The Squamidian Report – June 5 / 10
 
Issue #419
Including:

The Ontarion

Hi All,

I must confess there is not much to talk about this week. Mostly because absolutely nothing has happened. It’s pretty hard to convey life as I see it on the wet coast when everything seems to be at a stand still. The spring flowers and flowering shrubs have stayed in bloom for a couple of months because the season seems to be at a stand still as well. But I’m fairly confidant that time itself has not stopped because the lawn keeps growing and my fingernails keep growing. Perhaps we have some sort of paradox happening, who can tell? So to demonstrate my dedication to this newsletter I went out and created something to talk about. Yup, I made the ultimate sacrifice and found a small window between the cold rain showers and took the bike for a spin up to Pemberton, and then back again of course. Even took the camera along to take some pics as proof.

Mind you, I still had to bundle up in cold weather riding gear but I did manage to dodge the cold rain showers that could be seen in and around the mountains. I have yet to ride this new bike under warm conditions and can only assume that she will perform as well when it is warm or dare I even say, HOT, out but she sure runs nice when it is cool or cold out. Heck, I’ve managed to put 4200 clicks on Big Blue so far and she sure wants to get going and hit the open road. So do I but I’d like to do it when I don’t need to bring my long johns along. But, as so often before, I digress.

I took my time and cruised along at a speed that would not attract the attention of any lurking traffic officers. That’s how I usually ride, about 10 over the limit. And in doing so I usually end up being one of the slowest vehicles on the road. Mind you, it is kind of fun when some jerk on 4 wheels goes blowing by so fast that it feels like you were standing still, and then you come around a curve in the road and there they are, pulled over by said lurking traffic officer. Brings a smile to my face. Humm, I digress again.

Rode up through Whistler and pulled over near the top end of Green Lake where I took a couple of shots of Big Blue shinning in the partial sunshine. Climbed back on and headed on up to Pemberton. There is a section of highway just past Rutherford Creek called Suicide Hill that is great fun if you are prepared for it but could be a disaster if it takes you by surprise. It is very steep and included a couple of extremely tight switchbacks. You must drop right down into first gear to climb this section. Same with going the other way, you must get slowed right down or you will go shooting off into the rocks. That happens to a lot of vehicles every year. After climbing the Hill, the highway becomes quite twisty and narrow until it starts to drop into the Pemberton Valley. Once I got to Pemberton I grabbed a quick lunch and headed back south. Saw a coyote while passing back down through Whistler and then a big black bear as I climbed up out of the Canyon. Dodged a couple of rain showers that were threatening and came on home. Stuck some on my pictures onto a web page and uploaded them to my site. They can be seen at: http://www.thedougsite.net/10-Rides/Ride1.htm

That was my day. Now I just need a whole lot more like them but a bit longer, distance wise and a tad warmer would be a good thing too.

I guess I’ll see some of you this coming week at or near the reunion. I’ll be flying in on the 8th and then back out on the 15th. And as luck would have it, that corresponds frustratingly with the first sunshine to be forecast for the wet coast in many, many weeks.

doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

I guess it’s almost time for the Brubacher Reunion and 65th anniversary celebration. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the date and will be wishing the happy young couple a very joyous time on their wedding anniversary. The Brubacher gatherings are always a hoot to say the least and I’m sure this one will be no different. Unfortunately Carole and I may not make it on the Saturday. We have a previous engagement out of town. I just reread the notice and we’ll probably have about a half hour in the afternoon before we’ll have to leave for the evening. We will make sure that we see Vivyan and Lorne before we head out of town though. It’s too important an event to be missed by anyone that knows and loves the happy couple so we’re at least going to make an appearance in the afternoon.
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Let’s hope that Dave MacDonald works his magic and assures us a weekend of fabulous weather to mark the occasion. I’d hate like heck to have Doug and Sue visit to join in the celebration and have the weather from BC come along with them! LOL! I don’t care how sticky it is here in Ontario I still love our weather and say if I wanted to live in a rain soaked cold climate I’d move to England!

Oh well, enough of that weather slamming stuff, it’s all in fun anyway and I’m sure Doug and Sue know I’m just kidding them!

I took the Jeep in for an oil change the other day with the intentions of giving it a good washing when I got it home and also doing a major cleanup job on the interior after that as well. To my surprise, when I paid my bill at the Economy Lube shop out on Victoria St N they handed me a coupon for a free car wash just up the street at the new Valet Car Wash. I decided to take the coupon and get it done by the automatic system and figured that would save me a little backbreaking work when I got home. I drove into the Valet Wash and was told that the vacuum system was free with any wash and that I could spend as much time cleaning the interior as I liked after the wash. I thanked the attendant and headed into the wash and was quite pleased with the results. The Jeep had been quite dirty and upon exiting the wash it sparkled like a new diamond! I pulled into the vacuum spot and did a number on the inside of the car. Even if I had to pay for this wash it only costs $6.00 to run your car through. I say it’s a bargain at any time. So it saved me a lot of work when I got home and I’ll be sure to have my oil changed at that location again next time. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination or not but the Jeep always seems to run better once the oil has been changed. Probably just seems that way because I feel relieved that I finally got around to having it done! LOL! I never let my oil change go over the due date but this time I hadn’t had it done since we got home from Florida and that was back in the first week of March. I wasn’t over the mileage limit for the oil change but I usually don’t let it go over three months no matter what the mileage. It wasn’t bad, just a week or so over so I guess no harm no foul.

Thinking of oil changes and having the Jeep done put me in the mood to do an oil change on the motorcycle as well. So, off I went yesterday to pick up the oil and filter to do the bike’s change myself. The last time the oil was changed was last spring at the dealership in Cambridge. I like to have the first one on a new vehicle done at the deal so they can do their required inspection of all the other parts and pieces on the new vehicle. I’ve only got just over 7,000 km on the bike so it’s still relatively a new vehicle. I’ll do my own oil changes from now on and it’ll save me a bit of money. The components for the oil change cost me $34.00 including taxes but if I had taken it to the dealer it would have cost me $85.00 and I find that a tad heavy for what’s involved. Even $34.00 seems like a hefty amount for a motorcycle oil change but it’s less than half the dealer charge so it’s an improvement. Anyway, I intend to change the bike’s oil over the weekend and I’ll see after it’s done if the motorcycle seems to run better on fresh oil as well. I’m sure it will after all, running on old, dirty and thinner oil can’t be good for the engine in any vehicle so at least it’ll be like treating the Kawasaki to a nice drink of expensive Scotch after having had it running on a couple of liters of cheap wine! LOL!

That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to seeing you all next weekend and some of you maybe through the week.

Bye for now..> Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
“Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present!”

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Have a good one..
the doug
http://www.thedougsite.net
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