Sleeping Bags?

For our trip in 2006 (see Wheelin',Squealin' & Clueless) I had joined the KOA thinking that we might stay in cabins on our trip. I spent most of my growing up years camping with my family so while experienced with tent camping, I have also had my fill. It is really nice sleeping in a real bed, especially after a long day on the bike. KOA Kabins provide a bed with a bathhouse, and KOA Kottages/Lodges have bathrooms. It turns out we never stayed at a KOA on our trip in all 16 days, or rather nights. We did carry minimal bedrolls - just a sheet and light flannel blanket for each of us. And I did carry the KOA directory with the potential sites circled. At the end of the day, however, we were just so tired that we did what was easiest and selected the motel.


So now we have this debate again - should we plan on staying at KOAs along the trip or should we just plan on motels all the time? I have checked the directory against our itinerary and we have many opportunities to try the KOAs. The attraction of the KOAs is definately the costs which can sometimes be half the cost of a motel. The downside is, of course, having to carry the bedroll which would have to be more substantial than the last time because this trip takes us into colder territories. This would mean an investment in some ultralight sleeping bags - nice light, compact, warm and expensive ultralight sleeping bags....hmmm....will we recoup our investment? Can we find some used ones for sale? Hey, maybe we should test out a KOA before July too!

The Itinerary

Over Thanksgiving 2007 (yes - it has been a while) BMRPop, C-zookie (she was CVStar at that time), and I spent a few hours plotting the route on a day by day basis. We were curious to know what sort of daily mileage was required to complete this trip within 21 days, and if we were up for it. As we progressed in the task, we realized that it was important to have the day by day itinerary because we had constraints on being certain places on certain days. The SCMA rules for the Four Corners trip states that we need to mail a gas receipt from each extreme corner of the US - which means it would be good to hit those locations when the post office is open and able to hand stamp the envelope. In addition, we are planning to have our bikes serviced in Omaha and again, it would be good to be there on a Tuesday-Saturday when the shop is open. There are other advantages, like knowing we will be spending July 4th in New England and not with the beach crowd, and we will be going through the busy Boston corridor on a Sunday.

Planning and More Planning

First --Many thanks to those of you who have contributed to the Long Road Home house at Make it Right 9. We hope to get a list of donors from MIR so we can thank you personally.

Those of you who know me, know I am all about the planning. This trip is no exception. In fact, I am a little afraid to admit that I may enjoy the planning more than the actual trip. I like making the list, thinking about what we need, what needs to be done, both before the trip and in order to leave home for an extended period of time. I believe this compulsiveness on my part may frustrate my riding partners; I hand them lists of things to do and am constantly following up on their progress - prodding them to achieve!!
So what is on our lists?
We have assigned BMRPop to the technology and bike maintenance items; C-zookie, in addition to her solicitation letters, is concentrating mostly on her personal items or accessories for her bike, and I, in addition to solicitation letters, have a list of accessories and shared items. Below I have detailed our lists and struck through what we have done. As you can see, we still have a long way to go!

BmrPop's List: contact Omaha BMW and Suzuki dealers about bike maintenance on our rest days, get new digital cameras, select and install communication system, get GPS, get extra headlights and tail lights, get tire repair canisters, arrange for bike maintenance pre-trip.

C-zookie's List: get new passport, order and install heated handgrips, order and install sidecases,

BurgMa's List: Complete pharmacy/first aid kit - sunscreen, chapstick, earplugs, sleep-aid, NoDoze, gum, Coffee Nips, extra batteries;get warm/weather proof items for C-zookie and self - overboots, overgloves, REI windproof pants & jackets, Columbia padded jackets w/liner, new vests for all - lime green!!, make or find lining bags for BMRPop's cases, arrange for house sitter, maps, KOA directory, locate small sleeping bags, repair yellow waterproof bags, figure out packing locations for all the stuff!!

On top of all this, C-zookie is moving from Baton Rouge back to Nashville before the trip, looking for a new job, AND trying to sell Issy, the Vstar 650. WOW! Surely someone you know wants to buy Issy!!