Woodstock Ontario to Sudbury Ontario

We watched the rest of Elysium this morning. It was not as good as I had expected considering Jodie Foster was in it, but OK. It had snowed just enough overnight to make the roads a bit greasy, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  We checked out the new baby's room (used to be our room) that Heather and Tom had set up for Jasper, who should be along in the third week of February to take up residence.

Jasper's room

We bid our goodbyes to Heather and Tom and headed for Zehr's to get Sandy a supply of her special chocolate bars, Cadbury dark chocolate Fruit & Nut bars that have somehow become very scarce in Sudbury. Then we (I'll get slapped by my dietitian) got breakfast at McDonald's and were on the road by 9:45 AM.

Highway 401 was pretty good although it was almost raining at -2 C. We almost got to Cambridge before we saw the first car off the road, and then the second one soon after.

 First car off the road today

The 401 was actually pretty good

Between Cambridge and Toronto, two more cars were off in the boonies. I have no idea how  they could do this on an unfrozen road surface, but good judgement seemed to be at a premium this morning. Since it was Sunday morning, I decided to take Highway 401 all the way to Highway 400 North, a choice that worked out well. On the 400, we were doing well northbound but the other side was starting to jam up as we crossed Major Mackenzie Drive. We started to get a bit more snow as we headed north and we saw some more cars that had hit the rhubarb before we got to Barrie.

Another one bites the snow near Highway 88

North of Highway 88, we got heavier snow and the road started to be snow packed. The heavy southbound traffic was impacted by another wreck that took up two lanes. We saw one of the new snow plows that tows a trailer that can be deployed to the right so that one unit can cover two lanes.

Winter wonderland

New two lane snow plow

We stopped at the new Petrocan station at the north end of Port Severn. This is a really nice facility, even though it is a bit tricky to get into. I wonder how it will eat into the business of the Tim's/Petrocan at Horseshoe Lake Road? Snow accumulation was heavier here and we saw some sleds riding in for fuel. Continuing north, it was +2 C and the highway was clear again.

I stopped at the Canadian Tire gas bar in Parry Sound for more windshield washer fluid but the were out. No surprise, given the sloppy road conditions. I put the last jug I was carrying into the tank and we mushed onwards.

Just before Still River, traffic ground to a halt. Looking ahead, we could see emergency vehicles near the O.P.P. detachment. I got out and commiserated with other drivers about the inconvenience of living in a land where closure of certain sections of road could cause detours of one hundred miles or more. But we were lucky and they started letting vehicles through in a single lane before too long. The cause was an SUV that had apparently caught fire and burned.

 All stop

 I didn't argue when this guy pulled in ahead of me

 Moving ahead slowly

 Now we see the problem

 I hope this guy was insured

It burned up real good

The rest of the trip was uneventful. When we got home, snow been drifting a bit and I had to shovel a path to the door so Sandy wouldn't get her pant cuffs snowy. I decided to wait until the City plow went so I didn't have to fire the Red Monster up twice. By bedtime, they still hadn't come around but, with four wheel drive, the snow wasn't a problem for us.

 Some drifting while we were away

 We need a path to the door

Marks of a sloppy highway

Today's Route (316 Avalanche miles):

Interactive Map

VROC Toronto Bike Show Dinner

I woke up at 4:00 AM with some ideas about how to handle some of the MS Society Treasurer's business and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went downstairs, broke out the computer and got to work. Then I finished the overdue blog entries, catching it right up to New Year's Eve before everyone else got up.

It was a damp cold when I took the truck to fill it up. We decided that, due to how Heather was feeling, we would skip the bike show and just do the dinner in Toronto. But we still had other things on the agenda. Because Jolene had been sick and missed her birthday party in Aylmer last month, Kim and Mike had organized one for her at Churchill Park in Cambridge. Mike called and asked if we could pick up some pizzas at Little Caesar's near the park so that was our first stop.

The birthday party was in full swing when we got there about noon with the pizzas. In addition to Jolene and Robyn, some of Jojo's classmates and their parents were there. Food, cupcakes, cookie decorating and toys. What more could a five year old ask for?

