by Richard Drake,
Guest writer
THE BIRTH OF SNOW-TUBING?
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CLOVIS AND ALBUQUERQUE
Bob Snipes sent me pictures of the recent snow in New Mexico and they started the neurons charging around in my brain bringing back memories of snow from the past. Back when we lived in Clovis we did not get many big snows except for one just before our annual game against Portales at Thanksgiving time our senior year. The field had to be cleared with front end loaders and the field ended up being ice covered so the game became a different kind of fun. Our hard cleats could not bite through the ice. Everyone was slipping and sliding. The team that could maintain their footing would win the game. Most of our players were heavier than their counter parts so we had an advantage, We won the game.
In the fall of 1956, Albuquerque received a couple of very big snow storms. One started in early afternoon, a Friday as I recall. A teammate and I had part-time jobs at Gart Brothers Sporting Goods Store in the downtown area unloading new shipments. In the early afternoon, from the dock area where we were working, we could see the big snowflakes coming down and collecting on the driveway. A delivery man came in and told us that the snow was really heavy up towards the University. We decided that we had better get moving if we wanted to get to our apartments. Our boss agreed, since he was also leaving; so off we went.
Traffic was very slow until we started uphill on Grand Avenue. Then it became almost impossible to move. My friend was driving and he did not have snow tires. At that time, there probably no more than a dozen sets of snow tires in all of Albuquerque and they were probably sitting in the owner's garage. Going uphill, we kept spinning out and sliding into the curb. To make progress, I got out and started pushing. I was able to push with the curb giving me something to push against. We had just finished football season, so I was still in pretty good condition. I would push and he would give the car a little gas. Even the smallest amount would spin the wheels. Foot by foot by foot we slowly made progress up the hill.
I was pushing as hard as I could when I saw the lower legs of a female standing on the curbside. She had beautiful legs. I heard her ask "Are you going my way"? It was Marcia! She had been unable to drive up the hill while coming from work and had stopped to ask to use the phone at one of the houses. She had looked out the front window of the house and saw us in the street in our struggle. She hopped in and we finally made it home.
SNOW TUBING
According to the news reports the snow fall was the largest for many years. Being from Clovis, it was a winter wonderland. Everyone at the Grand Avenue apartment complex wanted to play. No one had sleds so we started looking for anything on which to slide down Grand Avenue. We tried garbage can lids and flat shovels. Someone found an old inner tube and a quick walk to the nearby service station got it inflated.
Everyone started taking turns. The first runs were slow but quickly we had a very slick run and the speeds picked up. The nice thing was that it was impossible for anyone to get hurt. It was so much fun it was suggested that we go to the Sandia Mountains the next day. We scouted the neighborhood and found a local tire store with a bunch of old inner tubes that were no longer fit to be mounted on cars but were perfect for snow tubing.
Early the next day three of our neighboring couples joined Marcia and me for an excursion to the "snow" country. They were Walter (another Clovis-ite) and Sally White, Cecelia and Jimmie Juarez, and Barbara and Joe Murphy. A fun bunch of people.
The snow was great and we quickly had a very long run prepared. The fun began. Before long, we attracted a very large crowd of people from Albuquerque up for the day's fun. We let everyone take turns. Our four inner tubes were kept busy and though only one started to lose its air, it was still useable.
Upon returning to Albuquerque the people started to spread the word about this fun new sport. The next weekend the Albuquerque Journal wrote a story with pictures of people having a great time sledding on inner tubes. It became a favorite winter pastime. Thus, I can openly claim that our small group introduced inner tube sledding to New Mexico.
HEADED HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
For Christmas Marcia and I with her brother, Dick Howell started home for Christmas. Shortly after leaving Albuquerque, the snow started. We were concerned and stopped at Clines Corners to talk to incoming truckers. They told us that they had run into the snow only a few miles ahead. Since we were turning south at that point and heading to Vaughn, we thought we could get ahead of the storm. We were making good time and the snow was not too deep; then a big problem was just in front of us. We started down a long incline and could see a long line of cars trying to make it up the hill. They were not having much luck. Then all of a sudden we saw a truck stopped in our lane with its lights out. We tried to stop but we kept sliding directly at the truck. As we got closer we could see a cab full of what appeared to be Indian people. They were as scared as we were, judging by the wide open eyes. Try hard as we could, we could not miss them completely and clipped our bumper on theirs. Off we went into the ditch.
People in the stranded cars came to help and with their assistance we got the car back on the road. We had to borrow a crow bar to pry the fender away from the tire but other than that we were fine. We turned and could see the pickup trying to go up the hill with a large group pushing a hard as they could. The bed of the truck must have been full of people. Shortly they were gone.
OUR HOME IN COLORADO
No story of mine about snow can be told without a few words about our home in Colorado. Our house was located on Lookout Mountain due west of Denver and at 7,500 feet elevation according to the USGS contour maps. We lived there during the period that climatologists were calling the coming "ice age". We had snow , after snow, after snow. We moved into our new home over the Labor Day weekend in 1961. When we opened the drapes on Labor Day morning there were nine inches (by actual measurement} of snow sitting on the top railing of the balcony railing. WELCOME TO LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN! From that time forward, after each snow fall, the amount was carefully measured and recorded on our calendars. My memory says that over 100 inches in a winter was common but I haven't been able to locate the old documents to verify the data.
We were young and took advantage of the snow and our location. We had a steep drive way that was perfect for the kids to have a place to sled and ski. A long tube run was constructed down the mountain starting at our back patio. It had many banked turns and was pretty fast. Our home became a place to visit for all our friends from New Mexico and Denver.
