This year, our association held the annual summer trip on the weekend Aug 18, 19.  The trip covered both US and Canada which was compact and full of interesting events.  In the early morning of Aug 18, the usual gathering place was fully parked with vehicles and every participant was busy arranging their stores, fully armed with food, water, ammo (Credit card, Cash) and greeting each other with K(ind)-words. 

Before 8am, over 30 brave souls started their journey started off in a bus towards their first waypoint, Sarnia.  This beautiful town on the edge of Canada border is the home of important oil facilities and selected as the first target.  Our local guide stressed numerous times that if we could not reach the place on time, it would be a big problem with huge cost.  With the fighting spirit of us passing to the driver of our personnel carrier, we arrived the launching area in the last minute.

After dismounting from the bus and boarding a boat, we had a short stand-down with lunch to provide maximum rest in order to prepare for the coming assault on the other side of the border.  The scenery of the boat trip was very nice and the captain explained the area with great details.  Before boarding the bus, we took some pictures to mark our presence.

The border crossing part was completed with no surprise and everyone was excited about the next stop - Great Lake Crossing Outlet.  It was planned as a standard routine but some units suffered heavy casualties in their wallets which was quite unexpected considering we are veteran in this situation.  It proved that any good plan can go wrong.  As the task took longer to complete, the agenda could not be followed exactly and we ended up retreating to the regroup location without the planned patrol in downtown Detroit.

In the next morning, we started with breakfast in the resting place without our mess tin and usual line-up.  The first target for the day was supposed to be the Belle Isle area.  We successfully arrived but due to uncooperative climate condition, we ended up in a fighting retreat to GM HQ to visit their newest line-up of vehicles.  At this point we were in a state of disorientation because we needed to make a decision on the next target.  With a painful decision which not every member could agree, we moved off to the Somerset Mall.  It is a big mall with nice shops with two wings connected by a sky corridor.  The stay was planned for about 3 hours but some members were obsessed with the attraction and we were behind our schedule for nearly 20 mins.

Followed by a glory return with trophies, a rumour was recorded for someone brought back 5 pairs of shoes, we crossed the border back to our home turf for the last stop of the mission.  We visited a farming complex named Colassarti Tropical Garden inside big green houses.  Some exotic plants were brought back which was stated as fly catcher although it was mentioned as ineffective in the field.

At around 10pm, the group returned with happy but tired faces.  For those interested, please visit our photo album for snapshots of our happy moments.

http://photo.rhkrontario.org/v/2007/Annual_Summer_Trip/  

As a review, there are several points worth notice.

• An important stop for Point Pelee National Park was cancelled because of weather condition.  The decision was not fully justified because the weather was not so bad.  It disappointed a number of the members who considered that it was an important reason for joining the trip.
• The idea for asking the driver to tell something unnecessary on crossing the border back to Canada was considered as over reacted by some members.  It gave a bad impression for those who believed that they were always on the moral high ground.
• The arrangement for having two shopping stops deemed too much in two consecutive days.
• In general, arrangement for stay and meals are considered as satisfactory.  It should be a credit for the tour guide and organizer.
• The merit for being punctual was not fully respected which leaded to minor complaints. Although it would not harm the harmony of the group, it should be an area for improvement especially with outsiders.

From the editor: Please note that this article contains individual opinions which may not represent the position of the RHKR Volunteers Association (Ontario) Canada.