Hey Greg;

Thanks for the great report.  It makes me miss home.

Blessings

Will

Greg Potts wrote:
> I guess I'm going to call this a trip report; even though it happened as
> part of a typical workday commute. But as it turned out the commute was
> anything but typical.
>
> This morning I got up before the dawn and left the house just after
> 6:0AM to drive my Vanagon 80 miles east of Toronto to do a printer
> /cutter system install at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton. The
> machines I installed today are used to make signage and graphics needed
> to refurbish and maintain Canadian Forces aircraft and equipment; which
> incidentally is a job I applied for in the fall of 2007. Unfortunately
> at that time there were no openings. Apparently there are about 70 slots
> available now; but I'm well entrenched with my current employer and
> enjoying the challenges they throw at me.
>
> So, as you might imagine, working on the airbase today was quite an
> eye-opener for me. I wound up driving the vanagon right across the
> runway to park next to the hangar where the ACS technicians service the
> aircraft. On the way through I drove past a bunch of C-130's, 737s, a
> helicopter or two and a monstrous C-177 globemaster.
>
> I was originally expecting to be at the base from 8AM until about 3PM;
> but soon after I arrived I was told that I would have to be out of there
> before 1PM, as there was a Ramp Ceremony scheduled for that afternoon.
>
> For those not in the know, a Ramp Ceremony is held whenever a fallen
> soldier from the mission in Afghanistan arrives at CFB Trenton. The
> C-130 Hercules cargo plane is met by an Honor guard lining the tarmac,
> and the fallen soldier is then escorted by a large police-escorted
> cavalcade for the trip west from CFB Trenton along Highway 401 and down
> the Don Valley Parkway to the Coroners office in downtown Toronto. This
> 100-mile route is now officially designated by the provincial government
> as the Highway of Heroes.
>
> In any case, I got my install completed by noon; then grabbed lunch on
> the go as I headed a bit further east to a second service call in
> Kingston. That one got done around 2PM, and I was headed home; about a
> 2hr drive. As it turned out, I wound up less than 15 minutes ahead of
> the procession.
>
> And that was definitely a drive to remember. All the way home from
> Trenton to Toronto, EVERY SINGLE BRIDGE along the way was lined with
> people waving flags in support of the fallen. Truck Drivers. Daycare
> Providers. Police. Fire Fighters. School kids. A squad of RCMP officers
> in scarlet tunics. Solemn Veterans with medals. Not a single bridge was
> empty; even in the most rural of areas. Many bridges had fire trucks or
> ambulances parked on the bridges with the lights flashing. It was quite
> a spectacle. Eighty miles of this can start to impress a guy, and get
> him thinking about things.
>
> I phoned ahead as I got closer to home, and had my kids almost ready to
> go as soon as I pulled into the driveway. I live within hearing distance
> of the 401, so I figured I should be able to get off the highway, pick
> up the kids at home and get back to the bridge before the cavalcade
> caught up. While I was waiting for the kids I grabbed my 5'x10' Canadian
> flag from the shelf in the garage and then we sped back to the highway
> to get there just as the procession was passing under the bridge. I
> guess they were even closer behind me than I thought.
>
> In any case, it was a very moving day.
>
>
> Happy Trails,
>
> Greg Potts
> 1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
> www.busesofthecorn.com
> www.pottsfamily.ca
>