2013 Good Sam Rally Atlanta, Georgia - Getting There and camping

 Oct 16/13 Wednesday - Weather is beautiful, sunny and 70's
We staged our overnight stay so we would have about 1 hour to drive to enter The Rally.  Our entrance was posted for the p.m. which could be anywhere between noon and 5 pm.  We also planned on passing through Atlanta using the west bypass by 10 to 10:30.  Traffic was not so bad, mostly trucks and it worked great. 

Bypass around Atlanta

Getting off I75 at exit 218 for Hampton which is about 30 miles south of Atlanta we pleasantly spotted a grocery store with access for our size so we made a quick stop to replenish our Corona supply and a few food items.  Ten miles up the road we came to the signs to follow right into the Atlanta Speedway parking lot.  870 acres...... wow!   

Atlanta Motor Speedway Map

 

Atlanta Speedway in the distance.... What is waiting around the corner?

Coming to the gate we could see some campers already setup - Wow when did they get here??? We came in on an early bird day thinking we would be avoiding the crowd.  Ha Ha so that means all these campers came in on Tuesday or Wednesday morning....  Keeners!

First lot of campers we came upon

 
The volunteers were so well organized and they just kept signalling us with flags to move.  On the inside  front of our window we placed a large barcode and color coded entry form. 

Volunteer guiding us to our spot

 They had us pulled right up to the Speedway wall lot and hooked up to 30amp power in about 10 minutes.  No water or sewers but we did pay extra for the 30amp power, $240 for 5 nights (price includes all seminars, events, entertainment, camping).  By the time we put out our slides and looked around we were swallowed up by the coaches and trailers!  We had never been to any parking for a concert or game event that was so well controlled.

The Bourne's Rig setup in front row of parking lot with power

We put out our chairs and had a refreshment to congratulate ourselves on getting here, getting setup, and enjoying the excitement of camping with 2,600 other campers:)

Front of our site

Before the end of the afternoon we caught a shuttle to the Registration hut inside the track.  There we picked up our goodie bag and name badge lanyards that must be worn around our neck for the entire Rally to get in all the events.

On the Road Again..... to the Good Sam/Camping World National Rally

Oct 13, 14, 15  Beautiful Fall weather 

Our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend was a final visit with our family and then on the Sunday morning we pulled out and headed to Ohio for our first night.  The road to the Ambassador Bridge is quite the construction zone..... hope someday it will be across the Detroit River and not the bridge to nowhere???

It is becoming a good habit to stop and see our Buckeye friends near Van Buren, Ohio.   We first met them years ago in Aruba and we love to stop and see them and talk about our favorite island.   Even had a couple of Margarita's - right Beth & Bill?

Quaint little campground close to them is Pleasant View Recreation  Fall leaves were beautiful.
Next day we drove to Corbin, Kentucky and pulled into the KOA which has some nice long sites set in a nice treed area.  Tuesday we drove just to the north side of Atlanta to another KOA Cartersville there were many campers in tonight headed to the Rally tomorrow!!
So far only 710 miles from where we started and 3 easy days on the road.  We sleep in and pull off the freeway early.  All 3 days were good warm weather and putting us in a perfect spot to head into the rally tomorrow which is on the south side of Atlanta.  It is being held at the Atlanta NASCAR speedway.   We received a package a month ago with lots of info.  There are tours and seminars and entertainment at night and exhibitors and new motorhomes.  So much to do and see so we better get our walking shoes ready..... we will definitely have a few blog notes from this event in the next few days.     Take a look at the link to this event  The Rally
I know we have a few friends and my brother who love the Bluebird Wanderlodge coaches..... had to snap a couple of shots of this beautiful older coach while we were in Cartersville.

Scene of a Marina on the back!!!!

 

Skies in Erieau

Red sky at night sailors delight, Red sky in the morning sailors take warning .....

The small village of Erieau gives you a great fall sunset on the Lake Erie beachfront and in the morning we get a rising sun over the waters to the east towards Rondeau Shores.  Truly beautiful.

So we have not been on the road much this summer but realized that we have some wonderful moments to enjoy right here. 

