The next day, the family set off for Colorado. Dad asked the children if they would like to drive to the tippy top of a mountain. Robert thought it would be cool, but Caroline wasn’t so sure. As you know, she was afraid of heights. But, she figured that, if she sat on the side of the car near to the hill, not the drop-off, it’d be okay. At least, a car has doors!
Once they arrived in Colorado, they spent the night and, in the morning, helped Dad pack up the camper and attach it to the car, climbed in (it was Caroline’s turn to sit in front), and set off.
Then, it was back into the car to actually climb up and up to the top of a mountain. The drop-offs by the side of the road were so steep that Caroline purposely did not look in that direction. Dad pointed out when they were so high that trees could no longer grow there. He said that they were above the timberline. Caroline wasn’t happy about this, since she figured that trees would help catch the car if, by chance, it slid off the road.
Then the road grew icy. Yes, it was summer, but they were very high up. High enough for there to be snow along the sides of the road and ice on it. Dad slowed down, but kept going. They noticed that a lot of cars were going down, but didn’t see any, like them, going up. Dad decided that, if they were still seeing cars going down, it must be possible to keep going up. So, they did.
The problem was that the other cars were not towing a trailer. The views were spectacular, but Caroline got more and more worried, as she felt the tires spin and she knew they were on ice. Suddenly, Dad stopped the car and told both children to grab their coats, hats and gloves and get out of the car. Immediately. What? Dad sometimes would threaten to make misbehaving kids get out, but they’d been speechless with fear. Certainly, they’d not been misbehaving.
Caroline started to put on her coat, but Dad tensely told both of them out of the car before they put on their coats. Caroline quickly obeyed. She led her brother to the side of the road furthest from the drop-off. Then, they both put on their coats, hats and gloves. The wind was howling and the snow flying. Dad instructed that, no matter what happened, they had to stay right up against side of the mountain. Under no circumstances, were they allowed to move. Unless…
Then, he said something very frightening. He pointed out that the trailer, which was hooked up to the car, had slidden off the side of the road. He told them that he was going to get back into the car, pull the trailer back onto the road, and turn the car around so that it was pointing down the mountain. If that didn’t work, and the car slid off the mountain along with the trailer, Dad told his children that, under no circumstances, were they to try to rescue him. They were to carefully walk down the mountains, sticking right by the side of the road that was furthest from the drop-off.
As Dad knelt down to hug his children, they both began to cry. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “It’ll be okay. And, to celebrate, let’s go to McDonalds for dinner!” Caroline and Robert watched fearfully as Dad got back into the car and began to spin the tires, trying to maneuver the trailer back onto the road. Caroline crossed the fingers on both hands, crossed her legs, and held her breath. Of course, we know that wouldn’t help, but she was willing to try anything. Then, he did it! The trailer was back on the road. Despite the snow and ice, Dad carefully and slowly turned the entire contraption around. It took a long time!
Finally, Dad stopped the car and told his shivering children to get in. They carefully, carefully drove down the mountain. I don’t know how hungry Dad was after this ordeal, but the first place they went was McDonalds. Caroline held tightly to her Dad’s hand, even though she was nine. He was one brave man, and she was very glad he was okay!
It was time to go home. They’d had a good vacation, and had seen lots of interesting things. On the long ride back, Caroline pondered her mother’s instructions to Dad. Mostly, keep them safe. He had, of course. They were fine. But, she wondered if Mom would see it that way.
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