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
****
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.
*
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!”
****
Have a good one..
the doug
http://www.thedougsite.net
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persons writing them and should be respected as such.