Don't forget the bugs. You want bugs? We got 'em! Lightning bug (firefly) season is here. It's cool to see them streak by on your motorcycle.
Later in the summer, the insects are loud enough to keep you awake at night if you're not used to them. Visitors from Ca sometimes have trouble sleeping. I hand them some earplugs.
You have to clean you're face shield daily if you ride a mototcycle any distance here. It took three weeks out west before that was necessary. If you leave your shield up, expect to take a few to the face. I did ride through a few bee swarms out there, though.
And Humidity! We got it! Along with the heat of summer. The two together make AC mandatory down in the piedmont and flatlands.
We also have poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. Along with ticks and chiggers. You usually become aquainted with those while picking wild blackberries or raspberries for cobbler.
Shades of green? A friend from out there (in Ca) said that he'd never seen so many shades of green in his life. And he spent his childhood in England.
We also have plenty of black bears, deer, possums, skunks, racoons, groundhogs and coyotes.
Then there's the summer rain. Thunderstorms in the afternoon are normal this time of year. It rains harder down-state. Enough to make you want to pull over and wait it out.
And beauty, yes we have a lot of that here. The mountains of SoCal are piles of dirt and rocks with weeds on them in comparison to the mountains here. (The ones we haven't built on yet, that is.)
Cheers,
J~