Cambridge Ontario to Woodstock Ontario

I didn't wake up until 9:00 AM this morning. Everyone else was already moving. The word from Sudbury wasn't good as far as the weather went. It looked like we got out of town just in time. Kenny posted a picture of his snow blower in a place where there hadn't been snow the day before.

Ken's overburdened snow blower in Sudbury

Everyone else was up before I was. Kim, Mike and the girls were getting ready to attend Good Friday church services. The granddaughters wondered if we were going and didn't quite understand when Grandpa Jim told them that he did not like thunder and lightning. Besides, we had seen a lot of them during the Disney adventure and were down primarily to spend some time with Jasper.

Outside, evidence of the ice storm littered the countryside. Kim's Mazda, where the build-up was almost an inch thick, was a prime example.

A coating of ice

Almost an inch thick

We stopped at McDonald's on Main Street so I could get a sausage McMuffin for me and a cranberry orange muffin for Sandy. For the first time in Canada, the system designated an order number on the receipt which displayed on a screen when the food was ready. The number system has worked well in the USA for years without the screen. This looks like it will be even better.

Heather called and asked if we could pick up some Hall's cough drops on the way. We stopped at the Flying J in Ayr and did just that. I do like the merchandise they carry in the FJ. It caters directly to travelers and professional drivers.

On the 401, we saw more evidence of the freezing rain as the ice laden trees glistened.

Ice sculpture in nature

Welcome to Oxford County

Even the evergreens got into the act

Suddenly, about ten miles before Woodstock, the ice coatings stopped. Snow cover ceased. Grass appeared.

Heather's employer - Trigon Construction

No sign of winter's last hurrah here

We arrived at Heather and Tom's just before 11:00 AM. Jasper and Tom were playing with trains on the floor while a sick Heather was flaked out on the couch, much the worse for wear. I helped play with the trains for a while.

Jasper helping Mommy

Have couch, will sleep

Jasper James

 When Jasper went down for a nap, I sorted photos and notes and did some blogging. The smart phone has two camera programs on it. The FV-5 has a lot more options than the default Google camera but, due to an anomaly with the Nexus orientation sensor, the selfies come out upside down plus the photos are more difficult to upload. I may give up some sophistication in the interests of ease.

Jasper got up rested and went back to playing. We ordered pizza on line from Domino's, which Tom and I went to pick it up. Sandy and I shared a crunchy thin crust Hawaiian while my taste buds actually craved a Canadian (pepperoni, bacon and mushroom). Greater love.......

Jasper's pizza

After supper, there was more playing. Jasper is getting quite vocal and, sometimes, we can tell what he means. He is still shy with us, though. Our fault for not seeing him enough.

Eventually, it was story time and bed time for the little guy.

He sure likes Dad

Reading Elmo books

And then there was just Grandma

With everyone else in bed, Tom and I watched some episodes of The Office on Netflix. I never watched this series when it was originally on but I may make a point to blitz it some time in the future. Around 11:30, we called it a night as well.

Today's Route (34 Equinox miles):

Interactive map

Sudbury Ontario to Cambridge Ontario

We had intended to travel down to Woodstock a couple of weeks ago for grandson Jasper's 2nd birthday party, but we had to cancel so we could be at Normie's funeral. After talking to Heather, we decided that Easter weekend would be a good alternate date.

Before we get into this trip, however, I guess that I should bring you up to date on a few things. Around the middle of the month, we hit a warm spell the likes of which I have never seen before in March. The snow, which had accumulated a couple of inches a day since Christmas, melted with a vengeance. This was compounded by a few days of rain. All that water had to go somewhere, and a lot of it made it to our weeping tile and outdoor sump.

The sump pump I replaced last year after the broken water main flood started to lose effectiveness and soon wasn't keeping up with the inflow. (I took it apart later and found the plastic base that channeled water to the outflow hose had a large crack in it). Remember my brand new first smart phone? The one I got in late January? In the course of getting the new pump positioned, I dropped my new phone down the hole into a couple of feet of water and wasn't able to recover it for almost 24 hours. It did not survive the ordeal. Luckily, I had taken Google Protect coverage which will replace the phone up to twice over the first two years for any reason (for a deductible). I filed the claim on a Sunday afternoon and had a replacement by Tuesday noon.

