That's more like it.

Snow gone, +8°C, sunny: muuuch nicer. : )

Took the newly washed Land Rover for a celebratory drive at lunch, through the countryside and then down to the Cataraqui river. In 2WD instead of the 4WD that have had to be used since last November....

Even the horses were in a better mood.

Not spectacular, but certainly nicer without all that snow!

Looks Familiar....

So much for Spring. Another 25cm of snow today, with howling winds. And so, of course, it was Land Rover weather. :)

And, of course again, I just couldn't resist taking a couple of photos here and there. The wind is keeping most snow off of the open roads, but is one or two feet deep in the sheltered areas where it has drifted. Not the the Land Rover noticed.

And a Little More

I think I picked the right vehicle to restore. Over a foot of snow on the roads in some places makes having a Series 2 to take my daughter to school in a nice thing to have. The deep snow would have made it almost impossible to use my 'normal' car this morning, and nice to have a higher vantage point due to all the drifts and high snowbanks.

Deep Freeze

More arctic temperatures, I think we started today at -27°C. Decided to see how the Land Rover would handle that, and, aside from a slight grumble and slow turnover at startup, there wasn't a problem. There was a brief pause before setting off as the transfer box decided to slip from four wheel drive into neutral without telling me, but that was soon solved.

It took a while for the engine temperatures to come up to normal, even with the radiator grill cover, in fact I think they stayed just short of their normal 82°F throughout the drive.

Just posting this photo, as it shows both the road ahead and the road behind, while light snow squalls put some moisture on the windshield.

In the Cold

A crazy winter of ice storms, arctic temperatures and surprise thaws finally gave way to a beautiful winter's day today, and so who could resist going out for a drive at lunch? Also the first drive of 2014!

-16°C today, and with 50 kmh winds, but the Land Rover was a composed as could be, except for doing a curious crab-like course on the pure polished ice sections of road as the wind tried to push us aside. The Kodiak 2 heater did its job, the cabin remained perfectly comfortable. The windows kept their good reputation, too, and did not fog up, which was a pleasant surprise, as the windows did on my regular car this morning.....

And of course, couldn't resist a few photographs.

Jeep Colours

Thanks to the good folks at the website Bring a Trailer, I saw an advertisement for a 1946 Willys Jeep. Those colours looked familiar! According to the Jeep ad, the colours Harvest Tan with Sunset Red were a factory scheme for the CJ2A Jeep, and look a lot like the gold and red the Land Rover had been painted by the previous owner's neighbor sometime in the early 1980's. I wonder if that neighbor had seen a Jeep in these factory colours, and thought they might also work on a Land Rover? Could just be a coincidence, of course, but I thought it was worth showing here.

First Snow

... of 2013, that is, of course. Roads were bad, and so took daughter to school in the Land Rover, and afterwards took a small detour to enjoy the scenery. Things I note about this Land Rover on slippery surfaces: in two-wheel-drive, the vehicle handles not that well at all, slipping all over the place. Perhaps because it's relatively light. But put it in four-wheel-drive, it becomes a different beast, and handles very well and is a lot of fun to drive. Secondly, the windows rarely fog up. I had the small fan running, the one that had come with the vehicle and dating from the 40's or 50's, blowing across the windscreen, and despite the humidity and cold, the windows all remained clear. Thirdly, braking, which in normal conditions is adequate, really deteriorated, but it was impossible to tell if this was damp brake shoes or the very slippery surfaces.