Final Thoughts On Fontana

I decided to leave my wrap-up post until today so that I would get back into my usual Tuesday routine.  I may actually make another post later with a video or two that I shot while there, but they take FOREVER to upload to Blogger, so I haven't done that yet.  I may just start the upload before I head to work this morning and then complete the process tonight when I get home.

Overall the trip was a huge success.  We had some rough weather at the beginning, but it didn't take long for that to transition into perfect sunny days.  It's a terrific area to just go and relax, and I can definitely see myself returning for a camping trip.  The natural beauty of that place would only be enhanced by getting deep enough into the woods that you couldn't hear the rumble of passing Harleys, or the shrill scream of a Mini's supercharger.

It was my first time going to a car meet, and I found the concept to be pretty comical really.  It all starts to make sense once you realize that 95% of the people there have no interest in driving, it really is just a social event.  I've heard the same thing occurs in the motorcycling world, where people will organize "rides" which just consist of everyone riding to a restaurant, having a good time together, and riding home.  Looking at photos of the roads around Fontana you'll see groups of many different types of cars, and it makes me realize that there are going to be clubs for owners of just about every type of car out there.  I think for a lot of people the car is just a common denominator, it's a way of meeting people and knowing that you'll have at least one thing to talk about.  It was a fascinating thing to watch unfold from an outsider's perspective.

The drive home from Fontana was smooth and largely uneventful.  We hit some pretty heavy rain through Kentucky, but aside from that it was dry roads and light traffic the whole way through.  That was actually a bit surprising given that the weather report was calling for severe rain throughout the better part of the Eastern United States.  Oh well, it worked out well for us.  Huge stretches of the North-bound I-75 through Ohio and Michigan were under construction, but even that didn't really slow us down too much as it was well organized, and that's a big enough highway that it can afford to lose a lane here and there.  The trip back to Petrolia took us just slightly in excess of 12 hours.  With Gray and I switching off regularly it was a pretty simple drive.

Unfortunately when we got up in Petrolia on Sunday the weather report was calling for horrifying thunderstorms.  I think at one point the weatherman actually screamed "lock up your women and children the Vikings are coming!"  Given the "end is nigh" weather report I opted to leave my motorcycle in the shed and my parents' place and drive home with Gray and Susan.  Of course it was slightly cloudy, but otherwise beautiful weather the whole way home.  It would have made for an exceptionally nice ride home.  Grrr... this is why I only read printed news, live coverage of anything, from politics to weather, is always marred by this deep desire by the presenter to inject it with drama.  Printed news tends to be less focused on being a spectacle and more focused on delivering accurate information.  Okay, that's my rant for the day.  I'm still just upset that I don't have my bike.

Well, the time for me to head to work approaches rapidly my friends.  I'll leave you here and pick up again next Tuesday.  I don't know what I'll write about now that I don't have Fontana to obsess over, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.  Have a good week.