My Trip to Sugar Bush

[bdahunter]

When I was in my 18th year a buddy and I booked a trip with some members of our school to Sugar Bush, Vermont, to go skiing. Everyone else was taking a charter bus but my buddy and I decided to take my ’69 Firebird for a road trip to Vermont. At the last minute my buddy cancelled out (it turns out he was in jail) and I was left to take the trip alone, which was kewl with me as I love to drive and with a 350 V-8 under the hood I knew I would make good time.
I was cruising at 110 mph on Hwy 401 around Trenton and it was easy driving as all the other cars seemed to be standing still, when a Nova SS blew by me doing 130, well that just wouldn’t do. I opened up all 4 barrels and the race was on, I caught up to him in short order and we played a game to see who would get picked up by the radar cops first.
Somewhere around Cornwall we picked up an OPP cruiser headed the other way but with a divided highway he wasn’t able to pursue, still it was obvious the jig was up. A couple of overpasses later still pushing 140 mph I spotted a cruiser on the overpass with a radar gun pointed at us, Mr. Nova spotted him as well and we bailed out together at the next off ramp; I went south and he went north.

After many miles of icy farm roads, dodging the cops I made it to the U.S. border and the next stage of my trip to Vermont. The border crossing was largely without incident and I followed the 2 lane highway to Killington and then on to Sugar Bush. I still regret passing up the ferry crossing from Killington to Sugar Bush; an icy fog hanging over the ferry landing that was lit up by a full moon, but it would have taken too long to enjoy that adventure. The road was long, the forest deep; but I had promises to keep and miles to go before I’d sleep. (apologies to Frost for my paraphrasing)

I drifted into the ski resort at Sugar Bush, Vermont around 5 pm just as the sun was setting and headed up to the main lodge where a kindly woman at the front desk pointed me in the direction of the chalet that my group had rented for the week.
The road up the mountain was pure muck about a foot deep so the concierge hooked me up with a ride in a 4x4 to my destination. The first chalet that I was taken to was occupied by a group of sorority sisters from the U of Western Ontario who said I could stay with them if I liked, but for some reason I said ‘rain check’ and kept moving to the chalet 2 doors up the mountain where I was greeted by some of my classmates; I guess my ride was getting tired of driving me around the mountain by this point because when my buddy’s girlfriend opened the door he said “Does he belong to you?”, Helen just snickered but Lori who was standing behind her said “Oh, Great!” and slammed the door in my face. “I guess your home?” said my driver and left me standing there on the porch as he headed back down the mountain, spewing mud in all directions until he was out of sight.(the sorority sisters were looking mighty inviting at this point)

Helen reopened the door and welcomed me in to the chalet “What’s with her?” I asked.
“Oh, she just broke up with her boyfriend and she hates your guts” said Helen smiling sweetly. “Where’s John?” she asked, “He couldn’t make it” I replied and it was Helen’s turn to walk away leaving me standing in the foyer. What had I gotten myself into?

“Hey, Eric!; What are you doing here?” it was my old football buddy Rick. “What a sight for sore eyes” I said and gave him a big, old bear hug. “You can bunk with me, Man” was Rick’s reply. “There’s 6 chicks to just us 2 guys” said Rick when I finished lugging my gear into our bedroom “this is going to be some ski trip!” I had to agree with him but I really had my sights set on Lori now. Lori was a wild cat, redhead with beautiful blue eyes, a razor sharp mind and a body that wouldn’t quit, the fact that she hated my guts seemed like a minor obstacle. (Ah, the naivety of youth)
Rick and I caught up on old times and discussed the situation; the mountain was practically green after a week of rain, the roads were a swamp and the ladies were either involved or recently broken up, maybe this wasn’t going to be so great after all. Given the alternatives, we did the logical thing and headed for the bar, ‘The Bluetooth’ which was a little tricky because the drinking age was 21 and while legal in Canada we were underage in Vermont. Fortunately, the ladies accompanied us and nothing melts a bouncer’s heart like a pretty female form. We danced, we drank and Lori actually warmed up to me a little until it was time to leave and she decided to pick a fight with me, that gal sure could scream a blue streak. I hopped in my car and headed up the mountain, going a lot faster than conditions warranted; it was still raining and the road was actually flowing down the mountain. I made it to within 100 feet of the chalet when my Firebird bogged down on me and sunk up to the axles in the muck. I waded through the morass to the chalet and washed of my shoes and pants with a bucket of melt water, I was bone tired and half cut to boot; it had been a very long day.

