Who camps on road trips?

[dantama]

I like to camp, partly because it feels more adventurous, partly because I'm too cheap to waste a motel on just me :)

I don't plan my camp stops out, I just try to find a spot about an hour before the sun goes down. In urban areas, I find a KOA type place, or hope to find one. Out west, I try to find a place in the boonies that isn't a camp ground, just a level spot away from the road.

I don't even start looking for a place till very late in the day. I suppose I like the tension of, "will I find a place before it gets dark".

I always have found one, the closest I've come to not was sleeping in the tall weeds just off the road near Craig Colorado, on the edge of a field. Nothing came up near dark, and so I took what I could. The weeds were so tall that once I moved my bike in, it was hidden, and so was the tent.
I had a crazy dream that night that I woke up and my tent was on the back lawn of some mansion.

I put my small tent up, a spring bar type, don't use stakes or anything, once my sleeping bag and helmet and gear is in it, it's always held it down without any problems.

I prefer the primitive camping that isn't in a campground, but one benefit of the KOA type places is that you often run across other motorcyclists. They are always good to sit and chat with. I have a few phone numbers stashed away of people I've met that way who invite me to stay at their house if I'm ever passing through their state.

I've only taken one person up on it, but have others saved just in case I ever take a trip through their state. Of course, they have my number and I would reciprocate.

Just curious who else is a camper on their bike?

[Idaho]

I have considered it but I put in such long days, well past dark that by the time I stop I want a comfortable bed and a hot shower. Then there have been times when I found myself looking for a motel in a rainstorm. Not the time to be setting up a tent. Guess that I enjoy being in the saddle more than I enjoy sleeping on the ground.

I've camped once with a bike. I guess I prefer a good nights sleep when I'm out on the road. + when it comes to "camping" the Marines & Iraq kinda put a bad taste in my mouth.

[trip]

I used to camp on just about every trip I took. Still have all my gear....right down to the 20 degree-rated sleeping bag and expensive tent.

Now that I'm getting a little older, I really don't like camping if it's really cold or rainy. Plus, it's tough setting up camp at night when you've ridden 500 miles for the day.

So, most of my trips I hotel or motel it.

[dantama]

I really don't like camping if it's really cold or rainy.

I don't camp in the rain either. When that's happened, I find a Motel too.

One rain storm that pushed me into a Motel ended spawning a tornado in the tiny town that I stopped in. Best to not be in a tent there either.

[tomk]

I used to camp out in the desert with friends when I rode dirt bikes in the late '70s and all we had were sleeping bags and an old Coleman stove. Couldn't afford anything else. We slept in the back of a P/U bed to stay off the ground. We had to split the gas for the truck.

I've never camped with my bike but that is something I want to try this year. I have a couple of friends that are backpackers (and they ride) and the stuff they have seems to fit the bill. Everything is small and everything is expensive.

Currently, my wife and I have a travel trailer that is stored at a private membership campground that we joined but they won't allow bikes in there.

[audiogooroo]

Never camped on the bike. I, too, like a hot shower and soft bed after 10 or 12 hours on the road.
Wife and I used to backpack right after we got married. Then we got into jeeping. Used to go to the high country and sleep in tents. From there it was a truck camper, the self contained travel trailer. Now I have a 24ft trailer I pull when we want to go somewhere and a 30ft trailer on a private ranch up near Buena Vista. My wife's idea of camping at this stage of our lives is a Holiday Inn near the woods.

[tomk]

Never camped on the bike. I, too, like a hot shower and soft bed after 10 or 12 hours on the road.
Wife and I used to backpack right after we got married. Then we got into jeeping. Used to go to the high country and sleep in tents. From there it was a truck camper, the self contained travel trailer. Now I have a 24ft trailer I pull when we want to go somewhere and a 30ft trailer on a private ranch up near Buena Vista. My wife's idea of camping at this stage of our lives is a Holiday Inn near the woods.

Yup, same. That's why I bought the trailer in the first place!

[druid]

I did the tent/sleepingbag thing for a while, then realized it was getting harder to get out of the tent. Bought a tiny pull behind camping trailer and used that for a while, but it was too crowed for 2, so I bought a Bunkhouse camping trailer. That one was the cats meow!! Pulled great, lots and lots of room, easy and fast to set up. Haven't taken any long trips for a while and I sold the Bunkhouse to a buddy, so I reckon any more long trips will call for a motel stop.

[ed]

I usually take camp gear with me and camp when it hits me! But I don't do it anymore with out my air mattress! That darn cold ground makes me feel like I am 51 yrs old or something!
If I don't stay at a campground with showers avalible, I'll stop at truck stop to shower later.
I enjoy camping when I can but when its raining I am looking for something fun to do!

[dantama]

I usually take camp gear with me and camp when it hits me! But I don't do it anymore with out my air mattress! That darn cold ground makes me feel like I am 51 yrs old or something!
If I don't stay at a campground with showers avalible, I'll stop at truck stop to shower later.
I enjoy camping when I can but when its raining I am looking for something fun to do!

One of the rolls on my bike in the picture is an air mattress, not the air pump kind, the kind where a few good puff or air from your mouth and it's full. But it does the trick nicely.

I do the truck stop shower too. Works great. I found on one trip that state parks in the Midwest have some surprizingly great hot showers in very clean washrooms. I was impressed.

[ed]

[quote:vliptvst] I usually take camp gear with me and camp when it hits me! But I don't do it anymore with out my air mattress! That darn cold ground makes me feel like I am 51 yrs old or something!
If I don't stay at a campground with showers avalible, I'll stop at truck stop to shower later.
I enjoy camping when I can but when its raining I am looking for something fun to do!

One of the rolls on my bike in the picture is an air mattress, not the air pump kind, the kind where a few good puff or air from your mouth and it's full. But it does the trick nicely.

I do the truck stop shower too. Works great. I found on one trip that state parks in the Midwest have some surprizingly great hot showers in very clean washrooms. I was impressed. [/quote:vliptvst]

I installed a 12vt outlet on my bike for charging my phone.Then I found a more important use for it, pumping and deflating my air mattress. Works great I can set up my tent and be laying on a comfortable bed in about 10 minutes.

[sparky44]

My wife and I camped this fall at Devils Den State Park out of Fayetteville Arkansas. We had our tent, air mattress, and close to the bathroom, couldn't have been more comfortable.

Sparky44

[dlarue]

Devils Den is where we always stay for Bikes Blues BBQ!!! LOL We always camp. I suppose the biggest reason is just because we are still young and poor, but honestly camping is one of my favorite things to do. I love it. We have gotten into backpacking, so we have all the gear needed, but always bring an air mattress when we are on the bike... We have a blower that plugs into the bike as well, and works like a charm. When you have one of those, you usually stay pretty comfortable.

[dan]

I usually take camp gear with me and camp when it hits me! But I don't do it anymore with out my air mattress! That darn cold ground makes me feel like I am 51 yrs old or something!
If I don't stay at a campground with showers avalible, I'll stop at truck stop to shower later.
I enjoy camping when I can but when its raining I am looking for something fun to do!

I am 60 years old and when I camp I wake up feeling like a 24 year old......................Thats been ran over by two semi-trucks, an amtrak freight train and a john deere tractor. Like someone else said, give me a Holiday Inn next to some trees.