Monday

We loaded Big Red with our luggage and took it down to the dock. Tommy met us and took us to the marina.

Our first stop on the way to St. Catharines was at Tim Horton’s.

We had lunch in a park in Markham, ON.

We checked in to the hotel and registered for the convention.

We are on the 9th floor, 3rd from the left. We have an excellent view of the back parking lot and the sunsets.

Our room is a true suite, with a separate bedroom. The kitchen has a stove, microwave, and full-size refrigerator.

The convention fees included a drink & “snack” each evening. The snack this evening was Poutine. We paired it with a glass of Pino Grigio. The pair was enough, so we didn’t go out to eat.

Tuesday

A full breakfast buffet (included) was followed by the Welcome Meeting. After lunch (our usual sandwiches) the ladies gathered for the Group Photo.

That was followed by the parade. It took about an hour to get 250 bikes staged for the 11-minute parade.

The snack this evening was nacho chips and, again, we paired it with Pino Grigio.

Wednesday

Beth was up at 6:00 a.m. for the Pajama-rama and to get her starting time in the Dot Robinson Road Rally

Lunch at Harley dealer. We had a choice of pulled pork or a hot dog.

You know we are fans of the Harley Road Glide. The dealer had at least 15 of them lined up and ready to sell.

Beth’s bike had been making a squealing noise on the left side when she put on the rear brake. We replaced the rear brake pads just before we left, but I thought it would be good to have them checked out. The Harley dealer couldn’t look at it for a week, so we found an independent shop, V Twin Garage, that agreed to have a look.

While he was working on it, we went to a nearby grocery store and had coffee and a cannoli.

As soon as we sat down we got a call that the bike was ready. It turned out to be a dirty drive belt, not the brakes. He sprayed the belt with some stuff and we were good to go.

Tonight the snack was tacos. Pinot Grigio goes well with that as well.

Thursday

After the breakfast buffet, Beth checked DRRR scores. She scored 993 – that’s 6 points deducted for being early at three check points. That’s pretty good, but not near the winning scores of 1000 – 998.

The business meeting lasted until about 2:00 p.m. I worked on the blog and made our travel plans for the next few days.

The banquet was in the evening.

They gave out a few statistics and lots of awards.

Motor Maids in attendance: 408
Guests: 91

Total direct miles to convention: 279,294
Total touring miles to convention: 443,829

Tomorrow we’ll go exploring.