On The Rock

We arrived in Argentia, Newfoundland in the afternoon on Thursday July 21 (Day 42).  A short ride to our hotel in Placentia for a rest.  While Lori and Mark went for a ride, the rest of us took a walk to the shore then wandered through the town to the Three Sisters pub.  Live music greeted us – and Lori and Mark who had stopped in for some refreshement.  Small town pub, great live music, friendly locals – we closed the place down and walked back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Day 43 and we were going to St. John’s.  All the bikes were scheduled for service and we had a radio station visit planned.  VOCM in St. John’s had been promoting our tour for weeks.  We had phone interviews in the two weeks leading up to our arrival and the staff wanted to meet our team.  Then the hotel.  That evening we went up to Signal Hill for the Ghost Tour.  A great way to get some of the history of the area.

Saturday was mostly a day off and a chance to explore the area.  We had a photo shoot with the St. John’s Telegram up at Signal Hill and then all went in different directions – out to Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America, or wandering through town.  

That night we headed to Jason’s cousin Daniela’s home for a barbeque – our first home-cooked meal in 7 weeks!  A great evening meeting new friends and relaxing.  Then back to the hotel and down to George Street where we were going to get screeched in.  For the uninitiated, this was a ritual to be granted honourary Newfoundlander status.  Susan met us for the big event.  Over 30 were participating – all crammed into a small upstairs pub space.  Screeching in consists of eating bologna, kissing a cod and drinking a shot of Screech (Newfoundland rum).  You also have to learn the customary response to “Is ye an honourary Newfoundlander?” “Indeed I is, me ol’ cock, and long may your big jib draw”.

Sunday arrived and in looking ahead to the schedule for the next couple of days we decided to change our route plans and, instead of overnighting in Gander, we wanted to find a place closer to the Port-aux-Basques ferry since we needed to be at the terminal no later than 1pm on Monday.  So we headed to Corner Brook 700km away.  We did stop in Gander where we met Tanya with the local KRock radio station – another huge supporter of the tour.  She led us into town and to a great place for lunch and warming soup.  

Then back on the road.  The one hotel in town that had rooms for us was more than a little sketchy and none of us were comfortable with staying there – even less so when the RCMP down the road recommended against it.  We retraced our route about 10miles and managed to find the last condo at the Marblehead Village Ski Resort.  Barbequed some burgers, heated up some pizzas (pickings were slim in this area) and called it a night.

Day 46 and it was time to head to the ferry in Port-aux-Basques and leave Newfoundland.  The people, the history, and the land itself all beautiful.  We all agreed that we would return to spend more time on The Rock.  The ride back to Sydney was much shorter from this side and we made it back to our hotel before sunset. 

Back in Canada!

Monday, July 18 (Day 39) and we were making a run for the border.  We were heading back home to Canada.  We decided to stay on the Maine coast for the trip north and along the way stopped at “Helen’s” for lobster rolls.  Little did we know that it was also the home of the best blueberry pie in the United States (as declared by LIFE magazine) and the owner was one of the judges for a Bobby Flay pie Throwdown.  We thought she should have been his competitor rather than a judge.

The bikes were waiting for us a block from the border crossing.  The rig pulled in and immediately got attention from everyone in the Duty Free shop and doing last-minute gas fill ups.  One gentleman stopped because he’d heard Halifax radio talking about the Tour over the past couple of weeks.  Thankfully there were no problems crossing through customs and we made our way to St. John, New Brunswick.

Tuesday was a big day – we were heading to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The guys decided to take a more scenic route through Alma on the way to our lunch stop in Truro.  

We had the Q104 Street Team (Halifax radio station) waiting for us along the way from Truro to Halifax and they led us all in – all the way to IWK Hospital where we were meeting the families and kids being treated there.  First stop was the Play Garden – a facility where patients, siblings and visitors could play, learn about the seasons, and most importantly, be outside.  Then we were met by Kate Matthews – one of the many amazing staff – and toured through some of the wards where we had the opportunity to meet with those children who couldn’t go outside yet.  We also visited the playrooms and the teen lounge - where we met therapy dog Poochie.  The strength and positive spirits of all the patients, families and staff profoundly affected us all.  We handed out tour bandanas to everyone and left some in the ‘hat box’ for future patients.  

