Oh Canada!

ORIGINAL POSTED on FaceBook on 7/29/2025:

Eh der! Howya doin? Awesome, doncha know! Eh, checking in from Trenton, Ontario. Funny how my cheesehead slang accent naturally kicks in whenever I’m north of the border. I fit right in!

Trenton, I’ve learned is home to nearly 17,000 civilians and 3,300 service men and women of the RCAF (Royal Canadian Airforce). Seems to be a neat little town that I will explore this morning before riding onto Niagara Falls.

Early yesterday I crossed into Canada at the Landsdowne Port of Entry north of Watertown NY. The bridges connecting the U.S. and Canada were fun to ride and majestic to look at from afar. Just as cool was the little Wellesley Island, smack dab in the middle of the St Lawrence River (SLR) and the small villages dotting the Canadian shoreline of the Thousand Island area and Lake Ontario. More about Canada in my next blog. Let me rewind to Erie PA and Watertown NY.

It was a wise decision to depart from Port Huron at 4:30 am last Friday, July 25. Avoiding the storms forecast for the entire route and avoiding Detroit rush hour were my highest priorities. And with Erie PA 350+ miles away, I had to go early.

4:30 am wake-up call

Luck or fate. Maybe a little of both, as the rain only hit early and the skies cleared just east of Toledo. Storms on my backside and storms in front, all the way to Erie. It turned into a beautiful day. Riding back roads most of the way, the interstate helped expedite my ride around by the bigger cities of Detroit and Cleveland.

Then fate reared its head again. An unexpected and faint “air puff” sound started coming from my exhaust. Ugh…a crack in my tail pipe. But true to H-D form, the Harley-Davidson of Erie team came to the rescue, and agreed to take care of it first thing Saturday morning. A big thank you to Dylan (service manager), and Tyler (service technician) … 5-star service, all the way.

The bike repair required that I hang out in Erie an extra 8 hours, not leaving until 2:30 pm (normally a 6:30 or 7 am start). The extra late start required that I cancel a stop in Buffalo, and then a big rain squall on the east side of Rochester forced me to pullover for nearly another hour. I arrived at my Watertown hotel at 9:30 pm.

Sunday was a relaxed cruise of the American side of the St Lawrence Seaway and the Thousand Islands Region, Cape Vincent to Clayton to Ogdensburg, and then back to Watertown. The area has a rich history and definitely on my list of places to visit again.

 Music legend, Harry Chapin, is attributed with this funny quote referring to Watertown when he wrote the song, "A Better Place to Be". The quote, “I spent a week there one afternoon” … and I concur!

Blessings of a being a Grandpa, Papa Jim counts five (5), in reverse order youngest to oldest: Parker 3+ months, River 1.5 years, Ro (Aurora Rose) 2+ years, Dray 7.5+ years, and Duke 12.5 years.