The Squamidian Report – Nov. 15 / 08
Issue #338
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well now, here we are home again. Saw lots of people, ate lots of food and basically had a great time. Even did some shopping. Me… shopping! Sue dragged Ryan and I up to some outlet store near where the Waterloo Farmers Market is. We went into a work wear store and they just happen to have some items that I either can’t get or can’t afford out on the coast. Things tend to cost a heck of a lot more there than in Ontario, if you can get them at all. So I purchased some nice insulated pull-on style work boots that will also make great cold weather riding boots, and a rainproof winter work coat. You know, the kind that is bright safety orange with the reflector silver striping. Also bought some socks that are hard to find out our way.
Ryan met what could turn out to be the love of his life. He, Greg and I dropped into Kitchener Harley Davidson and while chatting with a sales guy in there discovered that they were expecting a used 2008 Dyna Glide Custom to come in. The owner was trading it on something else. The bike was red and chrome, had only 6000 clicks on it and still has a year of warranty. So we borrowed a helmet and went back on Wednesday to take a look at it. Ryan took it out for a test drive around old Hidden Valley and came back smiling. As cold as it was, he would have liked to just keep on riding. The dealer would be happy to crate it up and ship it out to Vancouver. All Ryan has to do is decide if he can afford it. (Donations shamelessly accepted). J
Our week was spent visiting and tooting around the area, and it went by pretty fast, although I did tell a few people that it didn’t go fast enough just to see if I could get them riled up a bit. The official reason for the visit was that Sue’s father is turning 80, quite a milestone and one that most people really only do about once in their life. We bunked out at the Kibbler ranch, hope we weren’t too much of a burden on them. But after doing that bike trip with them last summer we have more than just being relatives in common. That and the fact that we’ve known each others for probably 40 years or so.
Flew home on Thursday evening. The only flight in and out from Kitchener is in the evening so even with the time zone differences we still got into YVR pretty late. There was only one 20-minute stop on the highway due to construction so that was good. We were home by 12:30 our time. That’s about 3:30AM Kitchener time. So we slept in ‘till about 7 our time which is 10 Kitchener time.
Both of us had some appointments and assorted errands we needed to deal with once we returned from our visit so we had kept Friday as a catch-up day rather than a back-to-work day. And it’s always good to leave some time to adjust and recuperate from traveling.
doug
****
****
Hello
Everyone!
With the
week of the visit by Sue, Doug and Ryan over, things seem a lot quieter. That’s
not to say that they are a noisy group but we did have some fun! We managed to
get out to the motorcycle dealers like we usually do. However, this time we had
an additional biker with us to enjoy the day. Ryan came along to view the
different models of Harley Davidson bikes from Kitchener to Hamilton. It was a
switch to drive to Hamilton to visit one of the out of town dealers. We’ve
never done that before and I thought a visit to Poole’s Harley Davidson would
be a nice change. After all, with only one “new bike” dealer in KW we’re kind
of limited as to the selection. We spent an hour or so driving the back way
down to Hamilton and stopped along the way to take a look at Hamilton valley
from the top of the escarpment in Ancaster. You can get quite a view of the
valley from the top of that point. Ryan took a couple of pictures and I’ll bet
they turned out well! For a change, the smog over the valley was almost “not
there”! LOL! I say almost because as far back as I can remember the smog has
had a presence in that area. When I went to Mohawk College in Hamilton back in
70, 71 & 72 you could hardly breathe once you were outside most air
conditioned buildings. We were pleasantly surprised the day we visited Poole’s
HD. We drove through the seediest parts of Hamilton on the way in and on the
way out of the city. It’s quite an old city and most of the original down town
buildings and housing are still standing. We managed to find Poole’s and from
the outside it looked to be quite a bit larger than the dealer in Kitchener.
Once inside we found that most of the bikes they had on display were used but
they did have a fair selection of new ones as well. Doug is up on the pricing
of these motorcycles more than I am so he was our guide for the search for
Ryan’s shopping spree. Ryan is thinking of buying a new bike for the upcoming
season and of course is following in his dad’s footsteps all the way to the
Harley Dealers. We did find that the pricing in Hamilton was at least $2000.00
higher per bike than any other dealers we had visited. They had an interesting
set up but they priced themselves out of a sale that day for sure. Their
attitude wasn’t very appealing either. It was sort of the ”That’s the price, take it of leave it “
attitude. None of us seemed too impressed with their presentation of bikes or
customer care. We made our way home to Kitchener and enjoyed the scenery along
the way. I’ve been that route many times but it was something new for Doug and
Ryan. They seemed to enjoy being able to sit back and watch as the scenery,
fall leaves and otherwise passed us by. It is a nice drive when you can take
your time on a sunny day. Once back in Kitchener we visited my place for a few
minutes so I could show them my Kawasaki. They hadn’t seen it in person and of
course I was anxious to show them my pride and joy. They actually each took a
short spin down the block and back and if I’m not mistaken, I think I saw a
twinkle in Ryan’s eye as he reluctantly dismounted from the “Black Beauty” and
watched me store it back in my garage. Who knows, maybe he’ll change his mind
and buy himself a Kawasaki instead???!!!
LOL! I doubt that but it at least gave him something to think about on
the flight home the next day! LOL!
That’s
about it for this week folks!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg
PS:
Something To Think About>
Get those
snow shovels out of the shed, they say that the white stuff is on its way here!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.