Sometimes things sound like a good idea when you're discussing them around a table after a few beers. I would like to go on the record as saying that renting motorbikes and putting my kids on the back for a tour of the mountains of Thailand NEVER sounded like a good idea to me. Of the 6 adults, only Max (The German guy in the red shirt in the picture below) had ever ridden one before.

We left our hotel and went all the way to downtown Chiang Mai to rent these bikes. We left the kids with Erin not far away while we picked up the death cycles. This would give us a chance to practice riding. Not 20 feet from the store where we rented the bikes, Shannon wipes out. I haven't even turned mine on yet and I look up to see Shannon standing over a moped on it's side at the corner of a busy intersection. Now I'm just mad, but apparently we're going ahead with this stupid idea anyway. I just want to go bathe an elephant or kiss a cobra. That's got to be safer than this.

The whole process of getting the bikes and just getting out of town to the mountains took hours and involved us driving on what passes for a superhighway in Thailand. We stopped for a great lunch at a roadside restaurant.



It seemed like ages, but we finally made it to the cool and very beautiful mountains of Thailand. We stopped by the side of the road for a quick break. It turns out we were right next to an elephant farm or something like that. They walked right up out of the river next to the road and let us take pics for tips. Below is Mary while she was still having fun.

I've never seen the movie, but one of my friends mentioned the movie Wild Hogs when he saw these pictures of me on the motorbike. This was the part of the trip when I was enjoying myself. It didn't last long though.





Shannon would periodically break out into the Sons of Anarchy theme some.



Shortly after the picture above was taken, Mary came up on my left when I took a wide left turn. I didn't see her as I moved back to the far left of the lane and before I knew it we had collided. I managed to remain upright with Max on the back of my bike, but Mary continued to the left, hit the guard rail, and sailed over it. By the time I stopped, I ran back to see Mary face down in the bushes on the other side of the rail. Her scooter was pretty banged up too. Mary seemed fine and we kept riding. It seemed like the ride took forever! It got dark and we stopped at a 7-11 in Chiang Mai to get our bearings when Mary passes out. Her leg has doubled in size. We tried for hours to get the hotel owner directions to where we were, but finally decided on leaving the scooters chained up and taking a taxi to a central hospital. She had a really bruised something or other, but was otherwise fine. She had to keep her leg elevated for the rest of her stay.

Once they were in good hands, we went back to the night market for some much needed food and massage. Running baby boomers off the road really wears you out. Here is Shannon in her post scooter glow. She seems to be under the delusion that the whole day went great! What trip was she on?! Maybe Indian food made up for the whole debacle.


Isabella had asked for a foot massage all week and was bummed she didn't get to to to the women's prison. This was a high point for her.