One of the Moms distributing the food

 The Birthday Girl likes pizza

 A good looking group

 Robyn having fun

 Cookie decorating is the best

Robyn in the driver's seat

We spent about an hour and a half at the party and then headed on to Babies 'R Us in Kitchener where Heather was maintaining a baby gift registry. I had never heard of this before but it seemed like a big business there. Then we stopped at Best Buy where I wasn't able to find a charger for my PS3 controllers.

Shopping done, the GPS told me it was farther to Wild Wing in Brampton, our supper venue, than I had thought. I decided to pull out all the stops and routed us there via the expensive 407 Express Toll Road, with the Garmin indicating we would be four minutes late. Four minutes was easy to make up by ignoring the speed limits and the fuel consumption indicator. We were almost at the restaurant when Rainman called twice, first to check the location and then to say he had found it. We pulled in at 5:00 PM on the  nose and found a table waiting and Rainman already seated.

A word about Rainman (Randy in this case, because we do have more than one active Rainman in VROC). Rainman lived near Atlanta, Georgia and rode with Six Pack Jack, Stockbridge Richard and Daley. We have known him for years and have attended many different rallies together across the country together. A couple of years ago, his employer suggested it might be a good career move to work in the Toronto Office for a while. Despite the jolt of trading Georgia winters for Toronto, he took them up on it. But this is the first time we have actually gotten together with him on Canuckian soil.

It was a good thing that our group wasn't too big because this was not a very big Wild Wing. There were just our four family members and Rainman plus Maxxx and Marianne, who showed up soon after we did. Water was off the menu because the mall had just lost its supply, but the food was still available.  We placed our orders and then spent supper talking about old times and new plans. It was a very nice visit, although I totally forgot to take any pictures. I need to develop some of the sam photography habits Sherm has.

We wrapped up just before 7:00 and headed back to Woodstock, arriving back at the house around 8:00 PM. We settled in to watch the movie Elysium, but I guess the day must have really worn me out because I fell asleep part way through. When they woke me up, I had just enough energy to get to bed.

Today's Route (173 Avalanche miles):

Interactive Map

Sudbury Ontario to Woodstock Ontario

The first weekend has traditionally been the annual Toronto Motorcycle Show and VROC dinner weekend. The dinner has been sporadic the last couple of years but, especially with Rainman having relocated from Georgia to Toronto this year, we wanted to make it happen again. We planned to stay with Heather and Tom in Woodstock and all make the trek to Toronto tomorrow.

It was -36 C in Sudbury this morning with a wind chill that made it feel like -48 C. Talk about your Polar Vortex and I gave the truck extra time too warm up. We swung by the Sudbury Trail Plan office on the way out so I could pick up the coffee travel mug that I had left in Normie's car on our New Year's Eve Red Nose adventure. It had warmed to -28C by the time we got rolling at 11:00 AM under clear, bright skies.

The snowmobile trails we could see from the highway looked great. I knew a time would come when I was sorry there wasn't a sled in the garage and I think that time was now. South of Parry Sound, there was a layer of pressure ice on the roads. This occurs when the vehicles compress snow into a hard packed icy layer and the temperature is too cold for salt to work. It can be tricky but a steady hand and reasonable speed will usually see you through.

We stopped at Waubaushene for a bathroom break and so I could pick up some 5 Hour Energy drinks. Going through Barrie, the traffic ground to a halt and I was worried that a wreck had tied up the road. But no, someone had just put their brakes on near Essa Road and everyone reacted. Soon, we were rolling again.

It was Friday afternoon so going through Toronto wasn't an option. We went across Highway 9 to Mono Mills and then down Airport Road. Once we turned on old Highway 24, it was obvious that there had been a recent ice storm.

Icy trees along Highway 24

Sparkling ice as far as the eye can see

In Guelph, I tried a new route to avoid the rush hour traffic. Coming into town, I jogged west on Speedwell and cut up to Highway 7. We followed 7 to Breslau where we caught Fountain Street to Maple Grove to King to the 401. Not a bad way to go, but it will need some fine-tuning.. With the sun in my eyes on the 401, I missed the exit at Woodstock and had to go 7 kilometers to the next exit before we could turn around. We finally pulled into Heather and Tom's driveway at 4:45 PM.

