Travels With Connie #80 Packing Up

in #travel5 years ago

Sometimes I know exactly where I am going. In that case it’s easy, pick a route and go.

More often I have an idea where I’d like to end up, and generally speaking a direction to go.

Once in a while I just follow the front wheel and see where it takes me.

CoffeeCup Onlyresize.jpg

I'm in Mitchell, South Dakota. Home of the Corn Palace! I've had a few questions about getting Connie ready for the road so were are going to do a reverse strip tease. This is close to how Connie looks when I first see her. Close. The coffee cup and tank bag are already on, they go into the room at night. Generally they come out at the same time.

Camping Gearresize.jpg

First on is the bag that is mostly camping gear. It's a big bag and it also had shoes and my lap top in it on this trip. You can plainly see half of the straps that hold the bottom layer on, they are called Rok Straps and live on Connie year round. Really good items, they have a little stretch to them so they hold cargo pretty well.

Tent Timeresize.jpg

Next on is the tent. I travel with a pretty significant tent for that once in a great while when I end up in it in the rain. It's tall enough that I can sit in my folding chair and read. It's also a three person rated tent so I can get all my junk inside with me. The bag the tent lives in is a genuine USMC item that they use for a sleeping bag.

Straps Onresize.jpg

Then I hang the 'finishing straps'. These are a really ordinary cargo strap you can buy at the hardware that are close to the exact length I need. There is a bit of a trick hanging them, I usually screw at least one of them up every time. They fit better one way than the other. I really like this bright orange pair, I feel like it gives me a little better visibility out on the road.

Road Readyresize.jpg

And we are ready. If I think I'm going to be in picture mode I will lash the Nikon bag right between the orange straps and secure it with bungie cords. Otherwise it lives in this side case.

I'm really glad I picked Mitchell, South Dakota to show you this. Not much else happening in Mitchell. I was close enough to the Sturgis Rally that everybody was trying to attract bikers. This Motel 6 had boxes of worn out towels that you could use to polish your motorcycle. Not much of that for Connie. She wears her bugs as a badge of covering miles.

That's how we pack up every morning. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

All words and photographs in this post are mine. For better or worse

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So cool to read how you load up Connie

as for not using the cleaning clothes I always believe a bike that looks to clean looks unused

I had a friend once say of me "He cleans his bike with a hoe." I would way rather ride than polish.

Me to my friend and your friend sounds a real character

Good choice of color with orange straps, bikes are damn near invisible to some people so that may just catch their attention and save you some road rash or even worse.

I am convinced that any flash of color helps. I used to ride a yellow helmet, but the one I use now is only available in black.

There are people who paint helmets and they can make them really look good. Might consider it if you are convinced that any flash of color helps. I would say that painting the helmet would be considered using your head to maybe help save your ass, (pardon the French).

#80 already. A dependable Connie she is. 😀

She is an incredibly dependable traveler.

I can't tell you just how glad I am to see you back around.

Im sorry i disappeared but some things irl happened and i had to take a break. Im just humbled at how many people actually cared that i started uploading again. ❤

Always bringing your tent with you is what says more about you than some realize :) Enjoy your travels 💚

I'm leaving tomorrow, with tent. Going to one of my favorite places the Salton Sea in SoCal. I'm really looking forward to it.

You obviously know just how to pack @bigtom13, amazing that you can travel with your tent AND your laptop at the back of your bike! Enjoy the travels :)

It's an ongoing struggle. Trying to figure out how to pack exactly what I need in a small enough space. One thing that always goes is a fold up chair that is really comfortable. That and the coffee mess ALWAYS go. Everything else is subject to space availability.

Haha can't leave that behind hey, enjoy your travels @bigtom13 :)
Pity you can't pull a trailer with your bike ;);)

Oh you can! I've never done it, but I have friends that do. I'm going to a campout this weekend where I'm sure there will be at least two trailers. Rackman has a Margarita station in his. A teeny generator and a metal cup blender, he can be making Margaritas in about 3 minutes after stopping. The other guy is a manufacturing genius and he builds his own trailers. They are amazing.

There is a guy in Idaho that makes a torpedo shaped trailer that you can seep in (I'm thinking claustrophobia for me). The back end folds up to reveal a teeny kitchen. Pretty cool ideas.

Very interesting! It is always amazing to see how people are able to carry so much gear when they are on a bike. You usually tend to think that there is just no room for everything a person could possibly need!

I once had a blog site about camping small and even invested money in a drop ship firm that just didn't work out. But motorcycles and bike campers have special needs.

You'd be surprised how much you need, and maybe even more surprising is how much you DON'T need

I believe it, that is very interesting. I actually just cleared a whole bunch of stuff out of my trailer storage before we winterized it. Crazy the stuff I thought we would need but we just don't now.

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