The final Saturday of winter this year was sunny and warm in western Washington, where the mollusks are plentiful and the Marionberries are delicious. It was the earliest the National Weather Service station at Sea-Tac airport has logged 74F or higher in the eight decades since recordkeeping began there.¹

We broke daily temperature records for ALL of our climate sites today, with Quillayute reaching 80 degrees! We’ve got one more day of heat before cooler weather returns. — NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 16, 2024

Folks who have endured the soggy half of the state for all four seasons know that when the skies are blue, it is no time to be indoors staring at a screen. It is with good cause that sandals and socks are commonplace in the Pacific Northwest despite the irregular embrace of fashion; we are nothing if not practical in our clothing choices, and Tevas over Darn Toughs harmoniously pamper the feet as our all‐weather needs require. When the temperature crosses into shirtsleeve territory for the first time in the new year? Four million of us discover that we cannot remember where we put our sunglasses.

For myself on Saturday, I decided that it was time for a new motorcycle, so away to the dealership I went. Were Yamaha making an FJR1300 that had seen the inside of the parts closet since 2016, I would have driven straight to the nearest tuning fork logo sign and handed over my credit card. Alas, demand for sport‐touring motorcycles in the United States has largely disappeared in favor of adventure bikes, causing Yamaha to stop investing in its premiere sport‐touring bike several years ago: the FJR1300 lives on virtually unchanged for the last eight years — since the 2022 model year, Yamaha has not mustered even a color change for the FJR1300. Kawasaki and Honda have both completely abandoned the sport‐touring category. Meanwhile, my previous Beemer stranded me in the middle of nowhere nine years ago, so I had some trepidation about the brand — but I wanted a tech‐laden, shaft‐driven sport‐touring bike that did not weigh nearly a half ton and was not Italian, and BMW is the only company manufacturing such a thing. Having ridden across the continent last summer in company with a new BMW motorcycle that worked flawlessly, I set aside my prejudices and brought home a new 2024 BMW R 1250 RT Sport. Yes, of course, it’s flippin’ awesome.

There is just enough time to add a suite of farkles to my new toy before the next long‐distance ride commences. I am quite eager to put the bike on the road and discover what is just over yonder. Rain or shine.