I was feeling shaky and tested my blood sugar. It was, inexplicably, down to 4.3 (about 80 by US measure) so I had some juice to pick it up. I still haven't figured what drives the glucose levels in the short term.

Heather had just had a root canal done at the dentist and was feeling a little down because they couldn't freeze it due to her pregnancy. She is planning a home birth later in February and her doula, a sort of birthing coach, named Faith stopped by. It turned out that Faith had relatives in Sudbury. Her uncle is the late Marvin Smith, who I used to deal with when he worked at the Ministry of Natural Resources and I was head of the snowmobile association.

The four of us went out to Kelsey's for supper. My steak was only so-so, a disappointment because they usually have pretty good meat. Then we went back to the house and I worked on catching up my overdue blogs until we went to  bed about 10:00 PM.

Today's Route (314 Avalanche Miles):

 Interactive Map

Happy New Year

Happy New Year.

Normie and I drove last night for Operation Red Nose. They took calls until 4:00 AM and, when the phones closed, we were unexpectedly caught up. Home by 5:00 AM.

We have big plans for the upcoming year, the first of which will be to find an insurance company which will sell me Out of Canada health insurance, considering the stent I had put in last November.

I hope we can hit  the revived Hill Country Rally in Texas in early April. We will head down to SEVROC in Maggie Valley in May and then stay down, probably visiting the Outer Banks and some mountain roads before we return to Bryson City to meet the Freedom Riders in mid-June. July should see us out in Solvang, California again and in early August we will be back in Bryson City,  NC for the Wandering Rally. After Labour Day, there will be a new Mid-Ohio gathering  put on by the Great Lakes VROC crew followed by Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

On our travels, some sightseeing would be nice. Maybe a stop in the Black Hills and another at Topaz Lake, Nevada for old times sake. Perhaps a ride through Lolo Pass in Montana. Whatever we can fit in. Plus some golfing where I can find the course and time. And a long overdue visit to our Pennsylvania cousins.

So we are ready to grab the  gusto during the next year. Hopefully, we'll cross paths with many of you along the way.

Annual Vehicle Statistics

Gold Wing stats:
Mileage travelled: 5,980 Kms (3,716 Miles)
Fuel Burned (USG): 99.4
Miles/ US Gallon: 37.4
Mileage at end of season: 246,919 Kms (153,435 Miles)


Avalanche stats (total):
Mileage travelled: 35,338 Kms (21,985 Miles)
Fuel Burned (USG): 1,759.3
Miles/ US Gallon: 12.5
Mileage at end of season: 115,018 Kms (71,472 Miles)


     Avalanche stats (towing large trailer):
     Mileage travelled: 14,258 Kms (8,860 Miles)
     Fuel Burned (USG): 806.55
     Miles/ US Gallon: 10.8

     Avalanche stats (towing small trailer):
     Mileage travelled: 6,366 Kms (3,956 Miles)
     Fuel Burned (USG): 306.37
     Miles/ US Gallon: 12.9

     Avalanche stats (other):
     Mileage travelled: 14,714 Kms (9,169 Miles)
     Fuel Burned (USG): 646.38
     Miles/ US Gallon: 14.2

Boxing Day Snowplow Story

I was out snow blowing the driveway for the fifth time of the season when the snow plow, a Belanger contract unit which had been widening the street, made a turn to come back up Meadowside and widened the corner a tad too much.

Ditched snow plow

He was in pretty good with a full load of sand on the back. Eventually, a Rotator from Johnny's Towing arrived. Instead of pulling him out, this unit just lifted the back of the truck up so it could drive ahead.

That was a lot of excitement for our normally quiet neighborhood.

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone has had an amazing holiday season and is celebrating a very Merry Christmas.

This has been a busy season. As mentioned before, I joined other volunteers and police officers for the official Festive RIDE Kickoff on the 2nd. Then we had the Christmas celebrations:

December 5th - OPP Veterans Association Bowling and Dinner
December 6th - Action Sudbury Dinner
December 8th - MS Society Christmas Social and Dinner

On the 12th, I rang the bell for the Salvation Army at Costco for a couple of hours on behalf of the OPPVA and then attended an awards ceremony at Civic Square where the Freedom Riders got 3rd Place Non-profit for our entry in the Santa Claus Parade.