Quilting Fool

As some of you know I have found a new hobby and want to learn enough to be capable of making some projects this winter.... Machine Quilts.   My old sewing machine was good to me for forty years; but I just couldn't resist a new Baby Lock.    Wow it's like going from the Dinasour age to the Space age.   This machine is awesome, just wish I knew how to use it!!!  Seriously I am reading all 4 manuals slowly and doing a small project, a table runner to learn.  I am taking a 7 week quilting class at Quilting Confections. The ladies are super nice and so helpful and our teacher Heather made us feel at ease while teaching us all the tricks to making a beautiful quilt. Then when we are down south I can feel comfortable stitching away.  "Oh and yes all our kids and grand kids and friends and family will be getting quilts from here on....  Ha ha!"

Erieau in August 2013

Summer seems to have cooled down into the mid 70's.   Local's say summer forgot to come to Ontario this year. 

Ahoy there mate is your captain aboard???  Looks like a Tall Ship has pulled into our harbour.  This sailing ship came in one night and her home port is Halifax, Nova Scotia!!! She is a little ways from home. 

There was a big Art and Craft show in the village boulevard last weekend.  We met many old friends and saw some cool stuff.  See what you can make from junk?  

And the neatest idea was a photographer that takes pictures of letters in day to day items then puts the letters together to spell a picture word !!!! 

I have not seen this before and thought it was pretty nifty.....

Driving on Toll Roads

Very interesting difference between the U.S.  and Canada when it comes to the cost and the reason why.

We have used the toll roads in Texas around Houston and in Florida around Orlando with minimal charges.  The highest cost was around $8.00 and you have to pull into a toll booth with an attendant.

So in Toronto we took the 407ETR to avoid heavy traffic and learned the heavy cost of not having a toll booth attendant! Let's employ more people Canada!!!

It is an Automatic $50.00 for the video charge for a heavy vehicle RV or commercial.  The only way to avoid this charge is to sign up for a transponder yearly.  The FAQ's state you need to use it a minimum of 4 times to make it economically feasible.   Oh and that $50 is not your toll fee that is additional.  Ours was $24 running from the on ramp in Milton westbound to the off ramp for Hwy 400.  So it's a matter of easier driving at a cost of $75 one way....   Something to know when driving around Toronto:)

Your other option is to take 401 Hwy which is traffic jammed most every day or find a hwy that meanders thru the countryside.  The downside would be your time and diesel fuel sitting in traffic.  Roads in the atlas don't tell you the dollars but sometimes it's worth your sanity!

Stop and Smell the Flowers in Port Carling

July 15 & 16 Record temps 94

Well we wished for nice weather and I guess we got it!

We left on the Harley's Monday to avoid the weekend cottage crowd, which was a great idea.   Who knew it would be sweltering?   It was the hottest 2 days we have spent riding in all our trips.  But the scenery was beautiful and we rode along the lakes and water as much as possible.  You can use the Ontario Backroads Maps to chart out plenty of less travelled scenic roads.

Lake Simcoe, Severn Falls, Bala, Port Carling, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Jackson's Point and Keswick were a few of the places we visited. Our round trip was close to 250 miles which was the perfect amount to split in half with our starting/ending base in Cookstown. We stayed in a wonderful B&B called The Manse in Port Carling ...exceptionally nice hosts Bill & Linda had unique suites for us and a pampered chef breakfast the next morning.

Our suite had the Noah's Arc theme with so much great attention to detail; it was a Methodists Minister's early 1900's period home till they converted it into a B&B.  

This was Barb and Les's first overnight trip. We have ourselves a Bike Gang now!

Innisfil countryside & Creemore Springs

July 13/2013 warm weather and a heat wave coming

Toronto North/Cookstown KOA. Is a great spot if you want to have friends visit since they have several cabins for rent.  Our friends Les and Barb are doing the extreme lodging.... They just spent a few days in a beautiful pampered setting at St. Anne's Spa and have arrived here and settled into a "rustic" cabin! 

