Across The Border To Canada

Last weekend we had a beautiful day for riding. We decided to go across the border into Canada for the day. It was a nice ride and our access to Canada was easy as we are near enough to the Blue Water Bridge, and had our enhanced licenses, which will take us into Sarnia. We know of a great place to get some food and we were going to Canada not just for the ride, but, to also get some good burgers. They fix them just the way we all seem to like them, nice and thick along with two kinds of cheese to help make it real nice and gooey. On the side they put a nice pile of lettuce, tomatos, onion and pickles. They have a basket containing ketchup, mustard, hot sauce and of course for the Canadians that order french fries; vinegar. The vinegar is not to my liking, but, the natives seem to love it.

When we arrived at Paddy Flaherty's Irish Pub we were parking our bikes and just sort of taking in the sunshine and stretching out our legs. It's not a long run but even so, it still feels good to stand up on solid ground. Anyway, while we were just about ready to head in along came another group of riders. There were five of them and they too were all riding Harleys.

There were some open parking spots next to us and they pulled in and took them. We waited and watched them. You know that when you others riding Harleys you just have to check out their bikes and as Harley riders it's just like one big family and everyone just automatically seems to know each other like you are long lost friends that haven't met up for a while. We all introduced ourselves and the one rider Pete, I thought that I vaguely recognized him. They took notice that we had Michigan plates on our bikes and they welcomed us to Canada saying it's good to meet people from the states. We said that we always enjoy coming across the border and that we always get a warm reception whenever we are there. We chatted a while longer before going in and they asked if we would join them at one big table and asked if we played pool and would we like a little friendly competition. We accepted the invitation.

While we were seated we began talking about our bikes and Pete mentioned that he had recently purchased his bike in Michigan. Of course I asked where he bought it. He said that he had gone to Approval Powersports. I didn't say anything at the moment but let him continue to talk. He raved about the excellent service he got at the dealership and said the would recommend anyone to go there if they wanted a motorcycle. He said that they had a selection of used Harley Davidsons like he had never seen before. He also said that even though he didn't have an interest in any other make of motorcycle other than Harley Davidson,they had an absolutely huge selection of other motorcycles with a ton of sport bikes and cruisers and even dirt bikes. He talked about their selection of used ATVs too and said that he was considering purchasing one in the fall. 

It was about then that I piped in and said that I was familiar with the Approval Powersports too. I asked him who he had worked with when he bought his Harley and he said that he really started out with Jon. He  said that he had a question about the bike that Jon didn't immediately have the answer to so he called over someone named Gordie. He said that as it turned out, Gordie was the manager of the dealership and that he answered his question and added some additional information and that he and Jon then continued.

Pete said he asked about financing his purchase and would it be a problem since he was from Canada. Jon said no problem and then they got to work. He said everthing went very smoothly and that they had a deal wrapped up in just a little over an hour. He said he was amazed and very impressed with everything. 

All the while I had stayed quite, but, that's when I again chimed in. I told him that I worked for Approval Powersports and that I remembered typing up his deal and brought the paperwork back to the desk. It was then that he suddenly remembered me and thanked me for my part in making his deal on his Harley Davidson Road King. We both chuckled about the coincidences of meeting again and about then it was time to eat.

We all ate and our conversations continued about all of our Harley Davidsons. We played pool for a while. We beat them overall but everyone was good natured and they said that next time they would be victorious.

It was then time for everyone to be on their way and we all said how much we enjoyed the day and that we hoped to see them again. They said that on a nice weekend day that they often came here to Paddy Flaherty's and they would be happy to meet up again.

We got on our bikes and headed home, happy with the way the day went. Happy for us to be together to ride and enjoy the time with our fellow Harley Davidson enthusiasts and new friends from Canada.