A party is always good.
"Yes, and she wants to have it here, because we have a pool.
And you can't say anything, because Peter doesn't know about it.
And you're going to take him out dirt bike riding that morning so he doesn't catch on."
So that was the set up for Sully. It's a party at 'my house' for Peter.
In the mean time, Erin's telling Peter that Lyn's having an early 50th birthday party for Sully. It's a surprise, so keep it on the down low.
On the down low. It was a low down lie!
Actually I guess it was really half a truth.
Up until a week before the big day I hadn't even talked to Peter about getting together to go riding. I still hadn't gotten any word on who was coming. This was a slip up in the girls ploy. As the diversion for the surprise party, we were going to go out dirt bike riding. Not at all unusual. But he hadn't talked to me to set it up and I hadn't talked to him to set it up. The wives were doing the arrangements. Very odd..!
But I really didn't have a clue until about four or five days before. I was putting in a hard wood floor in our family room, ( on my vacation no less ) grumbling about never 'lending out the house for a party' again, ( I just found out there was about 60 people coming ) and Lyn tells me our son Sean is re-arranging his work schedule so he'll have the day off. The day off for Peter's party..? His bike's still in the shop. What's that all about? More oddity!
There we are, all dressed up to go out riding and no birthday boy yet. This was the only part of the party I had a hand in. Setting the ride time. The women wanted us back at 2:30, generally a couple of hours riding, so take off at 12:30. Which means you set the meet time at 11:30, because take off is always about an hour behind schedule. Always!
For what ever the reason, and there's more reasons than spokes on a wheel, we always take off late. By about an hour. It's almost a science.
Here's the group that went out on the Birthday Run. Sean and Danny's bike were still in the shop so they didn't get to go. I haven't been to Church in a while, but I still understand Catholic Guilt. I'm out riding and the boys were at home without bikes. Shame. Oh well... My ancient KX 250 had no back breaks and the front ones squeak like an old rusty hinge on a Hay Barn in Maine, but I was going anyway damn it! It this point, I knew I couldn't stay.
That's the new section of route 44 behind us. We're up pretty high on a hill and about to come down and hit the tunnel that goes under the road. Nice of the Feds to build an access tunnel for the dirt bikes to get into the Kingston Forrest. This one doesn't leak and it's not even caving in.
The Ride Back...
Peter was told it was a surprise party for me and I was told that it was a surprise party for him and that Peter thinks we're just having a cookout after riding. But of course, we were both set up from the get go. Shhhh... I think, that he thinks, it's a cookout. So here we're all stopping and checking the time to arrive back about 2:30. No mention of a big party. No birthday talk here. Not yet anyway. The story is about as clear as a shallow mud hole at this point, yes?
This is what we came into on the ride back. Just before we cross over Kristen Road, the cat is finally out of the bag. There's signage in the trees.
It's a Double Surprise Birthday Party..!
Back in the day, we called this picture the "Grip 'N Grin"
The hand shake and a smile by the dignitaries, at whatever the special event of the moment was. Russ did a nice job here framing the Grip 'N Grin with the dirt bikes. And because of the verbage, now you're thinking me and Peter are dignitaries. Thats right! When you're as old as dirt, you must be a Dignitary.
The event of the moment was a Double Surprise Birthday Party! I've had enough Birthdays on my own in the Winter, I really enjoyed sharing a Birthday in the Summer..! Wether it was the 40-50 or the 50-40 Birthday Party I don't care, I'm looking forward to the 50-60 or the 60-50 Party, and I hope we're still riding. And I'm not talking about hopped up wheelchairs...
