by George Dyke….
With bright sunshine and temperatures more like summer than autumn, turnout was impressive for Citroën Autoclub Canada’s Fall Outing taking in the “Bridges & Rivers of Waterloo Region”.
See the full photo gallery here.
Our scenic tour began at the at the McDonalds in Milton (on Martin St just south of HWY 401). We drove to Campbellville and headed west toward Cambridge, easing up the west side of Kitchener to Waterloo.
This year’s event was organized by Gord Linkletter and Fanny Gragor. Part of our trip included a visit to Gord’s home in Waterloo. We pulled into Gord’s property marked by his recently restored yellow 2CV (now with a James Bond 007 theme) displayed on the front lawn. We were treated to snacks and beverages while also having the privilege to mull about his impressive car collection. And not just Citroëns, but a concours Pierce Arrow, a Peerless, a Packard Silver Arrow and an Austin Seven – all from the 1930’s, a Jaguar XK-120, a Triumph Stag, a 1942 Cadillac Business Coupe (looking totally original from the outside but with modern drive train), and various vintage Corvettes. As impressive as the cars were, we were in awe of the garage facilities to house them all.
After lunch we departed on the main part of our drive. We headed north of Waterloo through Mennonite country to the covered bridge at West Montrose and then over to St. Jacobs where we took a brief break before heading northwest to Drayton where we stopped at a local park and made an ice cream stop. We overwhelmed the ice cream shop as there was only one girl behind the counter to serve us all. The townsfolk that came in were none to pleased to see the lineup but fortunately the girl was good-natured and kept the shop open beyond the 4 pm closing time until all were served.
After basking in the sun for a bit we took different backroads south, over the Conestogo Lake Dam and back toward Petersburg (just 10 km west of Kitchener) where we stopped for dinner at The Blue Moon restaurant, famous for great German food and good beer. With over 30 of us for dinner we sort of overwhelmed the place, but food delays were more than offset by ongoing conversations about Citroëns and getting to know the many new folks that attended the outing.
This was the best attended fall outing ever in the history of Citroen Autoclub Canada. It was most heartening to see that our Club is stronger than ever with a vibrant Citroën spirit that runs deep.