Then it was on to Privateer’s Harley Davidson for a quick stop before heading back to our hotel – situated right on Chocolate Lake – and into the waterfront area of Halifax for dinner with friends of Jason’s. 

Day 41 and our destination was Sydney, Nova Scotia.  Everyone made their own way over – some sightseeing through Halifax and Sherbrook first.  

The rig ended up on a very small ferry for a 100m (if that) crossing of the “Little Narrows”.  We weren’t sure if it would fit on the ferry, but we made it with centimeters to spare.  

In Sydney we picked up our rental van for our trip over to Newfoundland, found parking for the rig for 5 days, and discovered a great pub for patio drinks and snacks.  At the pub we met Brian from Ottawa.  When he heard what we were doing he quickly offered his bistro in Ottawa as a venue for an event when we come through town at the end of the month.  We were more than happy to take him up on his offer.

We made our way to the ferry – 4 bikes now (Mark was riding with us for the next few days) and the van. A 15-hour ferry ride was ahead of us.  After almost 4 hours in the parking lot we finally boarded, found our cabins and met up in the lounge just in time for last call.

New York to Maine

Day 35 had us pointed towards The Big Apple.  While most of the team waited in Baltimore for news on whether Del’s bike could go into a shop in the NYC area, Lori headed off early to meet Ken for a couple of days in Manhattan.  With the assurance from the team at Nassau Harley Davidson on Long Island that they could look at the bike and hopefully fix it during our stop there, Del headed off with the rig and Jason rode the tour route, accompanied by the ACT rental van, through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and finally New York. 

We arrived at the hotel to find Dean and Jennifer waiting for us.  Dean had just arrived after spending a day in the city with his sister and Jenn had come out to see Dr T and spend a few days with us.  We sat down and waited for news on Del and his bike – which came shortly.  The bike was in the shop and would be fixed the next day and ready for our continued journey north on Saturday.  Del joined us at the hotel and we all got cleaned up to head over to Cindi’s Long Beach home where she had drinks and snacks waiting for us. 

Friday was a day off.  Some went into Manhattan for a few hours of city exploration, others to the beach.  No agenda was exactly what everyone needed to recharge a little.  Visits to Ground Zero, Little Italy, and a rooftop bar with a great view of the city skyline and a chance to meet up with friends in town.

Saturday (Day 37) and we had an event before leaving New York state.  We had been given a booth (thanks Cindi!) at the Long Beach Arts Festival down on the boardwalk.  We set up and started handing out bandanas, postcards and information from our beneficiaries.  Lots of people, great view (we were right on the beach!) and some good connections and conversations.  Lori left at 11am to meet up with Ken in Boston and we wrapped up our display around 1pm.  

Del’s bike wasn’t going to be ready until 3pm and Jason was going to ride north with him.  So the rest of us left in the van for Connecticut.  After a quick drive through New Haven and a visit to Yale, we went to visit with Dr T’s parents in Groton, CT.  They kicked us out quickly, concerned that sunset was nearing, and we continued through Rhode Island and into Massachusetts to our hotel just outside of Boston.  A long day and a late night, but a really great day for the Tour.

Sunday morning in Boston and we decided to alter our route for the day.  The plan had been to hit Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, but realizing that we could tack Vermont onto our Montreal leg, we decided to have a more leisurely trip.  We started out with breakfast in Harvard Square and a wander around Cambridge.  

Then a trip up to Manchester (NH) Harley Davidson for a visit.  The service team fixed the turn signal wires on Jason’s bike and assistant manager Krista and her staff welcomed us.  Dr. T’s friend Kathryn stopped in too.  

We then headed for the coast of Maine and a beautiful drive through the small beach towns – huge destination on a sunny warm day!  We ended the day’s ride in Portland, where we were met by Mark and the rig, we returned the rental and went out for clam chowder and lobster.