– by George Dyke…..
Our first Citroën Autoclub Canada outing for the 2014 season took place on Saturday May 3. Although an overcast day with a few rain showers, we didn’t let the weather deter our enthusiasm to get out and drive our Citroëns after a long cold winter. Our route took us just north of Toronto’s urban sprawl, into the lovely horse country of King township and over toward the Caledon area.
View the full photo gallery here.
We met at 11 am at l’Arte del caffè on Don Mills Rd. and socialized for a bit before heading out. Paricipants included George and Marijke Dyke, George’s mother Ruth who at 93 was as spy as ever and always up for a Citroen drive, George Klein, Roland Voegele, Jim Sciberas, Gord Linkletter and his girlfriend Fanny Gragor (who drove their newly imported 1974 DS23 Pallas 5-speed, Jeff and Nicole Teerlinck and their friend Gabe Lehner visiting from New York, Peter Svilens and his son Patrick, John Ewasyn and his neighbor Rob and club members Bob Bramwell and Patsy Leung from Nova Scotia who were visiting Toronto and decided to come along for the ride.
Along the way we stopped a Duke Motors in Richmond Hill. Duke does some work on local Citroëns and it served as a convenient place for David McAuley to meet up with us in his 2CV Charleston as he was coming from the north.
As we drove up Heart Lake Rd. George remembered a hill into which the Ontario government built a nuclear bunker in the 1950’s. The path in was still there but the above ground ventilation shafts and access door were demolished about 20 years ago and bunker filled in. Still, it was neat to stand there and imagine the “Dr. Strangelove” era and how the privileged few thought they could survive hindered down under here.
The pleasant surprise for all participants was that we discovered a lovely leisurely way to get across the GTA!
We drove the scenic Forks of the Credit road and took a break at a lovely cafe in Belfountain before heading south toward Oakville. Along the way we stopped in Glen Williams to view the artisan work of glass blowers and local painters on display in a gallery there. Our final destination was Ritorno restaurant in Oakville where we were joined by Chris Deja, John McCulloch and Steve Loria, who couldn’t make the day trip but caught up to us for a delicious dinner.
For those going back to Toronto, we took Lakeshore Rd all the way back. And for whatever reason the was hardly atone on the road for the whole route. The roads had dried, the moon was out and the drive back as simply serene! What a great way to end a fabulous day!
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