Why I Love My Snowmobile

The Captain and I started snowmobiling on our honeymoon in Northern Finland, above the Arctic Circle, in January (what, you didn't honeymoon in - 40 F arctic weather?) over 18 years ago, and snowmobiling has been our favorite sport ever since.

Things have changed some, since then, though. The Captain likes to tell stories of how I would signal him to slow down if he went faster than 15 miles per hour. That may be so (although I think it was more like faster than 30 mph), however, I was squeezed behind him on a one person sled, and had to hold on to the Captain or I would fly off the machine. Which I did, a few times. So going fast on that old snowmobile wasn't really possible, at least when I was sitting behind him.

Fast forward 15 - 18 years and we can actually push our sleds to go a bit faster. I have my own sled now, and both of ours have nice suspensions and bigger engines. On the lake when the trail is smooth and visibility is awesome you can get these babies go 100 mph, or faster. Not that I, responsible mother of five, would ever go that fast. I may, or may not have made mine go 95 mph on the lake one day riding without kids, but if I did, I would never confess to that. Craziness!

The speed on smooth trails, and nice suspension on bumpy trails, are really really nice to have, but not my favorite on my snowmobile. I think my snowmobile is pretty (well, as pretty as a machine can be), and it kind of matches my outfit - accidentally, but that isn't my favorite part, either. This sled is a little higher up from the ground too, making it more comfortable to ride as I'm tall, but that isn't my favorite part, either. Having studs in the track of the snowmobile is nice too, helping my machine not to slide on hills, but - you guessed it - not my favorite.

In fact, there is a lot to love on my snowmobile, and snowmobiling in general. I enjoy being with my amazing husband, doing together something he loves. Well, we both love it - but he maybe a bit more than I do. He works so hard every day, and it is nice to forget phones and computers for a few hours to do something completely different, and do it together. We often snowmobile with the Captain's parents, or with our friends, which is great fun, too.

We love going out as a family, also. When we do, I usually have one of our bigger kids sitting behind me. It's special and fun to do things as a family, and I'm thankful to have a bigger sled that can carry two. But that isn't my favorite part, either.

I love going out in the beautiful winter wonderland and taking in the gorgeous scenery, stopping to freeze my fingers to snap some iPhone pics (some of the trails can be too rough for me to risk taking our Nikon along). But even if my fingers freeze while taking pics, my snowmobile has hand warmers! Yes! Isn't that sweet? That is almost my favorite part of my snowmobile.

Which does bring me to my absolute favorite part of my snowmobile. My Arctic Cat TZ1 Touring has something I always used to wish all snowmobiles had. The company finally heard my silent lamenting, and made a snowmobile with a seat warmer! Yes! That is my favorite part of my snowmobile - having a nice warm seat to sit on as we venture out in the chilling winter weather. Having a warm behind makes snowmobiling a lot more enjoyable ;-)


The visuals:

The closest picture from the olden days, probably taken on a snowmobile trip during our first year of marriage

My sled these days looks a lot different than our first one in the 1990's

When I wear my outer layer I match my machine even better :) Friday was a little too warm for all layers.

Lake riding is fun! (That is photo editing, not me taking pictures while driving a snowmobile.)

Awww, so romantic!

On top of a mountain with Grandma, Grandpa, Captain and Mr. T

Beautiful Maine mountains!

Hand warmer controls!

What makes me happy

And this snowmobiling, my dear readers, is the main reason why our family comes to Northern Maine for winter, and flies south for the spring (when snow melts).