He was at a debutante party (remember those?) in Galveston TX his hometown. Imagine him, 19 or 20 years old, Christmas vacation, in a tuxedo, feeling no pain. His friends tell him that they are going skiing but that one of the members has backed out, therefore increasing their share of the cost. Would George go? He calculated the cost, decided to go.
The next day he drove his father's Chevy Caprice to Austin to get enough things to pack and back the same day. A day later, he flew Southwest Air for $19 from Houston to Dallas where he caught up with his friends.
The 4 of them drove all night to Colorado. George had never skied before. But since he was so athletic, by the end of day 1 he was keeping up. By the end of Day 2 he was better than 2 of the 3. I'm sure they ate very cheap food and drank very cheap beer, and drove all night to get home.
Did you sleep on the couch, I asked? Why yes, I think I remember a fold-out couch.
When I went to Colorado the last time, age 17, 1982 it was, I went on a Young Life trip. We had to ride the bus from Austin all night, and when we got there, they got us up early and kept us up late, keeping the teenagers our of trouble. I got back and my sister picked me up: I was tired and dirty and strung out.
I vowed that when I went back as an adult, I was going to do it MY WAY.
I'm pleased to say that I'm going back on August 24. There will be no all night drive, but rather a direct flight with a rental car waiting. Instead of the couch, there will be a nice hotel room at a resort. Eating and drinking, whatever I want, whenever I want.
I feel like I've earned this trip over 50 years, and plan to do it right!
From what I can tell, you did.
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