The Mighty Van: A Journey to Colorado's Snowy Trails

After pretty much no winter weather to speak of in Kansas, I decided to take the mighty van to Colorado to find some snow. I loaded up my van with supplies for my sister who lives up there and hit the road. My mighty van is a 1991 Dodge Caravan with 50,000 original miles and equipped with optional all-wheel drive, which was the first year ever offered in a Chrysler van. I've put on some oversized mudding tires and rally fogs, and foolishly want to take it on off-road adventures.

As we hit the road, I encountered our first challenge: the closure of I-70 west of the Eisenhower Tunnel due to a big accident. Instead of taking the highway, I had to take Loveland Pass all the way around the tunnel through a snowstorm that was just a sheer cliff with no guardrails. Despite the conditions not being that bad in the past, it did save me from sitting for hours in traffic due to the highway closure. However, there were more challenges ahead of us.

The next challenge we faced was getting over Veil Pass, which had an altitude that my 150 horsepower van wasn't enjoying. As I can hear, the old girl was not happy about it. But as Miley Cyrus said, "It ain't how fast you get there; it's not what's waiting on the other side; it's the climb." So, with a newfound determination, we crested Veil Pass without any problems. As we coasted downhill to our destination, the winter weather dissipated, and we arrived just in time to take the whole family to dinner.

The next day brought a whole new adventure for our little van. First, let's talk about the hiccups that we had during the trip. My speedometer would come and go, especially during the last 15 minutes of the trip, and my tachometer was spiking and going crazy as well. I suspect it might be something with the body computer, but it seems totally fine now. After dropping mini me off at school, I headed south to explore a gorgeous road that eventually turned to dirt.

As I drove on this new road, I was introduced to a major downside of off-roading in an early '90s Chrysler product - rattling. Oh my God! This thing is so rattling! Apparently, there's a lake somewhere, and we're going to find it or this Van's going to rattle itself apart. The rattling body didn't take long to drive me insane, but I decided to do some off-road exploring anyway. How cool is this? Please don't get stuck there; there's no phone service out here! I could pose like this to epic music all day.

Despite the rattling and other issues, my little van made it through the dirt roads with ease. There were a Chevy Trailblazer and Jeep Cherokee parked over there, so it wasn't much of a challenge. Honestly, a Dodge Neon probably could have made it as well, but there's more to come. As I finished exploring the trails, I left my van out here with my sister, and as the snow melts and we get out of this mud season, more of these off-road trails start opening up. I think I'm going to do more with this van, so wish me luck!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enafter pretty much no winter weather to speak of in Kansas I decided to take the mighty van to Colorado to find some snow I loaded up my van with supplies for my sister who lives up there and hit the road my mighty van is a 1991 Dodge Caravan with 50,000 original miles and equipped with optional all-wheel drive the first year ever offered in a Chrysler van I've put on some oversized mudding tires and rally fogs and foolishly want to take it on off-road Adventures so we have a situation I got the snow that I wanted but they ended up closing I70 west of the Eisenhower Tunnel because of a big accident so now I have to take Loveland Pass all the way around the tunnel through a snowstorm that's just a sheer Cliff No guarden rails turns out conditions on the past weren't that bad but it did save me from sitting for hours in traffic due to the highway closure but there were more challenges ahead now we got one more climb ahead of us to get over Veil pass and I got about 150 horsepower at sea level and this thing is definitely not enjoying the altitude as you can hear but as Miley Cyrus said it ain't how fast you get there it's not what's waiting on the other side it's the climb go Mighty van go go I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can the mighty van crested Veil passed without a problem and as we coasted downhill to our destination the winter weather dissipated and we arrived just in time to take the whole family to dinner the next day brought a whole new adventure for our many van but first let's talk about the hiccups had a few little issues my speedometer would come and go and the last 15 minutes of the trip and my tachometer was spiking and going crazy as well probably something with the uh body computer but it seems totally fine now first I have a little errand to run which is something that a typical van would be doing and then we're going to go and try and find some snow in off-roading fun you ready for ski school no which one of Daddy's cars is your favorite the van the van really not Superman car I like I like all cars oh that's nice of you to say thank you after dropping mini me off at school I headed south expor exploring a gorgeous road which eventually turned to dirt and I was introduced to a major downside of off-roading in an early '90s Chrysler product Oh my God this thing is so rattling oh my God apparently there's a lake somewhere and we're going to find it or this Van's going to rattle itself apart oh jeez it didn't take long for the rattling body to drive me insane so I decided to do some off-road exploring how cool is this oh please don't get stuck there there's no phone service out here I could pose like this to epic music all day but there was a lake to find so the mighty van and I set off so the old girl made it admittedly it was just mostly dirt roads and there's a uh Chevy Trailblazer and Jeep Cherokee parked over there so it wasn't much of a challenge honestly a Dodge Neon probably could have made it as well but there's more to come I'm leaving my van out here with my sister and as the snow melts and we get out of this mud season and more of these off-road trails start opening up I think I'm going to do more with this van so wish me luckafter pretty much no winter weather to speak of in Kansas I decided to take the mighty van to Colorado to find some snow I loaded up my van with supplies for my sister who lives up there and hit the road my mighty van is a 1991 Dodge Caravan with 50,000 original miles and equipped with optional all-wheel drive the first year ever offered in a Chrysler van I've put on some oversized mudding tires and rally fogs and foolishly want to take it on off-road Adventures so we have a situation I got the snow that I wanted but they ended up closing I70 west of the Eisenhower Tunnel because of a big accident so now I have to take Loveland Pass all the way around the tunnel through a snowstorm that's just a sheer Cliff No guarden rails turns out conditions on the past weren't that bad but it did save me from sitting for hours in traffic due to the highway closure but there were more challenges ahead now we got one more climb ahead of us to get over Veil pass and I got about 150 horsepower at sea level and this thing is definitely not enjoying the altitude as you can hear but as Miley Cyrus said it ain't how fast you get there it's not what's waiting on the other side it's the climb go Mighty van go go I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can the mighty van crested Veil passed without a problem and as we coasted downhill to our destination the winter weather dissipated and we arrived just in time to take the whole family to dinner the next day brought a whole new adventure for our many van but first let's talk about the hiccups had a few little issues my speedometer would come and go and the last 15 minutes of the trip and my tachometer was spiking and going crazy as well probably something with the uh body computer but it seems totally fine now first I have a little errand to run which is something that a typical van would be doing and then we're going to go and try and find some snow in off-roading fun you ready for ski school no which one of Daddy's cars is your favorite the van the van really not Superman car I like I like all cars oh that's nice of you to say thank you after dropping mini me off at school I headed south expor exploring a gorgeous road which eventually turned to dirt and I was introduced to a major downside of off-roading in an early '90s Chrysler product Oh my God this thing is so rattling oh my God apparently there's a lake somewhere and we're going to find it or this Van's going to rattle itself apart oh jeez it didn't take long for the rattling body to drive me insane so I decided to do some off-road exploring how cool is this oh please don't get stuck there there's no phone service out here I could pose like this to epic music all day but there was a lake to find so the mighty van and I set off so the old girl made it admittedly it was just mostly dirt roads and there's a uh Chevy Trailblazer and Jeep Cherokee parked over there so it wasn't much of a challenge honestly a Dodge Neon probably could have made it as well but there's more to come I'm leaving my van out here with my sister and as the snow melts and we get out of this mud season and more of these off-road trails start opening up I think I'm going to do more with this van so wish me luck\n"