Special operation “Honeymoon”

Last summer I was so busy with work, volunteering, car events and other unexpected things in my life that I missed the entire camping season. Our camping gear hasn’t moved from the shelf in the closet even once. Compensation in the form of some adventure was needed badly.

How to survive without a one year worth supply of the toilet paper

Should I say that I am lucky? Only 2 weeks ago I came back from a short vacation to the seaside without any concerns about coronavirus. Today some countries closed their borders and airports for international flights, traveling and attending public events considered to be a risk, schools closed, people are buying hand sanitizers, face masks and toilet paper like those items are going to save their lives.
So let's leave panic aside and look at some facts and tips.

See how it was built

Do you know that many car manufacturing facilities offer tours?
For example, if you live in Southern Ontario, you may visit Honda and Toyota plants. If you are willing to drive a bit longer, you may visit Ford Rouge Plant west of Detroit, MI.
Here are some links:
1. Honda in Alliston, ON
http://www.hondacanadamfg.ca/our-tours/
2. Toyota in Cambridge, ON
https://www.tmmc.ca/en/plants/plant-tours
3. Ford Rouge in Dearborn, MI
https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/ford-rouge-factory-tour/
4. Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa, ON
http://www.canadianautomotivemuseum.com/tours


Please feel free to comment and add more interesting tours.

Car review: 2019 Toyota C-HR XLE

We reserved a compact sedan for our one week journey through the mountains. Originally the trip was planned for 4 people, with 2 drivers and 2 suitcases. By the time of the actual trip, however, our group shrunk to two drivers and one passenger, though still with two suitcases. When we got our car, I was glad that we had just three people. 

Our car for a week was the Toyota C-HR XLE. Actually, it was a lucky coincidence, because my partner was considering it for purchase. I was trying to say gently that it is not the car for her. During our trip she came to the same conclusion without my help.

Let's start!

The Grand V-mount Hotel. Part III, the final.

We found a spot in the corner of the parking lot, got our suitcases, and went back to the room. Our food supply was left in the car - we didn't mind attracting bears to our car, but absolutely declined the idea of collecting smaller forms of life in our food. Inside, we were debating if our suitcases may stay on the floor or if we should lift them on the table. I finally risked to check the bed and removed the covers.

The Grand V-mount Hotel. Part II

We took the key and went upstairs. The smell was pretty heavy, even in the stairwell. We got to our room, which was right next to the stairs and the only one on that side of the building.

Even though the reservation was stating that it was a non-smoking room, smokers were visiting the place before more than once. A 20 year old TV was standing on the shelf under the ceiling in the corner of the room. The carpet looked pretty old, so we remained in street shoes. Beds looked smaller than the requested queen size, and they were as aged as a bottle of good whiskey. 

I decided to inspect the bathroom, to which Natty reacted with the question: "Is it safe, or would it be better to use a washroom in the restaurant?"

The place was very suspicious. We had to decide what is safer - to leave the luggage in the car and get it stolen by morning or to bring it upstairs and get a company of bedbugs or other parasites with our clothes.

The Grand V-mount Hotel. Part I

This part of our journey created a good set of memes. I will try to describe the environment in as much details as possible so you could feel the absurd of the situation.

Probably, linking to Tarantino's "Four Rooms" would be the best reference to this story. As I was  saying earlier, our goal was to see as much as possible and spend as little as possible. Therefore we were saving on our stays in hotel by driving from the parks of Alberta to small towns in British Columbia, where prices where much friendlier than in the resorts area.

Still Life

Have you noticed that if you look at the picture for some time,  you see details that were not obvious at the first glance? The longer you stare, the more pieces of the puzzle are getting processed by the brain.

On Friday morning the traffic was heavier than usual. Cars were piling up at the intersections, jumping from one lane to another,  annoyingly tailgating cars in front. A dynamic world with sounds of engines, the smell of cigarette smoke and impatience of drivers was digesting the morning commuters for breakfast.

AB-BC Canada gateway. Or 3 seasons in one week.

