The Henney-mobile

I think that when I was in High School my parents must have stayed home a lot, because I got to drive the family car quite a bit. In fact, I used it so often that my friends called our vehicle the Henney-mobile. I actually think mom and dad were pleased that it got used so often to transport huge numbers of high school buddies around the city of Madison, WI. My friends and I were mostly athletes and cheerleaders, so we would pile in the Henney-mobile and go off to games, meets, matches,... If we were paricipating, of course, we would be bussed by the school, but we also went to other high school's events or events for sports that we weren't involved in.

One of the reasons the Henney-mobile was so popular was that it was a full-size 1965 Dodge van and I could carry a lot of kids. We once got 22 guys and gals into the van on one of our excursions.

You know what, though, there are disadvantages to having a popular vehicle. A small group of us used to do "commando raids." Started off with toilet-papering trees and houses, and then we would get a little more creative. We once saw a friend's little Corvair parked at his girlfriend's house. So, we picked up his car and moved it so the front wheels were resting on his girlfriend's front porch and the car was facing toward the front door. Then we rang the doorbell.

So, the problem was that many people in the neighborhood recognized the Henney-mobile and it was difficult to get away with stealthy exploits while driving the Henney-mobile. We put a cherry-bomb in a kid's mailbox once and blew it up. When we came back around to inspect the damage, the guy and his dad saw us and the kid recognized us immediately. Resulted in a late-night visit from the police department. My dad was of course not happy with my actions, but he also said that I should have known better than to use that van and expect to get away unnoticed.

A Beaver Creek Proposal

Joe's proposal to Rachel seemed so romantic, sunset in the middle of Sparks Lake while on a camping trip and all. It struck a familiar chord for me as my proposal to Barb also was offered on a camping trip. In a canoe in the middle of the lake? Well no, in my 4WD GMC pickup truck as we drove to Beaver Creek, CO for a weekend campout with our good friends, the Greisers.

Barb will surely expand upon what remains in my often abbreviated memory, but as I recall the proposal went something like this, "so, you wanna get married?" "Well, OK." Its a good thing I have other attributes that Barb finds appealing, because romance and recollection of those events where I have attempted it are certainly not what I am noted for.

There are hundereds of Beaver Creeks in the USA, and more than one in Colorado, but this was one of our favorite places and became even more so after the proposal. It is a 4-wheeling, fishing, camping, and wild kind of place centered in the Colorado Rockies:We got to Beaver Creek and pulled off the road. I locked in the 4WD, but Mike's pickup was 2WD, so he "aired down" the tires to give him better traction and off we went bushwhacking. We didn't go very far off the road, but I can't remember seeing another vehicle or person all weekend.

My littered memory otherwise remembers two other things about this weekend (maybe Barb will return from tennis soon and add some other more meaningful memories):

• we made a cobbler of some sort over an open fire, but it was more than we could eat, so I covered the creation and stored it in the bed of the pickup, where it later cast itself onto the sides of the bed as we negotiated the 4WD roads on the way out; (Barb sez "picture bright red cherry cobbler strewn over the snow covered truckbed")


• we slept in a tiny little green backpacking tent and were totally surprised when we awoke the next morning with over a foot of snow engulfing most of the tent.

Okay, Barb here, to add my 2 cents worth! I am always looking for basic luxuries (?) when camping, and I recall Dave and Mike promptly building us a latrine--a sturdy branch secured to a couple of trees we could sit on in the woods to take care of business :) A fine, fine work of art. It was hardly used before the big snow came and we thought we should at least get to a road before the weather became more severe.

I was ecstatic about the snow (except when we woke up with the tent smashed on our faces). The tent was a little two person tent and we were cozy in there with Olga and Rocky, our dogs. Greisers brought their cats, Big Foot and Sam.

When we were in a more secure spot (knowing we could get out), we stopped and made some little snowmen. It was something I missed from Nebraska--having enough good snow to build a snowman.