To Lake Huron and Back

It's been almost two weeks since we last rode. Somehow, our wedding plans always seem to get in the way. Fortunately, after making substantial progress in that department over the last week, we got out today on a very beautiful day. A key piece of our planning was completed on Friday as our customized stamps from Canada Post arrived less than a week after ordering them. So last night we managed, with my mom's help, to pretty much finish assembling the invitation packages. We were even able to hand deliver a handful of them.

Sheets and sheets of stamps.

We left on today's ride at around 9:30 am. As usual, I planned the ride a few days in advance and made sure that it took us through, unknown to us, roads of Southern Ontario.

Today's first stop was on Harriston. We stopped at the local bakery, the Harriston Bakery, and picked up a croissant, a cinnamon donut and an apple-cinnamon bread. Somehow, I feel we'll be making a few more trips to that establishment. On the way over to Harriston, I noticed a number of signs promoting something called the Canadian Redneck Games. It seems today was the second day of that three day competition. I just looked it up online and the Games consisted of several events involving mud and a Hubcap Hurl, among others. Maybe next year.

We filled up a couple miles out of town and continued on through Mildmay, Walkerton and onto Kincardine. It felt like the traffic was crawling all the way over but that could be because last time I rode was 4 days on US interstates. We decided to have lunch in Kincardine but after zipping past a couple of family restaurants we settled on Crabby Joe's. We sat on the patio and Heather had a plate of apple-pecan salad while I had a Hawaiian sandwich (a BBQ chicken sandwich with a slice of pinapple in the middle). Needless to say, we were both satisfied with our selections.

After lunch at Crabby Joe's.

We then rode along Lake Huron to Goderich. From Goderich, we finally started heading in the general direction of home but with frequent stops, mostly due to fatigue, in places like Seaforth, St. Marys and Woodstock. In Woodstock, we filled up once again and finally decided to head straight home. It was well past 4 pm when we left the gas station.

Our menu of destinations from Seaforth.

Because it was getting to be a long day for us, we chose the quickest way home which meant getting on the 401. The traffic wasn't very heavy but the first 5 miles or so from Woodstock were in a construction zone with reduced lanes, no shoulders and a small section of stripped asphalt. We got home at about 5:15 pm and after an hour to unwind we started work on more wedding plans, this time trying to select music for key parts of our special evening.

And one more note about riding. We rode all day today without gloves and I may have to consider using sunscreen in the future. And now, from wrists to knuckles, I got a great tan.

Caught red-handed.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 405 km - 252 miles
2009 to date: 4,277 km - 2,658 miles (50.3%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 4,223 km - 2,624 miles


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WATER TOWERS

A Snap of Genius?

Since last August, Heather and I have begun snapping pictures of our motorcycles in front of water towers. It wasn't meant to be some sort of competition but it gave us something to target as we ride from town to town. We've even been neglecting the idea as last week we only got our 30th.

Well, sometime in mid-May I received an e-mail in my Flickr account from somebody looking to use one of our photos. That somebody was a Quebec marketing firm which, in this case, represented Yellow Pages Group. And that photo was one of our motorcycles in front of a water tower in Listowel, ON. Once I singed a release, the photo would be entered into a photo contest and would possibly be featured in future Community Guides. I really didn't think twice about signing the release because a lot worse things can happen than having a chance to win a camera.

It wasn't until today, that I followed up to see what has become of my photo. I surfed over to www.ypgphoto.com and there I noticed my photo as one of 21 June entries. What a pleasant surprise! And while it would be nice to win, Heather and I don't take these pictures to win prizes and awards. We mostly enjoy riding together around the countryside and beyond.

If you'd like to support us, go here to vote:
http://www.ypgphoto.com/2009/june/listowel-on-tom-gronek/

Just Visiting

Today we set out to see some people we haven't seen a while.

First, we drove to Brantford in the morning to see Darryl and Erin. Darryl and Erin were supposed to be in our wedding party but we recently found that Erin is pregnant and expecting twins. Because of that, we all thought that it'd be better if she stayed on the sidelines during our wedding. Nevertheless, she's already 15 weeks pregnant and doing great.

