Day 6 : May 7, 2011 Grand Bend - Niagara-on-the-Lake
What a fantastic day, sunny !!!, no rain in the forecast, dry roads, and a pleasant ride back to Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Karen and I decide to have breakfast next door to the motel at Aunt Gussies, I would recommend this place, we had dinner here on my first night.
Got underway right at 9am, I have 7 letters to get to finish my MOAZ (Motorcycle Ontario A to Z), and I have come up with an "x", is in "x marks the spot", I will add an additional photo from the collection which I did not use in the main set as the "x" photo.
First stop in about 45 minutes is Exeter, just East of Grand Bend, again a thriving farm town with a fair bit of traffic for a Saturday AM. After Exeter, I let the GPS route me to St. Mary's, now this might not seem wise, but the GPS took me down some fantastic motorcycle roads, with ZERO cars, paved, and tree lined, the trees even formed an canopy over the road - is this Ontario ?? - YES - GET OUT AND EXPLORE. (I will post the GPS Tracks so one can duplicate this trip if you want).
St. Mary's has a very old VIA (xCNR) railway station, well worth the stop, also the cleanest washroom I have ever used, plus a good location for the "x" marks the spot photo.
After St. Mary's it off to Beachville, via Ingersoll. Other than the "B" in Beachville and the numerious open Lime Mines, Beachville is famous for the first ever game of Baseball in 1838, a year before the America's, see the link: [http://www.beachvilledistrictmuseum.ca/baseball.shtml].
After a very brief stop in Beachville it was cross country to Norwich, Delhi and Simcoe. Simcoe was a good place for lunch at Tim Horton's before a very short run to Jarvis on Highway 3, and my "J", photo. Jarvis is the junction of Hwy 3 and 6, and most know it as the last town before Port Dover on Hwy 6. But if you head North on 6, you will come to Hagersville.
I wanted a shot of the old New York Central railroad station, still standing, as the background for the Hagersville shot, but NO sign saying Hagersville, so I will make due with the towns wine red sign, which is very attractive.
From Hagersville to my next stop at York, on the Grand River. Not much in York (just south of Caladonia), just a no-name gas station and a few well maintained homes, I am not sure it even has a Post Office, so the highway sign will have to do.
Well with York being my final location, all that remains is "Q", so I have located one about 167km from Niagara in Queensville, which is just North of Newmarket, leave that for another day.
I arrive home at 15:45, not bad for a less than straight line from Grand Bend. What I remember most is that Ontario has a lot of very neat places to visit, eat in and ride a motorcycle to. In fact I visited a few that I have never been to before - and that is WOW!!.
Some statistics:
6 days on the road
All within Ontario
Distance: 1,298km (about 811 miles)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Day 5 : May 6, 2011 Grand Bend
Day 5 : May 6, 2011 Grand Bend
OK, this has got to stop - another rainy day, not showers but RAIN!!, so with a morning forecast of rain, I will lay low finish my photos and blogs with the intention of going out after lunch.
Well maybe not, at 12:24 - More RAIN!! in fact heaver than at 8am.
Now 2pm, rain has stopped and Karen and I are going out shopping on the Beach Strip, not too many stores open at this time of year, wait two week for the May 2-4 weekend and everything will be in full swing.
I only have 7 letters left to complete my MOAZ project, only difficult one might be "Y", but I am working on it.
Tomorrow I will head back to Niagara.
OK, this has got to stop - another rainy day, not showers but RAIN!!, so with a morning forecast of rain, I will lay low finish my photos and blogs with the intention of going out after lunch.
Well maybe not, at 12:24 - More RAIN!! in fact heaver than at 8am.
Now 2pm, rain has stopped and Karen and I are going out shopping on the Beach Strip, not too many stores open at this time of year, wait two week for the May 2-4 weekend and everything will be in full swing.
I only have 7 letters left to complete my MOAZ project, only difficult one might be "Y", but I am working on it.
Tomorrow I will head back to Niagara.
Day 4 : May 5, 2011 Grand Bend to Oil Springs and back
Day 4 : May 5, 2011 Grand Bend to Oil Springs and back
Another Sunny morning !!!
Today is an out and back trip from Grand Bend into oil country, yes Southern Ontario is the home to Canada's First Oil Well (sorry it was not Alberta), but sleepy Petrolia. Oil was found here in the 1850's, which lead to the great "oil rush" and the establishment of Imperial Oil (now Esso). [http://www.petroliadiscovery.com/] and [http://www.firstoilwell.com/]
Petrolia again is one of Ontario's town which is doing very well, the old brick Victorian era CN station is now the library, and what what the platforms behind the building is a brand new farmers market area. An excellent place for lunch is:
After Petrolia one needs to visit the hart of oil country, Oil Springs, yes this village is still there, [http://www.oilsprings.ca/] not much left, but there is a Post Office and a few old buildings, so the place was mine for my various photos etc.. If you continue South on Kelly Street (which is paved) you will come to the Oil Museum of Canada, which has the old New York Central RR station building from Oil Springs and operating oil Wells still using a "jerker line", take Gum Bed Road West back to the main highway, all other roads are gravel/dirt.