I was up at dawn and what a beautiful sight the mountain was, the temperature had dropped dramatically and over a foot of powder snow covered the mountain. I slipped out into the fresh snow which was still falling in huge puffy blobs; time to check on my car. Oh No! The river of mud from last night had turned into stone, my car was frozen into the road like a ship locked in the Arctic ice. I hopped in my Firebird and turned the key, nothing. What the heck?? I gave the dash a once over and noticed that the headlights were in the ON position; strange because I clearly remembered turning them off when I had to walk in the dark to the condo last night.
I walked back to the condo on the now rock hard road and was about to call for a tow truck when Lori showed up in the kitchen wearing the skimpiest PJ’s I’d seen in my short 18 years, WOW!
“How’s your sports car, Mr. Hotshot?” she inquired.
“The battery’s dead and I have to call a tow truck” I replied a little sheepishly, thinking I had some how goofed and left the lights on by mistake but I knew I hadn’t.
“Aaahhh, poor baby” said Lori sarcastically and laughed rather nastily. Lori grabbed a cup of coffee and returned to her room while I dialed up Hap’s Garage, I got Hap himself and he said he’d be along soon to help me out.
Helen wandered into the kitchen next in her flannel jammies and poured herself a cup of joe while I contemplated how much a boost and a tow was going to cost me.
“You should lock your car doors, Eric” said Helen innocently.
“I never lock my doors” I responded.
“I know” said Helen “but you should have last night.”
“Well, I shouldn’t say anything but Lori turned your lights on last night when we had to walk back up the mountain, she’s Really mad at you” stated Helen with a cunning grin.
“SHE WHAT!!” I bellowed.
“Quiet, she’ll hear you” Helen hissed back at me.
“I don’t give a damn who hears me, what a rotten trick to pull” I replied.
“Well it’s your own fault for leaving us at The Bluetooth after you started arguing with Lori” sneered Helen.
“I didn’t start anything!, and I asked everyone if they wanted a lift and you all said you wanted to stay longer so you’d take a cab” I retorted.
“That’s besides the point” stated Helen and walked back to her room.
WOMEN!! I thought to myself, THEY’RE ALL NUTS! I was furious with both Helen and Lori now so I headed out onto the porch to wait for Hap’s tow truck to arrive. Rick wandered out onto the porch with two cups of hot java and I asked if he could enlighten me as to what the heck was going on.
“I think she’s pretty hot for you, Eric but you weren’t paying enough attention to her last night and she lost it on you” was Rick’s opinion.
“Enough attention!” I snarled “I drove 6 hours in the snow and the rain to get here, she’s slams the door in my face when I arrive and now she’s sabotaged my car, I’ll give her some damned attention.”
“You can’t hit her” exclaimed Rick.
“Of course not” I said “but she’s going to get a piece of my mind, what she really needs is a darn good spanking, the little brat.”
“Just kewl it, Man” said Rick putting a hand on my shoulder to stop me from going back into the chalet, “don’t blow it, you’ve got all week to sort this out so just Chill Out.”
Just then an air horn blew, down by my car and I turned to see a funky old guy with long white hair and beard step out of an old tow truck; it must be Hap. I hurried down to meet Hap and he was as warm and friendly as they come, I told him what the problem was and he put a boost on my battery which thankfully wasn’t frozen. While we were waiting for the battery to take a charge, Hap broke out a wrecking bar and tested how badly frozen in the tires were, bad news, they were frozen solid into the muck. We hooked up the tow truck to the rear bumper and after I got the Firebird started, we began trying to rock the car out of the frozen mud with an assist from the tow truck, no dice!

“What else do you suggest, Hap?” I asked the old tow truck driver who had twinkling eyes just like what you’d imagine for Santa Claus.
Hap scratched his white beard and thought about it then he said “Well you can leave it until it thaws out or we’re going to have to yank her out, which might damage the car.”
“Well when do you think it might thaw out?” I asked him.
“About a month or so” said Hap with a kind smile.
This just wasn’t my day. I got back in my baby and gave it some gas, then Hap eased the tow truck forward and the strain began to build, you could feel the whole car vibrate but it wouldn’t budge. Hap got out of the truck and walked back to me “If I pull much harder I’m going to damage your car” said Hap.
“What’s the weather like for the rest of the week” I asked him.
“A big cold front is moving in for the rest of the week with lots of snow” was Hap’s reply.
“Then I guess it’s now or never” I told him. “Alright” he said but I’m not responsible for any damage to your car” said Hap and got back in the tow truck.

