Friday, November 02, 2012

A Cold Fall Ride...

I've been spending so much time cutting and splitting wood that I've neglected the motorcycles lately. Today, I took the FJR out for a spin. I left Cable and headed north. I drove up to Ashland to see Lake Superior. When I left home it was a nice 41°F (5°C). I drove the 40 miles up US-63 and by the time I got to Ashland it was 35°F (2°C).


I drove through the lot of Ashland Toyota. I spotted the kind of car that Nancy might someday buy to replace her aging Scion xA. We've seen the new Scion IQ, but only in white. I wanted to see one in the "Hot Lava" color. The picture I took makes the paint look kind of reddish, but it's orange, bright orange.. It's simiar in size to the Smart car, maybe a bit bigger.


I drove down to the marina. All the boats except one were out of the water.


A few more of Lake Superior...
The old Soo-Line ore docks, being demolished.

The ore docks, the power plant, and straight out is the Ashland breakwater lighthouse. You have to click on the picture to see it.

It was a nice day for a 95 mile road trip

11 comments:

  1. Nice that you were able to fit a ride in. But you headed north! What's that all about?

    The IQ looks like a cool little car. I looked at one at the local Toyota dealer but we ended up getting a Prius instead....

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  2. Erik:

    We also saw an IQ at the Toyota dealer. I'm not sure about something that small. We settled on a Subaru CrossTrek AWD.

    What Richard said ^^^ , wouldn't it be warmer going South ?

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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  3. The IQ is bigger from the inside. Even my hubby can fit in it. Not bad for a city car and much more comfortable than a Smart.

    Dry road... haven't seen that in a while.

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  4. They are finally taking down that huge dock? How is this going to be done- considering the creosote problem and the whole Superfund issue...

    That was a really nice ride you took up there and back. And that car is really cute. The color is perfect for a cold place like Wisconsin!

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  5. There's no point in going south. I couldn't go far enough in a few hours to make any difference in temperature. Going north, to Lake Superior, you never know what the temps will do. In the summer, if there's a breeze off the lake, it could be as much as 20° cooler in Ashland than it is 40 miles away here in Cable. Same in the winter, the temps are dependent on the winds.

    The IQ would replace her xA, we would still have my Chevy Silverado pickup. We use her car for running errands and shorter trips, and my truck is is used a lot in the snow. Using her car saves a ton of miles on my truck. My truck is 2 years old and there are still less than 17,000 miles on it.

    They started the ore dock demolition earlier this year. I have demolition pictures from spring in a post from April this year. I have no knowledge of any environmental issues regarding the docks. It's too bad they're being removed. They were built in 1916 and were a local icon.

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  6. oooh sunshine, but brrrr.

    Glad you were able to get out for a ride. Lake Superior looks like a great destination.

    Cute car. I've seen them around. Great on gas mileage but how quiet are they out on the highway? I like the looks of the new Fiat 500 too, but would worry the ride would not be very quiet or smooth.

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    Replies
    1. I had an '06 Scion xB before I got the Chevy truck. I loved that car. It was both smooth and quiet... well as smooth and quiet as a little car like that can be.
      The IQ was fun for the short test drive, but I'd want a little longer test drive before committing to it.

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  7. Glad to hear you got out for a ride ... I loved my trip around Superior (in the summer!)
    That's a bright little car, kind of makes you happy to look at it.

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    Replies
    1. It does stand out. My old Goldwing was pretty much the same color. It would be neat to see them side by side.

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    2. Erik - somehow I never pictured you on a goldwing ...

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  8. I think I just shivered......It's a good thing no one told you it was cold out Erik! I'll be out tomorrow, counting on enjoying 10 big degrees more than you enjoyed the other day.

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