Sudbury Ontario to Washington Pennsylvania

Happy Mother's Day.

It was 35F as we rolled out of the driveway at 6:10 AM. It almost felt like my decision to wear shorts was not the best idea. After a stop at McDonald's, setting the day's destination in the GPS and firing up the audiobook (Under Cover Of The Night by Diane Fanning), we were on the road by 6:30.

 Sunrise

 The pylons are out for the Sudbury Rocks Marathon later this morning

 Stopped 40 miles south of town to check bike tie-downs

We stopped for coffee and cookies at the Tim's at the Seguin Trail, at the Esso in Waubaushene for fuel and at the King Service Centre just north of Toronto for another bathroom break. The wind was out of the south just strong enough to keep the Equinox from shifting into 6th gear. This resulted in less than ideal fuel mileage.

Approaching Toronto, I weight taking the 401/403/QEW route to Burlington versus paying through the nose and using the 407 Express Toll Route. I chickened out and took the pay road.

 Burlington Skyway

 Stelco Hamilton (no longer US Steel Canada)

Near Prudhomme's Landing on the QEW, traffic slowed to a crawl. It turned out that a pickup truck/trailer combo on the Toronto-bound side got all tangled up and our jam was just caused by rubberneckers. I hate when that happens. We were getting better fuel mileage due to more favourable wind direction, so we made it to the border without having to buy any more expensive Canadian gas.

 The Peace Bridge is under heavy construction

At the Peace Bridge border crossing, the NEXUS lane was clear. The agent asked us our citizenship, whether we had anything to declare, what was in the trailer and the trailer plate number (I had to get the registration out of the glove box). He allowed us in without even asking where we were going or for how long. We took I-190 to I-90 despite the GPS again trying to get us to take a ground level "shortcut".

 Buffalo in Buffalo

 Seen on I-90 approaching the toll booths

There was a quick stop at the Angola Service Center for lunch-to-go and fuel.

 Welcoem to the Keystone State

 It started spitting as we approached Erie

After following I-90 to Erie, Pennsylvania, we took I-79 south towards Pittsburgh. We switched the audiobook because this one went over a trial in almost painful detail. Boring. The new choice was Steven Tyler's book Does The Noise In My Head Bother You? narrated by Steven himself.

 I-79 south near I-80 (a good day to not be riding)

 Northbound traffic jammed up due to road construction

 Southbound traffic jammed up due to a wreck

 And here it is

 The front of the car looked even worse

 This made me feel all warm and fuzzy

 Some livestock will not be getting a square meal

 Canonsburg Pa is picturesque

We had thought about going to Olive Garden in Washington, Pennsylvania for supper, but it was Mother's Day and the place would probably be jammed. We got fuel and then followed the GPS directions to a Subway that turned out to be in the food court of a huge Tanger Outlet Mall. Unfortunately, the Subway was unmanned (unpersonned?). We finally gave up and stopped at Wendy's for grilled chicken sandwiches on the way to the Microtel. Sandy also got a fifty cent chocolate Frosty.

 Outside the Tanger Outlet Mall

 Inside the Tanger Outlet Mall

 All that food and no one to serve it

But you can charge your electric vehicle

We had a room on the ground floor at the end of a hallway, making for easy access to unload the luggage. I spent some time doing my daily bookwork but turned in early. Lack of sleep last night made it a tough day so I won't let that happen again.

Today's Route (572 Equinox miles):

Interactive map

The Season Begins Again

After a long and confusing winter, which started out like the good old winters of my youth, seemed to be over in February and March and then returned with a vengeance in April, I am pretty sure spring has finally sprung. Better late than never.

It is finally time to get our summer travel season underway. Tomorrow, we will head to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina for a couple of weeks. The first week will celebrate 20 years of the South East Vulcan Riders and Owners Club (SEVROC) rallies, while the second will see a few Freedom Riders touring the area from a base at Two Rivers Lodge in Bryson City. During June, we will trek west to Williams, Arizona for the VROC Wolfman's Wandering rally. Then we will head up to Topaz Lake, Nevada for the VROC High Sierra Redux, reliving the great days we have enjoyed there in the past. On the way home, I hope to finally ride Beartooth Pass and spend a day or two riding in the Black Hills of South Dakota. With the Freedom Rally deferred for a year, Interlochen, Michigan is on the schedule for early August and we will wind up the season in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (as usual) in September.

In preparation for getting on the road, the Equinox had its front brake rotors replaced and the trailer got new hubs and bearings. The bike started right up and didn't appear to need any work right at this moment, but it sure could use a cleaning. I paid someone to wash, detail and wax the car, but I don't think anyone would want to tackle this bike and its12 years of road grime. I'll do what I can when the opportunity presents itself. (Of course, I have said that before and my rims are still filthy.)