Next stop on my tour is Alvinston, not much happening here, just another sleepy farm village on the Eastern edge of oil country. North to Watford, I have a planned photo shoot of VIA Rail Train #81, at 15:03, does not stop here anymore but flies by at 130kph with two cars, I guess not much passenger traffic to Sarnia these days. This is followed almost immediately by an East bound CN freight, these two trains meet about 5km to the West of Watford at a long 8km stretch of double track.
After all this excitement it is time to turn North and back to Grand Bend, on my way back I stopped in at Forest for my MOAZ photo in front off the old Forest CN station, now the town's library.
After Forest it was time to live on the edge, exploring Ipperwash, site of the Native uprising and unfortunate shooting of Dudley George back in 1995 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipperwash_Crisis], maters are still not resolved to this day, with the Natives still occupying the old Ipperwash Military Base, and Ipperwash Prov.Park. What is of interest is there are no road signs for "Ipperwash", only "Ipperwash Beach", it is tho Ipperwash never existed, just a strange area.
Two signs which stand out for the day's ride are: "Real Firewood", on Hwy21 just South of Grand Bend - ok is there artificial firewood? and at the entrance to the old Ipperwash site, now manned by the Natives, big no trespassing sign, with a smaller one below that reads "Drug Dealers Welcome", yes on the edge!
So all in all 200km was ridden today, not fingerless glove weather, but I did remove my inner jacket liner for the first time on this trip, as it was 14c today - progress.
Another Sunny morning !!!
Today is an out and back trip from Grand Bend into oil country, yes Southern Ontario is the home to Canada's First Oil Well (sorry it was not Alberta), but sleepy Petrolia. Oil was found here in the 1850's, which lead to the great "oil rush" and the establishment of Imperial Oil (now Esso). [http://www.petroliadiscovery.com/] and [http://www.firstoilwell.com/]
Petrolia again is one of Ontario's town which is doing very well, the old brick Victorian era CN station is now the library, and what what the platforms behind the building is a brand new farmers market area. An excellent place for lunch is:
After Petrolia one needs to visit the hart of oil country, Oil Springs, yes this village is still there, [http://www.oilsprings.ca/] not much left, but there is a Post Office and a few old buildings, so the place was mine for my various photos etc.. If you continue South on Kelly Street (which is paved) you will come to the Oil Museum of Canada, which has the old New York Central RR station building from Oil Springs and operating oil Wells still using a "jerker line", take Gum Bed Road West back to the main highway, all other roads are gravel/dirt.
Next stop on my tour is Alvinston, not much happening here, just another sleepy farm village on the Eastern edge of oil country. North to Watford, I have a planned photo shoot of VIA Rail Train #81, at 15:03, does not stop here anymore but flies by at 130kph with two cars, I guess not much passenger traffic to Sarnia these days. This is followed almost immediately by an East bound CN freight, these two trains meet about 5km to the West of Watford at a long 8km stretch of double track.
After all this excitement it is time to turn North and back to Grand Bend, on my way back I stopped in at Forest for my MOAZ photo in front off the old Forest CN station, now the town's library.
After Forest it was time to live on the edge, exploring Ipperwash, site of the Native uprising and unfortunate shooting of Dudley George back in 1995 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipperwash_Crisis], maters are still not resolved to this day, with the Natives still occupying the old Ipperwash Military Base, and Ipperwash Prov.Park. What is of interest is there are no road signs for "Ipperwash", only "Ipperwash Beach", it is tho Ipperwash never existed, just a strange area.
Two signs which stand out for the day's ride are: "Real Firewood", on Hwy21 just South of Grand Bend - ok is there artificial firewood? and at the entrance to the old Ipperwash site, now manned by the Natives, big no trespassing sign, with a smaller one below that reads "Drug Dealers Welcome", yes on the edge!
So all in all 200km was ridden today, not fingerless glove weather, but I did remove my inner jacket liner for the first time on this trip, as it was 14c today - progress.