Since then, pumps and phones have been working well but I do need to contact some professionals to find out the best way to permanently fix the sump/drainage issue. At the same time, we have retained a contractor and decorator to do some renovations to the main floor, mostly paint and trim along with some needed repairs plus a new bathroom. The basement will be gutted. Outside, in addition to the sump, I need a new concrete floor in the garage and a paved driveway. It should be a busy year so stay tuned for updates on our progress.

OK, enough of the catching up. As I mentioned, March has been exceptionally warm. That, of course, was bound to run out and it did. The forecast for today called for a severe snowstorm in the Sudbury area and freezing rain in southern Ontario. Lucky us. The marginal weather was compounded by the fact that, for some reason I can't fathom, I did not get to sleep last night. At all.

So here is was, Good Friday Eve. I packed my gear (Sandy has been packed for a couple of days) and loaded everything in the Equinox. We stopped for fuel and food on the way out of town and were rolling just before 10 AM. The sky was overcast and the temperature was 24 F but, so far, things were pretty good.

We weren't twenty miles south of town when the first flakes started to fall. As we went on, it started to stick to the road a bit but we still had adequate traction. We caught up to a slow moving Chev Traverse which I was happy to follow despite the growing line behind us. On a day like this, you never see the black ice until you are sliding sideways, so it pays to be cautious.

The snow starts to stick a bit

Follow the careful Traverse

Watch the oncoming plow blades

The wind was out of the east the whole way, a sign that bad weather was coming. Worse than we already had. The single lane of traffic at the French River Bridge was not an issue because there was no traffic. The detour around construction at the Key River wasn't a problem, either. We followed the Traverse until we got to the four lane north of Parry Sound, where everyone picked up the pace and started passing.

Passing the plow wasn't the best idea

We stopped at the Seguin Trail Tim's where there was more snow on the ground. The radar looked worse ahead. Continuing on, the snow changed to freezing rain but it didn't seem to be making the road much more slippery. Someone missed the northbound exit ramp at Highway 12 and another car was off the road in Barrie with a lot of body damage, but that was all we saw. Near Barrie, the rain stopped and the roads got clearer until we stopped at the new On Route Service Centre at Innisfil.

Here, it was slushy enough I changed my shoes for boots before getting out. Inside, Sandy got a Tim's pulled pork sandwich while I got a new chicken/bacon/ranch wrap to go. The prices were higher than at home due to it being a service centre. Captive audience. Before we left, I scraped the ice off the wiper blades.

Sandy at the Innisfil On Route

While we were in the service centre, it started to rain again. Still, the road was clear and so I decided to take a chance on the 407 toll road.

Rain on the 400

Once on the 407, the rain eased up but fog set in when we reached the 401. I lost sight of all landmarks as we approached Milton and this held all the way until Cambridge. Still, everyone was behaving themselves and we all got along just fine.

In Cambridge, one low lying spot on Franklin had a lot of water in it. I watched the cars ahead of us go through before trying it myself. We pulled into Kim and Mike's driveway at 3:35.

Mike was nominated for an award, so he and Kim were going to a dinner. He didn't expect to win but they were going to get a $100 a plate meal out of it so it was a no-brainer. We were going to watch Jolene and Robyn for the evening, giving us some grandchild bonding time, before heading on the Woodstock for the weekend.

After some discussion, we decided to head out to Tony's Family Diner on Franklin. There were only a few other people there so we were seated and served in short order. The kids had chicken nuggets and fries, Sandy had a Caesar salad with lots of chicken and I had beef barley soup and a BLT.

At Tony's Diner

Jolene, Grandma Sandy and Robyn

It almost looked like the heathen devil weed on my beef barley soup

It was pouring rain after supper, so we went right home. The girls watched a little bit of TV while I dozed in the easy chair. Then it was off to bed. My daughters were both raised in a secular household but now both go to church, so I read Robyn the story of the loaves and fishes from her book of Bible stories. I tucked her in and then I went downstairs. As a result of no sleep the night before, I immediately fell asleep for the night.