Next we drove to Cambridge to see Kim and Mike and Jolene again. We visited them because Heather and Kim wanted to do some shopping for their upcoming trip to a an annual twins festival in Twinsburg, OH. Their shopping trip took about two hours.

Minutes later, we went to the Doon area of Kitchener to visit our friends Dennis and Diana. It was our first visit to their new home and we were welcomed by well done burgers and a salad. After that, we relaxed in front of a TV and discussed each others' wedding plans - Dennis and Diana are getting married in September. We also managed to pick up an invitation to their wedding since it was somehow mailed back to them. No harm done.

Heather and I arrived home at 10 pm after a busy day on the road seeing some friends.

WWR '09 - Arriving Home

Today was going to be the final stretch of our big trip. We took our time getting ready and didn't leave until 8:30 am. We stopped 30 minutes after leaving in Westlake to fill up. From there it'd be smooth sailing on I-90 all the way to Buffalo.

Breakfast stop in Westlake, OH.

We missed Cleveland's morning rush hour traffic as we hardly encountered any delays going through the city. We made a couple more stops along the I-90 including one just before crossing the Pennsylvania-New York border. That's where we filled up for the last time in the US and said our goodbyes to Jim and Sandy. They still rode with us as far as the exit to the Peace Bridge in Buffalo but after that we were on our own. Jim and Sandy continued east to another rally happening in Epsom, NH.

Crossing the border wasn't a problem and the guy in the cash booth was really excited to see us back in Canada as he started chanting our names (which are on our vests). While in Canada, Heather and I switched to riding the back roads, mainly Hwy 3 to Dunnville, which was our last stop on the road home.

From Dunnville, it was more back roads as we tried to avoid the afternoon traffic of major cities by passing west of Hamilton, east of Cambridge and west of Guelph. When finally got to Waterloo, Heather and I got separated for five minutes as she missed a turn mainly due to fatigue. We caught up five minutes later and arrived home with the 5 pm traffic. We were welcomed by a warm supper made by my mom. Once home, Heather went straight to bed, while I organized the photos and other miscellaneous things.

We both had a great time during the trip and were glad to be accompanied by an experienced rider such as Jim. Thank you.

We also accomplished another milestone in our short riding careers. We both went past the 10,000 km plateau with me doing it in Ohio, about 20 miles short Pennsylvania, and Heather doing it in the vicinity of the US/Canada border.

Overall, we did over 2,350 km (1,460 miles) and five states (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York) in six days. It was a great experience and we look forward to doing more in the future.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 581 km - 361 miles
2009 to date: 3,870 km - 2,405 miles (45.5%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 4,630 km - 2,877 miles


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WWR '09 - Departure Day

So the day has finally arrived and we had to say goodbye to our first true VROC rally. Having started packing last night, we only had a few things left. The final sweep of the room produced only a cell phone which oddly enough belongs to a man who, the night before, warned us that the number one item left behind in hotel rooms is a cell phone charger. Good one, Jim.

We had breakfast for the last time, strapped in the luggage to the motorcycles and left before 7:30 am. It was strange watching the hotel's parking lot as everyone was leaving this great event and heading off in all directions from Richmond.

Sunday morning in the parking lot.

We made one final ride through Richmond and then jumped on I-75 on our way home. The first 10 minutes of our ride on I-75 were filled with fog, heavier in some spots than other, but nothing that we couldn't negotiate. Our first stop was in Crittenden, KY where we filled up our tanks. Minutes later we were passing through downtown Cincinnati, right next to the football stadium which we were in last August. The traffic was a bit heavier than I would expect on an average Sunday morning, but then again I've never been in Cincinnati on a Sunday morning. Either way it didn't slow us down. It was also in Cincinnati where we got on I-71 towards Cleveland. A couple of hours later, we made another stop for gas, this time in Sunbury, OH which is just north of Columbus.

The Robinsons in Sunbury, OH.

From Sunbury it was pretty much non-stop to Vermilion, OH. The Robinsons' old friends Rob and Jan live in Vermilion and when we saw them in Combermere last month they offered to host us for a night. We arrived in Vermilion at 3 pm and we all promptly made use of Rob and Jan's outdoor pool.