Day 3 : May 4, 2011 Kincardine to Grand Bend
Day 3 : May 4, 2011 Kincardine to Grand Bend
Surprise - a Sunny morning, but still COLD at 4c. Had a long conversation with the owner of the Harbour Inn Motel now called Inn at the Harbour [http://www.innattheharbour.com/]. They bought this motel a year ago and are planning on expanding it to include the next door property with is a historic stone building, should be even better in a year or two. You could not ask for a better location, central to the historic harbour and one block from main street, with lots of restaurants and shops. Be sure to check out these restaurants on your visit.
Next stop was Clinton, wow!!, the town square has a 100ft wide by 75ft high radar antenna, you have got to ask what this relict of the cold war is doing in Clinton, in the middle of farming country. Turns out that in the late 1940 and into the early 1960's, this was the home of North America's only radar training schools, used by both Canadian and American military. The old base is still South of town, but other then some two storey wooden barracks building and streets there is not much left.
Onward to Zurich, another stop in the MOAZ project, there are not to many places in Ontario with the letter "z", but Zurich is a farming town, famous for the Zurich Bean Festival.
From Zurich to Grand Bend it is only another 25minutes on Highway 21, arriving at the Pine Dale Motel around 4pm. I will be staying in Grand Bend for the next three days as my wife is attending a writers conference for the week.
Surprise - a Sunny morning, but still COLD at 4c. Had a long conversation with the owner of the Harbour Inn Motel now called Inn at the Harbour [http://www.innattheharbour.com/]. They bought this motel a year ago and are planning on expanding it to include the next door property with is a historic stone building, should be even better in a year or two. You could not ask for a better location, central to the historic harbour and one block from main street, with lots of restaurants and shops. Be sure to check out these restaurants on your visit.
- Hawgs Breath Saloon
- Tramonto
- Erie Bell (next door to the Inn at the Harbour)
Next stop was Clinton, wow!!, the town square has a 100ft wide by 75ft high radar antenna, you have got to ask what this relict of the cold war is doing in Clinton, in the middle of farming country. Turns out that in the late 1940 and into the early 1960's, this was the home of North America's only radar training schools, used by both Canadian and American military. The old base is still South of town, but other then some two storey wooden barracks building and streets there is not much left.
Onward to Zurich, another stop in the MOAZ project, there are not to many places in Ontario with the letter "z", but Zurich is a farming town, famous for the Zurich Bean Festival.
MOAZ
Hi
Posted my MOAZ photos in Google, see link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ken.gansel/MOAZ?authkey=Gv1sRgCLi1yaKi0ORS&feat=directlink
Posted my MOAZ photos in Google, see link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ken.gansel/MOAZ?authkey=Gv1sRgCLi1yaKi0ORS&feat=directlink
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Day 2 : May 3, 2011 Lion's Head to Kincardine
Day 2 : May 3, 2011 Lion's Head to Kincardine
After a very enjoyable time at Taylor-Made B&B and a delightful breakfast it was time to hit the road, looking forward to another cool day (ie: COLD) with a temp of 3c, but no rain to start.
I stopped in town at the Post Office for my MOAZ photo for the letter "L" and after that it was off on CR9 North along the shore of Lion's Head harbour and the crystal clear waters of Georgian Bay, before the road turned West and onto Highway 6 to Tobermory. Because the Tobermory to Manitoulin Ferry is not running the town is dead, only 4 cars passed me in a 40km stretch of road. After touring the town and visiting the Parks Canada visitor's centre and climbing the 120ft observation tower, with a magnificent view of the harbour and the adjacent islands.
So as the skies darken it was time to be off, South on Hwy #6, again an empty stretch of highway. Just South of Lion's Head is the corner called Mar, with a post office, so it qualifies as a MOAZ photo location. This is a corner gas station (ie: Corner GAS as on TV), restaurant and post office all in one. But did you know that this is a secret OPP training centre? Yes under the guidance of Warren Stuart, who served in US Special Forces in the Koren war, he will teach you how to disarm a person with a knife, the OPP are is regular customers for this training, plus coffee and great stories. Could have spent the entire afternoon here, but rain was coming and it was time to push on.
Next stop was on the West side of the Bruce Peninsula at Sauble Falls, which was ragging with the spring run off plus a month of rain.
Next is Sauble Beach, with a 13km long white sand beach, which no one was out on, well at 6c with a 20km wind and waves of 2m who would, but one of the surf shops was open on the main drag with the owner setting up for another long season - he hopes for.
Time to go, the rain was not stopping so passing through Southampton, Port Elgin, Tiverton and my overnight stop in Kincardine. What is interesting in all these small communities, was impressive downtowns, lots of people / traffic coming and going. One word vibrant, no economic downturn here. Oh, I did I mention that the main economic driver is the Burce Nuclear Power Plant and the project to add 2 more reactors to the already 8 on site. Bruce power generates 1/4 of all of Ontario's power needs, impressive.