Today's Route (285 Equinox miles):

Interactive map

RIP Normie Hein 1955 - 2016

There was a text on my phone from Gary Lamarche when I woke up at 5:00 AM, telling me that Normie passed away at midnight at Maison Vale Hospice. He was diagnosed at the beginning of November last year with Stage 4 liver cancer. You will note from the Music For The Soul posts that he was well respected throughout many parts of the community.

Norm Hein - 2005

State Highway 128 NE of Moab, Utah(along the Colorado River)

I met Normie around 1980 when we both joined the Nickel Riders Motorcycle Club. He was unique back then, known for his distinctive laugh and his penchant for wearing sunglasses at night. He rode a Yamaha and he rode it hard.

As the Nickel Riders was winding down in the late 1980's, Normie moved on the the Bikers Rights Organization (B.R.O.) and then became a founding member of the Freedom Riders Motorcycle Association. Somewhere not long after, he traded the Yamaha on an AMF period Harley Sportster. He "enjoyed" the Ironhead for about a decade before moving on. Biker and I were riding Kawasaki Vulcans, so Norm bought a 1500 Vulcan Drifter and became a member #8571 of the Vulcan Riders and Owners Club (VROC). He signed up with the nickname Abby Normal.

Around 1990, Normie and a friend attended a meeting of the Valley Trail Masters snowmobile club. I was there in my capacity as Vice-President (Operations) of the Sudbury Trail Plan Association, the umbrella organization for eight local clubs including VTM. VTM was electing directors. I convinced them that Normie would be an asset, so they drafted him. In 1992, when I moved up to STP President, I needed someone to replace me as VP-Ops and recruited you-know-who. The following year, when I convinced the STP Board that we needed a full-time staff operations person, Normie was the ideal candidate. He held that position for the rest of his life, making immeasurable contributions to organized snowmobiling both locally and across the province.

In 1992, Norm and I attended a meeting called by Sgt. Lynn Beach of the Ontario Provincial Police to discuss a rash of recent snowmobile fatalities. It was determined that alcohol was the main factor and that the police did not have sufficient resources to deal with it. We moved STP Trail Wardens in to assist while Norm researched Ontario legislation and prepared a proposal to appoint trained volunteers as Special Constables to enforce the Motorized Snow Vehicles Act. Thus, the Snowmobile Trail Officer Patrol (S.T.O.P.) Program was born. This had an immediate and demonstrable impact on reducing snowmobile fatalities where it was in place. Ironically, the program was cancelled February 12th of this year by myopic bureaucrats. Norm was the last of the original 14 STOP Officers to be serving.

Action Sudbury - Citizens Against Impaired Driving is a local activist group started in 1984 by Sudbury Mayor Peter Wong. Norm joined them in 1994 and was the second longest serving member at the time of his passing. He was recipient of both the provincial Peter Wong Award and local Rollande Mousseau Award recognizing his contributions to the cause.

Over the years, Norm an I had a shared background in motorcycle clubs (I followed him to the Freedom Riders in the mid-90's), organized snowmobiling and sober driving activism. That said, there were many other aspects of his life that I wasn't part of, like his support and involvement in the local music scene, his generosity to the homeless in our area, sky diving and his earlier career with Pinkerton's. I do remember handing a paycheck to his father Carl (Employment number 8200 IIRC) every Tuesday at INCO's Garson Mine every Tuesday in the early 70's long before I knew Normie. Memorable ran in the Hein family.

Normie was well known for his involvement, but his greatest strength was his ability to get other people involved. Many people in many places are there because Normie convinced them that they should be. He inspired a personal loyalty like no one else I have ever seen. When he believed in something, he became a force multiplier.

It was good that Norm had a chance to see how much he was appreciated when groups of local musicians staged Music For The Soul, a two day benefit February 11th and 13th at the Towne House Tavern. The assembled folks from across a broad spectrum of Sudbury citizens bespoke the high regard in which he was held by so many.

Rest In Peace, Normie. You will be missed by many.
Love Honour Respect

I need to make special mention of Gary and Cheryl Lamarche. When Norm was diagnosed and it became apparent that he would not be able to live on his own, they took him into their home. He stayed there until last Thursday when he moved to Maison Vale Hospice. Their love and care for a friend went way above and beyond and are proof that angels walk among us.

