late summer tar run -- day 1

[Marilyn Mason]

Mason needed tires and the $500.00 + the local stealers were asking didn't 
sit well.  After contacting a couple of the large motorcycle warehouse 
stores I found the Super Store would ship free to any destination in the 
lower 48 states on orders over $100.00.  A pair of tires was $207.00 USA$. 
With the favorable exchange rate this was about $223.00 CDN$.
Rob Schwartz of Hinesburg VT volenteered his house as a destination for the 
tires.
The tires arrived Monday.  The weatherman was promising 4 nice days in the 
northeast.
Tuesday dawned bright 10 C (50F) going to 19 C (65F) so 9:00 hr  I was off.
I went through Ottawa south to Cornwall then east into Quebec.  I crossed 
the St. Lawrence River at Valleyfield and then southwest to Huntingdon QC 
where my Scots anccestors settled in Canada and turned the forest into 
farms.  I'll give them credit as it is probably the best farmland in QC 
being the delta area where the Ottawa River empties into the St. Lawrence. 
Unfortunately good farmland makes for lousy motorcycle roads.
I stopped and visited 85 year old Gladys Renaud (Tannahill) my mother's 
maiden name.  I dropped off some homemade jam & bread, promised to mail her 
my family tree when I got home Then went the 15 km to the USA border at 
Herdman QC just north of Chateauguay NY.
I got border guard Gung Ho Joe.  This guy grilled me for 1/2 an hour.  He 
did find that my driver's licence had expired.  He finally let me go after I 
promised to inform the Ontario authorities about my licence.
I did contact my wife about this but since I had to get a new photo this 
time she could not do anything.  If I was caught it would be a $350.00 fine 
plus my bike impounded until I either renewed my licence or brought some 
means to transport it home.  This gave her something to worry about.
The expired licence forced me to be very vigilant about my speed.  I headed 
east at Chateauguay and crossed into VT at Lake Champlain.
I stopped at a tourist info area in Alburg, got a VT map and had the lunch I 
had packed.
I headed south down through the islands on Lake Champlain.  Not a 
spectacular MC road but very scenic and better than I-89.  I picked up I-89 
just north of Burlington and got off 12 miles later in south Burlington and 
meandered down 116 and 2 to Hinesburg.  I arrived at R&M Schwartz B&B about 
16:30 hours.  I would highly recommend this establishment and I believe Mr. 
Scapatticci would as well.
Rob, Michelle and I went out to a nice eatery for supper.