Midwinter Motorcycle Ride

In the dead of winter, when the opportunity presents itself - you know... dry pavement and non-frigid temperatures - you have to seize that opportunity!  It might be the last for 2 months; ya just never know.

I took Lucille the Iron Pony out for a jaunt this afternoon - you know, to keep the battery charged up.  It was a little cooler than ideal - but I thought about how fondly such a ride would be remembered, on a 100-degree summer day.

I happened past the warehouse of my old employer.  I worked downtown, but field trips frequently found me under this roof, in south Boise.

From there, south on Pleasant Valley Road.  (I don't think I've ever gone far enough, to get to the Pleasant Valley.)  But a detour on a favorite... Ten Mile Creek Road.  (More scenic on July 14, than on January 14.)  However... I spotted a tree.  And in that tree, I spotted an owl!  (Great Horned Owl, I presume.  We looked each other over.)

Onward to the radio broadcast antenna masts @ Cloverdale / Hubbard

The favorable conditions gave me a beaming countenance!  (Also... was breaking in a sweet new helmet!  It fits like it was custom-built around my head, and I kinda like the colors, too.)

A ride-by past Hubbard Reservoir.  (I think it's been 20 years since I saw water behind it.)

Soon after, I set sail for home.  The smog is hanging low, on account of our customary "inversion" weather pattern...

And finally, a quick stop at the Gowen Field static aircraft display.  (I've been by hundreds of times... this may be the first time I've ventured a bit closer.  A chain-link fence prevented me from getting any closer.)