Snowmobiling: A Short Story

It was an early December morning. The roads were slick with a thin layer of ice. The air was crisp with a winter chill and there was a slight drizzle falling from the sky. I was riding in my dad’s truck to my grandma’s, who babysat me while my parents were at work. My little brother Kaden was also with us. At the time I was four and Kaden (my brother) was 4 months. The day started off normal, Kaden was sleeping as usually and I was looking out the window watching raindrops race each other. At that moment I remember feeling happy and content just ready to drift off to sleep, when Suddenly the tires started Squealing. My mind was then cast into a sea of darkness that seem to have no escape.

Every year, my family goes on a snowmobile trip with my friend Aftyn’s family in Spearfish, South Dakota. About two years ago, we drove out for our trip as usual. The first day was super fun. We stopped at Four Corners, a fun hill to climb, and we did lots of racing. The second day was a little more eventful.

The drive was almost unbearable, but the thought of spending the week in the snow with family kept me going. It was only a four hour drive, but at 9 years old, it felt like an eternity. The scenery slowly changed from flat land, to rolling hills. The hills were covered in yellow dying grass, but they were still beautiful. Then we started to make the climb. Up mountains, through the passes, constantly surrounded by trees or a cliff that gave a wonderful view of the mountain next to us. We were so close to the snow of Lake Tahoe. We had been to Tahoe before, but this was a new cabin for us. We were all excited to see the cabin, but more importantly, looking forward to searching for sledding hills the next day.

David Laskin’s The Children’s Blizzard explains the devastating force of an intense blizzard, which caught several people unprepared, and it tells the tragic stories of these people. On January 12, 1888 a massive blizzard struck the center of North America, killing between 250 to 500 people and affecting thousands. There were many factors that made this blizzard exceptionally deadly. Many farmers and children who were outside were unprepared to deal with any cold conditions, “a day when children had raced to school with no coats or gloves and farmers were far from home doing chores they had put off during the long siege of cold” (Laskin 2). The reason for this is because they had no idea the blizzard was coming. In this time the weather forecasts

Yes I am doing well and had been travelling a lot recently. I am going to Big Bear Lake in CA this weekend with a couple friends. Time to ski! haha Next weekend I am going IA with mom guys. Lake Tahoe is so beautiful and I would go visit again in the future. I also went ski for the first time near Lake Tahoe too. Fortunately, I did not take my car to CA this trip, used a friend 's car, 2014 Volkswagen. The car was alright to drive we switched off but the car did got stuck in ice when we were going uphill to Lake Tahoe (HAHA) luckily we had two big American young boys passing by and helped to push the car out. And I was not driving at the time so I was just sitting in the car while the boys pushed the car. I did drive in snow and that was fun and you can proudly call me a good driver now! (Long distance and snow). And of course, I always have the seat belt on 

Many people had their cars trapped under the large mountains of snow. “The temperature was in the 40s the day before, and then, just like that, vehicles were stranded in the snowdrifts 15 feet deep” (“Blizzard of 1978”). This caused the fuel to freeze and made cars unable to start.

I drove home with my friend and teammate, Emma Olberding. We drove back to my house and stayed there for the rest of the day. It all started with an insane idea to go outside in the 20 degree weather.

I’m on a mountain, I just overcame my first obstacle the chair lift. Which I thought would be harder than it was I miraculously didn’t fall or knock over the other skiers/snowboarders. I glanced back up at the gleaming mountain becoming easily distracted by the flawless stroke of every turn as the pros make their way down. I say quietly to myself “Isn’t this suppose to be a beginners hill?” They have gopros strapped to their helmets and are racing each other down. All I can think in that moment is how am I supposed to be able to do that. Those suave perfect turns the gentle touch the snowboard has with the fresh powder from that morning. They look at each other with excitement in their eyes and adventure in their hearts. I feel completely uncomfortable and awkward. Pushing off and hit the ground face first. The ice cold snow melts onto my face, I laugh at myself and hope to god the people around me didn’t see that. No one was paying attention to me they all had this type of confidence and excitement to learn and grow. I stood back up and headed down the hill with all force, not knowing how to turn I abruptly put my snowboard on healedge and slammed to a stop. Little did I know I was already halfway down the hill.

