This week Mihai and his family visit Cappadocia in central Turkey. With an ideal climate and sprawling landscapes, this is one of the world's most popular places for hot air ballooning.
Mihai's son, Vlad, with the perfect view of Turkey from the 2,000 feet above.
Cappadocia is home to Turkey's "fairy chimneys", pointed rocks formed from volcanic ash that rained across the region millions of years ago. Today, many consider these rocks good luck with some measuring over 130 feet tall!
After the balloon ride they were off to visit friends and scout for tomorrow's adventure!
Ural Riders Help Raise Over 50K For Cancer Research!
Photos by Meghan Rose
Last weekend over 350 motorcyclists joined the New England motorcycle charity ride to honor children battling brain tumors. This year marked the largest ride to date, with all donations going directly to cancer research.
The crew at Ural New England organized local riders helping make this year's ride the largest yet!
Ural owner's gave young cancer survivors and their families a ride up front in the sidecar, complete with police escort!
This year, riders helped raise over $54,000 for research!
Want to join the fun?
Sign up for Ural New England's Fall Rally here!
Stay Wild Expo
We headed down to Portland for the 1st annual Stay Wild Expo, a 3 day event at Portland's World Forestry Center celebrating all things adventure. They hosted surfboard shaping workshops, guided hikes, motorcycle ride to the coast, surf contest, a maker's market and so much more!
We were able to hang with the amazing crew from Ural Portland, answer questions about the bikes and give sidecar rides through the Forestry Center and Rose Gardens.
Shaper Studios giving a surfboard shaping lesson in their mobile workshop!
Shoutout to Tilt for keeping us fueled over the 3 day event!
Half way through the Expo the beer garden's hand truck got 2 flat tires. We offered to help with the resupply.
"Are you sure? Each keg weighs like 170lbs?"
"That's it? Sure, throw in 2!"
Outdoor lounge area with Kodama Zones.
These sisters brought their parents back to our booth about 4 times for more photos.
Special thanks to the entire staff at Ural Portland for the help.
See you next year!
Caucasus Mountains
Photos by Mihai Barbu
Mihai rode his 2WD Gear Up with his favorite co-pilots to explore the Caucasus Mountains, Black Sea beaches and some of the world's most breathtaking back roads.
The trip started, like most, with a few hours of highway. Their sidecar was packed camping gear, spare tire, 2 passengers and his son's toy sword; after all, you never know what you might encounter.
Soon Mihai and his co-pilots arrived in Ushguli, Georgia. Ushguli is Europe's highest village sitting at 7,190ft. It's home to just over 200 residents who brave 6 months of snow a year.
The adventure continued as they quickly discovered some amazing mountain roads just outside the village.
Charge! Mihai and his son Vlad tackling puddles with 2WD.
These mountains are rarely visited by tourists, making the trip free of lines and kiosks. It's just the ride and pristine views.
The roads winding through the Caucasus range can be difficult to navigate but luckily they're in relatively decent shape.
Afternoon picnic before setting up camp, drying off after puddle jumping.
Day 1 in the books! Time for a well deserved night under the stars.
