Real Talk!

Just a brief note here... with totals...

seems we went 4240 kilometers and it cost us $172.38 in premium gas

Along with the price of gas, the past 10 days have been filled with intense discussion from a variety of sources... favourite topics included: Real Estate, Real Estate Prices, Mortgage Financing, Mortgage Companies, Bank Failures, Interest Rates, Politics, Race, Religion, Heritage, History, Culture, Motorcycles, Life, Death and a whole lotta stuff in between.

We sampled the North Eastern United States and the Eastern portions of Canada. & we're soon planning to do the same for the Western parts... but that's for future blogs.

I can't help but mention that Mrs. Sampson makes the WORLD'S BEST Carrot Cake. I didn't dare ask for her recipe... and her closest friends and family think she has a secret ingredient that she wouldn't tell about, anyway.

It's okay, because we figured out what it is... and it isn't nutmeg, Marge!

But seriously, her stuff was so good that there was a major cribbage tournament to decide who would get the last of the carrot cake... and it had to be three pieces in one!

The Boss was the Hog...

but that's all I'm going to say about THAT!

Here is the first layer of what I learned last week:

The world is very close to having finally recognized the value of emancipation. The world is very close to having healed a number of wounds.

In spite of the bad... there's a whole lot of good. The world cares about what is happening else where and in their twisted ways are trying to accomplish the same goals. Terrosits are no different than playground bullies... they exist and they are not necessarily representative of the majority...

Essentially, most people want to be part of a good, fair and reasonable society that does not condone violence or slavery. A society in which each life is honoured and respected in solidarity.

We live at a time in which we are being asked to take responsibility. We live at a time where we have the wisdom of generations remind us to never forget the horrors of the planet's past... We live at a time where there are several generations who have experienced the wisdom and expect, not accept, the gift of our forefathers.

I visited Deerfield Massachusetts... and some of my own puritanical history... only 6 generations back... on the other hand... WAY BACK... in 1700... I think Granny Abigail (as she might have been known, had circumstances been different)... was one of the first "women's libbers"- she chose to stay with her native captors... because their way of life was far more gender balanced.

Granny Abigail conveyed property through inheritance in the 1700s... I don't think she would have had the same experience in Deerfield...
so much has happened since then. So much has changed and grown and been invented and been discovered...

Still, we haven't perfected the system. Perhaps a few still hang on to the anger and perhaps a few still hang on to out-dated values... whatever the reason, it is time for us to fully emancipate...

The timing is right. I know my daughter, now aged 16 knows that woman had to fight to get rights... she knows that there were slaves... she knows that there were concentration camps... she knows that there are ongoing atrocities and still, she knows that she will not participate in anything that would perpetuate bullying- of any sort.

My daughter is about a year older than the age that Granny Abigail was when she married Grandpa Josiah. I suppose I should tell them "Nia:wen" which I believe is Mohawk for Thank You and however you would say: "We have learned much in the time since you made your choices." and "We still have much to learn."

While contemplating this, I thought about the current CNN documentary "Black in America"... and I googled a man who became one of my greatest heroes (when I was in grade three) "Martin Luther King" and the word "emancipation"...

I discovered a website: http://www.holidays.net/mlk/emancipation_days_of_respect.htm

The Emancipation Days of Respect

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., three Emancipation Days of Respect have been established to promoting unity, respect and remembrance for those who have struggled and sacrificed to help change America's unjust laws of racial segregation, as well as support and solidarity with victims of slavery and violence.

The Emancipation Days of Respect are ''Humanitarian Day'' (January 15th - MLK's Birthday), ''Victims of Violence Holy Day'' (April 4th - Anniversary of MLK's death) and ''Dream Day Quest and Jubilee'' (August 28th - Anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech)

Humanitarian Day
The first of 3 annual Emancipation Days of Respect honoring the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on King's birthday (January 15), the wearing of white is encouraged to show respect and remembrance for all those who have helped change America's unjust laws of racial segregation.

Victims of Violence Holy Day
The 2nd of 3 annual Emancipation Days of Respect honoring the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on the day of King's assasination (April 4), the wearing black is encouraged to show solidarity with victims of slavery and violence.

Dream Day Quest and Jubilee
The third of 3 annual Emancipation Days of Respect honoring the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on the anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream speech" (August 28). The wearing of black and white is encouraged as a show of respect.

WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE???

I think we need a day of respect we could call it: Emancipation Day, a day of unity, respect and remembrance in honour of those who have struggled and sacrified to help the world achieve peace. Oh wait a minute... that might be "World Peace Day"???

Try googling that!

I suggest the 9th of October

Final Leg of Journey:

gassed up in Little Falls NY: $19.00 Odometer: 10062
gassed up near Kingston Ontario: $29.51 Odometer: 10414

got home: Odometer 10585

Too tired to do the math... see my own bed. I've been emancipated.

Leaving Lake George was easy. I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of wax museums and crowds. We slept through torrential downpours and thunder. That part was good.

