Compiled by Jason Okolisan
This was my first time driving the infamous Calabogie Boogie Woogie mega marathon tour. I was a tag along passenger in 2013 and enjoyed riding shotgun in a variety of Zeds but this year Erle urged me to drive my Twin Turbo to appreciate the full experience. I reluctantly agreed as it is more driving than I’m comfortable with. I tire easily but knowing there were backup drivers in our group made me feel better.
We departed at 8am in Whitby on Saturday September 26 and put in about 6 hours of driving ending at Ash Grove Inn late afternoon. While others did the additional mini tour of the area, I stayed back and relaxed. We had a nice social dinner at the Inn restaurant. After that we socialized on the motel property and took advantage of our bonus deluxe suite thanks to Mauricio forgetting to cancel his reservation. We didn’t let the room go to waste as it was the party room and Erle and I each had our own suite for the night.
Day two started with a group breakfast and getting organized for the long day ahead. We said goodbye to Randall’s 300ZX which was going home on a flatbed. The rest of the group took off to experience the best roads of the tour. Stops included a huge hydro dam, Calabogie gas station and a restaurant on highway 7 for lunch. A few members departed after lunch while the rest of our intrepid group carried on. With so many fantastic roads and nice scenery plus perfect weather, I was in a state of bliss which gave me the energy to complete the tour.
The tour ended at the 401 onroute near Kingston where Randall joined me for the rest of the drive home to Mississauga. In total I did 1100 km over two days and didn’t get home until 8:30pm Sunday night – day 2 was really long. This was iron butt driving at it’s finest. I’m happy that my recently acquired 1990 300ZX Twin Turbo ran so well and I had the endurance to complete the tour. We had a fantastic group. Thank you to Erle and Wes for putting this event together.
