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Show Springville Visitors Return From Motor-Scooter Trip Over Europe particle on the trip will appear in the next issue of American magazine. maga-zine. They are of the opinion that such a tour can't be beat for living liv-ing history and to give one a broader view of people of Europe and the country in general. They are booked for lectures and to show some of the 1500 pictures which they have of the trip and are already making plans for a tour of the Near East by jeep. Hhe interest of people wherever they went. The couple felt that traveling as they did, they became acquainted acquaint-ed with the people of the country; with their customs and the way they lived. In fact they were invited in-vited to stay with country families fami-lies from time to time. They stayed in Europe as long as their money held out, a full seven months. They carried three cameras including a polaroid and often took pictures with the latter and gave them to the people to make friendly contact. The Wickerds seemed very enthusiastic en-thusiastic about a trip on a motor scooter for thrill and adventure. When they reached Ireland on the return, they sold the motor scooter for half the original price but upon reaching Springville, they still had one of the English-made bicycles atop their automobile. Their car had been stored in New Jersey while they were gone. Upon reaching New York on the return, they spent considerable time with publishers, going over plans for a book which they expect to be published in 1957. They have also had numerous newspaper articles ar-ticles concerning their travels wherever they have stopped. Their story is printed in the April issue of Travel magazine and another "The most wonderful and im- portant venture of our lives," was the way Ronald and Prances Wick-, ard described their recent tour of Europe as they stopped in Springville Spring-ville this week to visit their son Bill Prederickson and his wife the former LuDean Clark, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Prank Clark. The Wickerds were on the last leg of a journey in which they had covered 10,000 miles and visited visit-ed 16 countries in Europe via a motor scooter. For the past several years, this couple, both over 40, had worked and saved to make a dream come true. Then in March 1955, with a total of $1000, two English-made bicycles and a 1946 Pontiac, they set out from their home in Van Nuys, Calif., on a vacation which extended over 14 months. Planning to tour the continent on bicycles, they crossed the ocean by boat, but upon arriving in Ireland, Ire-land, decided bicycling might prove a little strenuous, especially traveling over the Alps in Switzerland, Swit-zerland, so they purchased a "Puch", an Austrian-made motor scooter. With an Irish license plate and their belongings packed on the back of the scooter, they toured tour-ed the British Isles. After encountering high winds which blew their pack from the back of the scooter, a side-car was added to their traveling equipment and this proved a convenient place for their few items of clothing and camping equipment throughout the journey. The jovial middle-aged couple telling about their trip said it was fun sleeping in European parks of which there are many beautiful ones, some even with swimming pools and while the ordinary American Amer-ican tourist was paying dollars to sleep in a hotel, the Wickerds paid but 35c per night for lodging in a park in the heart of Paris. They went from the parks to various parts of the country and while they were touring, their belongings were taken care of by a guard at the park. At . night after a leisurely meal, prepared on their camp stove, they climbed into their nylon sleeping bags to rest for another day's tour. They said their Irish I license plates and the numerous sitckers on the scooter aroused |