One of the key organizers at SEVROC was supposed to be Cheap B (Mark). Unfortunately, he and his wife Wanda were in a motorcycle wreck in Georgia a couple of weeks ago. Although they both suffered severe injuries, it looks like they are on the road to recovery. They are two of the nicest people we know and, while they will be greatly missed next week, we are so grateful that they are still with us.

One thing that will have an impact on our blogging will be Sandy's new camera. She has done well over the years with a Panasonic DMC-TZ5, getting pictures from the car and the back of the bike to illustrate our days on the road. Unfortunately, the batteries got to the point where they would not hold a charge any more. She was never totally happy with this unit anyway, due to the delay between the time she pressed the shutter and when the photo was actually taken. In a moving environment, that often meant the difference between getting the shot and getting a picture of a telephone pole. Now she has a new Sony A5100 24 MP mirrorless camera with a 16-50 mm removable lens. While this camera has a lot of options and settings, there are very few physical buttons and wheels, with most of the settings being handled on the screen with a menu system. While this would be a drawback to an advanced photographer, in our situation it reduces the likelihood of accidentally changing something that would affect the photos. Most important to her; when she hits the button, the shutter clicks.

As we packed two suitcases (one for each of us when we reach our destination), two overnight bags (one for each of us to take into motels along the way), a shoe bag, a pillow bag, computer bag, a water bag, a bag full of riding gear, two camp chairs and a portable toilet, I reflected back on the years when we would go out for two months with only what would fit in two GoldWing saddlebags, a top trunk and one small bag of raingear. Sandy was a packing genius. Just as Parkinson's Law postulated that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion", Robinson's Law suggests that "luggage expands to fit the space available to carry it" and we now use all the capacity of the Equinox plus any spare nooks and crannies in the trailer just because it is there.

Our last-minute checklist was in play. I needed to be careful because this was the first US trip since last September and I hate that sensation of remembering something important about the time we are approaching Pittsburgh. US cash, passports, NEXUS cards, US plan added to cell phones, all the charging cables, medications, etc. It looked like we had it covered.

Mother's Day was the next day, so we dropped over to Extendicare York to visit Sandy's mom Jan and her roommate Pearl. We had a very nice visit and explained that we would be away for two weeks.

Sandy and Jan

Pearl, Sandy and Jan

The view from Jan's window

The INCO (Vale) Superstack - 1,250 feet tall and due to be decommissioned

Back at home, Leo stopped over to aid with the trailer hookup and motorcycle loading. Actually, he doublechecked me while I handled the task for the first time this year. By the time we were done, the suitcases were in the car, the bike was tied down in the trailer while the camp chairs and bike riding gear bag were also stowed in the trailer. Almost done, Sandy and I went out and picked up sandwiches at Subway.

Hooked up ...

... and loaded up

All that needed to be done in the morning would be to load the final few things in the overnight bags, put them in the car and move out. I hope we can be up by 6:00 AM and rolling by 6:30. The destination for tomorrow will be a Microtel near Washington, Pennsylvania, and we should be in Maggie Valley Monday afternoon.

Freedom Riders Toronto Trip - Medieval Times and Spring Motorcycle Show

The Freedom Riders were looking for something to kick off Spring. The Spring Motorcycle Show in Toronto has usually been just such an occasion. President Rob thought that it would be nice if we went down to Toronto on Saturday, attended Medieval Times that night and then visited the motorcycle show on Sunday morning before returning home. He made the Medieval Times reservations while we each booked our own rooms at a Motel 6 in Burlington.

Saturday

The first wrinkle in the spring motif was the major snowstorm we got last Wednesday. After an unseasonably warm February and March, the snow had been almost gone. Then winter decided to take another kick at the can. It was 15F and looked like a nice sunny January morning as we got ready to leave.

 This is a lot of snow for April

We didn't have enough people to make a bus feasible, so we made arrangements to carpool. Danielle would ride down with us and share a room with Jackie (who was travelling with Rob) when we got there. Percy dropped her off at our house at 9:00 AM sharp and we were rolling at 9:10.

After Zeke loaned us an audiobook on CD last year and we bought another one, we found we could borrow them from our local library, download them to our phones and play them through the car stereo as we travelled. The test worked fine but, with company in the car, we didn't listen to it on this trip. Next time.

We stopped at the Tim's at Seguin for a bathroom break and coffee refill, then again at the Innisfil On Route, where we had lunch from another Tim's. Chili and crackers for me. I was just picking up the phone to call President Rob and see where they were when he called. They were south of Parry Sound when they got a call from Sudbury saying Jackie's husband Gord might have had a stroke. Their convoy returned to Parry Sound where they met local member Lance, and he drove Jackie back to Sudbury. It turned out that he had suffered a severe vertigo attack.

