Interest has been good so as of today (March 15) I'm moving ahead with this plan. Please post here, PM or email me & I'll get a list of confirmed attendees started.

List of Attendees:

Buck Spunni - Chris & Julie
Ottawa John - John & Sue
v2addict - Angelo & Lynda
tonygg - Tony & Gaia
Rusty - Gwen & Gerry
Singerron - Ron &
Rapp's - Anne & Gary
Jerry & Gwen
Lorne & Elaine (Saturday only)
Norm
SparkieSRT6 (Saturday only?)
Beaner ?
Dave (Saturday only?)
Pitmarshall (Saturday only)

Here's what I have in mind so far:

Victoria Day long weekend, May 16-19.

Friday evening. Casual dinner somewhere convenient for the folks that are staying in town on Friday night (Jack's?). Sorry, but the band gig I had planned for a real night out got cancelled. Grrr!

Saturday. Gather at the Holiday Inn Express at 9:00AM, short hop to St Jacobs Village, check out the village & perhaps take a nature walk to the mill weir. Approx 10:00AM drive to West Montrose for photo opps at the last covered bridge in Ontario. Then off to Elora/Fergus for lunch & sight-seeing followed by a walk around the Elora Gorge Park. Return to Waterloo to overnight. Dinner at a nearby German family style restaurant (The Blue Moon) for schnitzel and perhaps a beer

Sunday. Gather at 9:00AM, Waterloo Holiday Inn Express parking lot. Follow the Grand River south past Cambridge to Dunnville. Cross country over to the Bruce Trail near Hamilton with a stop for lunch (at The Binbrook Grill) and then meander south along the Escarpment stopping to see several waterfalls along the way. There's a selection of different kinds of falls - cascades, steps etc, some are close to the road, others involving an easy hike through conservation land. Planned itinerary to end late Sunday afternoon somewhere near Niagara Falls leaving you free to start your trek home or perhaps finish up your holiday weekend with a romantic night at The Falls - your choice.

Note: this is intended as a sight-seeing tour, not a drivers challenge like The Dragon. Wear appropriate shoes as some of the locations I'll be hitting will involve some nature walking to get to the waterfalls, unless you just plan on hanging around in the parking lots and chatting.

 

Sounds like a great time. Should be in for all or at least part of the event. Too early to confirm but it sure sounds great right about now.

 

Suzanne & I are in. It sounds like a great tour all around. I'm looking forward to the Friday night, the Saturday, and the Sunday - all of it. And if people haven't heard your band yet, they're in for a real treat!

 

Hey Chris, sounds like a great tour, Lynda and I would like to make that GTG.
And to any of the others in the group, I had the opertunity of getting a cd of this band from Chris and I love this band, they have a great raw sound.

we're in!

v2addict

 

We are in for the Friday to sundry cruise...sounds like a fun Roadtrip...keep us informed...thanks.

 

Yep, we are in. Grew up in Kitchener and know all the locations you mention all too well!!! Didn't the historic Market in St. Jacobs burn down last year?

 

The main market building did indeed burn. They're functioning under a temporary structure right now but the old mill building & shops are OK.
I'm trying to coordinate the Friday night with the venue. Once I get that sorted out I'll be able to finalize the dates. Stay tuned. As soon as the dates are set I'll start a new thread with a sign up sheet, itinerary etc. Bear with me folks, this is the first time I've tried organizing something like this, but hey, it's got to be easier than herding cats, eh?

 

It's time to BUMP this one up. Just in case you didn't see it before or have let it slip your mind. And have you listened to the Friday evening entertainment? https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/cr...ad/id550175755 What a great start to a great cruise.

 

Hey Chris...time to start a confirmation thread? We are in and I want to book a hotel room for the Sat night.
Give us a confirmation including itinerary when you can....

Tony

 

we would be interested,let us know.

 

It IS on. Basic itinerary is as in my first post. No Friday band gig though...I had it all set up but the club has cancelled all live entertainment & I couldn't line up an alternate. If folks still want a night out on the Friday to kick things off I'm sure there'll be somebody decent playing if we want to catch a band, otherwise we can get together for a meal & drinks somewhere.
My life has been a little hectic lately so I apologize if my lack of details has put people off. I'll try & get it together with some specifics this weekend, but there's not really that much to add to what I already sketched out. I really want to do a dry run to some of the locations to scout out parking & how much walking might be involved for the waterfalls on the Sunday, and as you're well aware that hasn't really been possible since we still had feet of snow up until recently.
All are welcome - the more the merrier - and anyone from the warm side of the border is free to join us in the land of permafrost. Don't forget your snowshoes & thermal underwear
I'll make a concerted effort to get back to everyone that has expressed an interest in this GTG this weekend. For now I'll keep a list of confirmed attendees up in post #1.

 

Thanks for that Chris. I just booked the Marriott in St Jacobs for the Sat night. My first choice; the Waterloo Inn was sold out due to the long weekend. If others haven't booked a room yet, I suggest you do as prices are going up the closer to the date, including availability that may not be there.

The Crossfire is going for its first ride this coming Sunday and will be taking its eTest next week. It came out of winter hibernation last weekend. Fired up right away and was running great. No idiot lights. Insurance was put back on. We look forward to the summer GTG's and seeing everyone again....

 

That's great Ron - we look forward to seeing the two of you again. Let me know where you're going to cross the border and when. Suzanne & I will be leaving Friday a.m. Maybe we can parade down together.

Tony - I'm too cheap to pay $150.00/night for the least expensive room. I know that Chris is looking into accommodations as well, so he may come up with something first. (And then we will pay whatever we have to if things are filling up!) LOL

 

Yea, it hurt when my first choice was sold out. With my discount, the Waterloo Inn was hovering around $100. The Marriott with my CAA discount and membership card, got the price down to $120. Looking forward to seeing you and Sue. It's been a long #*%&!! winter.....

 

Seems that a lot of the hotels are busy that weekend. Tony & John are at The Marriott which is apparently full now. Ron is at the Holiday Inn Express and there are still rooms there. Both of those hotels are at the north end of Waterloo close to the Saturday morning gathering which will be in the village of St Jacobs, just a few minutes drive from Waterloo.

 

Hi everyone, is there just 1 Holiday Inn Express in Waterloo.?
we would like to boo,
k a room there, are most of us staying there Friday and Saturday night or Sat, Sunday.

Angelo V2addict
?

 

This is the North Waterloo one.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Waterloo - St. Jacobs Area - Waterloo, Ontario
There's one in Kitchener too.

It's a few minutes from St Jacobs and right next to the Farmers Market. We'll be staying away from the Farmers Market as it tends to be a bit of a zoo on Saturdays, unless everyone wants to go, in which case we can. This is intended to be a sight-seeing cruise...we can make that call later once everybody that's coming chimes in.

As far as which nights to book - Friday & Saturday nights puts you close for the starts of the Saturday & Sunday runs. We can finish the Sunday run down near Niagara if folks want to stay at The Falls Sunday night. My planned itinerary will finish up with the end of the Sunday run and I'm open to suggestions as to whether to do the Sunday afternoon waterfalls north to south or vice-versa.

 

Chris,
I'm still hoping to take part in at least some of the cruise. I'm about an hour and 15 minutes from St. Jacobs so we may just meet on the Saturday morning mtg place and go for the day. I'll keep watching this thread.

 

It takes you an hour and 15 minutes? You should be ashamed of yourself

 

It's going to take me 6 1/2 hours just to get to the event. Sunday I vote for doing the waterfalls north to south. I would like to cross into New York Sunday night to start home.