We got back from our road trip in Canadian Rockies mountains. Finally, I had a proper test drive of the car on various terrain - tarmac, gravel, wet gravel, mountain road, heavy rain in the mountain and heavy snow in the mountains and on the highway.
2250 km on Toyota C-HR. This car would never get into my short list for car shopping, but overall it is a good compact SUV. God bless the creator of the adaptive cruise control!
Stay tuned!

Love, Peace and Happiness. Part Four.

This is the last part of Tim's collection. To be honest, after posting all 80 photos, I feel like arranging these posts in a different way. I will try to add description to each car and almost every photo for this event. Though it should wait until I get back from the pickup trucks land.

Mr. and Mrs. Hapi Hipi 

Love, Peace and Happiness. Part Two

This part was written by my daughter Alison (yes, I have a daughter and she is a car addict as her mom). I highly recommend reading this part, because it describes our experience in a much better way. And, obviously, tons of photos included. At least two more parts are coming up. Stay tuned and enjoy the Horse Power Heaven!

Love, Peace and Happiness

When you have a real hobby, you start to recognize people who have a similar interest: see familiar faces on the skiing slopes, make friends at the dog shows, get familiar with suppliers of gear for your hobby, etc. Even though we have dozens of clubs, events and types of car related stuff , after a few car shows you will recognize, first of all, cars, but second, people with those cars.
I heard of The Hapy Hipi from the Grand Touring dealership. The rainbow coloured Lamborghini Aventador left me speechless for a good minute! Though, the owner wasn't there, as well as myself having absolutely different business at the dealership that time, I really wanted to take photos of that car and share with you, but I prefer to be respectful to the owner. (you will see the Aventador in the next post, I promise ;)) After that I did a bit of research about Tim and found an advertisement of the charity event at his property. For a few years Tim and his beautiful wife are organizing an open house to collect support for the local Humane Society. Last year 30 000 CAD were collected for a non-killing dog shelter in Alliston, ON. Did I wish to attend the event this year? Definitely, yes!

Toronto taking steps to curb noise pollution; extra loud vehicles targeted

Do you know how I see it? We know that you have money, we will start with you.
Seriously, I agree that kids on power cars are annoying. I hear cars racing on my street all summer long. Though make it the biggest reason for noise pollution is not right.
First, Toronto with suburb is an ongoing construction zone forever. We change watermains, fix roads, build new condos constantly! Near our old house was a new high-rise development and those people we unloading pipes at 6 am!!! We have trains, airplanes, industrial facilities, subways, each of them get their part of noise impact. Nevertheless, it's all Lamborghini's fault.

Maybe, the idea is nice, but my experience shows that the result would be different.

toronto-taking-steps-to-curb-noise-pollution-extra-loud-vehicles-targeted-1.4510740

About luxury lifestyle

This week I went for lunch with my colleagues and we spoke about cars. We have many students working summer jobs or internships this time of year. One of the students mentioned that she is dreaming of getting a purple Lamborghini (Model? Latest model, definitely! Just make it purple, please). The older folks were making fun of her since we are driving Corollas, Civics and Elantras nowadays.
Yesterday we were out for lunch again and another boy, young developer from India, said that he hadn't seen a Bentley or Aston Martin in Canada yet.
So today I had to drop my Mudpuppy for service at the dealership. While mechanics were doing maintenance on my car, we decided to walk around. And guess what? Just on the opposite side of the street there was a Grand Touring Automobiles store. Could we skip the opportunity to visit it? Never!
Especially when they had a purple Lamborghini and black, white, brown (sunset orange), and red Aston Martins right at the window.

Let's go shopping?

The Weekend with Brack Driving Concepts

I was planning to go to this event for more than two years. From my first look at their lesson schedule to my actual participation, I drove over 50,000 km on at least 8 different cars. To be honest, my initial reason was to become a more sporty driver, but my actual visit was to restore my interest in driving (I am simply tired of wasting time behind the steering wheel during rush hours on GTA roads).

Now I can pronounce myself as my own hero – I could wake up at 5-30 AM, drive to the Motorsports Park and be in the class by 8-30 AM!

Lovely morning at SMP