Compiled by Erle Strauss
I met a number of members at the ONRoute, King City, on Hwy 400. By the time we all met at Eric’s cottage there were approximately ten cars.
Ed Muth had come with a nephew from Germany to share one of our tours. Ed also performed a car appraisal for me of my newly done over Z32, now called “The Dragon Z” with it’s new paint & new front with new logos.
Most of us brought food for a picnic lunch at Lock 42 of Trent Severn Waterway. We made a quick stop at Ciao, Chow, Ciao on the way to the locks for gourmet takeout for those who hadn’t brought their own lunch. Weather was dry & hot & at this location there was a great view of one of very many locks of this waterway system. After lunch we all drove to Bala, following the Trent Severn waterway, including Southwood Road, as always. An unusual treat was the swing bridge at Sparrow lake. In all the years we have been doing this tour the bridge was open, but this year we were just in time for a large cruiser to pass through so the bridge had to be swung open to let him through. The 10 minute delay was well worth it as we were all able to get out of our cars and watch the bridge swing open for him. We re grouped after a few stragglers took a wrong turn for a short photo op at Bala Falls.
From there I went on a “long tour” by myself to north of Bala. Others wanted to take a more scenic shorter tour led by Eric to The Big Chute to see the Marine Railway. This is a one of a kind sight where they take boats on a large barge on railway tracks. These tracks join one lake to another nearby lake.
We all had a “pot luck” dinner at Eric’s cottage to finish the event. Lots of food & drink with lots of stories to tell. Eric’s yard is on Bass Lake where we had a beautiful fire. Great venue with a great host, Eric.
