As far as tours go, Kawartha Lakes has been quite popular for the past few years. There’s always plenty of people joining us, and the Kawartha winery and the BBQ at Bill Husar’s cottage has become a feature everyone looked forward to. So when tour organizer Erle announced a week prior, that the tour had been postponed till October, many of us were surprised to say the least. I was planning to go, but in reality I had not confirmed my participation. It looked like I wasn’t the only one, as others quickly responded and this popular tour was back ON again!
Of course by then couple of the usual participants had arranged for other plans, as soon as the cancellation was announced. Such was the case for Lou Pereira who had his daughter’s Birthday party to go to. He was disappointed and so was I because I had something planned.. more on that a bit later. But joining us after a long hiatus was Anthony Giancola, all ready to let the top down and enjoy the drive his better half Daniella.
We got together at the usual East end Timmies and started off. The plan was to get to the Locks at Buckhorn where we would have lunch. Although it was a bit colder in the morning, by the time we stopped for the first washroom break near the Locks, sun was out & it was getting warm. We had our lunch by the waterway, watching the boats being lowered and raised, to go up or down the Lake.
We then headed off to the very popular Kawartha Wineries. It was here an year ago, Mr. Pereira added a new element to the right rocker panel of his Z32 in the form of a “gash”, while pulling out, parked between the rocks. So I paid homage to our buddy by carving his name on the rock he “kissed”, and also took a picture with Mauricio to remind him of the incident for many years to come.
Back on the road again, we enjoyed the rest of the drive with tops down. We passed Mosport Park on the way, and found it packed with Caravans and vehicles. It wasn’t for any Motor Race but for a Country Music Festival, that was taking place through the weekend. We reached Bill’s cottage much earlier than we had expected. He had the BBQ going and we brought the beers & other side dishes we purchased at Buckhorn to make it a good feast. Some of us were still full from our heavy lunches, however it didn’t stop us from enjoying what Bill had prepared for us. For his wonderful gesture of hosting us, we raised some funds and Erle announced that a donation will be made on behalf of Bill & his family to a charity he knows.
This was my second trip to his cottage, which is right in front of the lake. Parking the cars right to the edge of the lake on his beautiful lawn makes the perfect picture time! We took some good pictures of the cars as well as with our better halves enjoying a great view. We spent a good couple of hours at Bill’s before finally heading back to our homes. Mauricio, Erle, Dave & myself drove back together stopping on the way at Timmies for coffee & Tea.
