The Tourists in our Midst

February 20, 2007 · Posted in Small Town Life · Comment 

For those of you who don’t know, Steamboat Springs, CO. is SkiTown USA. This means that a breed of humans known as Tourists flock here in the winter. Although this ski season started out relatively mild, turning to absolutely bleak it appears that it will be going out with quite a bang. In the last 72 hours the mountain has received 30″ of new snow. Which is on top of a shit load of snow from a previous storm. Super, terrific, w00t even. The problem is that it doesn’t just snow. For whatever climatological reasons the snow must be accompanied by gale force winds that blow everything to hell and gone. This creates drifts; massive, car swallowing drifts. Perfect conditions for a local spectator sport called “Tourist Gawking”.

Here’s a quick scenario: People rent out a house in the neighborhood that has a pretty burly driveway. It’s steep and has a slight curve that can really screw up your world. This driveway is not maintained. It snows, the wind blows and the drive is drifted in. The owners of this house own a tractor which is outfitted with a blower and is kept in a shed. I repeat, snow removal equipment is located on the premises. Yet these geniuses insist upon attempting to drive up a barely existent driveway, inevitably get stuck and begin shoveling. This particular group came to town over the Presidents Day holiday and spent most of their time dealing with their stuck cars.

Tourists

Not only did they all get stuck in the driveway, but one of them also drove off the side of the road. They ended up parking their cars at the bottom of the driveway and hauling all of their belongings up. I’m not even sure if these folks ever got a chance to ski. They never used the tractor. It makes you wonder if the owners of the house inform the vacationers of its existence. Why didn’t I tell them? What and spoil all of the fun? Whatever. Anyway, I don’t think we will be seeing them next year.

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