Sudbury Ontario to Sault Ste Marie Ontario Return

I haven't seen my brother Rabbi (Dave) in over a year. We meant to get together last summer to golf, but time just slipped by. He lives in the Soo in Mom's old house but works in Alberta as a welding inspector. He said he was around this week but would be going west soon, so I made a firm decision to go down for lunch on Wednesday. OK, not Wednesday because we had the Freedom Riders Club Supper. Thursday, then. But on Thursday we caught a major snowstorm along the North Shore. Too risky. Today was Friday. The last chance.

Look what I got

We got a bit of snow yesterday but blowing can wait

This would be our first time out of town since we got home from Disney World in early November. We hit the road about 7:00 AM this morning, stopping at Tim's to try the new croissant breakfast sandwich to go. There is no such thing as a bad croissant and Sandy won a free coffee when she Rolled Up The Rim.

The road was salty, but the skies were bright and there was little traffic. I find that the Equinox is a lot more cramped that the Avalanche was, mostly because it is narrower. We can adjust to this but my idea of going cross country touring in a Miata probably would not have worked out.

It was odd moving west. We have been accumulating snow an inch or two a day and now with a couple of storms. Banks and drifts are high. But as we moved mast Massey, the banks on the side of the road started to diminish. There was no fresh snow, indicating the storm yesterday didn't come through here at all.

No snow banks just west of Blind (long may you run) River

Mennonite buggy near Thessalon (no snowbanks)

And very little snow in the fields

We arrived in the Soo about 10:30. It was good to catch up with Rabbi on what's been going on. I slipped out at noon and picked up Tim's pulled pork sandwiches on a ciabatta bun for Sandy and I. Rab doesn't eat lunch, apparently. We made some plans to golf this summer. This time, it will happen.

I tried to convince Rabbi that he should get on Facebook but he has been avoiding it like it was poisoned. One thing I have learned in sixty years is that you will never get Rabbi to do something he doesn't want to. But he does text, so we have that option:-)

Brother Rabbi (Dave)

We headed back about 2:30. Traffic was a bit heavier but the trip was uneventful and we pulled into our driveway at 5:45.

Today's Route (407 Equinox miles):

Interactive map

Music For The Soul - Day 2

We made our way to the Towne House Restaurant and Tavern early so we could both get a seat and try out their lunch menu. We succeeded on both counts, although some of our crowd beat us there. The show wasn't starting until 2:00 PM, so we had plenty of time to eat.

Our table

Spyder (Soo), Nicki, Lea and Shirley (Soo)

More Freedom Riders

Don and Marcel, old snowmobile friends

Gary and Lorna from Action Sudbury

Dave (OPP) and Vassie (Sudbury Trail Plan)

Normie flirting with the server

Kenny and Normie exchanging views

Normie with Tom and Eve

Presenting Elwood with a $500 donation from Action Sudbury

Tommy Fyfe playing

The Bluez Brothers rocking the house

The music was good again, especially the extended set performed by the Bluez Brothers. Jake (Rod) and Elwood (Vic) had the place hopping. It was a special day and a great tribute to a unique person. We could tell that Normie was moved by the support. The culmination was the announcement that Music For The Soul had raised $4,000 for Maison Vale Hospice.

We wrapped up before supper time and I dropped Sandy at home before I headed on to the Caruso Club for the second part of the evening.

Music For The Soul - Day 1

Old friend Normie Hein was diagnosed with inoperable Stage 4 liver cancer back in November. Sandy and I have shared snowmobile and motorcycle experiences for thirty-five years but we never shared his love of local musicians. They sure appreciated him, though. This evening was the first of two segments of Music For The Soul, a fundraiser for Maison Vale Hospice in Norm's honour.

Tonight, Jopo and the Rize, Sulphur City and Larry Berrio entertained us. The crowd represented many different segments of the community. Freedom Riders were strongly in evidence.

Normie

Freedom Riders tables

Normie and Larry Berrio

Sandy and Patsy

 Larry Berrio on stage

The music was good and the vibe was better. Sandy didn't even want to leave until after midnight. There was a surplus of Love Honour and Respect flowing Normie's way all evening.

Part two will take place here Saturday afternoon.