"Want me to take another turn?" She wondered. "You look exhausted."
Harrison shook his head. "I'm fine. We'll be there in 3 hours."
"You've driven 8 hours already today."
"I'm good. We're almost there."
But by the way he shook his head, Carrie knew he was tired.
"Mommy!"
"Yeah buddy?" She asked, turning around.
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"Okay," she said, seeing the sign for the next rest stop. "We'll stop at the next rest stop. And your daddy needs to switch with me."
"Carrie I'm fine."
She rolled her eyes as they exited the highway, taking the exit ramp that would lead to the rest stop. When they stopped, she made Harrison take Adam inside so she could move over to the drivers seat.
They came back, Harrison glared at her as he got in the passengers seat of the truck. "Harrison, I know you're tired," she said, looking over her shoulder as she merged back onto the highway. "Take a nap, I'll wake you up in 2 hours. And I'll be fine driving in the snow." Carrie looked at the dark horizon that could only mean one thing; snow, and in Colorado, lots of it.
He nodded, leaning the seat back a bit and closing his eyes. She smiled, looking at the 3 of them all sleeping. Emma and Adam sleeping in the back and Harrison in the front.
•••
They got to Harrison's brothers house 3 and a half hours later due to snow. It started coming down an hour before they got there, forcing Carrie to slow down. Once they got off the highway and onto the backroads up in the mountains, she nearly slid off an icy road.
But finally they made and and were all happy to get out of the cramped truck and stretch out. Unloading a few things, the four of them headed inside. Harrison's brother Terrance and his wife Teri helped unload everything.
"Harrison!"
"Hey Terrance," he said, giving his brother a hug. "How's the tundra?"
"It's not the tundra. It gets pretty warm here in the summer."
Harrison gave Teri a hug. "How you doing?"
"Good," she answered. "Got a job working for the Broncos front office."
"That's amazing! The Bowlen family will take good care of you."
The kids said hello before Carrie said hello to Terrance. "How's Todd?"
"He's doing good. He started working with the Dallas news as a producer."
"Good for him!"
Todd and Terrance were the younger brothers in Carrie and Harrison's relationship. When Carrie and Harrison started dating, Todd and Terrance became best friends, both of them going to each other's houses with their brother or sister, and sometimes, annoying them.
"What can I get you guys to drink?" Teri asked, making her way into the kitchen.
Carrie followed her, feeling the draft of cold air as she walked. "Hot chocolate?"
"Sure thing," Teri laughed, seeing Carrie with her arms wrapped around herself. "Cold?"
"Just a bit," she smiled. "Dallas is about 50 degrees warmer this time of year."
"I bet."
Pretty soon Carrie and the kids were sitting around the counter while Terrance took Harrison outside to show him the new mountain sleds that just came in. "Then I was told I was getting the 850 instead of the 800," Terrance's voice echoed from the doorway.
"Taking a step up in horsepower huh?" Harrison asked, following his brother into the kitchen.
"Yeah I'm surprised BRP upped my inventory. I'm now in the top 50 dealers in the United States. You could help start off the new year," he teased.
Harrison took a sip of Carrie's hot chocolate. "Easy, I already bought both my 4-wheelers from you. And Carrie and I drove 12 hours each way to get them."
"I know," he said, sitting down.
Terrance was a BRP dealer and he'd become one of their best dealers in the United States. And BRP upped his inventory by sending him 200 more mountain snowmobiles for the 2016-2017 winter.
At his dealership, Terrance sold snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, and 3 wheel motorcycles. But living in Denver, surrounded by mountains, most of his business came from selling Bombardier Recreational Products' Ski-doo snowmobiles. 75% of his profit came from snowmobile sales.
And over the summer, he still made a profit on snowmobiles through customers ordering a customized snowmobile. Terrance's helped the customers decide what model they wanted, accessories, engine, then their order was sent to Ski-doo for building. Then in early October, he would receive his shipment of sleds to sell for the season, 60% of them via the snowcheck.
"Any new trails we should check out?" Harrison asked.
"Yeah there's a lot." Terrance went to find a map. "Take this with you tomorrow," he said pointing out new trails that would take them up into the mountains. Then they would be on their own, with miles of open snow.
•••
Harrison and Carrie woke up early the next morning. They ate breakfast before saying goodbye to the kids. They had today and tomorrow to go snowmobiling before they had to tackle the 12 hour drive back. Today Harrison and Carrie were going to ride in the mountains and tomorrow all of them would go trail riding.
They followed Terrance to his other garage where they put on snow pants, boots, and a jacket. "Alright," Terrance said. "Extra gas on the tunnel, food in Carrie's pack, water in yours, safety packs, shovels, and extra belt is here," he opened the side of one sled, showing them where the extra belt was. "GPS should get signal at all times. Whatever you do, don't stop in fresh powder."
"Got it," Harrison answered, putting his helmet on. His helmet was black and it matched with his all black outfit and the all black sled with red trim. He did have to admit, it looked slick.
Carrie wore a black helmet, orange jacket with black pants. The orange on her coat matched the orange and white sled. They put on the back packs, Terrance attaching the shovels. "Hopefully you don't have to use these."
Harrison started his sled, smiling under his helmet at the familiar sound of the sleds purr. Carrie started hers, hopping on. "Be careful," Terrance said, opening the door.
"We will."
And with that, they rode off, Carrie following him. They started on a trail and she loved the view of the mountains on the horizon. The snow rested on the trees, making the trail riding very pretty. She jumped up, shaking out her feet. They'd fallen asleep after 20 minutes of standing.
Finally Harrison turned right, taking a trail that had less tracks and went through about 3 feet of snow. She smiled to herself, this is where the fun begins.
They climbed multiple big hills, Carrie only having to jump on the throttle hard once. After clearing the hills, they came out to wide open field on the top of a small mountain.
He found a good place that was packed down well enough. "I'll race you," he yelled over the engines. She nodded, putting her feet as far back on the running boards as far as possible. He counted down on his fingers before they both took off.
Carrie kept with him, feeling the fresh powder under the track. The sled was floating on the snow and now she had to control her balance to keep from tipping over. They made it to the other side of the field, Carrie winning by half a snowmobile.
She pointed at him, rolling her head back, pretending that she was laughing at him. He put his hands on his hips, shaking his head. Laughing, Carrie turned back they way they'd come to play in the fresh powder.
Reaching the middle of the field, she tipped the sled on its side, still hitting the gas. She moved her right foot to the left running board, letting the other one drag behind in the snow. Carrie got a face full of snow, as she shifted her weight to do the same thing on the other side.
She got the guts to ride up the side of the big hill. Carrie pinned it, making it to the top before putting all her weight on the right side as she slowly turned down the hill.
Gaining speed, she jumped a small hill, enjoying the sight of the snow pouring over the front of the sled and the windshield. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harrison take a shot at snow carving. He did two full circles before losing momentum and rolling off the side.
Carrie laughed and rode over to help him. Working together, they tipped the sled back up. "Thanks sweetheart."
"Try not to tip it again," she teased before riding away.
I wrote this chapter as a little bit of a personal reflection of my life. I do have a snowmobile. Although I've never ridden in the mountains, trail riding is also so much fun. I decided to add the part of Harrison's brother being a dealer because both of my parents snowchecked their snowmobiles, while I bought mine from our local dealer.
And before I forget, does anybody have any name ideas for Harrison and Carrie's baby daughter? I just finished that part this morning and I do have a name in place, but I'd be willing to change it. Let me know!