Riverfurm

May 9: Off to Kilkenny I left Celtic Rider and Paul a little before noon for the 75-mile ride to Kilkenny. Liam from Celtic Rider led the way for the first hour. After a while, we stopped and Liam asked me if I was ready to ride by myself. “Yep, I’m ready to go!” So off I went toward Kilkenny. And no, it has nothing to do with Kenny from South Park ! 😂 I was heading to the River Court Hotel, and my riding partner from the Motorcycle Men podcast was ready to join me for the trip. Ted from MM had sent along Woody , who has been traveling all over the U.S. and even to parts of Europe. So you’ll be seeing Woody in some of my pictures along the way. On the way to Kilkenny, I had to make a right turn after going through a roundabout. This was the one and only time I forgot to stay on the left! I watched a car pull out from a side street and, to me, it looked like he was going into the wrong lane. I thought, “That’s weird.” We were both going pretty slowly, but we ended up meeting head-on! I...

  Day Two — Dublin and Guinness I’m staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Dublin, and it’s a very nice hotel. I had breakfast at the hotel and then went online to buy my timed tickets for the Guinness tour. After breakfast, I headed out for a walk to catch the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. If I timed everything right, I should arrive at the Guinness Brewery about the same time my tour was scheduled to start. As it turned out, I timed it perfectly. I arrived about five minutes early. Great! The Guinness Brewery is gigantic. I think it’s five, maybe six floors, and there is a lot to see. The top floor has a restaurant and a 360-degree view of Dublin. I did the tastings and even learned how to pour the perfect Guinness. That was a pretty important skill to learn while in Ireland! One thing I noticed right away was that Guinness in Ireland tastes much better than the Guinness I’ve had back home. Maybe it’s the atmosphere, maybe it’s the freshness, or maybe it just tastes better when you’re drinkin...

 I have been a long time since I posted. It took me a long time to figure out how to sign in. I have to sign in under Nancy's account. That means I have to sign out of my acount and sign back in with Nancy account. I am trying to move Riverfurm account from Nancy's so I will have my own account and sign in to.

 Dec14 I did Hanukkah. I made patatoe pancakes and Matzo ball soup. They both came out well. Guest. Robin Liz  Jess Allan  Heather Trish Steve  Bill Chris  Kathy Jerry Heather Keene Lisa. Made me happy and sad. Will do it again.

  Final Day – Scotland to Northern Ireland, Then Home Up early and down for breakfast, but the dining room was packed with tourists from two buses. I grabbed eggs and pancakes and took them to the empty dining room to eat in peace. Today was just a few hours’ ride to the ferry port for my return to Belfast, Northern Ireland. It had rained overnight and was misting when I left, but I didn’t bother with the rain gear—my jacket is “kind of” waterproof. The ride wasn’t bad, taking about fifteen minutes to get out of Ayr, then mostly secondary roads along the shoreline. I arrived at the port about an hour early. There was one motorcycle ahead of me—a Harley, which you don’t see often here. About half an hour later, more Harleys rolled in. Turned out they were Hells Angels. I guess they’re everywhere. The waiting area was full of Asian tourists wandering around, and a few were fascinated by the motorcycles. A couple asked if they could take my picture. I said yes, and posed with the ...

  Last Full Day in Scotland This was my last full day in Scotland, and I wish it wasn’t. The ride today wasn’t anything to brag about—some highway, mostly secondary roads. The sky stayed cloudy all day and looked like it could rain at any time, but I made it to the hotel without getting wet. The Western Hotel is a big place right next to a horse track. I checked in around three. My room smelled like fresh paint, so I opened all the windows. That’s when the rain started. I went down to the bar for one beer, then about an hour and a half later headed down for dinner. One of the dining rooms was closed for a wedding the next day, so I ate alone in the empty dining room. Dinner was a Haggis Meat Pie, and it was actually pretty good. Before calling it a night, I moved the motorcycle next to the building by the check-in desk so they could keep an eye on it from the window. Tomorrow will be a long day, so I turned in early.