their household items. After the presents were opened they were getting ready to leave. John came up to me and gave me the key to his apartment to check on things while they were gone.

Okay, now I had John and Sue's key to their apartment and they were out of town. What practical joke do I make on their apartment? Corn flakes in the bed? Naw, too messy and they're going to be tired when they get home from all that driving. There's jello in the bath tub...hmmm... too hard to clean up. The light bulb goes on and I have good idea. Not too messy and pretty easy to clean up before they could go to bed. What is it you ask? I got a gross of balloons. That's a dozen dozens, which is 144 balloons for those non mathematical sorts. So about a week before their scheduled return I started blowing up balloons. I blew them up at home, at work during breaks and lunch. I got my mom helping. I'd blow up a balloon and stuff it in a garbage bag. When I filled up one bag I'd get another. Some of my 144 balloons popped while blowing them up and some had a hole in them. But after filling about 6 garbage bags I went to their apartment. They lived in the same apartment complex as I did. They were across the grass area about 20 feet away. I grabbed all the bags by the top where they were tied closed. When I get in their apartment I start dumping out balloons, I filled up the bath tub, I put them in the bed and then threw blankets over them. There were balloons in the living room, the bathroom, the bedroom, all over the place. It was great! I had to be careful as I left their apartment so none would escape. Some of the balloons tried to get away but I didn't let them.

So now John and Sue were on their honeymoon and having a great time. They were planning to get home on a Sunday and they gave me a call just before they were to get home. They wanted to know if everything was okay and should they stop at the store before they get home. I said yes, you need milk and some butter and some other things. They get home and when they get in the apartment they can't believe their eyes. They bust out laughing and popping balloons. Now Sue wants to pick up the balloons and put them in a trash bag and then pop them, that way the balloon part is in the bag not on the floor or wherever. But John wants to open the dredge box and look at it. So he pops the balloons in the living room and then goes out to the car and gets the box with the dredge in it.

3" Suction Dredge

We were now owners of a 3" suction dredge. Now we could get some gold, we could move the loose gravel over bedrock 10 times faster then we could before. This would help us get more gold. Gold is the heaviest metal and it will settle to the bottom of a riverbed and the dredge will suck the gravel on top of it. The dredge will suck up the gold too and the gold will be caught in the sluice box attached to the dredge. That was our new piece of equipment and we couldn't wait to go out prospecting.


 Wait till I tell you the story about the frozen wet suit.