June 8 2015

At the risk of being inappropriate, holy fuck what a great trip! That said, it's my blog, no one is paying or sponsoring me, I don't have to worry about going to the principal's office for bad behaviour, so fuck it. I HAD A GREAT TIME!
According to my odometer, Max and I rode 3762.5 miles (6055 kilometers) in fifteen days. We started in Cole Harbour, made it as far South as North Carolina and Tennessee, survived Memorial Day weekend traffic hell and made it home safely.

My first (and only) official stop was in Fredericton for the "After the sirens" presentation. For those who are new to the Riverpirate Photography blog site, I have been a paramedic for over 26 years, nineteen of which were spent in EMS. "After the sirens" is the story of my rise and fall in EMS, the effect stress had on my health and my unplanned departure, and my eventual and ongoing recovery from an illness that almost cost me my life.

Unfortunately, interest in the presentation ground to an abrupt halt at the Twitter / email level, and after the dismal attendance in Cole Harbour and Fredericton I said "Fuck it" and cancelled the remaining presentations I had tentatively scheduled throughout New Englandand the Southeast US.
I did not however cancel my trip since riding and photography are my two main forms of stress relief and I already had paid for accommodations and race tickets.
On Wed the 10th I'm heading for Phoenix, and because time is short I don't have much time to write.

What I can say is this;

·         I met and talked with dozens of bikers and took hundreds of bike shots

·         I experienced the Nascar All Star race weekend festivities at Charlotte Motor Speedway

·         I drank rum in six states

·         I tried nine different types of moonshine in a distillery in Gatlinburg Tennessee

·         Moonshine gives me a headache

·         I rode the foothills of the Smokey Mountains

·         I tamed the Dragon (US 129 Tail of the Dragon - 318 curves in 11 miles)

·         I got a Tail of the Dragon shirt and a Dragon decal with a Cdn flag

·         I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway from TN to Va

·         I got three new Harley T shirts (and poker chips)

·         I had a great trip

Since my return home the weather hasn't been all that great for riding, which is not all that big a deal for a change because I'm just now getting feeling back in my ass. For those who don't know, Max is a 2005 1200 Sportster Custom. Not most people's first choice for a touring bike, and on more than one occasion I've heard the now nearly famous words "You drove from NS to here on a Sportster!?". Yep, I certainly did. :)
 

Yesterday RB, Margaret (our Great Dane) and I went downtown to the show and shine put on in part by the Darksiders, one of our local MC's. A lot of nice rides, two and four wheeled, and a bunch of nice folks. And in response to the comment I heard muttered behind my back more than once yesterday, "No, I'm not a fucking cop".
Once I get back from Arizona next week after delivering the "After the sirens" presentation at the Arizona EMS Odyssey conference I'll put some of the best shots of my trip, and the show and shine up here on my blog, and I will put together the Spring 2015 edition of the Riverpirate Times.

Till then.....