“Ready!” Hap yelled. “Ready” I replied. “Here goes” said Hap, and gave the Firebird a huge yank with the tow truck. BANG! – POP! Went the Firebird and it jumped out of the hole in the road. We decided it would be best if I followed him back to his garage to see if there was any damage, the engine was purring like a kitten but without a test drive I wouldn’t know if anything was broken.
I followed Hap the 3 miles or so to his garage with a huge sign out front that said ‘Hap’s Garage’ of course. Everything seemed fine until I got up to around 60 mph and then I could feel that the steering wasn’t right. Hap put my car up on his hoist and confirmed that one of the tie rods was bent but he felt it would be alright if I took it easy on my way home to Toronto, no more 140 mph until she was fixed; it would be a longer trip home, that’s for sure. I thanked Hap for coming out and paid him for his time then I headed back to the chalet. When I got back to the chalet everyone had gone skiing already, so I changed, strapped on my skis and headed down the mountain to the main chairlift.

After an hour of skiing by myself I still hadn’t seen any of my group, but when I pulled into the line for the chairlift who was there but the sorority sisters “Hi!” yelled a cute blonde I’d noticed the night before “do you want to ski with us?” Now this looked promising. I rode the chairlift with the cute blonde up to the top of the mountain and we made pleasant conversation, I carefully avoided the topic of school as I was still in high school and she was already in university. We had a good run down the slope together and as we pulled into the lift line who should pull into the line at the same time from another run but my group from the condo.
Lori’s hair looked like it was on fire and her blue eyes were shooting daggers at the blonde.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend” the blonde said and skied off to the lodge. What the heck! I turned and glared at Lori “What’s your problem!” I demanded. Lori just glared back at me and then she and Helen headed off to the lodge as well. Rick crabbed up to me on his skis and said with a grin “You sure know how to wind her up, I wouldn’t want to be you when we get back to the chalet.” “Not to worry” I snorted back “I locked the car this time, let’s try one of the diamond runs.” I’d had about enough of the mysterious ways of women for one day.

Rick and I skied together for the rest of the day and it was great fun running the moguls and the fresh powder, just enjoying the day. We stopped for a drink at the lodge at the end of the day and we were just starting on our second beers when the cute blonde showed up at my table. “Your girlfriend told me that you’re still in high school” she sneered at me.
“She’s not my girlfriend and I never said I wasn’t in high school, you never asked either way.”
“Hmmph!” was her reply and she went back to her table with his sorority sisters. “She’s Cute!” said Rick.
“Who cares” was all I could think to say but I could feel my ears burning.
We ordered some food and a couple more beers and then it was time to climb back up the mountain to the chalet. I checked my car when we got to the top and it was fine but the reception was pretty frosty from the six girls we were sharing the condo with, apparently they’d decided we weren’t very nice. I was too tired to bother arguing so I just said “Good Night”.

The next day brought more powder and Rick and I skied together for most of the day until one of the girls decided that maybe Rick was nice after all and he split with her back to the chalet. I did a couple of runs alone and decided to catch the last run of the day. When I got to the top of the slopes the sun was just setting behind Killington Mountain and the air was crystal clear, the snow was a surreal blue-white tinged with orange, absolutely beautiful.

The runs were almost empty now and I took my time on the last run just enjoying the scenery. Halfway down the double diamond I spotted someone doubled up against a snow bank at the edge of the run, it was Lori. I was going to ignore her but something seemed wrong about her condition so I swung wide and glided back up to where she was; I could see she was crying. I gave her a moment to compose herself and asked her what was wrong, she said she wasn’t feeling well and had really bad cramps. I helped her down the slope to the first chairlift and we rode it back down together, then I hiked up to the chalet, got my car and took her back to the chalet.
The girls all went into a huddle when I helped Lori into the chalet so I left them alone and took a hot shower; after I changed up, I cracked a beer with Rick and settled in to watch the hockey game.(Leafs vs Montreal – Perfect!)

