Vanity Plates Seen at the Kingston Corvette Invasion, June 2018

Although I have not done this before, I took the opportunity to take some photos of the Corvette vanity plates while in Kingston.  I have tried to find interesting ones (not "TimsCar" or something) and here is my haul from two days of plate-spotting:

 

Capital Corvette Club Fall Colours Outing: October 21, 2017

The Corvette season was rapidly winding down and the Capital Corvette Club grouped together one last time for the annual Fall Colours Tour. arranged by Kim and Dave Cruikshank.

After meeting at the usual gathering place at Myers Chevrolet in Kanata, our group of Corvettes cruised leisurely through the countryside, passing Carp, Almonte and Pakenham, and eventually making our way to the village of Balderson.

Originally called Balderson Corners, the little crossroads village was named after John Balderson, a British sergeant who settled there in the late 1860s.  In 1881 a group of local dairy farmers banded together and built a small cheese factory, which became celebrated as the home of Balderson Cheddar.   A little community sprang up, centred on the factory.  The original factory burned down in 1928 but was replaced by another building, which was expanded a number of times.  A cheese shop was opened in 1970 but Balderson Cheese is now made in Winchester, Ontario under the direction of the multinational Parmalat firm.  The cheese shop is now a gourmet shop, with a neighbouring Amish furniture shop and snack bar and that is where we pulled in.

The History of Balderson Village, a sign that contains more information than you can find about Balderson on the Internet!

After everyone had bought their various gourmet items, we hit the road again, continuing down Regional Road 511 in Lanark County, coming to Perth.  

It should be noted that a group of cheesemakers in Perth produced the Mammoth Cheese in 1893.  It weighed 22,000 pounds and was shipped to the Chicago World's Fair, an impressive feat in those pre-refrigeration days.  It subsequently was bought by Sir Thomas Lipton and shipped to England, where it was finally consumed.  Apparently a small piece still exists at the Perth Museum but is not on display due to its fragility.  There is a monument in Perth, a replica of the Mammoth Cheese, but sadly we were not aware of this when passing through.

The Mammoth Cheese, being moved by lots of horsepower

After enjoying some more quiet country roads we were soon on the outskirts of Ottawa and the Cruikshanks brought us to our lunch location, a Scottish pub in Stittsville.  A good time was had by all even if we all knew that the Corvettes would all soon be under cover, awaiting the good weather next year.

Capital Corvette Club Outing to Calabogie, September 30, 2017

The Corvette driving season in Ontario is rapidly drawing to a close and I have already made arrangements with my mechanic for an oil change and minor service before the car goes into storage on November 1.  It has been a terrific year again and looking at the odometer, which now reads over 72,000 kms compared to the 32,000 when the car was purchased by us on April 30, 2015, I feel that the car is being driven as it was intended although 18 months of actual on-the-road time has not been enough!

The Capital Corvette Club's latest outing was led by Wendy Hall.  There was an excellent turnout, with 22 cars present.  Wendy took us from our meeting point at Myers Chevrolet in Kanata westwards through Almonte and past several little villages on pretty--and deserted--roads until we reached our lunch stop, Shooters Bar & Grill in Calabogie.

After a very pleasant lunch, we drove out of the parking lot of the restaurant a short distance and parked along Lake Calabogie for some more photos.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and a bit cool.

Leaving Calabogie, we turned right onto Regional Road 511, which brought us southwards through the hamlets of Hopetown, Herrons Mill, Clydesville, Lanark and Balderson before reaching Perth.  This is an excellent road, with numerous curves and changes in elevation.  I was familiar with the first 20 kms of it as it made up the time trial course I rode a number of times on my bicycle.  But these 63 kms went a lot faster than expected as everyone enjoyed the handling capabilities of their Corvettes.

Reaching Perth, the group split for home, a simple matter of turning east on Highway 7 for Ottawa.