On the 13th, 14th and 21st I drove for Operation Red Nose, driving people and their vehicles home after they had been drinking. This was a combined effort of Action Sudbury, OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving) and the Freedom Riders.

On the 18th, some of us attended the Charity Bingo, and annual event at Boardwalk Gaming. Won nothing. Then on the 19th, I attended the open house at the constituency office of MPP France Gelinas were we jointly handed out Red Ribbons and Action Sudbury promotional materials while wishing everyone Merry Christmas.

On the 23rd, I worked with MCTV to develop a Public Service Announcement for Action Sudbury that would air on New Years Eve.

And here it is, Christmas Day. The month has flown by. I've now run the snowblower four times, more than I have all season for the last three years. I can only hope that the rest of the winter flies by as quickly.

So again, Merry Christmas to all of you.

Sandy and other OPPVA ladies

Sandy and Andre at MS Christmas Social

MS Chapter Chair Laurel

A rare picture of us together

Carl relieving me at the Costco kettle

Freedom Riders receiving Santa Claus Parade award

Cardiac Rehab

I went for my first visit to the Health Sciences North Cardiac Rehab Program facilities located in the Sudbury YMCA building. All angioplasty and bypass patients are referred after their procedures to learn what lifestyle changes will slow the progression of their coronary artery disease.

After filling out some forms and watching an orientation video, I had a one on one with my new caseworker, Trevor. He is new as a caseworker but, when I started at the YMCA back in 2001, he was my fitness coach. A few years later, he switched jobs and I had specifically requested him since he already knows me and my background.

This initial interview involved getting the medical history and asking a bunch of lifestyle questions. The Rehab program is normally a six month process, with eight weeks of introductory sessions and four months of supervised work in the gym. This assumes that the patient does not have any gym experience. Since I have been in the gym for twelve years and was taught the correct use of heart rate monitors and the equipment (by Trevor) long ago, we settled on a two weeks of the introduction (four sessions) tailored to my situation. In the meantime, I will work out as usual now that I can do so without angina attacks.

Trevor does plan to send me to the hospital for another stress test to determine what my optimum workout heart rate is. Theoretically, my maximum rate is 220 minus my age and the cardio workout rate is 80% of that or 127 BPM. He will skip the theoretical part and give me a real number. I will also have a personal session with the dietitian as well as several classes on lifestyle improvements.

So I am on the road to recovery. Quit smoking, eat right, get regular exercise. What could be easier than that?

Grandkids Birthday Party

Granddaughter Robyn's birthday is October 21st while Jolene's is December 23rd. The Koolen family tradition  is to have one common party to allow the families to get together and celebrate both. This year, they picked December 1st as the official party date and the bowling alley in Aylmer as the location. Of course we had to attend.

Saturday, November 30th

The skies were grey and we had early snow as we set out at 8:25 AM for Tom and Heather's in Woodstock.

More snow than usual for the end of November

The trip down was uneventful. We stopped at the new Canadian Tire gas bar in Parry Sound where I picked up a couple of jugs of the purple de-icing windshield washer fluid. This time of year, you go through a lot of this stuff to keep the windshield clear on the highway.

The ski hills at Mount St. Louis were already open, a bonus for the operators after a few lean years. Having worked on snowmobile trails in the past, I am aware of just how vulnerable winter seasonal activities are to the whims of Mother Nature.

South of Barrie, the northbound side of Highway 400 was down to one lane (from three). Good thing it was Saturday and not a weekday rush hour, but the traffic was still backed up for quite a ways.

It's good to be heading south

I opted to go through Toronto because it was Saturday. Traffic on the 401 wasn't bad and it was up to +1 in Halton with no snow. We passed a couple of people yacking on their cell phones as they were driving, contrary to the Highway Traffic Act. I wonder how many of these would pay attention if the law allowed the police to confiscate their phone the same way that they seize radar detectors?

As we approached Waterloo heading for Cambridge, we got a call from Heather and decided to stop in and see Kim, Mike and the kids. Robyn was wide awake but Jolene wasn't feeling so well.

Robyn, smiling as usual

Jolene flaked out with Mom

Don't bother me.......