Helen came up to me all sugar and spice and asked me if I would do her a favour, man what nerve I thought to myself. “Eric, you’re the only one with a car and Lori needs some medicine, would you drive into town to the pharmacy and get this for her?” Helen asked and then she passed me a slip of paper. I opened the note and it had only one word on it ‘Midol’, just great, there’s nothing an 18 year old guy wants to do more than drive 10 miles into town at night to the all night pharmacy so he can ask the pharmacist for some Midol. “Yeah, sure” I said and got my ski jacket on. “Oh wait” Helen called after me “can you get this too” and she wrote something else on the note, I read it when she handed it back to me ‘Tampex’.
I drove into town and eventually I found the right pharmacy, asked the pharmacist to fill the order, blushing all the while I guess, paid the bill and returned with the ‘medicine’. At least it explained some of Lori’s weird behavior I reasoned to myself on the drive back to the chalet. Rick had a goofy grin on his face when I got back and he started to laugh when I gave Helen the package, I told him to ‘get stuffed’ and went to bed. What a vacation this was turning out to be!

The next day was about the same, lots of fresh powder and I hit the slopes as soon as I had something to eat and checked in on Lori to see if she was all right. We’d always had a turbulent history together at school as rival students in the enriched program but with my being compassionate and her being under the weather we got past a lot of our preconceived notions of each other. I took Lori to dinner when she was feeling better and we spent the rest of the week together, inseparable.

The last day of the trip was a glorious day and we all skied hard, at the end of the day everyone was exhausted as they loaded there gear onto the charter bus for the long trip back to Toronto. I was tired too and Lori insisted that she accompany me back to Toronto in the car. We stopped at an inn near Killington for a very romantic dinner and continued on to the Canadian border, by this point the weather had started to deteriorate badly, it was 11 pm, the steering on the Firebird was acting up and I had another 5 hours of driving ahead of me.
An hour after we crossed into Canada the snow had turned to freezing rain mixed with a heavy fog and our speed was down to 50 mph, we’d also been delayed by the OPP where they were directing traffic around the scene of a major accident. The fog had gotten really thick and I was dead tired but Lori was helping me stay awake rather than nodding off herself, when out of the fog shot a 944 Porsche going the wrong way on the divided highway. The Porsche slewed passed us missing us by 20 feet, just managed to avoid a tractor trailer rig following behind us and careened down into the grass median that separates the divided highway. I skidded to a stop on the shoulder as did the trucker and we walked back in the rain to check on the wreck of Porsche but all we found were two strips of mud that tore across the grass median back to the other side of the highway.
When we got back to the car, Lori suggested that we find a motel and continue in the morning, we were both very tired and the roads were treacherous, it would be safer to wait until morning she reasoned. I agreed with Lori’s reasoning except for one small problem, we didn’t have enough money to pay for a motel and put enough gas in the tank for 4 to 5 hours of driving. Suddenly it occurred to me that we were less than half an hour from the Hunter’s Lodge, the power was disconnected for the season but I could build a fire and it would be warm in no time, so with that agreed I turned the Firebird north to the family cottage.
We passed another bad wreck on the way into the cottage and I was happy we’d decided to not continue on for another 4 or 5 hours to Toronto that night. There was still half a foot of snow on the ground when we pulled up to the cottage around midnight, the rain had stopped but it was pitch dark. I left the car running with the high beams on while I looked for the emergency key we keep hidden under a rock but it was missing for some reason, so I jimmied open a bedroom window and slipped inside the cottage.

(to be continued)

[Buster]

Woo Hoo. this is getting good.....Buster

[ERnurse]

This is great!

[rip]

Originally Posted by Buster

Woo Hoo. this is getting good.....Buster

yup !

[prizm-pal]

Bda be careful...I didn't notice the name Susan here yet...but please continue the story...my friend had 69 firebird...lime green color really ugly but went like the wind three fifty v8 4b carb...top end maybe 150...but hey was 1969....waiting for chapter two! Chick!

[bdahunter]

Originally Posted by prizm-pal

Bda be careful...I didn't notice the name Susan here yet...but please continue the story...my friend had 69 firebird...lime green color really ugly but went like the wind three fifty v8 4b carb...top end maybe 150...but hey was 1969....waiting for chapter two! Chick!

There were shall we say several incredible women who have shared my life prior to my meeting My Princess. They all played apart in my life and I remember them all and what I learned from my time from them.
The Princess is my One and Only and my Last; till Death do Us Part. (perhaps not even then)
The Fire bird was ten years old when I took that ride and what a ride it was.

Cheers Mate,

BDA

[The TINMAN]

Great story bda, You should write a book.