Waterloo, ON to Sarnia, ON...to Port Huron, MI!

After last month's experience in Richmond, Kentucky, Heather and I were eager to do another rally south of the border this summer. We settled on a rally held in Angola, Indiana by the Great Lakes chapter of VROC (GLVROC). At 500+ km, this was going to be only a one day ride. A few weeks ago, we got word that the rally was being moved from Angola to Swanton, Ohio which was even closer for us.

The plan was to leave Friday after work, stay overnight in Sarnia, get to Swanton on Saturday afternoon and leave early Sunday morning. This was also going to be our first trip with a sleeping bag which we'd probably need on Saturday night. We packed light and strapped the tour pack to my motorcycle while Heather took the sleeping bag.

Leaving with a securely strapped in sleeping bag.

We left at about 6:30 pm towards Stratford and made our first stop in St. Marys at a local Tim Hortons. From St. Marys, we took more back roads until we got on Highway 402 in Strathroy. We rode on 402 all the way to Sarnia while also watching a sunset.

In Sarnia, we made our second stop today at a Canadian Tire gas station shortly after 9 pm. While there, we also looked for a hotel. That's where our plans started going awry. We selected Comfort Inn but arrived to find no vacancies. It seems that this weekend was the annual Bay Fest with KISS headlining tonight's performances. The receptionist at the Comfort Inn told us that we'd have a very hard time finding a room in Sarnia.

On to Plan B. We went back to the GPS to look for hotels across the border in Port Huron. I called a Hampton Inn and managed to book a room. The GPS said that our destination was mere minutes away, but I'm sure it doesn't account for toll booths and the usual border activities.

Because of all the drama, I forgot to take the leather club vest I was wearing. I was told previously by more experienced riders to hide the vest in order to avoid more questions than needed to be asked. Luckily, the lady at the booth was very friendly and funny and we had no problems at all. She did tell Heather, however, that I told her that Heather was the troublemaker and she was carrying all the booze. Nothing like a late night humour from a border guard.

We finally checked in at the Hampton Inn at 10 pm. They are not as busy as Sarnia, but they're not far behind as there is a weekend Antique and Classic Auto Show in town. A very busy weekend, indeed, on both sides of the Blue Water Bridge. We will probably take our time leaving tomorrow as there is a chance of rain and thunderstorms for most of the morning.

Alone and quiet in the Hampton Inn parking lot.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 211 km - 131 miles
2009 to date: 5,072 km - 3,152 miles (59.7%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,428 km - 2,130 miles


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Another Step Closer

Heather and I had our second meeting with The Black Forest Inn's wedding coordinator, Barb, today. We discussed a lot of details including napkin colours, centrepieces, head table backdrop, and of course menu. We also reviewed our photo and music planning sheets. The final decision on location for photos hasn't been reached yet but that may have changed after taking a walk through Waterloo Park. The rest of the night, Heather and I discussed some of the logistics of the big day.

It's hard to believe but we are now just over a 100 days from that big day. Our next meeting with Barb is on September 23rd when more fine details will be discussed.

Sunday Family Ride

Heather's parents, Jim & Sandy, arrived in town yesterday afternoon on what was the first day of their two week trip to the US. They were staying with us overnight before leaving today and heading to Wellsboro, PA for a few nights.

Heather and I decided to accompany Jim & Sandy on their way to Fort Erie, where they would cross the border. We left at about 9 am this morning and first went to McDonald's for breakfast. After breakfast, we all headed to Cambridge for a short visit with Kim, Mike and Jolene. While there, Jim and I talked routes and settled on mainly highways to Grimsby where we would go our separate ways. Jim and Sandy would continue to Fort Erie while Heather and I would ride the back roads home. We followed Hwy 8, 5 and 6 to 403, over to the Skyway Bridge and QEW before reaching the Visitors Centre complex in Grimsby around noon.

We said our goodbyes after another ride together and Heather and I started our way home, sort of. We first rode south to Cayuga, then along the Grand River to Caledonia. There we stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen. There were a lot of motorcycles going through Caledonia, probably due to the fact that the town is located on a highway between Port Dover and major cities like Hamilton and the entire GTA.

From Caledonia we took a short detour and went through the Six Nations Indian Reserve where several gas stations were selling gas for as low 79.9 cents/liter. That is well below the price that we, the tax-paying folk, are paying which is currently somewhere in the mid 90's.

Our next stop was going to be Two-Wheel Motorsport in Guelph where I planned to purchase oil for the bikes and some rain covers for our riding boots. We arrived there to notice that the store was closed on Sundays. I'll just have to come back during the week to get those items. Seconds later, we were back on the road heading home. We arrived for our weekly supper with my parents minutes before 4 pm. Also present today was my brother Wojtek with his wife Agnes and 6-month old son, Adrian. The discussion around the table revolved mostly around wedding stuff. We were finally home some two hours later a little exhausted from a longer than expected, but still good, day in the sun.

Adrian showing off his new trick - sitting.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 307 km - 191 miles
2009 to date: 4,861 km - 3,021 miles (57.2%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,639 km - 2,261 miles


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Canada Day at the Cottage

A couple of days ago, my brother Wojtek said that he, Agnes and her parents had just rented a cottage for a week in the region of Bluewater, ON. He also said that Heather and I are welcome to come on Canada Day, our only day off this week, and enjoy the scenery. Of course, we said yes.

Now, the only thing we had to decide was to whether we would take the car or ride in on motorcycles. It's been a pretty wet week so far and things weren't looking much better for Canada Day. But since the forecast didn't call for any thunderstorms, we decided to ride (as a side note, we both rode without gloves today).

We left at 10 am dressed in rain suits and managed to cross paths with our friends Scott who, decked out in Canada gear, was on his way to Cambridge where he was taking part in Canada Day Parade with members of the Cambridge chapter of SCRC. Heather and I decided to first stop in Stratford where we would get gas that would last for the ride over to the cottage and back home.

While riding to Stratford, we noticed another holiday tradition - a police blitz. A car was pulled over in the town of Shakespeare, most likely for speeding, and another one in Stratford but by an unmarked cruiser. We didn't encounter rain until a light sprinkle just as we were the gas station in Stratford. From there it was more or less dry until about two minutes after we turned onto Perth Line 20. The rain was persistent but not too heavy. However, it made us slow down a little and I eventually pulled into a parking lot in Fullarton where another three police cruisers were congregating.

We stopped only for a minute to make sure that all was good and then kept going. It rained a little bit more and then we actually hit a dry spot. But two more minutes later, we were in rain again. And again we stopped to regroup, this time in Exeter. Since we were close to our destination, we kept riding through the rain, although at or slightly below the speed limit and letting a lot of cars pass us by. The rain finally stopped as we reached Zurich. We finally arrived at our destination at noon.

Our tourpack was packed full for this trip but we didn't end up using our swimsuits, but rather dry socks and shorts. The day at the cottage consisted of mostly sitting on the patio, a great lunch and a movie for the women, while the guys played cards. It was mostly an overcast afternoon with spots of sunshine but at least it was dry.

Heather and I finally left the cottage at 7:30 pm, again dressed in rain suits. This time, though, we managed to avoid rain. Or maybe the rain avoided us. Either way, we were in Waterloo before 9:30 and would have been home then but I wanted to ride by Columbia Lake where an annual fireworks display was set to start at 10. The mass of people and cars cost us almost 30 minutes but we were finally home.

Wojtek in the process of grilling sausages.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 277 km - 172 miles
2009 to date: 4,554 km - 2,830 miles (53.6%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,946 km - 2,452 miles


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