Kincardine is reached by 5:30, in the light rain.
more..
After a very enjoyable time at Taylor-Made B&B and a delightful breakfast it was time to hit the road, looking forward to another cool day (ie: COLD) with a temp of 3c, but no rain to start.
I stopped in town at the Post Office for my MOAZ photo for the letter "L" and after that it was off on CR9 North along the shore of Lion's Head harbour and the crystal clear waters of Georgian Bay, before the road turned West and onto Highway 6 to Tobermory. Because the Tobermory to Manitoulin Ferry is not running the town is dead, only 4 cars passed me in a 40km stretch of road. After touring the town and visiting the Parks Canada visitor's centre and climbing the 120ft observation tower, with a magnificent view of the harbour and the adjacent islands.
So as the skies darken it was time to be off, South on Hwy #6, again an empty stretch of highway. Just South of Lion's Head is the corner called Mar, with a post office, so it qualifies as a MOAZ photo location. This is a corner gas station (ie: Corner GAS as on TV), restaurant and post office all in one. But did you know that this is a secret OPP training centre? Yes under the guidance of Warren Stuart, who served in US Special Forces in the Koren war, he will teach you how to disarm a person with a knife, the OPP are is regular customers for this training, plus coffee and great stories. Could have spent the entire afternoon here, but rain was coming and it was time to push on.
Next stop was on the West side of the Bruce Peninsula at Sauble Falls, which was ragging with the spring run off plus a month of rain.
Next is Sauble Beach, with a 13km long white sand beach, which no one was out on, well at 6c with a 20km wind and waves of 2m who would, but one of the surf shops was open on the main drag with the owner setting up for another long season - he hopes for.
Time to go, the rain was not stopping so passing through Southampton, Port Elgin, Tiverton and my overnight stop in Kincardine. What is interesting in all these small communities, was impressive downtowns, lots of people / traffic coming and going. One word vibrant, no economic downturn here. Oh, I did I mention that the main economic driver is the Burce Nuclear Power Plant and the project to add 2 more reactors to the already 8 on site. Bruce power generates 1/4 of all of Ontario's power needs, impressive.
Kincardine is reached by 5:30, in the light rain.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Day 1 : May 2, 2011 Niagara to Lion's Head
Day 1 : May 2, 2011 - Niagara to Lion's Head, ON
Having put up with the coldest and wettest Spring in recent memory, it was time for the annual Spring motorcycle trip. This years trip will not be as exotic as last years Route 66, 35 day epic, but it is a trip none less, with full equipment etc.
So after the an attempt to be on the road by 9AM, like that is going to happen, I make it out the door at 10:30, also my hope was that it would stop raining. The light mist and FOG was cold and penetrating, so before I even got on the Highway (QEW) I had to stop and put on my rain jacket, I had the pants on already, as they are the hard part.
So with 3 layers of clothing, I was warm and dry - so I am enroute to Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula, about 350km or so. In my book a short trip, with plenty of time to stop for pictures. The route that I have chosen will take me through Guelph on Hwy 6 and North on the County roads past Elora, Alma, Harrison and Clifford. At Clifford I was to take CR10 North, but speed right by, I can't get the GPS to talk to me on my bluetooth headset for some reason, so I never heard "recalculate" 10 times or turn right on .... Anyway I got the next town of Mildmay, and I discovered that I have never been in this town before - ever, how can that be for someone in the Office was known as Mr. Ontario. Took the right turn Deemerton and back on track and CR10.
Next stop was Neustadt, home of the Neustadt Springs Brewery [http://www.neustadtsprings.com/]** and yes the birth place of John Diefenbaker, a well known Prime Minister of Canada in the 1950's - and time for a few photos of course. By now the sun is out, road dry, all the waterproof layers come off.
** and people said that my Digi-Tribe web site had funky music, this is over the top!
Now the key to CR10 which becomes GBL (Grey Bruce Line), it takes you on a straight run into Wiarton and the Southern end of the Bruce Peninsula, except for a brief and planned detour to Tara for a photo - you ask why so many photos. Well I am participating in my motorcycles club challenge called MOAZ (Motorcycle Ontario fro A to Z), which requires a photo of you, your motorcycle and the name post of the town or city. The idea is to collect all 25 photos (there is no "x" in Ontario that one can motorcycle too.
The other noticeable occurrence is that gas prices seam to go up as one travels North, last year I filled the tank for about $15 (and that is for super 91), now it is $19 to $20 a fill, still "cheap" vs the car, but...
