RobArt Penguin

I haven’t been there in years but I have a warm place in my heart for Vail, Colorado. My father did some development there in its early days. The first time I was there, the whole valley only had twelve buildings … literally. We stayed in this place called the “House By The Road,” because it was literally a house by the only main road that ran through the valley. The water tasted like rust/iron and was a rude lesson on the value of treated water. The ski area had only been opened a few years. Because our family built some units a few years later, we were able to afford trips there. My father took me all through the mountains fishing, remote places that felt like wilderness. It was peaceful. But that was decades ago. Now, an Interstate highway runs through the valley, making it much easier to visit, and open Vail and West Vail (same valley) to growing up. Many of the streams where I fished as a boy are almost gone because their water goes to Vail and other municipal areas. Once I fished to the sound of rushing water, now I would have to contend with the whir of mountain bikers. It became so crowded, even the big grocery chains moved in. Also, President Ford made the Beaver Creek area popular, which was the next valley over. Once a vast gracing expanse, the Eagle Valley is now congested with hotels, homes and condos. The quiet and wild Vail area that I knew as a boy is gone forever. I still like the mountains, but I won’t be able to visit the place I remember except in my imagination.