The
Squamidian Report – June 15 / 13
Issue #577
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
It is ‘wallowing Winnebago’ season again. All of a sudden it is frustrating to be on the highway. You can’t go anywhere without being stuck behind a motor home, or whole herd of motor homes running in a convoy that blocks traffic for miles. Most of these units are rentals, being driven by people who have never driven anything bigger or more complicated than their Corolla or Civic. They have no idea where their front or rear corners are, they have no idea how to navigate a winding highway and they have no idea that it would be a good idea to check before pulling out into on-coming traffic.
Case in point… We were enjoying the evening in Horseshoe Bay the other day when a herd of 6 motor homes came lumbering down into the village. All were rental units from out-of-province. There isn’t enough parking in the Bay to begin with, and they were looking for somewhere to park all of them, together in the same spot at the same time. That wasn’t possible. Its hard enough to find a space big enough for more that two or three bikes in the same spot. They tried simply blocking a lane on the main street but that didn’t go over very well. One of them took the side mirror and antenna off a parked pickup truck when the driver didn’t seem to realize how wide the motor home he was driving actually was. I should point out that I have nothing against tourists, they are what keeps many small towns and small businesses in business. I do have a problem with incompetent tourists or anyone else who can’t or won’t respect the places they go. The driver of the motor home was mad at the pickup truck for simply ‘being there’. All, or most drivers, of these types of vehicles seem to think they have some sort of divine right to the streets and highways and that the world should look out for them.
After our coffee meet, several of us headed north up the Sea to Sky highway. To our amusement, we caught up with this particular convoy just as the highway narrows from 4 lanes down to 2 lanes north of Lion’s Bay. We quickly discovered that none of these drivers were able to drive faster than about 40 k in the 80 k curvy section. I guess all the twists and turns and the apparent drop down to the Sound was more than they could deal with. By the time we got to the passing lanes at Windy Point the motor homes were spread out for half a kilometer with all the rest of the traffic bunged up behind them. As each motor home reached the relatively easy to drive passing section, they did what all the people do who can’t drive the curves, they floored it, making it harder for the vehicles trapped behind to get around them. By the time each one reached the end of the passing lanes, they were all doing about 100. The end of that particular passing section is the beginning of another very windy 2 lane section. By the time each one was though the first curve, it was back down to 40 k and anyone who couldn’t get by was stuck behind again. We had slipped past but because they had been so spread out and had speed up some much, it took the whole length of the passing lane section to do so.
I don’t have a problem with anyone taking it slow and easy on a section of highway that they find challenging. We preach care and awareness in our riding club. I do have a problem with drivers who are selfish and unaware. Drivers who block the vehicles behind them and don’t pull over and let the backlog get past and on its way. Drivers who simply make it difficult or even dangerous for others to be any where near them, and that’s what my experience with many ‘wallowing Winnebago’ driver has been. Incidentally, you can always spot a rented motor home from a mile away without ever needing to see the advertising on its side. Just by the way it is being driven. The one’s who are being driven by their owners give off a completely different vibe. Generally speaking, most people who own their motor home know the vehicle and how to drive it, and they care. Very big difference!
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
The sun is shining
and the weather is clear and Bailey is recovering from yet another surgery.
This time he had to go to Guelph again to have his original incision opened at
one end to clean and re stitch an infected spot. Apparently he developed an
infection from one of the internal stitches they had put in at the original
operation time. They also had to operate on a growth on the side of his neck
that he’s had for over a year. They suspected it might be cancer so the removed
it yesterday to send it to the lab to find out if it is cancer or not. The vet
thinks it might just be a local spot of cancer that can be clear now that
they’ve removed it. We sure hope so because the poor little guy has been
through enough medical stuff to last a lifetime! He’s home and doing well but
it’s only been a day. So, we’re hoping he’ll heal quickly and get back to his
new self in short order!
We’ve all been
keeping such late hours over the past few weeks because of what Bailey has been
going through and we’re hoping that soon we’ll be able to get back to sleeping
normal hours once again. Carole had to spend the whole night last night sitting
up with Bailey and giving him his medication every couple of hours so she
certainly didn’t get any rest. I slept with one eye open to be available if I
was needed but somehow I managed to get about 8 hrs sleep anyway. I’m sorry but
I have to make this about all for this week. We’ve got some shopping and
running around to do yet today so I’ll keep it short and promise to do a better
job next week!
Thanks for
understanding!
Thanks for tuning in
and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To
Think About>
Santa Claus has the right idea, visit people only once a year!
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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.