We left Cambridge and arrived at Heather and Tom's in Woodstock about 3:10 PM. We had supper of pasta, sauce, broccoli and cauliflower and then Sandy, Heather and I went to WalMart to get wrapping paper and cards for tomorrow's party. For the evening, we settled in and watched Red 2, a sequel to the Bruce Willis action flick Red. Soon after, everyone turned in for the night.

Sunday, December 1st

I was up at 8:15. Tom was having trouble with the new washer, the same problem he had with the old washer. The cold water line wasn't feeding the machine, a problem we had suspected was a bad water mixing valve. But this was a new machine and I found that, while we had water at the pipe, no one had checked the hose. Sure enough, turn the water on and the hose would pulse and stop. He went and got a new hose whereupon I learned about Watts Flood-Safe auto shutoff fittings. If the hose exceeds the established flow rate when, for example, the hose breaks, the fitting will shut off the flow. Aha, great idea once you know about it. When filling the line on a new connection, don't open the valve all the way or the valve will shut off. I need to get these at home.

We got a call that Jolene wouldn't be at the party today because she had gotten sicker overnight. Mike would be there with Robyn, however. Heather and Tom went to church while I went over to get Sandy some calamine lotion at Walmart  for her itchy legs. The store was a zoo with the pre-Christmas rush. Then, after Tom's brother Wojtek, sister-in-law Agnes and their two kids arrived, we headed out in a convoy of two vehicles to Aylmer.

The GPS told us to turn left in downtown Aylmer and that the bowling alley would be 0.9 kms on the left. In fact, it was 1.1 kms on the right. The device is wonderful but sometimes it is a little fuzzy in close quarters.

Party central

Pretty much everyone was already there when we arrived including Robyn who, without her sister there, had all the attention to herself. The kids played, we ate an excellent selection of pizzas, wings, chicken strips and all kinds of mean nasty things I am sure the dietitian is going to warn me about. But it was good. Then Robyn and all her cousins hit the bowling alley before gift opening time.

Birthday girl

Grandma Sandy

Grandma Gail

Lots of food

Robyn and cousins

Co-grandpa Peter

Three years old

Strike??

Aunt Nicole helps with the gifts

Then everyone else pitches in

Wow!!

The cousins admiring a gift

After the party, we headed back to Woodstock where we found the snow was melting. We watched movies on Netflix and I resolved once again to connect my PS3 and subscribe. Of course, I have made this resolution several times before and not followed through. Then Sandy went to bed while the rest of us watched Russell Peters Notorious recorded in Australia. Russell is one funny Canadian, probably as irreverent as anyone out there today. Don't watch him if you are a fan of Political Correctness. When the show was over, the rest of us went to bed as well.

Monday, December 3rd

We were up before 7:00 and Tom left for work in Cambridge early. Heather didn't have to go until 7:45, so we were on the road at about that time. There was very little traffic on the 401 until we reached Highway 8 in Cambridge, but we got off soon after and took Highway 24 through Guelph.

There was one stop at the new (and hard to get into) Tim Horton's in Erin for a bathroom break and coffee. In Schomberg, on Highway 9 near the 400, there were four police cruisers stopped going the other way. Either this was a very early RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) check or something was up. I never did find out.

It was -1 and wet coming out of Barrie so I backed the speed down because I prefer to be old rather than bold these days. The idea of finding black ice isn't high on my list of priorities. The temperature dropped to -3 in parry Sound and -4 by the time we got to Sudbury. They were still working on the Highway 69 four lane project north of Parry Sound despite the new snow.

Mount St. Louis ski area

Salting near the freezing point is good

Winter Wonderland

Some day this will be four lanes

Working on new lanes despite the snow

Lots of rock to be moved

We arrived in Sudbury about 1:30 PM and found a lot more snow than when we left on Saturday. After we got unpacked, I fired up the snowblower and cleared our driveway and the neighbor's as well.

I spent the evening with Action Sudbury, other anti impaired driving groups and three police services engaging in the official kickoff the to Festive RIDE program in the city. We stopped a lot of vehicles, with the police checking for drinking drivers and the volunteers handing out various goodies to the safe and sober ones. It was a cool, damp night and (I must be getting older) I was glad to get back inside when it was all over.