Chapter 4: Colorado
Gordo pulled into the dirt parking lot at the top of Berthoud Pass in Colorado.
"Am I ever glad I wasn't driving!" Lizzie proclaimed," that road was a little too curvy for my liking."
"Oh brrr!" Miranda exhaled when she climbed out of the car," it's cold up here."
"We're quite a bit higher in altitude than the last time we got out of the car. It is a little chilly," Gordo agreed.
"Chilly?! Gordo it has to be like 40 degrees or something," Lizzie cried.
"Here, it's a good thing we all brought jackets," Miranda said as she handed them their warm jackets.
Before Lizzie could say thank you, something cold and wet hit the side of her head.
"What the-?" she reached up to pull a clump of snow out of her hair," GOR-DO!"
He just laughed and ran away. Lizzie whispered to Miranda and the two made their own snowballs. They split up to chase Gordo down. Lizzie's snowball whizzed past his ear. Miranda's throw was more accurate. It nailed him on the back of his head.
"Okay, I give up," Gordo surrendered," that was a great shot Miranda."
"Thanks," she replied smugly.
Lizzie ran up and tackled Gordo, shoving a snowball down the back of his shirt.
"Hey! That's cold!" he cried out in surprise.
"That'll teach you to hit me without a warning, Gordon," Lizzie pretended to be tough.
Lizzie helped Gordo up off the ground and giggled as he danced around trying to get the snowball out. Gordo glared at her and then planted a kiss straight on her lips. They linked arms and headed over to the edge of the parking lot. There was steep incline and across the way there were some snow capped mountains. They were slightly higher than the one they were currently on. The two were breathing hard from chasing eachother and it was cold enough that you could see their breath. Miranda joined her friends on the edge.
"What a nice view," she commented.
"Yeah, did you know that rickety, old, wooden building behind us used to be a ski lodge?" Gordo asked.
"No. This doesn't really look like a ski area," Lizzie replied.
"See the ski-lifts over there," Gordo pointed up the side of the mountain.
"Oh. I didn't know what those were," Lizzie said.
"Yeah, but I think they closed the ski resort. They weren't getting enough business to keep up with taking care of the lodge," Gordo explained.
"I wouldn't want to drive all the way up that road when it was snowing," Miranda told her friends.
"Yeah, the snow up here can get pretty deep," Gordo replied, knowingly.
"So wait, since when do you know so much about Colorado history?" Lizzie wondered aloud.
"When we were in the hotel last night, I looked up some information. They had computers with internet access in the lobby," Gordo explained.
Miranda nodded her head," I knew you were up to something last night."
"I couldn't sleep, so I got up and no one else was around and I did some research. My parents insisted that we at least do something educational. There's our lesson for the trip. Now we can say we learned something and it won't be a lie. Though, who knows when we'll ever need to know that there's a ski resort on the top of Berthoud Pass?" he shook his head slightly.
"Yeah. I don't think we'll be back here anytime soon," Lizzie laughed," it's too far away. So, I did some research last night too. It turns out there's a Six Flags Theme Park in Denver. I figured that when we drive down from the mountains we can stay in Denver. It's the biggest city in Colorado, so there's bound to be stuff to do. I thought it might be fun to go see what the amusment parks are like here. They're no where near as fancy as the Disney parks in Cali, but it's worth a visit, don't you think?"
"Cool. I didn't think there were any themeparks around here. I'm all for something fun. Sightseeing is nice, but we are still teens and we need to do something fun," Miranda agreed.
"That's fine with me. It's your turn to drive, but I can drive until we get out of the mountains," Gordo offered.
"Thanks," Lizzie accepted the offer.
~(Somewhere on Southbound I-25, north of Denver)~
Lizzie was finally taking a turn to drive. She was fine until they had merged onto Interstate 25. It was the most confusing freeway she had ever driven on. She knew the exit where she needed to exit the freeway, but it was hard to get in the right lane.
"Oh no! I'm in an exit only lane. I can't get over. We're going to get lost somewhere," Lizzie worried.
"Don't worry, we'll just get off the freeway and then ask for directions back if we can't find it," Gordo soothed.
