Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes

Gramps woke Devin and me when we reached the motel in Durango, but only after Pops had gone inside to request two rooms for two nights.  When Pops returned, he directed Gramps to a parking spot close to where our rooms were located, and then he handed Devin the key card to our room. 

“While you’re checking out your room and dropping off your gear,” Gramps began, “may I borrow your laptop so I can see what options we might have for things to do tomorrow?”

“Sure.  I don’t have a problem with that,” I agreed.  

“Ok, and then we’ll all get together in our room in a half hour to discuss the options.” 

“Yeah, it sounds good to us,” Devin responded after glancing at me to get my approval.

After we got our gear out of the back of the SUV, I handed Gramps my laptop, and then we all headed inside to see what our rooms were like. 

Our room was very similar to every other motel room we’ve ever stayed in.  It had a queen bed, a private bathroom, and it was very clean.  Devin and I set our duffle bags on the luggage rack, and then we used the toilet and brushed our teeth before we checked out the cable guide to see what we might be able to do until we went to join Gramps and Pops.

“What did you find out?” I asked as we entered their room roughly twenty minutes later. 

“I didn’t have long to really check things out in a lot of detail, but what I discovered is that we basically have two options.  The first is a round-trip train ride from Durango to Silverton, and we can ride in one of the historic coaches on the way up and another historic coach on the way back.”

“I guess that would be ok if there was nothing else to do, but we rode on trains when we were with Mac’s parents,” Devin replied.  “So, what’s the other choice?”

“The other possibility is going to the Purgatory Resort, which is a little more than halfway between Durango and Silverton.  That’s where Inferno Mountain is located and they have two different types of rides that I think you might enjoy.  One is an Alpine Slide, and that’s where we’d each have our own sled to ride down a fiberglass track from the top of the mountain to the bottom.  It’s all controlled by gravity, but you’d have control over how fast you go down the track by using the sled’s hand brake.”

“You said there were two different types of rides, so what is the other one?”

“I was just getting to that,” he replied, mildly exasperated by Devin’s impatience.   “The other one is the Inferno Mountain Coaster, and that’s where we’d ride on a different type of sled that travels over a metal track.  The biggest difference is that those sleds are designed to carry either one or two riders, so you two would probably have the choice to ride together or have your own sled.  My dad and I wouldn’t be able to ride together, because there’s a 300-pound (136 kg) weight limit on those sleds.”

Gramps then showed us various photos and videos of what each of those rides were like.  “My dad and I have agreed to leave the choice up to you boys, as to whether we ride the train or go to Inferno Mountain, but from what you’ve told us already, I believe I have a good idea what your answer will be.”

“Yeah, let’s go to Inferno Mountain.  That sounds like it would be a lot more fun,” we agreed.

“I’m surprised you didn’t do those things when you were on vacation with your parents.”

“I think my parents were probably planning to do both of those things with us, but that was before they saw us transition.  After that happened, we spent the night in our motel rooms, well except for when we went out for supper, and then they took us back home the next day.”

“Well, at least now you’ll get a chance to make up for part of what you missed out on.”

“Yeah, but we just won’t tell my parents that we did it when we were with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because then they’d want to know how we happened to be in this area with you, seeing we told them you were taking us to the Ozarks again.”

“Ah, yes.  I can see how that might cause a problem,” Pops agreed, “and we don’t have a problem with you keeping that bit of information from your parents.”

Now that we’d agreed on what we’d do the following day, Pops told me to set the alarm on my phone for 7:00, so we could have breakfast by 8:00 and then be on our way to Purgatory Resort and Inferno Mountain.” 

“What time do the rides open?” Devin asked. 

“They open at 10:00, and since it’s only a half hour drive to get there, we’ll arrive in plenty of time.”

“Ok, then let’s do the Alpine Slide first and we can go on the Mountain Coaster second,” I suggested. 

“That’s what we thought.”  

Gramps then handed me the laptop as we left to go back to our room.  Since we’d slept during most of the two-and-a-half-hour ride to get to Durango, we decided to make love first, before we got ready for bed.  

It had been a while since either of us had a release, since we didn’t have much privacy while we were at the reservation, so this was a welcome change.  After we finished, we went through our nightly ritual and then I spooned up behind Devin, wrapped my arm over his side, and gave him a squeeze as we closed our eyes and prepared to sleep. 

Devin and I woke up before 7:00, and although we suspected that Gramps and Pops were already up as well, we decided to wait for them to call.  That occurred about forty-five minutes later.

“Are you boys ready to go out and get something to eat?” Gramps asked after Devin answered his phone.

“Yes, we’re more than ready,” he agreed. 

