White Trees...and a Leaf

Enjoyed a short but beautiful Sunday March 13 ride in the Concord area; temperatures in the 70's and very sunny. While spring is officially a week away, the trees are all ablaze in white (Bradford Pear Trees which are very popular in North Carolina) and I enjoyed seeing all of that after the blandness of the winter landscape. Other than the green evergreens; it has been looking pretty barren among the many trees in the area. I took this photo of my Vulcan which even has a sign thanks to the Vulcan Materials (now just Vulcan) quarry near the airport. Gives a real good look at all of the things that I have been talking about.

I did stop at the Concord Mills airport, enjoy my visits there. In the parking lot saw this Harley-Davidson trike and got to talk to the rider who was also out there watching the planes fly. Airports are interesting places and the one I stopped by (Concord Regional which is I believe the fourth busiest airport in North Carolina) is a nice one for a short stop. Plan for the day was to be there which is near the big Concord Mills Shopping Center. I wanted to check out the Nissan Leaf, the all electric car that was having demo drives. Interested in technology and electric vehicles may be the wave of the future. There are even some electric motorcycles of note.
Got a lot of photos of the Leaf. Looking at the engine compartment you would not know its an electric car. The Leaf has no tailpipe though and is really quiet. It is all-electric: 90 mile per hour top speed, and a 100 mile range before recharging. Electric cars were used in the distant past as some of the earliest cars were electric. There was not a lot though that would tell you it was different from any other car out there. That I believe is the plan. I will have more photos on my
"Richmond and Me" blog, also on my photo page where you can see more of it.
The Leaf is made by Nissan of Japan, and my heart goes out to the Japanese for the problems they have had with the tidal wave which struck much of their country and the problems they are and will be facing in the months (if not years) to come. The loss of life and the scale of damage is almost impossible to believe.