Florida Loop 2026 – Daytona Beach to Palatka

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Florida Loop 2026 Day 7 Part 6 – April 10th 2026

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 🙂

Today’s Original Plan

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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Florida Loop 2026 Day 7 Part 1 – Dupuis Campground to Stuart, Florida

CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR FLORIDA LOOP 2026 DAY 7 PART 1 VIDEO

April 10th, 2026

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 Day 1 – April 4th, 2026

CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR VIDEO OF DAY 1

Florida Loop 2026 – Day 1

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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Bruce Full Touring / Alaska 2028 Loadout & Packing

April 3rd, 2026

Full Touring / Alaska 2028 Loadout – What Does This Mean?

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.

Let’s look at luggage weight

  • Right Panier (including weight of panier itself) = 50 Pounds
  • Left Panier (including weight of panier itself) = 50 Pounds
  • Top Case (including weight of top case itself) = 28 Pounds
  • Medic Bag / First Aid Kit (strapped on top of top case) = 9 Pounds
  • Reax Poseidon Dy Bag (including dry bag weight itself) = 36 Pounds
  • Giant Loop Armadillo Bag (Gasoline) 3 Gallons = 1.25 Pounds Empty
    • ~19.85 pounds when full (3 gallons gasoline)
  • Giant Loop Cactus Canteen Hydration Bladder 2 Gallons = 17.5 Pounds
    • 9.3 Ounces empty
  • Tank Bag (includes weight of tank bag itself) = 9 Pounds

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.

So, what did I pack and where did I pack it?

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Motorcycle Luggage & Some Camp Gear Updates 1/24/2026

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Overview

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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USA Midwest 2023 Day 10 – Devils Tower to Fisher Grove State Park South Dakota

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September 10th, 2023

Day 10 Overview

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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USA Midwest 2023 Day 8 – Black Hills to Wyoming

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Day 8 Overview

Day 8 covered roughly 206 miles, leaving plenty of time for railfanning (watching & recording trains).   

I departed camp near Keystone, South Dakota (Grizzly Bear primitive campground) and proceeded west to Wyoming via SD Highway 244, U.S. Highway 385, and U.S. Highway 16.

In Wyoming, I rolled through the Thunder Basin Grassland, Powder River Basin and ended the day at Douglas KOA campground in Douglas, Wyoming.

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USA Midwest 2023 – Day 7 – The Black Hills South Dakota

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Day 7 Overview

Total Miles for day 7 was only about 42 miles, mostly consisting of a loop departing from Grizzly Bear Campground near Keystone, SD to Mount Rushmore and then through Custer State Park on South Dakota Highway 87, to Keystone (to get some supplies), and then back to camp. 

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USA Midwest 2023 Day 6 The Badlands South Dakota

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The Badlands

September 6th, 2023

Day 6 Overview

Total Miles for day 6 was 253 miles starting at the Badlands Hotel & Campground in Interior, South Dakota.  The highlight of today’s ride was rolling through the Badlands National Park offering up some stunning and rugged scenery.  The day concludes near Keystone, South Dakota where I camp for two nights in the Black Hills at the Grizzly Creek Primitive Campground.

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USA Midwest 2023 Day 5 – North Platte, Nebraska to Interior, South Dakota

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North Platte, Nebraska to Interior, South Dakota
September 05, 2023
Today’s Miles = 286

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