Tough Enough

As many know the last few weeks have been wintery in Estes Park, nothing new. Quite frankly the last year has been something! But you know what…. Estes Park is a tough place and the people who live here need to be tough as well, otherwise they move away. And that happens from time to time. But these days folks are moving to Estes Park and buying up properties like mad. And when someone moves into a home built by Darling Enterprise, they don’t need to be quite as tough as others. “Why is that”, you may ask, “good question” is my response.
It was March of 2003 that Larraine and I lived in one of our beautiful homes. The kids were all gone heading out on their own to make a mark in the world but now and then they would come back and hang out with us. In March that year we had both Adam and Marci, Andrea, and a buddy, all staying at the house. We grilled almost every night, trying to make the most of the days because we knew it would go by too fast. That week that everyone was here we heard there was a snowstorm on its way, and they said it would be a doozy. Remember, that was 18 years ago and predicting the weather has come a long way. Although I find it’s still one of those jobs that a reporter can be 100% wrong with the prediction and still have a job the next day! Go figure! Regardless we heard there was weather coming in so we hunkered down.
Someone may know exactly what day it was, but I think it started to really snow on that Tuesday afternoon. The snow was not really coming down that hard, and the flakes weren’t that big. It just came down, steady and strong, no wind at all. We hung out in the house, had the fireplace going, the kitchen had the smells of homemade yummy food, you know…. Larraine’s kitchen! (If you have ever had my wife’s food then you know there is nothing more to explain.) The next day we played games, ate, laughed and had fun. We were warm and toasty inside while it was snowing nonstop outside. Every now and then we’d go outside and check the depth of the snow, 16”, 20”, and it just kept coming.
I had “Bob” at the house to keep things cleaned out. You know, Bob???? My Bobcat. Bob and I have always been a tight unit. I’d go out with Bob and clean our driveway the neighbors and even beyond into the road, as there was obviously no traffic. While we kept our little road clean the main road wasn’t even touched, so we couldn’t go anywhere. But still, the driveways and our little road were clear!
The next morning we got up and it was still snowing, we had 40” of snow! It snowed most the morning before slowing down and stopped, we had 42″ total. I heard there was 84” just past Lilly Lake and other areas where the elevation was higher. I was glad it stopped because I couldn’t find anywhere else to pile up the snow. Bob cold reach 8’ and then dump, so all the driveways in my neighborhood were cleaned out but they also had an 8’ wall of snow on each side. It was perfect for making snow caves, just ask Adam and Marci! That amazing Colorado blue sky popped out and the contrast of colors was incredible. On those beautiful sunny days following the storm I remember lifting snow with Bob and his bucket, the sun would shine through the snow and it appeared to be an indescribable teal blue. To this day I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

This past week the weatherman told us to expect an epic storm with 91” of snow, we had about 24”. I got a call from a previous customer and friend “Hey Don, do we need to shovel the snow off the deck, is it strong enough to hold the snow?” I responded with, “Michael, your home is built to hold up this much snow, and more! The building codes require constructing strong supports, but Darling Enterprise goes above that and works hard to make sure it’s the best it can be.”

Whether you’re tough or not, Darling Enterprise homes make everyone feel tough, tough enough to handle anything outside!

-Don Darling