...and the beaches aren't crowded today

From my Vespa's parking place to the upper right corner of this photo, taken at Camp Ellis, Maine's longest stretch of sandy beaches runs for seven miles. Remember this picture; when I return in midsummer, there will not be a place to park a scooter, or room to plant an umbrella, near any of Maine's beaches.

Higgin's Beach in Scarborough is the most popular surfing site in Maine. And when the temperature rises above 60 degrees - which it does for several days every summer - this beautiful stretch of sand just south of Portland will resemble a Woodstock concert crowd.

A couple of kids sit on a Civil War cannon at Fort Allen Park in Portland, as Dad relaxes.

In a late March photo, Old Orchard Beach seagulls are  being fed French fries from the only restaurant open before the tourists pour in, and the scavenger gulls enjoy a summer-long buffet.

April Fool's Day Storm

Friday's snowstorm didn't set any records for April 1st, but it kept me grounded. With 11.1 inches on snow on April 1, 1922, the four or so inches that most of southern Maine experienced was mostly simply annoying.

But it was enough to keep me off the road on my new Vespa GTS 250. Call me wimpy (several bicycles have already passed my house, undeterred as usual by conditions) but until the roads are a tad dryer, I'll pass the time watching baseball.

My scooter had its first service earlier this week, and except for a minor and easily fixed oxygen sensor problem that caused the engine to run rough and sometimes stall, it required little more than some adjustments and a change of oil.

As a notoriously picky, fussy, hard to please geezer, I find myself in awe of this machine's near-perfection. Frankly, I am almost never contented with things. But this Vespa is the exception to my rule that there's something wrong here - and I won't rest until I find it!

This weather is another story altogether, though. I want to ride.

Tomorrow is predicted to be in the high 40s and mostly sunny.