Modern Vespa

Yippeeeee! My vacation starts on Friday morning and I'll be gone for three weeks. Going home to visit family, old friends and meet some new friends at the Twisted Wheel Scooter Rally put on by the Toronto Scooter Club on July 18! I can't wait. I'm especially looking forward to meeting Benny, Timbits and a few of the other TSC members!

I will also be picking up my (new to me) 2007 LX150 from Motoretta on Saturday, July 11 and am really looking forward to some nice loooong rides around the city and out into the country. My family and I are going up to Clevelands House on Lake Rosseau (in Muskoka) for several days and after the rally, I'll be visiting friends in Muskoka, Huntsville and possibly Tobermory.

Knowing that I will have a nice scooter to ride (instead of my brother-in-law's hulking great Range Rover that he normally loans me) has really got me excited. I am just itching to get out on the roads!

I'll be taking my Flip Mino video camera with me and will hopefully get some good video footage of the rally. I have no clue how to upload to Youtube ... but perhaps someone in Toronto will know how to do it?

Today, I just rec'd notice of my final invoice and bill of lading for my brand new LX125 which will unfortunately arrive here in Tortola while I am away. My assistant will take care of picking it up from the dock and bringing it to the house for me. So I will have something to look forward to when I get home as well!

Life is good!!!

Hey Lianne, we're looking forward to having you up here too. I can't wait to meet you and your new scooter. I think you'll love the group ride we're planning, even though it is all in city, you'll be seeing some uncity like scenery along the way. See you on the 17th if you're coming out to the pub or on the 18th at the rally.

Hi Benny and thanks for the welcome! I am so looking forward to meeting you! As much as I'd like to make the pub night ... my brother-in-law is a bit jealous of my time and since I am staying with them, it may be considered bad form to dump them for two days in a row. But I am going to try it on for size and see what the reaction is.

Normally, my weekends are pretty packed with family events when visiting but I told them months ago to forget planning anything on the 18th. I thought telling them not to plan anything on the evening of the 17th as well ... might be pushing my luck. But we'll see!

During the week, when my brother-in-law is at work, I have nothing but time on my hands and plan to do a lot of shopping for things we simply can't get in the islands ... which is about 85% of everything you would find in any major North American city. I have a huge shopping list this year as I haven't been home for two years and am in desperate need of all sorts of stuff from linens to clothes and household goods! My shipping bill is going to be huge this time around!

Anyway ... I can't wait to meet you and if I don't see you on the 17th, just look for the dragon red LX150 (with all the chrome - except the front rack) a Givi top case, cut down leather seat (like the one in my avatar) and a middle aged, pleasingly plump blond with a big, silly grin ... in a black and white TourMaster jacket and open face helmet. Depending upon the weather, I will either be wearing shorts or blue jeans.

No Toreador Pants lectures please!

Have a great vacation, and a great trip! Sounds like you'll have a wonderful time.

Have a wonderful trip. I was just up in Toronto a couple of weeks ago. Lots of scooterists about. I stopped in at Motoretta on College and ate a great dinner almost right across the street at a place called Sidecar (coincidence?).
Another wonderful dinner was has at the Beer Bistro on King.
Enjoy!
Chuck

Have fun and my bunny is jealous and wants to go with you since that's the day he gets neutered Aren't shorts the new Toreador Pants Hope you have some great weather. I can't wait til i get my scooter in NY this year. Come next fall i'll be crusin 'round those back roads watching the leaves turn Stay safe.

Have fun! Scoot safe!

Will look forward to seeing your video posts when you get them up.

Maybe you'll be able to "get credit" for the scoot miles you accumulate on vacation, to get to 10k miles, that you have a hard time reaching on your 21 sq. mile home turf. ( from that other thread. I loved your comment! )

you're excited about leaving paradise to go to toronto????

just kidding - have a great time

Yeah, yeah, I know. But the answer is a resounding YES! Paradise is lovely and I wouldn't trade it for anything ... but it does become rather confining at times. I really miss things like good Chinese food, "real" lobster (with claws) and just picking up the phone and having pizza delivered to your house! Shopping malls, theaters, museums, reliable electricity, more than one brand of Peanut Butter (or anything else for that matter) ... being able to buy decent bed linens and more than anything else, store clerks that are actually knowledgeable and helpful! We have a wee problem here in that respect.

Life in paradise is not always a bed of roses and it wears a little thin after 18 years. I look forward to going to the "big city" and being able to find anything I could possibly want! We have ONE department store here and they seldom have even 1/100th of what you would find in a normal department store in any of the big cities.

This year, I need a new washer and dryer, bed linens, some scooter stuff, clothes and a bunch of other little things. Two years ago, I had to buy a new stainless steel fridge, stove, dishwasher, microwave a lot of patio furniture, a lawn mower, a bunch of garden tools and a new bed. I bought them all in Toronto and had them shipped down. That was a big shipping bill but it was still a lot less expensive than buying them all here ... AND I got exactly what I wanted rather than the mismatched (poor quality) stuff they sell in our local stores! The only things that are cheap here are booze, beer and cigarettes! Everything thing else is about double what you would pay on the mainland.

So yeah, I am looking forward to going home, seeing my family, friends and shopping till I drop! I am also looking forward to riding my new scooter for hours on end without passing the same thing five times!

Tortola here I come!

Have a lovely holiday in Canada Trafficjammer, and happy shopping

The deals on stuff right now are pretty sweet. The recession is hitting stores pretty hard so there are deals to be had Lianne so I hope your Visa can handle it.

Just one note, you probably already know that we are in the midst of a garbage strike so the city isn't nearly as clean as it normally is.

have fun!

Have a great trip!!! Toronto is a cool place! I remember it to be a very clean city. Must be weird with the garbage strike...

*Sorry about the color but I keep getting a "invalid Session" and sometimes the font change put my post through...

Thanks for the well wishes ... I plan to have a great time and hopefully will have some videos to show when I get back!

Ride safely everyone!

The only things that are cheap here are booze, beer and cigarettes!

It really is paradise! if you would like expensivie booze, beer and cigarettes, we could trade homes for a week or 2. We haul our own trash to the dump out here in the country, so I could make sure it was all clean and everything for you!