Today, we managed to watch the sky and avert pockets of pouring rain. We missed a wicked downpour when we pulled into "Ronnie's", a motorcyle shop, in New Ashford. I noticed my microphone was loose in my helmet. They were awesome. Fixed us up with a new screw... no charge. Much nicer than the Honda dealership we encountered in Panama City, Florida!

We took smaller highway routes and the roads were perfect for biking. We went through the "Green Mountains" riding way way up and then all the way down. The scenery was spectacular.

We paid a visit to the Historic Village of Deerfield Massachusetts. This is the town from which my 6th gr-grandparents were taken captive in 1704 and marched through the January snow, over the mountains, into Montreal.

Deerfield in 1704 was a seriously Puritanical society... it's no wonder that Abigail decided to stay with her adoptive native family in Canada. The native culture treated people with far more equality.

I had Fabian take my picture beside some of the monuments to my ancestors. I looked into the library, but frankly, most of the books seemed to offer the same information that I have been able to find elsewhere, already.

A great number of my ancestors, on both sides, started out in the North-Eastern U.S.... way back in the 1600s.

Still, there is something quite humbling about making the trip through the mountains to Deerfield and knowing that 304 years ago, my ancestors were forced to make the trek on foot, in the winter.

Now, we're in Brattleboro Vermont, packing it in for the day. Odometer: 9792 and $24.50 in fuel.

Mileage Report:

We left St. Andrews by the Sea yesterday morning and stopped at the well and much referred Red Rooster for Breakfast. We stopped at St Stephen for fuel, mileage 8673 and $13.02. Onward to the USA.

We stopped near a place called Fairfield and gassed up $10.01 mileage 8835. Lunched at the Sunday River Breweing Co. and then went for fuel $13.51 mileage was 9049. We had a slight sprinkling of rain but there were clouds all around us. We stopped outside North Conway and the mileage was 9144 and we decided we were really tired. We went on to Lincoln New Hampshire and found a motel. Mileage was 9221.

This morning, we left earlier than usual because it wasn't yet raining and they were calling for torrential downpours throughout the state. We stopped at Wells River and got $16.00 in fuel and read the odometer 9281. On to Ludlow Vermont and breakfast at the Cafe At De Light. The odometer was at 9382.

The next gas up was at Whitehall New York... $13.02 and odometer of 9466 and decided to push on to Lake George, we needed to rest, so we booked into a motel. The odometer reads 9524.

Today we were wet most of the way.

I think Fabian is excited to be in Lake George because it is home of Americade... a big motorcycle event... he would like to attend some time. Next year the event runs from June 1 to June 6th.

Not sure where we will find ourselves tomorrow. We have been trying to dodge severe weather that has come courtesy of tropical storm Cristobal and Hurricane Dolly... not that we're in the most seriously affected areas... however, there is still a lot of wind and weather surrounding us.

I'm finding myself missing Ontario, Bancroft in particular.

Well, I haven't been able to blog... we were out of internet service for the past three nights. After we left Riviere de Loup we headed out toward New Brunswick fill up at lunch time where our mileage read 7463 and spending $19.00.

We stopped again near Lake George mileage 7676 and put in another $20 and then off toward Magnetic Hill where we stopped and topped up with a further $19.02 and read the mileage at 7880 km. We crossed the Confederation Bridge and finished the day at Victoria By the Sea P.E.I. and our mileage was 8026. Total so far 1681 Kms and $147.55 in fuel.

We stayed three nights with Homer Sampson and his lovely wife and fabulous family. We feasted on fresh lobster, collected sea shells and toured the landscape. First stop we had only added slightly to the mileage, reading it at 8032 and the following day to the other side of the Island and back 8101 and then 8219 when we finally returned to Homer's.

Last night we held a cribbage tournament for what was left of the best carrot cake any of us had ever tasted! It was so much fun. It was hard to bid our farewells, this morning... they are such lovely folks and spoiled us rotten. I do hope they let us return the favour and come visit Ontario sometime.

We paid a $16.50 toll (for motorcycles) leaving P.E.I. on the bridge... which is something else... quite a feat of engineering. We got rained on, quite heavily for a while. I found myself nodding off on the back of the bike. Seems that P.E.I. has worn us out with relaxation...

We hemmed and hawwed about going to the Cabot Trail (which had been our planned destination). It seems that a tropical storm is visiting the coast and it is unlikely that we would be able to enjoy the scenery of the trail. We decided to scrub that plan for another time.

Our next stop was Shediac for a fill up: Mileage 8335 and $19.01. Then Breakfast at "Bogarts" which was very nice. We stopped again, just outside of St John's... the boss said he was getting weary. Fuel: $14.80 Mileage: 8502 There was a "Tim Hortons" right there, so we had a cup of coffee and decided to head over to St Andrews By the Sea... mileage reads 8633.

It's fun to see the beautiful Algonquin Hotel, my gr-uncle Tony was the executive chef there, for a number of years. You can see the resemblance with other Fairmount Hotels... like the Royal York and the Banff Springs... historic places, really.