In the outdoor pool on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

I should also mention that I started to have issued with my speedometer needle almost as soon as we left Richmond. The needle kept jumping especially when I was braking. Once in Vermilion, Jim took my bike for a couple or spins around the block and quickly found the problem. Turns out the cable was tucked in too close to the front brake and while braking the cable was rubbing against the brakes and therefore shortening out the connection to the speedometer. A little adjustment fixed the problem. Jim saved my bacon again.

Supper consisted of lasagna, salad and dessert of strawberries with whipped cream. We finished off the night with a game of darts in the basement. There were darts in the wall, scoreboard and some even made the board. At least everyone had fun.

Heather shoots at the dart board.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 542 km - 337 miles
2009 to date: 3,289 km - 2,044 miles (38.7%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 5,211 km - 3,238 miles


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WATER TOWERS

WWR '09 - Day 3

Beautiful weather finally arrived in Richmond and it looked to stay for at least a day or two. As usual, we went down to get breakfast. I had some grits with my breakfast which would probably make me the only Northerner to like grits. With breakfast over, we started to get ready for our ride through back-country roads of Kentucky. Our group consisted of four riders with Heather, Jim and Biker rounding out the group.

We rode from Richmond to Ravenna and then Heather and I got our first taste of great twisty roads along 213 between Pitts and Stanton. The road was definitely challenging but we got through it and Heather even scraped a floorboard in one of the turns. From there we headed for another challenge through 77 and 715 located in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The scenery was beautiful and included a dark tunnel and the Red River Gorge. Halfway through 715 we stopped for some photos.

Heather's official 2009 motorcycling portrait.

Next, we continued on 715 through the forest to 11 and our next destination which was the Natural Bridge. Just before we got to the park, I got myself in a dicey situation as Jim was late going into a turn. I had to use my best evasive moves to get back in line. All five of us decided to buy lift tickets for a ride to the top of a mountain from which you could walk to either the Natural Bridge or the lookout onto the Natural Bridge.

View of the lift to the Natural Bridge.

The ride to the top was quite long and interesting. There were frequent stops to stabilize the lines. There were also several other VROCers that were already on the way down. It seems that everyone decided to come to the park today at pretty much the same time but most came in small groups. After 10 or so minutes we were finally on the top. We all decided to go to the lookout first. Once again, we met other rally participants who were already heading in the opposite direction. The path to the lookout wasn't very wide and at times was very muddy. Some of us had to use logs or other means to get past the mud. The muddy trail was worth going through as the view from the lookout was just amazing.

Tom, Heather and Sandy with the Natural Bridge in the background.

After making the trek back, Heather and Sandy decided to return to the bottom while Jim, Biker and myself went the other way to the Natural Bridge. The view from the bridge was just good except that if nobody told you, you wouldn't that it the Natural Bridge underneath your feet. We stayed for a couple of minutes and then also decided to return. We met Heather and Sandy, who had already been through the gift shop, and after a few minutes we were on our way back to Richmond.

With dinner hour nearing, we went to Waffle House which was pretty much adjacent to our hotel. The food was good, but the service was missing something. Once again, Heather and I spent the rest of the night between the parking lot and the pool.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 234 km - 145 miles
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
2009 to date: 2,747 km - 1,707 miles (32.3%)
To obtain goal: 5,753 km - 3,575 miles

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WWR '09 - Day 2

Well, we finally managed to ride this afternoon but with the unpredictable weather, we didn't know how far we'd get. At about 2pm a group of us including Jim, Sandy, Biker, Sherm and Lucky Al set off to the local Wal-Mart to pick up a few little things. Heather picked up some sunglasses and we also wanted to get swimming goggles which we of course forgot about. Once the whole group converged after shopping we rode to White Castle for lunch which was in the same plaza. For most, if not all, of the Canadian contingent this was the first time at this establishment. Nobody had much to eat since we were only a few hours away since the night's big BBQ.

VROC go to White Castle.