Last major civilization is Wiarton, time for a fill up just in case all the Gas stations that were here in 2007, my last trip to the area, have gone out of business. I am taking a lesser Country Road, CR9, from Wiarton to Lion's Head, I think I saw two cars, no bear and no deer. About 15 years ago I use to see some black bears on this road, where are these guys ??
At 5:45 I arrive at Taylor-Made B&B, [http://www.taylormade.bb-bruce.com/] which is well know in the motorcycle world as the best B&B in the Bruce Peninsula, Bill and his wife Barbara run the place, and both own Harley's and do a fair bit of riding. Her story of coming to Canada, meeting Bill, getting married are all detailed in the May 2009 issue of MOJO Magazine (Page 68), I was told by Bill to read it and quiz Barb at Breakfast, so I did.
Dinner was at the Lion's Head Inn, which hasn't changed much since 2007, but there are only two restaurants in town, so not a lot of choice, I was the only for Dinner other than 6 people at the bar talking about today's election, they were there when I arrived and maybe still there.
The B&B has a great outdoor hot tub, so I spent some time resting and soaking, looking at the sky and wondering were the bears are.
More.....
Having put up with the coldest and wettest Spring in recent memory, it was time for the annual Spring motorcycle trip. This years trip will not be as exotic as last years Route 66, 35 day epic, but it is a trip none less, with full equipment etc.
So after the an attempt to be on the road by 9AM, like that is going to happen, I make it out the door at 10:30, also my hope was that it would stop raining. The light mist and FOG was cold and penetrating, so before I even got on the Highway (QEW) I had to stop and put on my rain jacket, I had the pants on already, as they are the hard part.
So with 3 layers of clothing, I was warm and dry - so I am enroute to Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula, about 350km or so. In my book a short trip, with plenty of time to stop for pictures. The route that I have chosen will take me through Guelph on Hwy 6 and North on the County roads past Elora, Alma, Harrison and Clifford. At Clifford I was to take CR10 North, but speed right by, I can't get the GPS to talk to me on my bluetooth headset for some reason, so I never heard "recalculate" 10 times or turn right on .... Anyway I got the next town of Mildmay, and I discovered that I have never been in this town before - ever, how can that be for someone in the Office was known as Mr. Ontario. Took the right turn Deemerton and back on track and CR10.
Next stop was Neustadt, home of the Neustadt Springs Brewery [http://www.neustadtsprings.com/]** and yes the birth place of John Diefenbaker, a well known Prime Minister of Canada in the 1950's - and time for a few photos of course. By now the sun is out, road dry, all the waterproof layers come off.
** and people said that my Digi-Tribe web site had funky music, this is over the top!
Now the key to CR10 which becomes GBL (Grey Bruce Line), it takes you on a straight run into Wiarton and the Southern end of the Bruce Peninsula, except for a brief and planned detour to Tara for a photo - you ask why so many photos. Well I am participating in my motorcycles club challenge called MOAZ (Motorcycle Ontario fro A to Z), which requires a photo of you, your motorcycle and the name post of the town or city. The idea is to collect all 25 photos (there is no "x" in Ontario that one can motorcycle too.
The other noticeable occurrence is that gas prices seam to go up as one travels North, last year I filled the tank for about $15 (and that is for super 91), now it is $19 to $20 a fill, still "cheap" vs the car, but...
Last major civilization is Wiarton, time for a fill up just in case all the Gas stations that were here in 2007, my last trip to the area, have gone out of business. I am taking a lesser Country Road, CR9, from Wiarton to Lion's Head, I think I saw two cars, no bear and no deer. About 15 years ago I use to see some black bears on this road, where are these guys ??
At 5:45 I arrive at Taylor-Made B&B, [http://www.taylormade.bb-bruce.com/] which is well know in the motorcycle world as the best B&B in the Bruce Peninsula, Bill and his wife Barbara run the place, and both own Harley's and do a fair bit of riding. Her story of coming to Canada, meeting Bill, getting married are all detailed in the May 2009 issue of MOJO Magazine (Page 68), I was told by Bill to read it and quiz Barb at Breakfast, so I did.
Dinner was at the Lion's Head Inn, which hasn't changed much since 2007, but there are only two restaurants in town, so not a lot of choice, I was the only for Dinner other than 6 people at the bar talking about today's election, they were there when I arrived and maybe still there.
The B&B has a great outdoor hot tub, so I spent some time resting and soaking, looking at the sky and wondering were the bears are.
More.....
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Getting Ready
This months Motorcycle trip is of Ontario's Bruce Peninsual.
More details to follow - check our current location on the SPOT link "Location GPS".
More details to follow - check our current location on the SPOT link "Location GPS".
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