Sep 14 - traffic

There was zilch traffic on 522 and 69 at 4am in the morning on Sunday ... surprise surprise.  I didn't start seeing the occasional car until I was just north of Barrie around 6am.  The trip back was something else -- not enough southbound traffic to slow things down, but a surprising number of traffic strings heading south.  Anxious drivers were out passing, reducing their arrival time by seconds, no doubt.  I kept an eye on those heading towards me but no one got very close.

Although there are many things that I don't like about this car, it does roll well.  At sub-2000 rpm, being the diesel, it must be easy on the engine to cruise along at about 100kph, plus/minus.  I'm getting about 27.5 mpg, which is a heck-of-a-lot better than the old X5.

I stopped at a couple of Tim's along the way basically to kill some time.  There was no point in arriving at the Church on Highway 7 in Markham 45 minutes early for Mass.  Mass finished just before 9am and the meeting at the Mains Mansion downtown Markham was only minutes away.  We had a lot to cover in our meeting so we didn't wrap up until a little after noon.  That got me to Barrie about 1:30 and I hit Costco and Home Depot before heading north again.  I also stopped in Parry Sound and was home around 5pm.

Jason, Lo, Gavin and Kim stopped over a bit later; they're heading back south today, Monday, and expect to be back on Thursday.

I'm sorting out my travel plans for the Natchez Trace 1500k in Tennessee.  I have to be there by Monday afternoon (I had been thinking Tuesday afternoon), so that means leaving Sunday at the latest to make it a two day trip.  I've exchanged emails with Ken Mercurio in Monroe OH and will likely stay with him overnight on Sunday night.  The other thing that I've toyed with is staying with Dick in Sarnia on Saturday night, but haven't decided on that yet.  If I drive straight through to Monroe it will be somewhat late in the day to get to Ken's and I'll have to get to Mass in Sudbury on Saturday.  If, on the other hand, I visited Dick and Nuala, I could get to Mass in Sarnia on Sunday morning and then head across the border and onto Ken.  Decisions, decisions ...

Today, don't know.  The weather is iffy for biking, looks good for Tuesday and Thursday so that's what I might do.  I could get onto the trainer for a bit today.  This is the time of year when I don't feel the every-second-day urge.  It's my downtime.  I hope that I don't regret downtime when I get to Tennessee !

Onward !