The BBQ was organized by Tom Miller and consisted of some fine food including ribs,

chicken and pulled pork sandwiches with a variety of sides. Everyone had singed up weeks in advance and there were at least VROCers at the dinner enjoying their selections. Heather and I ended up in the back of the line for food, but all that wait was well worth it once we tasted it. Actually, Heather couldn't wait and took Jim's pulled pork sandwich who already had ribs and would get Heather's sandwich later.

The tables are empty and the line for food is long.

Following the BBQ, a raffle and a 50/50 draw were held in support of the Max Dickerson Benefit Fund. Max has a rare kidney disease and is awaiting a transplant. Max and his mother, Emily, were on hand to help draw raffle tickets. Heather and I won only a long-sleeve shirt but I also received and luggage net for Slammer. Very much appreciated, Jerry. The 50/50 was won by Denise Miller who promptly donated the winnings to Max's cause. Her gesture was met with great applause and a total of $2,400 was raised to help Max.

Sherm is exploring different uses of his new toy.

The rest of the night was spent mingling including introducing ourselves to Teri Conrad, editor-in-chief of Kawasaki's Accelerate magazine. She wasn't really impressed that we ride Suzuki motorcycles but one day we will ride Vulcans.

Another Day, Another Rainfall

Today's weather was no different than yesterday. We woke up around 9 and went downstairs to the Breakfast Nook for breakfast. I had some eggs, bacon, a yogurt while Heather also had waffles. After breakfast ended, we went outside where two groups or riders were to set to leave for a ride to the Natural Bridge. We chose not go, also due to the fact that some dark clouds were not far away. And indeed, no more than 5 minutes after the last riders left, the rain started falling, enough for the bystanders to seek cover. The rain didn't last long and the even cleared up for the rest of the afternoon. Heather and I spent the rest of the morning between the meeting room and the pool.

Taking cover from rain.

WWR '09 - Day 1

Unfortunately, it didn't look like the rain was going to stop anytime soon, so we set off on the second leg of our trip at 10am in a light drizzle. We were not going to wait for the sky to clear because it didn't look like it was going to happen at all today. Therefore, we again rain-suited up and even put covers on our luggage and we left.

We made a quick stop just outside of town to fill up the motorcycles, but after that it was over 100 miles of riding on mostly wet roads with more patches of light drizzle. It wasn't enough though to slow us down as Jim still tried to keep a good pace at around 60-65 mph. Our first rest stop was about 25 miles short of Cincinnati at a rest area just before the town of Monroe.

At a rest area 25 miles short of Cincinnati.

Following some stretching, we were on the road again and shortly reached Cincinnati and then, without major slowdowns through the downtown, we rode past the Ohio-Kentucky state line and into Covington. In Covington, we stopped for gas and lunch at Arby's. From Covington it was only another 100 miles from our destination. I decided to put my rain jacket back on after taking it off during the previous stop. Heather kept hers off, reasoning that her Joe Rocket jacket was waterproof.

Since the roads were now dry, we were once again moving at a brisk pace. The Kentucky part of I-75 that we went through is three lanes wide and very scenic. After riding through three states, I would rank Kentucky at number 1 with Ohio at 2 and Michigan a distant 3. I sense that there aren't many states that rank below Michigan.

Some 20 miles away from a light rain started once again which was still good. At 10 miles out, the rain got heavier which was now bad. Regardless, we kept going. My communication with Heather has been out for about 20 minutes so we couldn't give each other encouragement. Finally, at about mile or two out, the rain got so heavy that it was quite difficult to see very far ahead. It turned pretty ugly. At that point, Jim put on his hazard lights and Heather and I followed. With very little to go, we didn't stop and kept going through it. We finally arrived at the Best Western, which is right off I-75, just before 4pm.

Welcome sign at the Best Western.

No more than 5 minutes after arriving, the rain stopped and the sun was shining bright. From there, we just followed Heather's parents around the parking lot and were meeting new people who were already there or as they were coming in. This being VROC's biggest rally this year, there were people from all over North America.

Heather on her motorcycle in the hotel's parking lot.