“Then meet us out by the SUV and we’ll find a place to have breakfast.  You can leave your gear in the room, but bring your phones, laptop, and any other valuables with you.  Just to be safe, put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door handle on the way out.”  

As soon as we were all in the SUV, Gramps drove us over to Oscar’s Café for breakfast.  The menu featured a typical selection of breakfast dishes, along with some more unusual selections, so each of us found something to order.

“I know you didn’t drive to Durango last night just so we could go to Inferno Mountain today,” I began, “so what was your other reason for coming here?”

“It’s because we’ll be flying out of the Durango-La Plata County Airport tomorrow morning,” Pops replied.

“Does that mean we’ll be flying with Captain Jack again?”

“Yes, and that’s why we aren’t flying out until tomorrow, because I was forced to change our flight reservation twice before.  The first time was when the shaman requested that we come to the reservation, and the second was due to the fact that it was taking so long for us to complete our objective.”  It was fairly obvious that Pops didn’t want to use the term skinwalker in such a public place, hence his use of the word ‘objective’.  “Captain Jack had another flight scheduled for yesterday and they won’t complete the return trip until later tonight, and he wanted to make sure the crew got a good night’s sleep before they picked us up.” 

“It will be nice to see Captain Jack, First Officer Tony, and Jan again.”

When we finished eating breakfast, we climbed back into Gramps’ SUV for the ride to Purgatory Resort.  We’d already watched the videos of what the rides would be like, but we knew that actually being on them would be way better than just watching the videos, so Devin and I were eager to get there. 

When we arrived at Inferno Mountain, Gramps parked the SUV and we all got out.  Devin and I were eager to get to the first ride, but Gramps and Pops didn’t seem to be in as much of a hurry, so we turned to see what was wrong.  That’s when we discovered that they’d transitioned into a younger body and now appeared to be the same age as Devin and me.  Hell, we hadn’t noticed it earlier, but they were even dressed as you might see college students at a place like this. 

“How the hell am I going to call you Gramps when you look like that?” Devin demanded of his grandfather. 

“And we can’t very well call you Pops either,” I pointed out, “so what do you expect us to do?”

“We do have names, so you can just use those,” Pops suggested. 

“I wouldn’t feel right calling you two Jacob and Isaac,” Devin protested.

“Then just call me Jake,” Gramps countered. 

“And you boys can call me Zac,” Pops followed. 

It was a compromise of sorts, because Devin and I would be calling them by a nickname instead of their given names, but they weren’t giving us much of a choice.  We just hoped we didn’t forget and call them Gramps and Pops in front of others.

We had to take a chairlift to get to the top of the mountain, just like skiers do to get to the top of a ski slope during the winter, because it was the only way to get to the starting location for the Alpine Slide.  It took us approximately five minutes to reach the top of the mountain, and that’s when we got our next surprise. 

“Since there are two Alpine Slides that are side-by-side and they appear identical,” Gramps, I mean Jake informed us, “we want to race you boys down the mountain.  If you want to race each other afterward, we can do that as well, but only after we race you first.”

“Is this a joke?” I asked.  “You really want to race us?”

“Yes!  You didn’t think we came here just so you two could have fun, did you?” Pops, I mean Zac countered.  “We plan on doing everything that you do and having some fun as well.”

“I guess you were right, Dev,” I said incredulously.  “You warned me that these two had never grown up when I first met them, but I didn’t really believe you at the time.”

“Yeah, they’re the closest thing to Peter Pan that I’ve ever encountered,” Devin confirmed. 

Jake wanted to race Devin, so Zac and I would go head-to-head as soon as they started down the track.  While we were picking up our sleds, the staff person assigned there explained about the hand brake and told us that it would be located between our legs when we were seated on the sled.  He told us that we could use it to slow the sled down, if we wanted to control our speed and go slower, but we would definitely have to use it to bring the sled to a stop at the end of the ride. 

We then moved over to the top of the identical fiberglass tracks that were laid out just a few feet apart.  We knew from watching the video that they were slightly more than a half-mile long (2,640 feet or 805 m) from start to finish, so we got ready for our turn to go. 

Shortly after Jake and Devin started down the track, Zac and I got ready to go.  As we raced down the track, we navigated our way through a number of twists and turns that were located all the way down the mountainside.  In a way, they reminded me of the spiral slide that I liked to go down at the park when I was younger.  It was definitely a lot more fun to go down that slide than the straight slide on the elementary school playground.  The biggest differences between the two was that the Alpine Slide was much longer and I had to use a sled to go down it, plus I was also able to race the guy next to me, providing he was willing. 

