First Ride of 2011

Our first ride of the 2011 season was to Ed Hendrick’s internment. Ed was a member of Waterloo Wings, the group that was responsible for organizing Cyclefest during Labour Day weekends. He passed away on January 27th because of a heart attack.

The meeting place was at a Giant Tiger parking lot in Stratford where we arrived after 10am. Even though it was a clear day, the morning was still cold but the turnout was very good. The event was attended by several members of the Waterloo Wings as well as Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers.

At 10:30 the group, led by Ed’s son riding his Gold Wing, left Stratford for the cemetery in Mitchell where the internment would take place. The turnout was big enough that there a police presence at a couple of Stratford intersections that allowed the group to leave together.

The ceremony in Mitchell was performed by Ed’s partner, Tonia whose tribute was very beautiful and very touching.

At the Schmidtsville Restaurant.

After the ceremony, some of the members of the Waterloo Wings invited us to ride with them for lunch in Wellesley. We had lunch at the Schmidtsville Restaurant which was busy on this sunny, albeit a little cool, day. After lunch, we discussed some plans for the upcoming season and then everybody went their way. As always, it’s good to ride again and it’s even better to have somebody ride beside you.

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Elmira Maple Syrup Festival 2011

Heather and I managed to attend another edition of the festival and this year we even introduced to a few more people like Kim and her children. Mike wasn't able to make it as he was called in to work for the morning. We were in Cambridge shortly after 6am and were on the way to Elmira just before 7am.

Mother and daughter enjoying pancake breakfast.

We were able to find a parking spot on a street not very far from the main event. The morning was clear and it was about 5C although it didn't feel very cold. We had the usual pancake breakfast although Jolene spilled part of her chocolate milk on her coat. Robyn, in the meantime, was patiently waiting things out in her stroller.

Jolene trying her hand at milking a cow.

After eating we made our way to a petting zoo which included pigs, chickens, horses, sheep and a fake cow that kids were able to milk. Milking the cow was probably Jolene's favourite part of the day while the yelling mama sheep was the least favourite because, according to Jolene, it was very loud and scary. Before leaving, we purchased some maple goodies and walked back to the car. I had the pleasure of walking with Jolene as we chatted all the way through. The whole experience of this day sure must have given her a lot of memories.

Motorcyle Supershow

It was once again time for the annual Motorcycle Supershow at the International Centre in Mississauga. Jim & Sandy were once again staying with us in Woodstock and we left late in the morning. We didn't have any plans to see anything specific aside from the usual wandering.

Heather on an Indian.

A couple of things I wanted to see was the new Kawasaki Vaquero and the whole line of the again-resurrected Indians. Though expensive, I've always found the Indians very appealing. Another booth of note belonged to the Canadian Sidecar Owners. It has a different theme every year and this year paid homage to the troops. Rudeboy, a fellow VROCer, was partly responsible for the work that went into the booth although he wasn't present at the show at the time we passed by.

One of the motorcycles at the sidecar display.

In the evening, we made our way to the Mandarin for the annual Frozen North dinner. I was the pleasure organizing this year's event. Based on the response from the web forum, I made a reservation for 12 although only one other person, Mike from Ottawa, showed up aside from the four of us. None of it mattered though as the Mandarin completely ignored our reservation and constant reminders to the point where we left after an hour of waiting for a table. Mike suggested that we go to Woodbine to try their buffet so we followed him. There wasn't much selection at the buffet but the food was good enough. But at that point nothing was going to get the sour taste of the Mandarin experience from my mouth.

December Recap

It was a very busy month as we were settling into our new house. Heather's parents, Jim & Sandy stayed with us for a few days to help with the transition. The big moving day was Friday, December 3rd when Mike and my two brothers were over to help us move our belongings from our storage unit in Woodstock.

Our new house.

Next day, on Saturday, Remi and Lisa came from to Toronto. Remi helped me with insulating the garage while Heather, Lisa, Jim & Sandy worked on unpacking things and shopping for blinds and other neccessities. Even Kim & Mike stopped by for a short visit with their kids. Remi and I put in about 8-9 hours of work as we put the insulation in place and drywalled over it. Heather and I chose not to pay the builder to finish the garage as the materials we bought cost only a fraction of the builder's price. However, we didn't quite finish as we ran out of drywall but we came close enough. We did a lot of work and I couldn't have done any of it without Remi's expertise and directions. Thanks, buddy!

Happy Birthday, Jolene!

As if that wasn't enough, December also had its usual share of family functions including Jolene's birthday, Adrian's birthday and we also had a small gathering at our new house for my birthday.

Happy Birthday, Adrian!

Then there was Christmas and we were able to spend it with our entire family as we had a Christmas dinner in Breslau with my parents, Heather's parents and her grandparents. A wonderful time of the year, indeed.