Benny's Adventure

 

Benny’s Adventure

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Hi I’m Benny, just ordinary Jeep, if there is such a thing. But you can’t know how hard it is to share a garage with my older sister, Pearl. She goes on and on about the trips John and Jackie have taken her. How she carried them rough and rumble up and down five miles of private lane so they could hike another two miles to reach Montreal Falls. Or the other times they went to UP Michigan and mushed and mudded ten miles trying to get to Crisp Point Lighthouse, only to mud their way out to find a better route.

Every night it’s the same thing, “I remember a time in North Carolina, or was it Kentucky.” I’ve been to Kentucky too, so she doesn’t hit me with those trips often. Well I’m here to tell you...and Pearl too...that I had quite an adventure of my own.

I thought she’d turn green when I told her I went to Colorado. I guess its fortunate her white paint didn’t, but I could tell sis was envious. Yes, ole Benny here went Rocky Mountain high, and Pearl, she hadn’t even crossed the Mississippi River. Ha!

Coming out of the clouds

I can’t say I cared much for the traffic, being an outdoorsy guy, but I held my own. The Denver area is hectic, to say the least, silly cars and trucks everywhere and all in a hurry. But Colorado is more than Denver, and we went to see the mountains, and we did. Drove high enough to be in the clouds on our way into Estes Park. The road winds this way and that up, up, up, and then drops into the pocket where that town can be found. Pretty county Estes park. Had to stop to let a herd of Elk cross the road. A bunch of them. Saw Big Horn Sheep standing on the side of the rock like it was flat ground. Yes, that was a fun day. Pearl, sorry you couldn’t come. Not!

I guess I shouldn’t rub it in, but pay backs are... Well you know what they are.

Estes Park

We also drove down to Garden of the Gods the views and the red rocks were unbelievable. The sun shown that morning which made the day extra fantastic. On another time, John and Jackie took a scenic train ride just outside of Georgetown. I wanted to ride too, but it’s a narrow gauge railroad and didn’t have Jeep seating. I guess I didn’t mind too much waiting in the parking lot. Parked beside me was a Subaru from Iowa, which was cool but the dogs kept interrupting our conversation.

Garden of the Gods

We went to Loveland and through Longmont and Boulder visited with friends and relatives, had supper with Nick several times in Arvada, but my favorite part was the drive we took the last day on CO 103. Wow, that road has more curves than a bottle of jelly worms. Echo Lake was worth the stop...twice. We crossed eleven thousand feet on that road and pulled off the road several times ‘cause John took lots of pictures.  Next time we’ll drive up to Mount Evans, the highest paved road in the continental U.S.. Not that I need payment you understand, but driving up to fourteen thousand feet would be so cool!

Anyway, now when my sister begins bragging about Door County, Wisconsin or the Keweenaw Peninsula or a hundred other places, I just dim my headlights and dream of Colorado.

Echo Lake...didn't I say it was worth the stop

View from near the top

This is Benny sayin' happy travels...