This little story came back to me last night after seeing a joke about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical ride. For those who are not familiar, the RCMP is a police organization that stretches all across Canada. Steeped in tradition at times, they, formed a type of show, combining music, stunts of sorts, and of course horses.
I must admit I have never seen the RCMP musical ride, but am told it is actually quite spectacular. The only thing I have seen of them all together was on the ferry at the North Sydney terminal in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Before this story gets any further, this happened several years ago, and I might remind all of you that even though these people travel putting on a type of "circus act" they all are REAL POLICE and can arrest your ass if the need arises.
As you can see they have formed a circle, all with lances out, imagine if they were actually guns... the joke last night was calling this a Newfie firing squad... if you aren't Canadian the joke will probably be lost on you.
Okay, getting back to the story, my wife had went to visit her brother in Newfoundland, and I was at home, I wasn't able to get that particular time off of work to go along. So she was there for a week when I was able to join her. She had flown, I was driving...
My two sons, one 19 and the other 18 decided it would be a good 'bonding trip", cause the ride is long and can be boring at times. So as they say, we loaded up the car and headed for...Newfoundland.
Part of the trip means taking a small ocean cruise, on the Nova Scotian side, this trip starts in North Sydney, where you board the ferry. Depending where you want to get off at on the other side determines the length and cost of the trip to Newfoundland. One landing is in Port aux Basques, and the other is in Argentia. One is a 6 hour trip, the other 12... depending of course weather conditions.
Well we decided to go with the 6 hour trip to Port aux Basques. It is cheaper, and when we arrived in Newfoundland the drive was about 12 hours. No biggie, we'd take turns driving.
Now my two sons, as much as I love them are not angels by any stretch of the imagination. At a young age they took to liking the wild weed, mary jane, or as we call it marijuana. When I say they took a liking to it, I mean a liking that would make most jealous, and give Cheech and Chong concern for their safety.
So the whole way to the ferry terminal they were toking and smoking, and I was high as a kite from the strongest contact high I ever had in my life. We were nearing the ferry terminal and I was never so happy in my life. I couldn't wait to get out of the car and smell that fresh ocean air.
So we pulled up to the terminal and low and behold who was in front and all around us, yup, the RCMP Musical Ride in all their glory waiting to board the ferry to Newfoundland. Both my sons never took notice, and hopped out as soon as I had stopped, bad case of the munchies I guess. Me, I was froze behind the steering wheel of my car with a bad case of paranoia and visions of being locked up in some Cape Breton jail.
When the boys had opened those car doors, you could hear those mounties turn their heads in unison looking for where that smell of weed was coming from. the smoke had just rolled out of those doors... Luckily for all of us, boarding was starting and everyone had to get back into their vehicles to load the ferry for the crossing.
The RCMP use trucks and trailers for hauling their equipment, horses and other gear, and were on another level of the ferry, but that night after we had boarded and decided to go to the bar for awhile, there they all were, sitting in the bar. I have to give them props, they had an eye for faces, because they certainly did remember ours. They stared for what seemed like an eternity before going back to their chit chat among themselves. It was a very long 6 hour trip, is all I'm saying! It was a great trip, but a long, long, long, ferry ride!
