Friday, January 28, 2011

Foggy Traveling

Earlier tonight I goofed and did a post to this blog when I meant to post to my other one.  Shoot... I thought I could make it through the year without making a mistake.  So I'm doing a little post to keep from having the mistaken post show up on blog lists.

I love to capture things engulfed in fog.  Fog is like an extra filter and it does some nice things with the available light.  Early Wednesday morning I drove to Eugene to work.  The temperature was in the mid 30's (F) which kept me off the bike.  Of course it warmed up to the low 50's during the day but I wimped out on the 90 minute morning ride in the cold.

Of course driving allowed me to click some photos of what I normally see on the ride but without the risk.

I like the two prominent colors of early morning highway travel, red and white, accentuated here by the fog.  They remind me of the positive and neutral wires in electricity.  A hot wire and a neutral wire.  An open wire and a return wire.  Okay before you think I was hallucinating or in some groggy early morning state, I was just enjoying what the fog was doing with the light. 

It also reminded me of traveling on vacations with my parents when I was a child.  I would peak over the front seat and see the red and white flow. The fog causes some tunnel vision and brings emphasis to the colorful movements.

I hope your highways are fog-free and remember... stay on the red side.

God's speed.

4 comments:

  1. I am glad you made it through the fog safely. That makes it two journeys you have had recently where the outcome could have been very different.

    Sun block one day, peering through fog the next – who knows what will be next in life? Take care Mike.

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  2. Fog at night is usually easier to deal with than fog during the day. The sunlight tends to turn everything a washed out gray. I was just thinking of road trips made when I was a kid. I always had to sit in the middle of the front seat which meant that I usually had a decent view.

    In the winter, the only fog we get up here is ice fog. Small particles of ice around smoke particles. Nasty stuff...

    Richard

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  3. I like riding in fog but the risks are definitely higher...so I stay off main roads for pictures.

    dom


    Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner

    Redleg's Rides

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  4. Gary,
    The fog wasn't bad, in fact eveyone was able to do the normal 5-10 mph over the speed limit. It's a valley between Portland & Eugene so the fog can be bad at times. I've been on the bike in the past and had to follow the car in front.

    Life is a series of opportunities isn't it? Thanks Gary!

    Richard,
    I agree about the daylight fog. When you mentioned sitting in the front seat it brought back memories of when I was 4 or 5 sitting like that in my parents old Buick. I still remember the chrome grille on the radio's speaker right in the center of the dash. I use to run my fingers over it to hear the sound it made.

    That ice fog sounds bad. I take it it's mix with smoke from wood burning stoves. Hope you don't get ice fog this year. Thank you!

    Dom,
    The risks are greater in fog and the photo ops are better on the small roads. But major roads don't have the cross-traffic and there's less of a chance for the white lights coming over to the red light side. I'm usually jammin' to get to my first stop in Eugene by 7:45. I'm on I-5 a lot so it's familiar territory. But I agree with you the smaller roads are more fun to explore. Thank you!

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