Summer 1973

In the 1970’s my father had a Jeep Commando, or depending on its actual year it might have been a Jeepster Commando made by Kaiser Motors.  Either way it was a workhorse.  In the winter it was fitted with a plow and a hydraulic system and was used for every storm to
plow local driveways and back alleys.  I personally drove it into more snow banks and deep ditches than I could count.  Opal Marolt had that Commando to thank for winter passage out of her long driveway out at what is now called the “Holden-Marolt” property.

During the summer it was relegated to errands and an occasional “jeep” trip into the hills around town.  My father was always very generous
with his vehicles and let any of the family members use them as long as they put gas in them when they were finished, a challenge for some of his kids.

In the summer of 1973, long before I was licensed to drive, my sister Cindy took a number of her friends for a jeep trip up Aspen Mountain in the Commando.  This trip happened to be the day before the annual Deaf Camp Picnic and my parents were busy with the final preparations of
the picnic.

The trip up was uneventful and the four of them enjoyed a nice day in the “high country.”  On the way down things took a turn for the
worst.  Heading down the road just under Lift One the Commando began to sputter and the engine dies.  Now this particular Commando had an automatic transmission and power “everything.”

Cindy immediately panicked when she went to stop the vehicle and nothing happened.  It became sluggish to steer and Cindy stared death straight in the eye.  With no alternative she jumped out of the slow moving vehicle, leaving her companions to fend for themselves.  As she exited the vehicle she fell hard against the road and adjoining hillside and was pretty scrapped up.  The gentleman sitting next to her responded by reaching over and steering the Commando into the hillside bringing it safely to a stop.

Cindy rejoined the group, a bit scrapped up, and was able to get the Commando started again for the return trip home.  Although it was very low on gas it did have enough to get them home but just barely.  Driving the rough road partially starved the vehicle of gas just long enough to kill the engine.  Without the assistance of the engine the powered brakes and steering depending more on human strength and Cindy was unaware of that fact.

As to how she explained her way out of abandoning her friends on a steep jeep road, that part of the story I will never know.