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  Are We There Yet?
 

 
 

Host Mailha Yang and videographer Rich Enos capture elements for an upcoming episode.
  KVIE's programming philosophy is to air and create programs that reflect the community back to itself. In doing so, our productions reflect our rich history, introduce us to the people and places in the present, and help us plan for the future.

In addition to our productions America's Heartland, California Heartland, Central Valley Chronicles, and California Connected, we are proud of the range of relevant, compelling and diverse programs that we've produced this year.

And, we're particularly proud that we earned 10 Emmy Awards in 2004, more than any other station in our market.
 

Are We There Yet?

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Piling into the car for a camping trip or other vacation became a family ritual in the 50s and 60s with the kids endlessly wondering and often saying "Are we there yet?" These vacations produced memories for parents and children across generations. To reminisce on these irreplaceable times, KVIE public television presents Are We There Yet? Image courtesy of CSAA

The popularity of the home movie camera coincided with the post-war baby boom and the advent of the station wagon. The interstate highway system made it easy for young families to hit the road and they did so in earnest, preserving their vacation memories in canisters of eight-millimeter film.

If you grew up in California in the 50s and 60s, you probably remember the Big Orange Drive-In, the old Nut Tree, and the Milk Farm. In this new special produced by KVIE, take a trip down memory lane to some of your favorite vacation spots. From Yosemite to Yellowstone, Disneyland to Death Valley, relive family road trips through old home movies and interviews with the people who took them.

Elk Grove resident Phyllis Miller, Communications Manager for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, recalls wistful memories such as when a giant bee flew in her family's car window, wreaking havoc in the backseat, and road trips to visit relatives in the Midwest.

Bill Mallard, a car lover and docent of Sacramento's Towe Auto Museum, as he explains why road trips gained popularity following World War II.

Members of Sacramento's Slakey family (of the Slakey Bothers plumbing and heating supply business) relate funny stories about traveling by station wagon in a car stuffed with eight little kids.

The long-time handyman for the Milk Farm, Larry Simmons, reminisces about the once popular roadside restaurant, now nothing more than a cement slab along Highway 80.

Roseville resident Marie Diaz tells her harrowing tale of being plucked from the icy waters of the rushing American River after a family rafting trip goes bad.

Ed and Elinor McConnell of Yuba City show us their way of staying cool in the day when cars didn't have air conditioning.

Bruce Ferris from Roseville's REI store shows us how old-fashioned camping gear compares with the new, high-tech models.

Davis engineer Paul Moller relates how he was so enamored with hummingbirds as a boy that he has spent the past 30 years building a flying car modeled after the swift little birds and says his "sky car" will change road trips forever.

Alicia Arong from Stockton remembers the first trip to Disneyland with her toddlers.

Raoul Mora, an artist from Stockton, had his face pressed to the glass on road trips as a boy. He now paints valley landscapes from memories of those trips.

Find out what happens when bears break into a car, a whitewater rafting trip goes bad, and the tide comes in - way in - to a beachfront campsite. Mystery spots, drive-through trees, flat tires, no air conditioning, overheating radiators: the 1950s and 60s were an age of some inconvenience but also an age of innocence and a whole lot of fun.

Are We There Yet? was made possible by a generous contribution from
Niello Automotive Group and niello.com.


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