"I've never been on such a confusing highway in my life!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"It's all right. If you want me to drive, I will," Miranda volunteered.
"No that's okay," Lizzie said," it's just frustrating.
~(20 Minutes Later, Parking Lot For Six Flag's Elitch Gardens)~
"When we finally leave Denver, I am not driving," Lizzie told her friends.
She had been sucked off I-25 one more time. Fortunately, both times she was able to find her way back on easily, although the second time, she accidentally headed northbound.
"I don't blame you," Gordo said," I don't want to drive here either. But, let's forget that for now. Let's just go into the park and have some fun."
"I can do that," Lizzie grinned.
Miranda said," I am ready to forget about the stupid highway for several hours."
The three friends made their way to the park entrance. Once inside, they were greeted by the hundred-year-old ferris wheel with a sign that read: "Not to see Elitch's is not to see Denver."
Upon reading that Gordo said," Well, it's a good thing we came here. Otherwise we would have missed Denver."
"Oh I don't think I could live with myself if I missed seeing Denver," Lizzie said in a very fake voice.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Lizzie McGuire. All the places mentioned in Colorado are real and do not belong to me. The sign on the ferris wheel in the story is real. I didn't make that part up.
Note: If I get place names wrong, don't yell at me. After Colorado, I haven't actually been to any of the places they will visit. I apologize in advance for any mistakes I make.
A/N: I am so sorry about how boring this chapter was. I think I will hurry up and finish the trip because I read this chapter and couldn't believe how incredibly boring it is.
Also, the little bit on how crappy I-25 is a little bit of satire on my part. I hate driving on it. Everyone who comes from out of state to visit tells us how bad it is about sucking you off. You'll think you're safe one minute, the next minute you're exiting onto some street you've never heard of. So my advice, if you have to drive through Colorado try to avoid I-25, especially the part of it that runs in south Denver. They're doing a construction project some idiot decided to call "T-rex" (transportation expansion) and that is a disaster, even to those who drive there every day. I'll stop rambling now. Bye.
Gordo pulled into the dirt parking lot at the top of Berthoud Pass in Colorado.
"Am I ever glad I wasn't driving!" Lizzie proclaimed," that road was a little too curvy for my liking."
"Oh brrr!" Miranda exhaled when she climbed out of the car," it's cold up here."
"We're quite a bit higher in altitude than the last time we got out of the car. It is a little chilly," Gordo agreed.
"Chilly?! Gordo it has to be like 40 degrees or something," Lizzie cried.
"Here, it's a good thing we all brought jackets," Miranda said as she handed them their warm jackets.
Before Lizzie could say thank you, something cold and wet hit the side of her head.
"What the-?" she reached up to pull a clump of snow out of her hair," GOR-DO!"
He just laughed and ran away. Lizzie whispered to Miranda and the two made their own snowballs. They split up to chase Gordo down. Lizzie's snowball whizzed past his ear. Miranda's throw was more accurate. It nailed him on the back of his head.
"Okay, I give up," Gordo surrendered," that was a great shot Miranda."
"Thanks," she replied smugly.
Lizzie ran up and tackled Gordo, shoving a snowball down the back of his shirt.
"Hey! That's cold!" he cried out in surprise.
"That'll teach you to hit me without a warning, Gordon," Lizzie pretended to be tough.
Lizzie helped Gordo up off the ground and giggled as he danced around trying to get the snowball out. Gordo glared at her and then planted a kiss straight on her lips. They linked arms and headed over to the edge of the parking lot. There was steep incline and across the way there were some snow capped mountains. They were slightly higher than the one they were currently on. The two were breathing hard from chasing eachother and it was cold enough that you could see their breath. Miranda joined her friends on the edge.
"What a nice view," she commented.
"Yeah, did you know that rickety, old, wooden building behind us used to be a ski lodge?" Gordo asked.
"No. This doesn't really look like a ski area," Lizzie replied.
"See the ski-lifts over there," Gordo pointed up the side of the mountain.
"Oh. I didn't know what those were," Lizzie said.
