A Gorgeous Ride

Okay, it was beautiful today. It was warm, sunny, and calm. Yesterday wasn't too bad either, but today was simply superb. It wasn't too hot--the temperature topped out at about 78 degrees, and there were only a few lovely, fluffy clouds in the sky. So, when I rode home from work today, I simply couldn't help myself.

The route in purple is the shortest and fastest way home - 10 minutes tops, maybe 4 miles at the most. The route in blue, however, is much more fun. It goes through some beautiful rural areas, up some hills, down some grades, around some curves, and at the top of the ride, looks over a good portion of Washington County all the way to the Coastal Mountain Range in the far distance.

The fact that spring flowers were blooming everywhere and the rhododendrons were in their full glory just added color and beauty to the ride. There wasn't much traffic this afternoon, and while I didn't have the road entirely to myself, for most of the ride I wasn't crowded or restricted by those behind or ahead of me. This is why I got the scooter. If I had had a little more time to get home, I would have stopped several times along the way to shoot some images, but unfortunately, I still had one meeting left before I concluded my day and began a short vacation, so I didn't have that luxury. So, you just get to see the map of my route.

As the weather improves, and it will since Oregon has the best summers, I'm planning on a lot more rides and those will include lots of stops for images. I'm especially looking forward to a ride to Astoria and back in the not too distant future.