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I am back from my annual “Tour de Apalachicola Dual Sport Meet”, where a bunch of us mostly ‘older’ off-road riders get together with our over-weight and underpowered Dual Sport bikes to camp, ride and have a good time during the MLK holiday weekend. This was our sixth annual get-together here. We have other meets in other states later in the year.
We met for the second year at “Ed & Bernice’s Fishcamp”, actually a very nice little family-owned campground with a boatramp and a few elderly permanent residents. The caretaker, Miss Linda, has always done us proud. We have a seafood restaurant right next door, so lunch and dinner are a short walk away. We camp right on Ocklocknee River, just west of Tallahassee, Florida.
I camped in my new Dodge Grand Caravan this time, as it has the “Stow&Go” seats that drop down under the floor, giving me eight feet of flat cargo space – plenty room for this old dog’s sleeping bag! Temps got down to twenty the first two nights, but my little 120VAC electric heater kept me comfy.
The Apalachicola National Forest (my ‘backyard’!) gives us hundreds of miles of good dirt forest roads, with lots of trail smeandering around streams, lakes and hardwood hammocks. The deer hunters were out in force, but gave us no trouble.
We had riders come down to north Florida from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and both Carolinas. In prior years, we even had folks come down from as far as New York, Illinois and Oklahoma!
Here's the first few pics, showing my rig, and my sleeping accomodations. First night I used a 'self-inflating' sleep pad, but it didn't work worth a hoot. Way too thin. So the second night on, I fell back to 'old reliable', my trusty air mattress. MUCH better! My heater kept the van at a nice 69 degrees, pretty good considering this thing is not insulated and is very well vented! My Zero-degree sleeping bag kept me very comfy. I used a Coleman LED lantern, and a couple LED puck lights inside the van. A 4'X8' rubber mat on the floor kept it fairly smooth, but I will add a sheet of plywood next time to eliminate the rough spots from the seats and latching brackets.
Forgot my folding table, so I used my storage box on the bike trailer as a make-shift table for my 'kitchen'. My new little single-cup coffee maker worked like a champ! I ate mostly Mountain House freeze-dried meals, plus a couple restaurant meals.
My rig:
My 'kitchen'.....
My sleeping arrangement:
We met for the second year at “Ed & Bernice’s Fishcamp”, actually a very nice little family-owned campground with a boatramp and a few elderly permanent residents. The caretaker, Miss Linda, has always done us proud. We have a seafood restaurant right next door, so lunch and dinner are a short walk away. We camp right on Ocklocknee River, just west of Tallahassee, Florida.
I camped in my new Dodge Grand Caravan this time, as it has the “Stow&Go” seats that drop down under the floor, giving me eight feet of flat cargo space – plenty room for this old dog’s sleeping bag! Temps got down to twenty the first two nights, but my little 120VAC electric heater kept me comfy.
The Apalachicola National Forest (my ‘backyard’!) gives us hundreds of miles of good dirt forest roads, with lots of trail smeandering around streams, lakes and hardwood hammocks. The deer hunters were out in force, but gave us no trouble.
We had riders come down to north Florida from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and both Carolinas. In prior years, we even had folks come down from as far as New York, Illinois and Oklahoma!
Here's the first few pics, showing my rig, and my sleeping accomodations. First night I used a 'self-inflating' sleep pad, but it didn't work worth a hoot. Way too thin. So the second night on, I fell back to 'old reliable', my trusty air mattress. MUCH better! My heater kept the van at a nice 69 degrees, pretty good considering this thing is not insulated and is very well vented! My Zero-degree sleeping bag kept me very comfy. I used a Coleman LED lantern, and a couple LED puck lights inside the van. A 4'X8' rubber mat on the floor kept it fairly smooth, but I will add a sheet of plywood next time to eliminate the rough spots from the seats and latching brackets.
Forgot my folding table, so I used my storage box on the bike trailer as a make-shift table for my 'kitchen'. My new little single-cup coffee maker worked like a champ! I ate mostly Mountain House freeze-dried meals, plus a couple restaurant meals.
My rig:
My 'kitchen'.....
My sleeping arrangement:
A canvas campateer
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