Joy! And a kick-ass jacket

I finally, FINALLY got to take the Buddy out today. It was a bit of an effort, pushing it out of the garage by the people-door (the big door does not open) and through the four or so inches of ice/slush/snow/crap that remains in the shady part of my driveway. Ugh. I never thought the bike was heavy until I shoved it through the snow. But today was *almost* 50degF and it was sunny and gorgeous, and, well, okay...REALLY windy....but I just had to go for a ride. Why?

'Cause I got my new jacket!!


No more wearing my husband's way too big parka and having it balloon out around me while I am zipping down the road. No more wearing a zillion layers underneath it to stave off the cold wind whistling down my neck and through the zippers.

This is my jacket, the Rev'It 'Siren', in black. I love love love this jacket! It is probably one of the most expensive articles of clothing I have ever bought....actually, it IS the most expensive article of clothing I have ever bought, but OMG, so totally worth it. I am still getting used to the very close fit, especially in the shoulders, but it's comfortable and so VERY WARM. It's so warm and so comfortable to wear that I think I am going to have to look for some pants, too, for the winter, because from the thighs down, I was frozen. Ah, well, such is winter.

I also have to work on figuring out all the pockets and zippers and attachments and such. There are a ton of zips on this thing, and it took me a few minutes to actually get myself all fastened into it. Once I was riding, though, it was fantastic.

The ride today was fun. I rode to the Starbuck's near my house for a latte, and to test out my riding skills, since it's been at least two weeks since I got on the bike. Later on, I rode to work and back, which was a total blast. I am very much looking forward to spring. It will be so nice to be able to take one of the liners out of the jacket, and to arrive at my destination without my thighs being cold. It's almost March, so spring is definitely on the way. As much as I love snow and winter weather, I've had enough.

(and yes, I know I should be wearing boots in the above picture....I usually do, this time I admit I forgot.)

Not much to report...

Up until about Thursday of last week, I had been riding the scoot all over town....going to work, to the store, trying out new roads and different routes as my confidence level builds. I even rode down to the scooter shop where I bought the bike, just because I wanted to do it. It's been so much fantastic fun!

I'm a member of Modern Buddy, the best forum for Buddy riders and owners, and in the Gallery section of the forum, there is a thread for playing Worldwide Scooter Tag. This is a game in which members take photos of their scooter in front of particular sites or objects, sort of like a scavenger hunt. I've been wanting to play ever since I discovered the game last summer, and now I can!

The next location to find on the list was "your scooter with the word 'museum'". Hot dog! We have tons of museums in Richmond! Because of the winter weather in most places, this items was on the list for a long time, and I wanted to grab it. So, I located a museum that was within riding distance (and within my riding skills), and made plans to go last week and snag the picture.

Then my kids got sick and took turns staying home from school and going to the doctor. Ack! My short windows of free time when the little ones are at preschool all but disappeared. Then, when I got a chance to go out in the late afternoon, it was either bitterly cold, or rainy, or I was just plain worn out. Sigh.

The weekend! That's when I would go out and get the museum picture! I was all set....and then...
it snowed:



A lot.



That's just over a foot of snow, which I realize for some of you is what would be called 'Tuesday', but here in Richmond, Virginia, this constitutes a major snowstorm. So major, in fact, that our kids have been out of school for two days, and likely will be out at least one more day. The governor declared a state of emergency the day BEFORE the storm. Laugh on, you northern-dwellers (I used to be one of ya), but in an area where they are plowing the streets with road graders and contracting with people with pickup trucks and snow blades, this is a big deal. The storm we got the week before Christmas dropped a foot and a half on us, and now this. That represents more snowfall than we typically get over five years on average. I, personally, am loving the snow, unplowed roads, stir-crazy kids, and all. You can take the girl out of upstate NY, but you can't take the upstate NY out of the girl.

But I digress.

The bottom picture is a path my husband made with our neighbor's snowblower, and it's our driveway. No scootering for me. The only thing that sucks about the snow.

Ah, well. Someone else snagged the museum picture, and posted the next item: scooter and 'nature center'. There's one near my house, if only I could get to it in all this snow...