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Out of the blue; yes, there is more to say!

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If it is June then it is time again to take to the road. It always seems as though at this time of the year presenting clients at the conferences takes precedence. But who are we to even think about complaining or otherwise raising objections when the daytime hours lengthen and driving for days on end brings with it opportunities to catch up on conversations planned, but never quite started.

There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.

Hey Hey, My My – what an experience it proved to be this time. The photo above was taken as we entered Canada on our way to the picturesque village of Mississauga. Just kidding. This city lies on the outskirts of Toronto, adjacent to their main airport. Perhaps it’s a good time to quote Toronto’s own storyteller, Neil Young. Yes, with the photo above with it’s blue skies and black tarmac, there was a lot more to the picture.

Given that it was June and summer was at hand, we had decided to make the trip from Windsor, Colorado, to Mississauga, Ontario, in our C8 Corvette. However, it took no more than a cursory inspection to determine this coupe didn’t provide us with enough baggage space. For the event we were responsible for transporting the usual conference and exhibition paraphernalia. This time, it included numerous tee shirts featuring our client’s logo and they pretty much filled the Corvette’s frunk.

Having said that, turning to our Jaguar F Pace SVR was no second prize. We had driven almost the same route just last year and this SUV never missed a beat. It turned out that it was a wise choice as it wasn’t long before eating up highway miles become challenging. Notice too we stopped by a roadside travelers’ OnRoute gas and food stop just to sample Tim Horton donuts! This too is a tradition for Margo and me whenever we leave the US and head into Canada.  

Ever read about 11-Mile Road heading north off Interstate 94 just to the west of the I94 junction with I69? Neither had we but our navigation told us to drive up this road, pass through Bellevue before joining I69. This directive simply came out of the blue …

Here's the rub; never before had we seen the major highway network of the eastern states in such repair frenzy. Yes, roadworks were intermittent and reduced travel times to barely a crawl. However, the suspension, brakes and steering of the Jaguar were fully tested and on more than one occasion, we went beyond the pavement boundary to avoid errant drivers trying to avoid potholes that should it have been raining would have taken on the appearance of small ponds.

This year, spring had been generous in afternoons bringing heavy April showers. It has been a few years since we last saw such greenery on display. Later in the year our grasses in the foreground, placed among the roses, will produce golden sheafs. But for now, we will take this lush foliage in our yard and out across the rough alongside the fairway of the golf course we face. The highways may have proved challenging and giving us thoughts about our safety and the possible damage to the SUV and yet, all across the east they are celebrating a spring that has truly delivered this year.

On our return to Windsor, however, mother nature had a change of heart. Rain, yes; cyclonic patterns, well, no! And whether you want to call the conditions cyclonic or simply a tropical storm of wicked strength, no sooner had we settled back into our daily routines than hurricane winds arrived. Unimaginable rainfall occurred over a short timeframe turning the golf course into a series of lakes. Talk about blue to black, more like green to gray with just a literal splash of white as it so happened!

That is not snow or even hail covering the fairway but the lake that quickly formed. For those who follow me on FaceBook, you will have seen some video I took of just how strong the winds were and just how heavy the rainfall became. To think we had been talking about starting the grilling season having only just returned the Weber to near-original condition. Then again, with the amount of water present everywhere we turned we can only assume that the aquafers that our farmers depend upon were receiving a much-needed top-up.

What is called the I25 corridor – the north-south Interstate running from Wyoming down to New Mexico – was simply hammered by the storms that have been ongoing from the day we returned. Here I was looking to wash the SUV after the trip to Canada but no such luck. Our favorite carwash was flooded and out of action. On the other hand, just yesterday, we were hit hard with yet one more afternoon storm and that cleaned off the accumulation of insects present on our grill and windscreen.

Picture this. The first hole on our golf course. Flooded. I took to the road to pick up mail and passed this image of a gold course out of action. The greenskeeper was present and when I asked him about his recommendation when it came to club selection for a quick round of golf he smiled, gestured towards the lake that had formed and suggested all I need was a fishing rod!

There is another line to the song by Neil Young, “When you're out of the blue and into the black.” This perfectly describes the afternoons and no matter your expectations with dawn where blues skies can be seen, by the afternoon there is nothing but black. This still wouldn’t deter us from hitting the highways yet again but with the global pandemic a distant memory and enthusiasm for in-person conferences, we have a lot more miles still to cover. But for now, to have safely covered 3,000plus miles averaging more than 70 miles per hour! Our next trip will, unfortunately, be on a plane.

About that next trip I will leave for a future post as right now, it’s back to Zoom calls and I need more coffee. Safe travels over summer! And as for our dear friends and family back in Australia, perhaps you will be experiencing as much out of the blue as we have these past couple of weeks. As circumstances develop, we may even get an opportunity to pay you a visit down under although, as much as we would like to find a way, we will be unable to drive whether we color this blue to black or any color in between!  


 



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