When we lived in San Francisco, I got around the city mainly by scooter. My first scooter was a little Aprilla 50cc, but after a year I upgraded to a lovely little Kymco Super8 150cc. Scooters are great in any city, as they’re easy to park and can zip through traffic. My Kymco was big enough to be legal on the freeways, although I rarely took it farther than between a few exits. It served me well getting around town, but once we moved here, I rarely rode my scooter, because mainly when I do leave the ranch it’s to go get something and I could not haul a lot with a scooter. Also our road isn’t the safest, as it has steep grades and many blind corners. We have many people, even longtime residents, who think it’s perfectly ok to drive around a blind curve while smack dab in the middle of the road. Then those same people look at you snugged up on your side of that curve as if you have done something wrong.
But I digress.
For the first few years after we bought this place, Agent Smith used my scooter to catch the shuttle to and from his office.
Then the pandemic happened. Oye. Then Midge One was stolen, and we ended up purchasing Midge Two. And Midge Two came with a couple of Ubico e-bikes.
So we had the two Ubicos and our Minitruck, and it soon became apparent we didn’t have a need for my wee scooter. The fact that it had sat for a couple years meant the carburetor was unhappy, and the time and energy needed to fix that issue was greater than we were willing to expend. So we listed the scooter on Craigslist and eventually I found a buyer who was up for the challenge. They arrived and we helped load it up and away it went.
While I was sad to see my beloved scooter go, the chance that it would find new life and no longer be sitting out in all weather languishing away made me somewhat content.
That’s not the only 2-wheel divestment that has happened over the past few years. The Aprilla Futura that transported Agent Smith and Stega on many of their first dates also was eventually deemed superfluous to mountain living. It was eventually purchased by our long-time gardener. Again, we were sad to part with it but glad it went to a home where it would see use.