"Yeah, but I think they closed the ski resort. They weren't getting enough business to keep up with taking care of the lodge," Gordo explained.
"I wouldn't want to drive all the way up that road when it was snowing," Miranda told her friends.
"Yeah, the snow up here can get pretty deep," Gordo replied, knowingly.
"So wait, since when do you know so much about Colorado history?" Lizzie wondered aloud.
"When we were in the hotel last night, I looked up some information. They had computers with internet access in the lobby," Gordo explained.
Miranda nodded her head," I knew you were up to something last night."
"I couldn't sleep, so I got up and no one else was around and I did some research. My parents insisted that we at least do something educational. There's our lesson for the trip. Now we can say we learned something and it won't be a lie. Though, who knows when we'll ever need to know that there's a ski resort on the top of Berthoud Pass?" he shook his head slightly.
"Yeah. I don't think we'll be back here anytime soon," Lizzie laughed," it's too far away. So, I did some research last night too. It turns out there's a Six Flags Theme Park in Denver. I figured that when we drive down from the mountains we can stay in Denver. It's the biggest city in Colorado, so there's bound to be stuff to do. I thought it might be fun to go see what the amusment parks are like here. They're no where near as fancy as the Disney parks in Cali, but it's worth a visit, don't you think?"
"Cool. I didn't think there were any themeparks around here. I'm all for something fun. Sightseeing is nice, but we are still teens and we need to do something fun," Miranda agreed.
"That's fine with me. It's your turn to drive, but I can drive until we get out of the mountains," Gordo offered.
"Thanks," Lizzie accepted the offer.
~(Somewhere on Southbound I-25, north of Denver)~
Lizzie was finally taking a turn to drive. She was fine until they had merged onto Interstate 25. It was the most confusing freeway she had ever driven on. She knew the exit where she needed to exit the freeway, but it was hard to get in the right lane.
"Oh no! I'm in an exit only lane. I can't get over. We're going to get lost somewhere," Lizzie worried.
"Don't worry, we'll just get off the freeway and then ask for directions back if we can't find it," Gordo soothed.
"I've never been on such a confusing highway in my life!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"It's all right. If you want me to drive, I will," Miranda volunteered.
"No that's okay," Lizzie said," it's just frustrating.
~(20 Minutes Later, Parking Lot For Six Flag's Elitch Gardens)~
"When we finally leave Denver, I am not driving," Lizzie told her friends.
She had been sucked off I-25 one more time. Fortunately, both times she was able to find her way back on easily, although the second time, she accidentally headed northbound.
"I don't blame you," Gordo said," I don't want to drive here either. But, let's forget that for now. Let's just go into the park and have some fun."
"I can do that," Lizzie grinned.
Miranda said," I am ready to forget about the stupid highway for several hours."
The three friends made their way to the park entrance. Once inside, they were greeted by the hundred-year-old ferris wheel with a sign that read: "Not to see Elitch's is not to see Denver."
Upon reading that Gordo said," Well, it's a good thing we came here. Otherwise we would have missed Denver."
"Oh I don't think I could live with myself if I missed seeing Denver," Lizzie said in a very fake voice.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Lizzie McGuire. All the places mentioned in Colorado are real and do not belong to me. The sign on the ferris wheel in the story is real. I didn't make that part up.
Note: If I get place names wrong, don't yell at me. After Colorado, I haven't actually been to any of the places they will visit. I apologize in advance for any mistakes I make.
A/N: I am so sorry about how boring this chapter was. I think I will hurry up and finish the trip because I read this chapter and couldn't believe how incredibly boring it is.
Also, the little bit on how crappy I-25 is a little bit of satire on my part. I hate driving on it. Everyone who comes from out of state to visit tells us how bad it is about sucking you off. You'll think you're safe one minute, the next minute you're exiting onto some street you've never heard of. So my advice, if you have to drive through Colorado try to avoid I-25, especially the part of it that runs in south Denver. They're doing a construction project some idiot decided to call "T-rex" (transportation expansion) and that is a disaster, even to those who drive there every day. I'll stop rambling now. Bye.