Car inspections?

[sunsprit]

Ah, Jazzl ... fond memories, too, of similar moonlight rides through South Park in the late 1960's, but during the summer months under some incredibly clear skies and bright adjacent pastures with only the white line to guide one down the road.

I gave it up after a friend found himself in a cow herd in similar conditions just South of Fairplay one night. Totalled out his new Norton Atlas ... and he got a broken collarbone.

That, too, was an era when the infrequent passing of a CHP was greeted with a friendly wave .... maybe once out of every ten trips.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Ah, Jazzl ... fond memories, too, of similar moonlight rides through South Park in the late 1960's, but during the summer months under some incredibly clear skies and bright adjacent pastures with only the white line to guide one down the road.

I gave it up after a friend found himself in a cow herd in similar conditions just South of Fairplay one night. Totalled out his new Norton Atlas ... and he got a broken collarbone.

That, too, was an era when the infrequent passing of a CHP was greeted with a friendly wave .... maybe once out of every ten trips.

When I lived in Gunnison, I had to go to Denver fairly frequently. In Gunnison's usually subfreezing weather (9 mos. out of the year it seemed), washing a vehicle was nearly impossible. Because I was up in the hills with my pickup a lot, it was usually so dirty that you couldn't read the license plates. So, one early spring, I got stopped between Salida and Buena Vista every time I went to Denver--by the same trooper. He would check my license and tell me to wash the pickup (and the license plates) when I got to Denver. I always suspected that he just wanted to talk to somebody. The last time I drove to Denver that spring, I was able to wash the pickup before I left Gunnison. He stopped me anyway--his greeting confirmed my theory that he just wanted somebody to talk to, "I just wanted to make sure it was you," he said. After a nice chat, we went our separate ways. When people wonder why I get nostalgic for Colorado's "good old days," those are some of the memories that make me that way. Then things changed. A few years later, I heard that this particular trooper stopped the wrong person to chat with--the guy shot him. He survived, but I heard that he retired from the State Patrol on disability.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

When I lived in Gunnison, ....

Wasn't it -30 the other night in Gunnison? With a HIGH temp of 0?

s/Mike

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Wasn't it -30 the other night in Gunnison? With a HIGH temp of 0?

s/Mike

Yep, it was. About 30 below last night, too. This winter ought to chase a few transplanted "softies" out of there who thought that a cold winter like this one was just an "old wive's tale." I lived in Gunnison when they had a few of the coldest winters they ever had. I actually didn't mind it. It was, uh, "brisk."

In fact, of all of the places I've lived in Colorado and Wyoming--and their are quite a few--Gunnison is still about my favorite place--just a very difficult place to make a living. Too bad that development is killing off the ranching way of life there, too. This article in TIME about 11 years ago talks about it--it's even worse now.

GUNNISON, COLORADO - TIME