Even before we started, I was determined that I wasn’t going to touch the brake until the very end, and obviously Zac had decided to do the same thing.  We were neck-and-neck the entire way, except at the very end.  That’s because Zac waited longer than I did before he applied his brake and that allowed him to claim that he’d won.  That’s when I noticed there was a large air bag at the end of each track, just in case we failed, or forgot to, apply the brake. 

“That was fun,” Devin said when I met up with him again, “but I had a tough time forgetting that I was racing Jake, and not my grandfather.”

“Yeah, I felt the same way while I was racing against Zac.”

“He’s only sore because I beat him,” Zac proclaimed. 

“He only beat me because he waited longer before he used the brake at the end,” I explained.

“Yeah, Jake did the same thing when we reached the bottom.”  

“Did you notice that it took us five minutes to ride the chairlift to the top of the mountain, but only two minutes to slide all the way to the bottom?” I asked. 

“You could have made it last longer, if you wanted to ride the brake all the way down,” Zac pointed out.  

“Are we going to do this again,” Gramps asked, ending our conversation.

“Yeah, I want to race Mikey boy this time,” Devin responded.

‘Mikey boy?” I challenged.

“Yeah, we can’t let Jake and Zac act younger than us,” Devin replied, “so I decided to make up a new nickname for you.” 

“I’m not so sure I like this new nickname,” I confessed, “so I hope it’s the last time I hear you use it.” 

While we’d been chatting, we carried our sleds and turned them in at the collection point, which was a short walk from the end of the Alpine Slide.  As soon as that had been taken care of, we headed over to the chairlift for another ride to the top of the mountain. 

This time Devin and I went first and Jake and Zac followed us a short time later.  Just like our previous races, neither of us touched the hand brake on the way down and it was a photo finish to the end.  We both tried to wait until the other had used his brake first when we reached the end of the track, and due to that we nearly had to use the air bags to come to a complete stop.  This earned us both a harsh reprimand from the staff member manning the end of the track, so there was no way we were going to go down the Alpine Slide again. 

When Jake and Zac came down next, they attempted to do the same thing that Devin and I had, but they actually waited a little too long and crashed into the air bags before coming to a complete stop.  Needless to say, they received an even harsher reprimand from the staff member and were informed that he didn’t want to see them on the Alpine Slide again today. 

That might have been a deterrent for anyone else, but Jake and Zac could just alter their appearance if they wanted to go again and then just hope the staff member didn’t recognize their clothing. 

“Are you ready to try the Inferno Mountain Coaster, or do you want to take a break?” Zac asked. 

“Let’s find a men’s room and get a drink first, before we take the chairlift back to the top of the mountain,” I suggested. 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Jake agreed, “but we don’t have to ride the chairlift this time.  I guess you failed to notice that the Coaster begins and ends at roughly the same location.”  He then pointed in that direction to indicate what he was referring to. 

“Oh, that’s right,” I groaned.  “I should have remembered that from watching the video.”

“You’re forgiven, so let’s find the restroom first, and then we’ll decide where we want to go to get a drink.”

We soon discovered there were several areas that had restrooms, and there were also multiple locations where we could get a drink.  There were places that sold alcoholic beverages and others that offered coffee, and there were other places that offered choices in between.   Once we had our drinks, we agreed to sit and chat as we sipped our drinks, and then we headed over to get in line for the Mountain Coaster

If we hadn’t watched the video previously, we might have wondered how this ride could start and end at approximately the same shed at the base of the mountain, but it was actually easy to explain.  If you’ve ever ridden on a roller coaster, then you are aware of how the cars get pulled up the first steep incline by hooking into a lift chain, the same principle applied here.  But instead of being pulled up a single long incline, the cars were pulled up a series of inclines, often heading in different directions.

Once the sled reached the top of the mountain, it was released by the lift chain for the final time and the sled began its long gravity-driven journey down the mountainside.  Almost immediately, I encountered a switchback, which is just a 180-degree turn in the track that would take you in the opposite direction. 

At various times, especially whenever I encountered another switchback, the track would appear to float above the ground with nothing keeping it tethered to the earth.  This became even more severe as the sled neared the bottom of the mountain and there were no longer any trees blocking my view. 

When the sled reached a 360-degree loop in the track, I was momentarily impressed with the spectacular view it offered.  There was the emerald green of the grassy ski slope off to my right, as well as the geometric patterns formed by the ski lodge and other buildings in the distance in front of me.  Those pleasant thoughts quickly evaporated, however, and I suddenly became aware that one of two tragic events could possibly happen. 

