The Optimist and the Pessimist

Since we were blessed with weather in the 70's yesterday and Kristy came to visit, we decided to go four wheeling on Occidental Plateau.  Four wheeling this time of year is a dicey proposition.  What looks like a dry mountain perfect for four wheeling, often turns out to have walls of drifts.  My optimistic spouse plows through the snow, certain that if he can only bust through the drift, the remainder of the route will be clear.  From experience with the spring, I know that one drift leads to another until we reach the drift we cannot pass.  Turning around on a steep, icy  hillside is not my idea of fun.  When four wheeling with my optimist our conversations usually are something like this:

Me:  Is this where the REALLY steep road is?   You know, the road where I choke trying to go down it, and you have to drive my four wheeler down.

Him:  This time you will be able to go down it.

Me: Do you see that huge drift over there?  That is Occidental Plateau.  We won't be able to get up there.

Him:  Let's try it and see.

Me:  See these patches of snow?  You know how it always is. Before long, we'll find the one patch we can't get through.

Him:  If we can get by this one place, we can make it to the top.

Me:  Here is the drift that marks the end of the trail.

Him:  Let's drive five miles over and try to get to the top from there.

The optimist

Kristy visited this weekend

Me:  Let's stop for lunch.

Him:  After we eat, I'm going to try to plow through some drifts down the trail.

Me: Are we having fun yet?