The three of us arrived at the Motel 6 in Burlington at 2:40. It has been many years since we stayed with this chain, and it was even more utilitarian than I remember. No carpet, small room, few amenities. But it was a bed for the night at a reasonable rate. Southern Ontario members Barry and Bev had already checked in. Checking the club forum on Facebook, we saw the caravan had stopped to eat at Jack Astor's in Barrie and would be along a bit later.

Medieval Times

The five of us decided to leave for Medieval Times at 6:00 PM. Barry and Bev offered to drive Sandy, Danielle and me in her Acadia. Just as we were getting ready to leave, the rest of the crew arrived. They were just getting checked in so we said we would see them there.

Traffic was moderate as we followed the QEW to the Gardiner Expressway, but the parking lot at MT was crazy because the previous show was just getting out. We found a spot, not realizing we were on the opposite side of the building from the entrance. It was a chilly walk in a brisk wind.

 Lots of these in evidence

 Barry, Danielle, Bev and Sandy

There was a line developing in the lobby. Shaun & Jill from Niagara and Dave & Katrina from Ohio (our club is a bit spread out) came in right behind us. We told the staff we were Freedom Riders and they gave us tags directing us to the Red Section.

On the way in, we went through a big room that had more souvenirs and memorabilia than Disney World. There was a whole separate counter just for dragons. We managed to find our seats in the Red Section, where our server Rachel told us we had to cheer for the Red Knight and that the Green Knight was our enemy. While she got us drinks, the rest of the club arrived.

The show started on time and the food was served throughout. It included soft drinks, garlic bread, tomato bisque, 1/2 chicken, corn on the cob, lemon pound cake and coffee. Alcoholic beverages were available at an extra charge.

The whole spectacle was as I remembered it from two prior visits, except that there was now a pagan challenger. This was probably added due to the popularity of the TV series Vikings. The main event, consisting of eight challengers competing for the hand of the Princess, was the same. The contestants were aligned four against four and went head to head in jousting and other forms of combat. There were also displays of falconry and dressage. More than twenty Freedom Riders and our confreres in the Red Section cheered for our champion loudly enough to be noticed by the King but, sadly, he only finished second. The winner went on to vanquish the challenging Northman and the Kingdom was saved.

 The horses were amazing

 The King's representative explaining the rules

 Knight, squires, attendants and more

 Red, Red, Red!!!!!!

 The challengers assemble

 Time to get down to business

 Performing horses

 A falconer and his bird

 This is our man

 Bev and Paul discussing breakfast plans

 The Freedom Riders and our Red Knight

After the show, we mingled while we discussed options for breakfast tomorrow. Then we headed back to the motel, where a few stopped by our room for a drink. They were all gone and we were in bed by midnight.

Sunday

Paul texted that we would be having breakfast at Perkins in Etobicoke. We left the motel following a couple of other of our vehicles and, after a stop at Tim's for coffee (the motel java was reported to be beyond vile), we followed the QEW to the 427 and north to the 401. The Perkins restaurant was adjacent to a Holiday Inn, and the parking lot required a pay ticket to get in. Paul had called ahead so they had tables set for us.

Perkins in Etobicoke

A fine breakfast with friends

Despite having a big breakfast, I wasn't feeling too well. I don't usually get too excited about motorcycle shows these days since I am not actively looking for anything new and motorcycle related. I am happy with my bike and would probably replace it with the same model/year if anything happened to it. Also, our gear is older but we don't ride that hard these days. With this in mind, I asked Sandy if she really wanted to go to the show. She said no. Danielle wasn't able to secure another ride home, so she generously said that she was also OK with missing the show. We broke the news to the other Freedom Riders, who wished us a safe trip back. Oh yes, the restaurant validated our parking ticket.

On the way out the door, we bumped into Doug Ford (the new leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and candidate for the Premier of Ontario in the upcoming election). All I can say is that he is bigger than life in person. I kicked my butt afterwards that I did not ask for a photo.

Heading north on Highway 400, we ran into a few snow squalls. We stopped at the On Route in Barrie where we used the facilities and got more coffee. I was going to fuel at the adjoining Canadian Tire Gas Bar, but the card reader wasn't working and they still wanted customers to pre-pay. Not much chance I was going to do that, so we went on up to Bayfield Street and gassed up at a PetroCanada station.

I see the sign but it is April for crying out loud

More snow squalls on the 400

We stopped again at Sequin. With about 120 miles to go, I looked at the GPS ETA and recalculated allowing for Garmin's inaccuracy on 90 KPH roads and our projected speed. My estimate was 3:00 PM. Things remaining uneventful and we pulled into our driveway at 3:00 PM sharp. Percy was there to pick up Danielle.

Even though we missed the show, it was a good weekend away with the Freedom Riders. We need to do more of these.