First of all, I worried that the meager supports that appeared to be holding everything in place would be unable to prevent the track from collapsing.  I feared the substructure that was keeping it all together would be overcome by the speed and weight of the sled and buckle, sending the sled flying through the air.  If that didn’t happen, then I worried the track would be unable to deal with the inertia that was building up due to the speed the sled was traveling.  If that was the case, then the sled could break free of the track, and since there were no guardrails to prevent it from happening, I’d have only a brief time to contemplate my fate as the sled plummeted to the ground below.  These were the types of fearful thoughts that were popping into my head at this point.

As soon as the sled had successfully navigated that obstacle and the track was back once again on solid ground, I breathed a sigh of relief.  I’d dealt with my worst fears and was now enjoying an ‘adrenaline rush’ from having done so, as the sled approached the end of the line.  I’d successfully returned to the building where the adventure had begun, and the journey over the 4,000 feet (1219 m) of track, with a 300-foot (91.5 m) drop in altitude, at a top speed of 25 mph (40 kph) was now only a memory. 

“Do you want to do that again?” Zac asked once we were all together again. 

“That’s up to you and Jake,” I answered as my heart rate slowly returned to normal.

“The line doesn’t look too bad, seeing most of the K through12 school districts are still in session, so let’s do it again before it gets any busier.”

“Ok, it sounds good to me, because I enjoyed doing that as well.”  At least once I realized my worse fears were unfounded.

“I enjoyed it too,” Zac agreed, “but it would be even better if there were two identical tracks side by side so we could race.  It was still enjoyable, but it would be better if we could race.”

After we took another spin on the Mountain Coaster, we decided to take a break and get something to eat, since it was nearly lunchtime.  When we finished eating, we agreed to wait in line and go on the Mountain Coaster one final time before we headed back to Durango. 

“Thanks, for bringing us here today,” I said after we finished the last ride on the Mountain Coaster.

“Yeah, me too,” Devin quickly added. 

“It was fun for us as well, so I’m glad you two enjoyed it,” Jake, I mean Gramps followed, and then we headed back to where he’d parked when we first arrived here. 

Before we returned to the motel, Gramps and Pops decided it might be a good idea to check out the location of the airport where we’d be meeting Captain Jack in the morning.  They wanted to see if there was any construction on the way there, as well as determining if it looked as if there would be a lot of traffic in the morning.  They also wanted to check on the long-term parking for his SUV at the airport while we were gone and that the parking area would be monitored 24/7.  They also wanted to ask those working there about how the traffic would be in the morning, so they could decide on what time we’d have to wake up so we’d get there in time. 

Once all of that had been taken care of, we made our way back to the motel.  It had been a fun day, and it had also been fairly warm, so we were all hot and sweaty before ridding back in the air-conditioned SUV.  Therefore, we decided to shower, change, and relax for a while before going out for supper. 

“May I borrow your laptop so I can find a good place to eat?” Gramps asked. 

“Of course,” I replied as I offered him my laptop. 

When Gramps called us later and asked if we were ready to go eat, we quickly replied “Yes!”, and then we went out to join Gramps and Pops in the SUV. 

“I brought your laptop with me, because I felt it would be safer in the SUV than in our room.  I’ll slide it under my seat while we’re eating, so it can’t be seen if anyone looks through the windows to see if there’s anything worth stealing.”

“Ok, that’s fine, and thanks for thinking about those things,” I responded.

When we reached the restaurant, Devin and I looked at each other after noticing where we were.  “You brought us to a bar to eat?” Devin asked. 

“It’s not just a bar, it’s the Diamond Belle Saloon.  I checked their menu and saw that they have a lot more than just sandwiches, burgers, and wings, and they also have a four-and-a-half star rating.  I read some of the great reviews from previous customers as well.”

“Ok, if you say so,” Devin relented, and we all got out and went inside. 

The four of us chose to sit at a table with captain’s chairs, which means they were wooden chairs with low, curved backs and saddle seats.  Almost as soon as our butts were in the chairs, a server came over and introduced herself. 

“Howdy, y’all, I’m Lorretta,” she began, although I wasn’t expecting her to have a southern accent.  “Would y’all like to start with a drink?” she followed while handing each of us a menu. 

“What do you have on tap?” Pops asked. 

“Honey, this is Colorado, so we have Coors on tap.”

“What if we wanted a different brand?”

“Honey, we have everything else in bottles.”

“Ok, then I’ll have a Coors.”

“And I’ll have the same,” Gramps followed. 

“What about you sweetie?” she asked Devin. 

“I’ll just have a Coke.”

“Me too,” I quickly added. 

