Winter 1988
It was the winter of 1988, probably early February to be more exact. Julie and I had been dating for about six months and it was her second trip to Aspen. We were living in Long Beach, California, at the time and driving to Aspen took about 17 hours. I was young and foolish at the time so, the idea of leaving on a Friday afternoon, driving through the night to get there by the following morning was “no big deal.” We would end up leaving Sunday afternoon with plans on arriving back in Long Beach in time for work on Monday.
Unlike so many others, our weekend plans did not including skiing, we were going for our family’s favorite past-time, snowmobiling! By the time we got to Aspen my parents already had the snowmobiles ready to go. We changed into our winter clothes and headed off to the parking area for Little Annie’s road on the back side of Aspen Mountain. Our plans were to go up Midnight Mine Road to the top of Aspen Mountain and then head back across Richmond Hill to the base of Taylor Pass. I had been back in that area many times before and knew the route well. This would be Julie’s first time on a snowmobile.
Driving through the night requires a lot of coffee and I figured once we got on top of the ridge I would go on ahead and “take care of business; you know, see a man about a horse.” And so it began, I headed off to the east without realizing Julie was right behind me. Once I saw her I just figured I would go faster and get ahead of her.
30 miles per hour, then 40, 50, 60 and eventually 70 and I still could not shake her. “What was she doing?” She had never driven one of these contraptions before. Did she not fear death? In exasperation I came to a stop. When I walked up to her the expression on her face was priceless, the look of terror mixed in with relief. She did not realize what I was trying to accomplish and all she knew was that she (being a city girl) would keep up with me no matter what. She had something to prove and she did just that.
In looking back at it, I was pretty impressed that she could drive a snowmobile that well and that fast on her first time out.
Dooger's Blog 
So cool that you are writing down your memories. Reading them reminds me of things I thought I had forgotten. I remember snow mobiling with your family when I was about 15. I remember trying to keep up and almost driving off a cliff! The treads of the snowmobile tracks were half off the cliff and half on the track. I was scared to death!! I remember spending a lot of time at your family’s house. It was like a second home to me.
Jill thanks so much for your comments. I have a number of stories that include my miss-adventures with Sean. Be sure to read “Mother”s Water Tank….” and the “Pies, Hares & …..” stories for a fun trip down memory lane.