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| Bob used his oak skis constructed by his dad several years prior in the following adventure, described by Bob:
One time I joined an expedition to cross the Sierra Nevadas. There was one volunteer that drove our party of 5 up to Onion Valley on the East side, and another volunteer who drove up to pick us up at Cedar Grove in Sequoia Park. Herringboning up to Kearsarge Pass and going downhill on the sunnyside in the afternoon, I was suddenly stopped by a patch of melting slush and fell with my Eye on the tip of my ski. The tip had been modified to a knob to loop the canvas climber on, and the knob pushed my upper eyelid behind my eyeball. My companions had to lag back and guide me the remaining 10 miles to Cedar grove, and we were all very late arriving back in LA where I got fixed up in the emergency room.  XB-19 after completion Bob continued working at Interstate Aircraft as an illustrator this year on the XB-19 project. Bob recalls: One of my fellow Tech Writers at Douglas Santa Monica was Charles Dundore (There were a dozen of us.). His previous work experience was as an automobile mechanic for the Southern California Rolls Royce agency. He owned a 1923 Rolls which he would proudly demonstrate the crankshaft-flywheel balance using a porcelain china cup and saucer brim full of hot tea sitting on the top of the front fender while the motor was at idling speed. He also remembers visiting old classmates in the fall of this year: During the Fall of ’41, I went to Exposition Park and sat with Bill and Bob where the 160th Infantry was assembled. The boys were sleeping that night in pup tents waiting for transportation to the Philippine Islands. In this visit I wished them well but said nothing about my resolve to avoid being cannon fodder. About 4 months later we got the word that Mac Arthur had surrendered the 160th to the Japanese, affirming my resolution to keep out of it. I had a job which deferred my being drafted. My draft card had granted the deferment until “Nov. 31st 1943, a joyful “typo” since November only has 30 days. Many other friends had volunteered to enlist, Bill Adamson, Jerry Jolequer, Chester and Ervin Mateer, Jack Watts, Tom Magurty, Walter Blighly and others forgotten and numerous. | |||
