Sunshine's birthday coincided our Autumn Campout. While Skye and Gypsy are veteran campers, it was Sunshine's first time. Hurricane Nate was looming off the coast, so we decided to set up in the yard of the Tree House, located in the Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area. It seemed prudent to have emergency shelter close at hand in the event of extreme weather. |
A tour pack on the passenger pad, lashed to a sissy bar is a way to keep lots of small items together in a secure and stable fashion. Long, light weight items such as tents can be fastened to the back of the sissy bar. A smaller bag may be placed on top of the tour pack for items needed quickly while traveling. | Extremely excited at the prospect of camping, Sunshine spent the summer gathering needed supplies. Figuring out how to safely put it all on her bike was the bigger challenge! | Keep the majority of the weight on the p-pad, over the rear axle, where the bike is designed to carry it with minimal disruption to handling! A packed bike often looks top heavy when sitting sans rider, but think in terms of the size, height and weight of a passenger as a guideline. Heavy items, such as tool kits, in saddle bags help lower the center of gravity. |
Road noise proved to be the biggest deterrent to sleep, maybe more so because it stood out against the overall quiet of nature noises. One vehicle crunching on the gravel road sounded like heavy rain. The lights of another, apparently coming out from a camp across the way, seemed as though it would drive right over us (not possible with the huge roadside ditch)! | All things considered, we banked the fire and headed to the Paragon Casino, choosing Big Daddy E's for dinner. |