Shortly after she walked away, Pops asked Devin and me a question.  “Do you know what you’re going to have yet?”

“I think I’ll go with the strip steak,” I replied, and Pops quickly glanced at his menu.

“It looks like it’s a choice between a six-ounce strip steak and a six-ounce Fillet Mignon, so why don’t you go with the fillet.  It’s a much better cut and that’s what I’m having.”

“Same here,” Gramps concurred. 

“Me too,” Devin added. 

“Ok, then I’ll have that as well.”

“Would you like soup, a salad, or both to go with it?”

“I’ll just have a salad.”

“The house garden salad or a Caesar salad?”

Devin and I went with the Caesar salad, while Gramps and Pops ordered the house salad instead.  I didn’t feel bad about ordering the Caesar salad, though, because they were both the same price. 

As we were eating, Devin and I started asking Gramps and Pops a bunch of questions.  “Are we going to have tools and other stuff to work with when we get to the cave?” I wanted to know. 

“Yes.  I’ve made arrangements to have everything we’ll need ready once Captain Jack drops us off.” 

“That’s good, since we’ll be doing this differently this time, rather than the way we did it last year.”  Seeing we were in a public place, I chose to say it that way, instead of saying that we were doing it as humans this year, and not wolves.

“Yes, this year will be different in a lot of ways,” Pops responded with a grin and a wink.

“Since we may be there for up to a month, what are we going to have to eat?” Devin followed. 

“Leave it to Devin to worry about his stomach,” Gramps teased. 

“Hey, I’m a growing boy.”

“And as you get older, you’re going to start growing in the wrong direction.”

“Don’t worry.  I can handle how I’ll look,” he responded with a smirk, since we all knew he meant that he could just transition into a slimmer body, if he started getting fat.

“To answer your question, I’ve arranged for a variety of food that we can take with us.  There will be dehydrated meals, like when we went fishing at the lake over spring break a couple of years ago, as well as Raman noodles, canned soup, canned vegetables, canned beans, canned chili, and canned corned beef hash.  There will also be a selection of boxed dinners, boxed mac and cheese, dried fruit, all sorts of nuts, granola bars, protein bars, and plenty of jerky.  I also made sure to arrange for a lot of snack foods as well, because I know you will want something between meals or at night before you go to sleep.  Oh, and we’ll have multiple cases of water so we won’t get dehydrated while we’re there, along with a few other items.”

“Ok, it sounds like you’ve got everything covered.”

“I certainly hope so, because I don’t want to have to make a bunch of trips to the grocery store to go shopping while we’re there.”

After we finished eating our salads and steaks, the server asked another question.  “Would y’all like some dessert and an after-dinner drink?”

“What do you boys think?” Pops asked.  “This might be the last chance to have dessert until we get back from our trip.”

“I didn’t pay attention to the desserts when I was looking at the menu,” Devin responded, “so what are our choices?” he asked the server. 

“Well, sweetie, y’all can have a banana split sundae, cheesecake, or carrot cake.”

“I’ll have the sundae then,” Devin answered. 

“And you, cutie?” she asked me.

“I’ll have the sundae as well,” I added. 

“What about you, honey?” she asked Pops. 

“I’ll have the carrot cake,” he replied. 

“And you handsome?” she asked Gramps.

“I’ll have the cheesecake.”

“Thank you, and I’ll be back in a jiffy with your orders.”

“I was starting to feel slighted,” Gramps said while looking at his dad, “since she called you ‘honey’ twice, but then she made up for it by calling me handsome.”

“I was feeling the same way,” I confirmed, “since she’d called Devin sweetie twice.  In fact, I was getting ready to bitch-slap her if she put a move on him, but then I changed my mind when she called me cutie.”

“Yes, she certainly knows how to make a good impression with her male customers,” Pops pointed out.

The conversation then turned to other things until she returned, and then we all stopped talking so we could focus on the sweets.  When we finished eating our desserts, Pops asked for the check, and after he paid the bill, we all got up to leave. 

After we returned to the motel, Gramps handed me my laptop and then Pops made a comment before we went to our room.  “Set your alarm for 7:00, if you want to make sure to have breakfast in the morning.  We should be at the airport by 10:00, because that’s when Captain Jack is supposed to pick us up, and I don’t want to be late.  The guy wasn’t too sure about the traffic situation, since he drives to the airport from the opposite direction, so I want to leave a cushion in case we get caught in rush hour traffic.”

“Ok, we’ll be ready when you call us then,” I confirmed.

“So, we’ll see you in the morning,” Devin added before he used the key card to open the door to our room.

“Pleasant dreams,” Gramps said just before the door to our room closed.