Memorial Day Weekend 2026, Tristan and I ride Bruce to Holiday Campground on West Point Lake, Georgia.
This is the first camping trip Tristan will remember (Mom and I took him camping in California when he was only 2).
We had some rain on the way there and some during camp, but we had a great time, despite the fact we didn’t catch any fish (it would appear that I have forgotten how to fish LOL).
This video is Part 2 of 2 of our weekend camping trip and the ride there.
Tristan and I ride Bruce to Holiday Campground on West Point Lake, Georgia.
This is the first camping trip Tristan will remember (Mom and I took him camping in California when he was only 2).
We had some rain on the way there and some during camp, but we had a great time, despite the fact we didn’t catch any fish (it would appear that I have forgotten how to fish LOL).
This video is Part 1 of 2 of our weekend camping trip and the ride there.
In this last video of Florida Loop 2026, I ride from Barnesville, Georgia to just outside of Fairburn, Georgia. By the time I arrived in Fairburn, the sun had set and it was now dark. I am still using an old GoPro Hero 5 Black, which does not record well in low light, so I ended the recording here.
Tristan and I will be moto-camping Memorial Day Weekend (5/22/2026 – 5/25/2026) at West Point Lake, Georiga (near LaGrange, Georgia).
We will first deliver the majority of our camping gear via car and setup camp. We then drive back home (DeAndra has to work Memorial Day Weekend). Tristan and I will then ride Bruce (my 2025 Harley-Davidsion Pan America 1250 Special) back to West Point Lake and camp over the weekend.
On Monday, May 25th, 2026 we will reverse the process by riding Bruce home, and then returning to the campsite with the car to retrieve the remaing camp gear.
This weekend will be Tristan’s first time fishing and my first time in over 30 years. We are going to fish for some panfish (bream fish) on Satruday and try for some catfish on Sunday. This time around, we are only going to catch and release this weekend. We are planning on more fishing this summer and maybe try frying some at home (if we catch anything lol).
In this video I am departing Daytona Beach, Florida and headed to Palatka, Florida where I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Palatka, Florida for the night.
Day 7 Total Miles from Dupuis Campground to Palatka, Florida = 273 Slow Miles 🙂
The original plan for Day 7 was to ride from Dupuis Campground near Indiantown, Florida, ride east to the coast, and then ride north on Florida A1A to Daytona Beach. In Daytona Beach I would ride the Ormond Scenic Loop and then proceed to Ocean Pond Campground near Lake City, Florida in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area and camp for the night. While the weather was fantastic today for camping (a rare occurrence on this trip) I grossly underestimated the time it would take to ride north from Stuart, Florida to Daytona Beach.
While I accomplished most of my goals for the day from Palatka, Florida, Ocean Pond Campground would have been about another 1.5 ride in the dark in area and roads I am not familiar with. While I can and have ridden plenty at night, I prefer not to as the potential road hazards and wildlife risk increase exponentially, plus, you can’t see anything at night.
It had been a long day waking up at camp just before sunrise and instead decided to cut the route short for today and stay at the Holiday Inn Express and make up the 74 or so miles on Day 8.
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This video contains the start of Day 7 departing Dupuis Campground – Canal Point, Florida and my ride east to the coast on Florida Highway A1A in Stuart, Florida. This morning’s ride starts rural, transitions to suburban metropolitan and then into coastal areas.
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Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip
Florida Loop 2026 Total Miles = 2,261
Day 1 miles totaled 331 miles riding from Douglasville, Georgia through Montgomery, Alabama and ending the day in Pensacola, Florida camping in Big Lagoon State Park.
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My Full Touring / Alaska 2028 Loadout is my touring packing load for extended long distance motorcycle touring / camping trips. For example, I am looking at my Alaska 2028 trip to be 43 days in total with 7 days in Anchorage with my son and wife for a family vacation. This setup is for spending weeks traveling on the motorcycle with significant camping involved.
To be clear, this is way overkill for my Florida Loop 2026 trip. But I am using that trip as my test flight per say for my motorcyle configuation and full touring loadout. Less extensive trips will have reduced loadout accordingly, especially trips that does not involve camping. I would say more than half of the items packed are related to camping.
Total Weight with empty Giant Loop Armadillo Bag = 200.75 Pounds
Total Weight with full Giant Loop Armadillo Bag = 219.35 Pounds
Total gear weight is about the weight of an adult.
A somewhat, sort of, not really brief overview of my motorcycle luggage and some of the new camp gear. At present, the only two camp items that are carrying over from my previous motorcycle camping trips is my ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 2-Person Tent and camp skillet with a folding handle. Everything else has been replaced with new gear.
The main driver for the new gear is the quest to pack smaller and lighter. So far, my loadout for Bruce is substantially less than what I would pack for Dexter. There are still some luxury items and things I could do without, but I’m getting old and comfort is more important.
There are always those who scream you overpack. While I have overpacked on previous trips, this is much less. I am convinced that I could only pack a string bikini and someone would scream I am over packing….to which I reply cool, you do you boo! 😊
I will discuss more about the electronics I am hauling including the HoverAir X1 PROMAX drone later.
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September 10th, 2023
After raining heavily all night the weather broke in the early morning shortly after sunrise. With the rain stopped, I quickly took a few photos of Devils Tower shrouded in low clouds, packed up my soggy camp and loaded up Dexter (my 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic) and rolled out of camp eastward to Fisher Grove State Park Campground in South Dakota.
With temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, this morning’s ride was chilly and damp. In South Dakota, I had caught up to some of the rain systems that had earlier soaked my camp at Devils Tower.
Total miles for today = 353 Miles, predominantly riding on US Highway 212 most of the way.
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Wanderlust Lyfe 