Later in the evening, we moved to the hotel's meeting room where we picked up our patches and pins and also bought several tickets for Friday's raffle. By purchasing 20 tickets, we received a complimentary Kawasaki hat. The rest of the evening was spent between the meeting room , the pool and supper at Hooters with 15 or so other VROCers. For some reason, the water in the hot tub wasn't all that hot. Heather and I retreated to our room at midnight.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 369 km
2009 goal: 8,500 km
2009 to date: 2,502 km (29.4%)
To obtain goal: 5,998 km


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A Wet Thursday Morning

So here we are, sitting in a hotel in Lima trying to wait out some rain that's been here for most of the morning. With any luck, we should be on the road by 10am and then it's off to Richmond to see great new things and meet new people.

Enjoying a warm cup of coffee on a wet Thursday morning.

On the road to WWR

The day finally came and today we were on our way to Richmond, KY. After picking up the motorcycles, strapping the luggage, getting gas and breakfast at facilities located on Homer Watson and 401, we were on our way shortly before 10am. We were, of course, traveling with Jim and Sandy who wanted to accompany us on our first foray into the United States. We hopped back on the 401 and then 402 to Sarnia, where we were going to cross the border. Since we had sufficient time, we wanted to avoid Detroit which can be challenging at the best of times.

We reached Sarnia just before noon and without any problems at the border, Heather and I were riding on US roads for the first time. After picking up gas shortly after crossing the border, we headed west toward Flint on I-69. Aside from a couple of slowdowns at constructions sites, the ride was pretty uneventful. After reaching Flint, we turned south on US 23 and were now heading straight for Ann Arbor and then I-75 and Richmond, KY. Again, we wouldn't reach Richmond today. Minutes outside of Flint we stopped for lunch at Ron's Diner.

Getting ready to head back on the road after lunch in Grand Blanc, MI.

Once the lunch was over, we made another gas stop as well as a stop where we rain suited up. It wasn't really raining but it was enough to make us stop. Obviously it stopped raining as soon as we put our suits on. Nevertheless, we kept them on until we reached today's pit stop which was at the Hampton Inn in Lima, OH (that's LIE-ma, not LEE-ma), over 600km from home. That distance was the longest ever we've done in one day on our motorcycles.

At the Hampton Inn parking lot in Lima, OH.

After unwinding in the room for a few minutes, we all went for supper at the adjacent Cracker Barrel. This wasn't the first time in Lima or even the Cracker Barrel for Heather and myself as we stopped here last summer on our way home from an overnight trip to Cincinnati.

Relaxing in the pool.

Following supper, we went back to the hotel and then made use of the hotel's amenities which included a pool and a hot tub. Tomorrow's trip will be much shorter but the anticipation of finally arriving at the rally will be much greater.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 616 km
2009 goal: 8,500 km
2009 to date: 2,133 km (25.1%)
To obtain goal: 6,367 km


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The Beginning of a Great Adventure

Tomorrow, Heather and I set off on our biggest trip yet. We are taking our motorcycles and are heading to Richmond, Kentucky for three nights and will not be home until Monday. Richmond will be the site of VROC's biggest rally this, the Here To Kingdom Come rally. This year's gathering will also serve as a yearly tribute to Rick "Wolfman" Jakubas, one of VROC's founding members. 2009 will mark the third year of what is now known as Wolfman's Wandering Rally.

We are both very excited but also nervous as this will be our first out of province motorcycle trip, not to mention out of country. This will be definitely a very eye opening experience.

But before all that, we still had a practice to run today. Heather and I are both coaching a girls' team that plays in the house league of the Waterloo Minor Soccer Club. The team plays in the under-17 division. Our season runs from May to July with a season ending tournament in August. The coaching experience has been very fun and rewarding so far and I'm sure it will continue this way as the season progresses.

Here is a shot of most of our team (13 of 17 girls) during the picture day that followed today's practice. In the back row are: Nicky, Kaylyn, Rebecca, Yasmin, Alyssa and Stephanie, while the front row consists of: Amy, Brittany, Elana, Natalie, Olivia, Flora and Amanda. As you can see, our team doesn't have a goalie as the only one we had is out for pretty much the rest of the season with a broken wrist. Oh well, can't win them all.