Chirp! Splash! Tweet! How was I supposed to sleep with all the different noises that nature produces? Spending time in the wilderness was not something I thought possible. A friend of my mom told us to go camping with them at Apex, North Carolina and visit Jordan Lake. Jordan Lake

When I was finishing up first grade, my parents decided that the best thing for us to do at the time would be for us to move up to Alaska. My dad was going to start a construction company alongside my grandpa, and it would be an adventure that we would remember for the rest of our lives. We had visited several times previously, but this would be different all together. Here are just a few of the things that I noticed were different in Alaska from California and other states that I’ve visited.

This story takes place last summer in the month of July, about one week. My family and I went on a trip out west. Our final destination was in South Dakota. We left on a monday morning and I remember my mom was trying to get me up and they almost left without me. Everyone packed their bags in the car but when I was about to put mine in the car I was informed that there was no more room and it had to get tied to the roof. My dad eventually tied it down and off we went. After being in the car for over three hours my little cousin Maddie had to use the bathroom and I was really hungry.

The first snowmobile was built in 1908 going by the name Snow Machine. In 1909 a man named O.C. Johnson was the first man to build a snowmobile that would actually go over snow. When the first snowmobile was built in 1908 it was originally built to haul logs in the snow. It was built in Waterville, Main. This large awkward machine resembles a locomotive, but it had a half track design and front skis. Some of our new snowmobiles have many similar features to the snowmobile back then. Old snowmobiles had rubber tracks which today are made of strong fibers called kevlar. They use kelver to make tires, that would show how much stronger newer tracks are. Snowmobiles dating back to the first ever made snowmobile is practically impossible to be found.You'd be lucky to find a museum with the first ever made snowmobile. Older snowmobiles were running on two stroke gasoline internal combustion engines. Once hit the 2000s 4 stroke engines became the most common. Over the past 100 years there has been many snowmobile types of snowmobiles invented.

When the wind begins to nip at your face, when the sky becomes a light grey, when all life seems to be hidden away, one knows that there is a high chance of snow. Plants seem to lose their color and become as barren as that of the sky. Animals and humans seem to burrow up from the cold weather outside. But one can only anticipate the white flurry substance coming from the sky. Snow is a magical thing. It acts like an angel, fluttering down from the sky with such grace and elegance and softly lands on the earth. Over time, the snow clumps together creating a white blanket covering the ground. Snow is truly a remarkable site, however, those who never see snow regularly miss its beauty. I live in an area that rarely ever gets snow and it is very disappointing during the winter time. This winter, however, was different from the rest for we had two visits of snow. I never realized how much curiosity

Lightning crashes overhead as I race back into the house, dripping wet. I was just returning back from an adventure in the woods. The storm was unexpected, even the forecasters had never expected it. Luckily, I managed to make it back inside safely. I peered out the window as I took off my raincoat. The rain pitter pattered against the pavement softly, creating a lulling sound. I shook my head, fiercely trying to concentrate so that I didn’t fall asleep. I still have video games and homework to complete! The rain has always been a thing that could put me to sleep at the drop of a hat, in fact it’s my favorite weather. I swiftly changed my clothes so that I didn’t catch a cold and I sat down on the couch, pulling my homework out from my bookbag. Math equations filled my head but I still couldn’t concentrate. I stared out the window again, the rain luring me in. I sat my homework down and got up to look out the window again. As I gazed out the window a shadow caught my attention, it breezed through the forest and it went by so fast that I didn’t know what it was. A bird perhaps? Maybe. Whatever it is I need to figure it out! It could be something cool! But what about my homework? Well, this shouldn’t take long and besides, math is easy, I’ll be fine. I’ll just finish it when I get home. I jumped into my rain boots and put my raincoat back on. Then I twisted the

Snowfall is a pretty sight, the world is still; no movement, even the air stays still. When you look up at the cloudy gray sky and see the snowflakes fall they float down in a graceful path that would make ballerinas look clumsy. It 's a euphoric moment almost, the kid inside you wakes up and without thinking everyones impulsive habit is to scream “It 's snowing!” and raise their hands to the sky asking for more. In this case, I wanted less snow. Leo and I have been driving along highway 25 for only two hours, once we left colorado springs we noticed the first of the snowflakes fall about 30 minutes out. Pulling over for that silent moment in a target parking lot. Looking back it was a pleasant short memory Leo exclaimed