A neighbor bought a ski-mobile and Marcia fell in love with it. She wanted us to buy one using the money we were saving for carpeting our living room. We did have a good debate and I held out for the carpet. I believe she stills hold a small grudge about it.
While we loved the sledding sport, commuting to work, getting the kids to school and shopping was another story. Our community had only eleven families and had private roads so we had to plow them ourselves. The neighbors joined together and bought an old road grader from the eastern Colorado town of Holyoake. Of course, the grader was named "the Holyoake". We took turns operating the grader. It required two people, one to steer and one to control the height of the blade, since both were powered hydraulically and the system leaked. Constant maintenance was required. Always a community effort. While everyone pitched in , the college professor, geologist, furniture store owner were not much help. They did not know the difference between a crescent wrench and a crescent moon.
I have many tales about snow storms and their aftermath but two jump to the top of my list. One Friday evening I was attending a meeting of Little League Baseball managers in Golden when it started snowing heavily with big flakes. By this time I was experienced so I headed home immediately. By the time I reached Interstate 70 going up to Lookout there were already 6 - 7 inches of heavy wet snow on the surface. I finally reached the off ramp but could only get close to the top before I could go no further. I had to leave my car and start walking towards home about four miles away. I had not worn my winter clothes so I found walking to be difficult and cold. Fortunately for me, a four wheel jeep came along with several young men. They had come to the mountain to drink beer at the local tavern but decided it would be more fun to pull people out of snow banks. They gave me a ride to the entrance road to our neighborhood. After a short argument they agreed to let me pay for their evening's gasoline usage. It was worth far more than that to me.
A MOVE TO HOUSTON
Shortly after this, a move to Houston occurred. It was undertaken with some apprehension because of all of the stories we had heard about the heat and humidity on the Gulf Coast. However, it did not take long for us to realize that the weather was humid but driving in it was much easier driving in high humidity than in snow and ice. The heat was not a problem. People lived in air-conditioned homes, drove air-conditioned cars, shop in air-conditioned malls and went to air- conditioned churches.
The other story is about a business trip to Washington, D.C. On my way to turn in my rental car at National Airport, now Reagan International Airport, it began to snow very heavily. If you know the D.C. area, drivers there were not prepared for snow on the roads. As I was getting ready to check in my rental, the shuttle driver came in and announced that the airport was closed and no flights were going out that night. I asked if they could call Dulles International to see if they were still flying. Yes, they were. I left immediately hoping I could reach there before the snow shut down that airport. Worse case I still had the rental vehicle and could find a motel for the evening.
I wasn't on the freeway leading to Dulles very long when it became apparent that without snow tires, I would never make it. I started looking for an exit with a motel when three heavy duty snow plows came down an entry ramp. They lined abreast the highway and started plowing. I fell in behind them and stayed close until reaching my exit to the airport. My good luck continued because my rental company was right at the bottom of the ramp. I ran in with just enough time to catch their shuttle.
The inside of the terminal was a mad-house. Looking at the overhead departure schedule displays I found that most of the outgoing flights had been canceled because the inbound flights were not able to land . There was no way I could work my way to the counter through the long lines in time to change my reservation. I found a phone booth and called the company travel agent in Houston and we started to work. She would check a flight and I would look at the display. All of my available flights were disappearing one by one. I noticed that one plane to Houston was still posted. The agent quickly booked it for me. While trying to reach the attending flight agent, I heard an announcement that all holding a reservation should immediately go to the front of the line. I was the last person to get on the shuttle bus to the airplane on the tarmac.
While looking for my assigned seat I saw that all but two seats were occupied. I sat in one and said a short silent prayer. In just a few minutes Elizabeth Dole, The Secretary of Transportation, sat next to me. I concluded that I had gotten that last available seat because the Secretary always had a reservation and I would have been bumped if she needed a seat. On the flight, she was a very enjoyable seat mate. She asked about my background and when she learned that I had been in the transit business and was consulting with the Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority she started asking me my opinion on a number of issues. She pulled several position papers prepared by her staff and asked me to comment on them. It was obvious she wanted to hear all sides of issues. She was a very impressive person. Little things set her apart. As the airline staff started serving a meal, she took her bible from her brief case and read for a few minutes. When the meal arrived she said a short silent prayer before eating. In all of my travels this was the only time that I had witnessed this on an airline flight.
HEADED FOR BOSTON
An opportunity arose for a very good position in Boston on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project also known as "the Big Dig". Our only concern was moving back into cold and snow. For our first Thanksgiving we woke up to 24" of snow on the streets. It took all day and a sore back to shovel out the car. The news paper said it was the second largest snow fall in history. History goes way back in the Boston area. Shortly thereafter, the largest snow fall in history dropped the first one into third place in the history books. It was followed by two more so our first snow fall in Massachusetts fell to fifth place.
We had bought a condo in Franklin so I could experience taking the train to work -at that time there was no rapid transit in either Denver or Houston. After the second snow we were concerned about the short drive to the train station. We lived only one mile from the local station so walking was an option. However, on the short drive we counted 18 snow plows moving snow starting with the plow working in our drive way. There were private operators, city plows, state plows and transit authority plows. The long history of heavy snow falls in the state had taught everyone to be prepared. We never worried about snow again.
Other stories come to mind but these stand out; especially meeting Elizabeth Dole.
Richard's Friends in the snow:
Richard's Friends in the snow:
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for MIL'S PLACE
by Richard Drake
guest writer, CHS '53
12/5/13
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