To My Sweetie!!!

Just feeling a bit sentimental at the moment and decided that I should make a short post in honour of the one that I love. Sweetie - when you read this I want you to know that you are the light of my life. I love you and absolutely cannot wait until we are married in a few short months. This trip to Kentucky that we have been enjoying the last couple of days has been absolutely great...I'm sorry that I am sometimes a downer and don't want to ride all the time but its been a very wonderful experience taking this trip with you and I would not trade having you in my life for anything!!

Love you lots,

Your Baby Dude :)

Successful Saturday

Tom and I woke up early yesterday morning in the hopes of accomplishing a whole list of things to do before we head to Kentucky on Wednesday.

I will note that as of Wednesday of this past week Tom returned our Rogers cable box and cancelled our cable. Not only will we save quite a large chunk of money because of this, but we will save time too as we won't be so easily distracted from our other tasks and obligations.

Our day started as we headed out to the intersection of Northfield and Weber to await the start of the Ride for Dad parade of motorcycles. The event is a charity ride to raise funds for the battle against prostate cancer. Tom and I rode in the parade and participated in the poker run last year but due to our busy schedule this year we opted to watch instead. Its quite an awesome site to see all the bikes together. We even met a friendly police officer who was directing traffic at the intersection.

Our friendly officer ready to step into action and stop all traffic.

He also told us that an estimated 1,200 motorcycles participated in this year's event. It was actually just over 1,000 but still up from last year's 800+. A few other people came out to catch a view of all the motorcycles. The parade lasted a good 20 minutes if not more.

The parade riding through with police escort.

After the parade was complete we went to CAA to get our travel insurance for our Kentucky trip. We obtained a travel guide for Kentucky and picked up one for Vermont so we can review it before our honeymoon in October.

Following our trip to CAA we headed to St. Jacobs to the Brittles N More chocolate store to review options for our wedding favours. We may have a few ideas but are going to wait to hear back from the store with further details. We left our contact information with them so should probably hear something in the coming weeks.

The afternoon consisted of me attending a hair appointment that I had scheduled with my awesome hairstylist Jenny.

All dressed up and ready to go.

While I was gone Tom was able to successfully install the Vista Cruise on our motorcycles. This will be a welcome addition to our bikes for the trip to Kentucky as we will actually be able to rest our throttle hands once in awhile during the long trek.

Putting the finishing touches on a job well done.

We received a call from Mike shortly after we were done with the bikes. He and Kim were making dinner and wondered if we wanted to join them. We did so - great pork chops and a banana fluff type dessert were enjoyed. We all sat down to watch the movie He's Just Not That Into You. It was a cute one. Once over, Tom and I headed home for the evening feeling satisfied that we had been pretty productive over the course of the day.

Our Engagement Photos

On Friday Tom and I had an appointment with our wedding photographer. As part of our all-inclusive wedding package with the Black Forest Inn we were entitled to a free engagement photo session with Picture Yourself Photography - the vendor that will be providing our photographic services for our wedding in October.

We were given the option of having our pictures taken at either their studio, across the street from the Grand River Hospital, or at the Sunlife Insurance building - a significantly old building in Waterloo with some interesting architectural details. We opted for Sunlife.

At approximately 6:00 pm we arrived at Sunlife and waited for our photographer to arrive. Seeing as the Picture Yourself studio is within walking distance of the Sunlife building we were able to see him approach and introduced ourselves.

Tom and I are very glad that the sun was shining and the temperature was quite warm considering the particularly chilly weather experienced earlier in the week. Our photographer, Bob, had us sit and stand in various poses while his camera clicked away.

The process was rather quick and within about 20 minutes he indicated that he had what he needed and that we would be contacted in the coming days to go and view our proofs. We will be entitled to one free 5 x 7 photo of our choice and my understanding is that the purchase of any additional pics from the available proofs will be at our expense. I'm sure that the pics are great and can't wait to see them!!!

Potential preview of engagement photos.