If you said, "A movie from 1959, starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis," you are likely as old as I am, an old movie fan, and you get 250 bonus points. If you have no idea who any of those people are, get off my lawn, ya damn kids!
It was a warm one in the Tropical Tip today, and windy. I was wanting to go for a scooter ride, Joan suggested after lunch. By the time I got the scoots out (valet service for Joan), my scoot's outside air temp readout said 93º; Joan's said 88º. The wind was out of the southeast at 25, gusting higher. I thought we'd be good to head out towards "Ain'ta Mountain Road"... I was wrong. The traffic coming back into town is still backed up for blocks and blocks; unfortunately, you don't know this until you are committed on the way out of town.
On with the scootin'...
Yes, that is a very bright shirt I'm wearing. I bought that last summer in case I'd be riding my e-bike around any traffic. I haven't needed it for that purpose, so thought I'd give it a try today. Even though it is warm, you need long sleeves to keep from getting fried.
Stopped at a light, we could see the traffic, backed up as far as we could see in the lanes coming at us.
And, this cute scooter chick beside me at the light...
Who is that masked woman? We headed out of town, turning to ride through Laguna Vista, and onto our road of choice around here. Not much traffic...
After the 4 lane, we get to two lane with a nice road surface. Yeah, it was hot and windy. At what we decided would be our half way point, we pulled into a parking area that is part of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge walking trails...
No, we weren't walking anywhere - this was just a good place to pull off the road and re-hydrate. Heading back, we were punching into a mostly headwind (just enough crosswing so you knew it was there). One of us (and I won't mention his name but it was me) somehow managed to get the microphone for the helmet headset under the chin-bar on the helmet... so, we got to listen to the roaring wind in my mic until we stopped for gas. "Oh, so that's why it was louder than normal."
"What? I can't hear a thing."
For those keeping track: 76.5 miles per gallon on my fill-up. A bit less than normal, probably due to the wind on my last couple scooter outings.
Not long after leaving the gas station, we were caught in that slow traffic coming into town; two highways that are both 4 lane come together, and that squeezes into a single lane. Four stoplights in that area and no police to move along the flow of traffic. Oh, there were a couple police vehicles with lights flashing along the side of the road by the construction... but no sign of any actual police officers. It would be nice if drivers would be considerate and take turns with letting traffic into the single lane... but, the reality is: people think they can pass on the right to get around some of the traffic and try to force their way into the single lane. We saw one dumbass in a pickup pulling a flats boat that forced another vehicle out of the lane to keep from getting hit. Impatient, aggressive drivers.
This was our view for most of that slow moving distance.
Back home, while I put the scoots away, Joan gave Rufus some outdoor time. And for the people in the family: time for an adult beverage.
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