I guess St Andrews is almost a theme park these days. While there is a population of 1400 (which is close to size of Barry's Bay), most of the stores close up in the fall, winter and spring. Thank goodness Barry's Bay stays open.

Touring the countryside, I am reminded that Canada is an absolutely gorgeous country and the people are friendly and helpful. Still, I am ready to go home... even though we have another several days planned... but there's no place like home.

Cottage prices in PEI are eerily similar to Bancroft and Barry's Bay... but closer together and they tell me that getting a good well is a bit of a trick. Plus, many of the folks won't do the winter at their cottages... I guess it gets pretty gusty and white.

I'm sure it's pricier here in St Andrews... when we slip out for a bite, I'll do some research.

When we left the suburbs of Bancroft, last evening, we had about 3/4 of a tank of gas in the Goldwing. The odometer read 6345. Fabian has decided to use premium gasoline for the trip, so we're paying for the finest... less gunk and all that stuff.

The Riders met at the Shell Station in Belleville at 9 a.m. and we topped up our tank for $17.50 and read the odometer... it said 6468. The second stop was Ingleside, another $20.01 and the odemeter read 6706. From there, we went to Moe's Diner for lunch. I had an official Montreal Smoked meat sandwich. It was as good as you can get.

Then on to the station beside Moe's where we gassed up for $11.00 and the odometer read 6825..not quite 500 kms for $48.51. We stopped again in Joly, Quebec and put another $21.00 in the tank and the odometer said 7057. We forged onward stopping at St. Alexandre Kamouraska and put $20.02 in the tank, our reading 7275.

We checked in to the hotel about 8:25 at Riviere du Loup and walked over to the local St. Hubert's for some supper.

The weather was sunny. The scenery, was nothing short of staggering. The names familiar to me, from the paternal side of my family tree. Except for congestion in Montreal, the traffic seems to be heavy there, every time we visit... especially just outside the LaFontayne tunnel... the roads were reasonably quiet and comfortable. I have to say that the people in Montreal are very kind to motorcyclists...

I think Fabian sometimes wishes we had taken our Harley... but I do so appreciate the comfort of my cushy seat on the Goldwing... it is such a smooth riding machine... we've been comparing to the Boss... he's riding a Yamaha Star 1100 and seems to be fueling up with the same dollar as we are... and he's been using bronze.

Now the Star is probably about 850lbs, with the Boss and his stuff loaded on it. The Goldwing is probably closer to 1300lbs with us and all of our stuff... which means we've been getting some pretty impressive mileage from our Honda.

We saw a wild looking machine on the 401... some kind of hot rod version of the CanAm Spider... two guys in it... and I have to admit we may have gone 190 kms an hour, for two or three clicks... to catch up so that I could get a picture of it.... the cheeky guy driving it was taking us on a merry chase. I got the pic and we had a laugh... we really don't promote speeding and we seldom do... but... it was one of those "what the heck was that?" moments.

We also saw a lot of CanAm Spiders on the road... and more scooters than ever... I'm going to continue to take notes of our mileage and gas consumption... it's interesting... in light of current gas prices, I'm beginning to think that biking is going to become more popular than ever.

I have been eyeing the trike kits that our Honda dealer installs- they're pretty cool. Incidentally, the guys at Lindsay Cycle are AWESOME! Fabe tells me that Harley is going to be making trikes in factory in '09 or '10. We met a REALLY senior citizen one day and she was very comfortable touring on her trike... so, there is a future for all of us, in the bike world.

So, having written this and called home to check on pets and family, we are plum tuckered out, as they say.

& tomorrow is another day.

It was with mixed feelings that Fabian and I loaded the Goldwing today. Sadly, yesterday the body of young Brandon Zilney was pulled from local waters. He disappeared on his way to work last week, via boat.

Many of the children here, are raised on the waters. They are taught the dangers of weather and waves. Still, accidents happen. This community is the veritable village that raises a child and in the case of Brandon, he leaves a big hole in the fabric of our world. He also leaves identical twin, Lance, two younger brothers to mourn, loving parents, adoring extended family, neighbours and friends.

Fabian remains at a loss for words... and yesterday, when he met with Brandon's father, Lyle, he offered what he said was the longest hug he has ever given another man. "It is every father's worst nightmare", he says he managed to mutter...

When a child goes missing or passes, they become everybody's son or daughter... but Brandon was a particularly popular boy... a prankster and comic, with a smile that lit the room... and he was always available to lend a hand at community happenings. A sportsman and outdoorsman... the kind of boy you simply loved.

Lyle understood when Fabian explained that our prior commitment to an Ontario Real Estate Association Charity Ride will keep us from attending the wake and services that will commemorate Brandon's life and passing.

Earlier this evening, we left our home in the suburbs of Bancroft and made our way to Belleville where we will hook up with the other riders, in the morning. The weather was beautiful, blue sky, fluffy clouds and the birds were playful in the breeze.

We are off... away on this adventure... but our hearts remain at home, with our community.