Dec 22 - Saw John Wayne as we left for Frisco**

Friday, December 22, 1972 - Page 357
LOCATION: From Newport Beach to San Francisco

Woke up at 11:00 and took a bath. Mom got home from work at 11:30 and did the dishes & various other stuff. I threw clothes and junk into my duffle bag and we left at around 12:30. Driving along 17th street we saw John Wayne and his little kid [Ethan Wayne, born 1962] in his custom made station wagon. A minute later we saw Chunk [my brother] in his dented busted unpainted Barracuda. So we were off, leaving behind the familiarities of Newport Beach.

John Wayne at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival

Wayne was driving a customized Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon (wiki info). The clamshell top provided extra room for the Duke's tall cowboy hats which he often wore when he didn't want to bother applying his toupée.

Here I am again confronted by the faultiness of memory. I went on the internet to snatch a photo of JW's 1972 car and I found these two. They are the same vehicle but they look completely different and I can't tell you for certain which one we saw him in that day. Probably the top one because it is less flamboyant. I think I would have remembered steer horns on his hood.

The trip thru L.A. and to S.F. was uneventful. The weather changed from warm & clear to cold & cloudy but it only sprinkled on us for a few minutes. We got to San Fran at 8:00, and Me, Mom, Jain, Willie, & Jim went out to an Italian restaurant for food. After which we drove around for a while, getting back home at 1:30 A.M. It was very foggy after we got out of the restaurant but it cleared in an hour. I got to sleep about 3:00 A.M with a headache I had all night.

A T-Shirt that John Wayne gave to Chuck when he
was invited onto the Duke's yacht, the Wild Goose
(See Chuck Lyda biography) 

TOMORROW: Going bowling for the first time