thirty something

when is winter over around here? I got off the plane last night and it was thirty something (degrees). and I had to scrape ice off the windshield and wait for the beast (my pet name for the bronco) to thaw before I could drive off. all the while sitting there in the cold. not that welcoming. kinda made me want to get on a plane back to cali.

note to self...

Do not ride motorcycle in winter if you will be coming home after dark in 35 degree weather. 

Freezing.

Not like normal freezing.  Like painful, painful freezing.  The rest of me was ok but my fingers felt like they were burning off; burning with cold. Very, very unpleasant.  I almost pulled over just to warm them up but it probably would have been futile so I just sped up in hopes of getting home quicker. My fingers have never been this cold, not even in snow.

I clearly do not have winter riding gloves.

It's raining buckets outside

McBeth Road

Snow clouds hold the color of the sun as it sets.

The ground is still covered in snow up on Fox Hollow,
except the roads which are slushy and icy.

snow stuff

This is the south west section of Fox Hollow. The part you get to after driving down the hill and around the 180 degree turn, past the farm that usually has a motorcycle parked out by their gate.  It was fun driving on the snow covered road in the Bronco. It was probably about 8 inches deep at least. 

I followed Fox Hollow out to Lorane Highway, which had apparently been eating trucks for breakfast. I passed three of them stuck in the ravine along various parts of the road. It was pretty steep too. One of the trucks was almost at a 90 degree angle.

I can't figure out if it was just trucks becasue no one else would try the roads or becasue the truck owners were overconfident in their vehicles and going faster than they should have been.

11 degrees

If it's 11 degrees out now, how cold is it going to be later tonight???

driving in snow/ice

Very glad to have the Bronco. There is zero chance I'd be driving the Lotus today. 

There was one guy stuck in a truck with his back wheels spinning in the middle of a lane. And I saw a couple people trying to make right turns that came out way wider than they anticipated (they ended up in the wrong lane).

And I almost ran into a tree making a turn onto scenic at like 3 mph. Ice!!!!

Here's the back yard...

River road

Driving on river road is like sledding for adults!

white

it's so bright and white out!

Time for nightime snow driving

totally snowing outside!!

freaken awesome ;-)

about last night

This one is from today.

Last night was pretty amazing. Three things coming together: full moon - at it's brightest due to it being closest to earth - and first snow. That doesn't happen very often. Perfect conditions.

When I first got up there the moon was so bright that I could turn off my headlights and drive... at night, in the dark, out of the city. So the only light was the moon, big and bright and right overhead. No real clouds, just smoke-like fog, light and fast, moving just over the trees past the moon. And stars, lots of stars. It was very clear out.

There was already a thin layer of snow on the ground and a few flakes were falling. I got out and stood in the cold air stairing up at the moon for a few minutes. As I drove out further the snow clouds moved in. On my way back I drove into the fog and it was like entering another world -snow flakes flying at me, illuminated by the headlights. It makes it seem like you're driving in space with stars flying past you.

that was awesome

Wispy clouds raced past the moon and then the snow started falling.

It was like driving in a snow globe ;-)

omg... It's so beautiful out here...

It's totally snowing on Fox Hollow...right now

and the moon is so so bright...