First Snow Of The Season Adventures

The winter weather arrived today in a real hurry. An hour before, JayBee and I had been on this stretch going in the opposite direction in a cold rain. By the time we arrived back at his digs, the roads had become downright covered and slick. Now as I sit to type this post, the rain has returned making a slushy mess of all the local roads. By the way, the above photo is a stretch of four lane freeway that was narrowed down to one lane in each direction by the snowfall.

The word is, that the snow event is "punch" number one in a "1-2-3 punch" system of storms set to wreak havoc in the area through Monday night. The balance of today has heavy rains and strong winds forecasted. Tomorrow is supposed to offer up what they are calling the "Big Kahuna" storm with "potentially damaging winds, and river flooding rains." Sustained winds projected at 40+ mph, and gusts to 60+ are on the way from the south, so my best hopes are that the Olympic Mountains will buffer the winds, and hopefully spare us the brunt of this "punch." Hurricane force winds are forecasted on the Pacific coast, and I hope that they stay out there.

Anyway, the reason for the roadtrip this morning was that JayBee has a line on a 1980 Vespa P200 for sale from some cat in Sequim. We rolled down to have a look, and it looked to be in real straight shape. I even took it out for a short spin in the rain. After an impressive first kick start, we rolled it out of the covered parkway and tried to get it to go in a forward direction down the street. A little choking, and some time to let it warm up had me strapping on a helmet and plopping down on the drenched seat. I had to really twist hard to get the shifter into first, but was finally able to get her to roll. The gear selection process process took some effort due to some real tightness, but once I found 3rd gear, I was pretty much flying. After finally rolling back under the dude's covered driveway dripping wet, I found that JayBee had pretty much sewed up the deal with the guy. And for the price that they agreed on, my Geezer brother scored a very sweet deal.

Now, the trick will be to get the old beige beauty home. If this bleak forecast holds true, who knows what kind of adventure we will have just getting it back to JayBee's shop. Through rain, snow, flood or blow, it looks like my old pal the scooter bum is going to add another ride to his stable. Then the real adventure can begin!

Have fun,
Bill