Is it legal to sleep in your car in Northern Colorado?

Many years ago, when my now 21-year-old daughter was a young girl of 8-ish, I surprised her by letting her skip the bus and told her I would pick her up after school. She was thrilled.

Because I'm a good mom, I pulled up to her school, Eyestone Elementary in Wellington, around 3:00 that afternoon, ready to make her day. Heck, I was even early and had a spare 20 minutes.

And then something happened that I'm not proud of. I fell asleep. I passed out hard. I was sawing logs. While parked in the drive-up line. I only woke up to the school calling me to pick up my poor daughter, who had been left behind, and the janitor was locking up for the night.

Even as an adult, she still brings up this embarrassing snafu. Especially when she needs something.

What's embarrassing about this situation?

I am a certified mouth breather. Guilty. Have you ever watched an elderly person in deep sleep? It's a little jarring, with the gullet wide open and loud honking sounds. I'm surprised no one walked by my car and thought I was dead.

But people just drove around my car.

The only thing that could have been more embarrassing for my child would have been if I was arrested for being out cold in my car. In Northern Colorado, is it legal to sleep in your car?

I'm glad you asked. I decided to look it up because, as humiliated as I felt, I knew it would probably happen again.

The answer is sometimes...kind of.

According to Colorado law, it all depends on where you fall asleep. If you park your car in a public lot, ie a school, you could get into trouble for parking and sleeping overnight.

So make sure to get your beauty sleep before the kids get home because kids are loud, and passing out in a school parking lot is shameful.