We are planning on doing some motorcycle riding together.  Les and Billy decided the first destination should be the craft brewery in Creemore Springs.  There are two twisty roads to ride; east on side road 20 off Airport Road along Pine River then north on 24 head west to Creemore on county road 9. Pretty scenery.   Then of course a little taste testing:)

Creemore Springs Brewery, Creemore Trail Run

July 6/2013   Hot Humid Day
Our friends have come to camp with us for the weekend and what a treat it was to have company.   Bonnie and Jim are joining us on an excursion to Creemore today to watch our son-in-law run in the 25km Trail Run.     The run is set along a river area and very woodsy and hilly.   So we are getting ready for the run and catch up with our kids Calea/Kevin (running the race) and baby Iyla.

Apparently this is a "fun" run.   Although we are not sure about running 25km(15miles) in an all terrain setting as our choice of fun!   Can you believe Kevin did the 3 am feeding and then came to the race early to take off and even came in 3rd for the 25km???

To round out the fun part we headed off after the race to the nearby Creemore Springs Craft Brewery.   It is a very cute little town with beautiful flowers decorating the streets.

The Brewery has tours and sells their different types of beer.  There several different little restaurants and shops on the main street, it is a great one day destination.

Serious RV from Holland

July 6/2013
One thing that campers do everyday is walk around the campground to see what's new and what's interesting.   It is definitely like window shopping.   Here is a rig that we have never seen before.   This family actually shipped their entire unit from Europe and what a rig it is!  It was a full size transport truck and trailer all reconditioned into a spacious bright blue RV.

Oh and not to worry if you think camping in a truck is a tough life, the back had a drop down ramp where they could drive their Mercedes Benz inside !!!!

Toronto North/Cookstown, Ontario

June 27 to July 27/2013 Summertime weather in Southern Ontario, tends to very humid and it has been.  We are running our A/C to keep out the dampness.

We have traveled to this area to be closer to our four kids that live in Toronto and for a very special occasion,,,, a new granddaughter!
Iyla Skye came into the wonderful world on June 23.

  In the last week we have been able to see her quite a few times as our campground KOA Toronto North/Cookstown is about 25 miles away.  We like this campground for its amenities too and nice big pull thru sites.

 

This is a great central spot for visiting Toronto with our kids and grandkids and doing some nice motorcycling riding on our free days.  You can use this as a base area and head in 3 directions, East, West and North.  We recommend not south as you will be into the Greater Toronto Area before you know it and it is NOT biker friendly riding.

We found a nice twisting road following a river bed and then we dropped down towards Orangeville and followed the Hockley Valley Road.  It seemed "all" the other bikers and bicyclists had the same idea.   We were riding alone and then all of a sudden we came upon a group ahead of us and voila!   There is a ski area so you know the road is going to have some nice scenery.  We stopped in the little town of  Hockley at the General Store and Cafe.   It was a great bite to eat and perfect spot to watch bikes coming and going.

Roadrunner Magazine

We really enjoy Roadrunner magazine and have subscribed for the last few years since we bought our Harley.  Each month It highlights a special 4 day ride where you make a base camp in one spot then ride a different direction making a 4 leaf clover but funny the mag calls it The Shamrock tour.  With the article you get 4 tank maps to take on the ride which you can download to your GPS as well.

At the end of every month the mag posts pictures of avid readers out on their own rides and we made the latest edition!!! August 2013.  Billy is the bottom right corner - it's a pic of him in Prince Edward Island last summer.

Grande Pointe carved statues

June 9 Sunny day high of 80 breezy

We have been out riding for the last two days and it never fails you always see something new.  We met our riding friends for breakfast and stopped in the village of Grande Pointe to walk around these carved statues - really great pieces!

Construction zone

May 30  warm 75 finally!

At our campground we have some action going on and Billy cannot stay away from it!!!  The owners are preparing the infrastructure to bring in four park model trailers of which one is for them.  They will have a gorgeous view of the Lake Erie shoreline plus a view of Rondeau Bay.

Equipment has been excavating and workmen down in trenches pulling in water lines and the next thing I know Billy is missing .....?   As you can imagine "YOU CAN TAKE THE CONSTRUCTION OUT OF THE MAN BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE THE MAN OUT OF THE CONSTRUCTION!!!! 

There he is having a ball in the middle of the trenches and equipment. 

Here is the unit now put together; it came in two pieces.  The fellows put it together in four days.  There is a surprising amount of room inside; close to a thousand square feet.  The company is from Hensall Ontario - General coach.