He awoke to some pretty exciting news. With our upcoming Alaska adventure ride quickly approaching, there's been some mild concern lately about Mike's ride. Specifically, the lack of one! I've been told under no uncertain terms that he will NOT be pillion on my bike as we head north. And yet despite combing through advertisements from across the United States for the last few months, he's come up blank. So, when a BMW F650 GS appeared on the adventure rider forum last week, in Seattle (our departure point), fully loaded and ready to go, at the right price, and complete with an inspiring ride report of its previous Alaskan escapades, it seemed too good to be true. Could it be?? At 7 am on his birthday morning, Mike got a call from our friend Ken in Seattle: the bike was his!!
Too funny. Without ever intending it, we both now have matching bikes in Seattle and New Zealand: same colour, same model. Meet Mike's new ride:
Mike is in a quandary over a name for his bike. Options so far include Raven and Black Stallion. We're taking suggestions and opening it up to a vote. Please let us know what you think.
Humongous thanks to Ken who went above and beyond (again) to make it happen. We owe you many many beers...
So, after that promising start, it was party prep time. Ever optimistic, we had planned a barbecue for the birthday celebrations. Unfortunately, the autumn weather didn't exactly cooperate, with rain, rain, and then some more rain in the forecast. Oh well, the party must go on.
The camera didn't see enough action that night—we were too busy celebrating—but we managed to snap a few pics...
We had nearly 40 people crammed into our little home...
Isn't that an attractive tarp shelter we've created?
The birthday boy in action, cooking up a carnivorous feed on two duelling barbecues...enough to make any Kiwi bloke proud...
While the adults were being quite civilized, the kids were up to mischief the whole night...
The birthday cake was pretty popular, but lucky us there's just enough left for lunch...
Lots of clean up afterwards...dishwashers are the cat's meow.
HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY MIKE!!
And thanks to everyone who helped with food prep, shelter construction, and tidy up :).
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