Motocamping 101

I took my first motorcycle camping trip this weekend, to Devils Den State Park in Arkansas. Lessons's were learned (including just how far my bike will go on reserve) but there were no major catastrophes and everyone (and almost everything) made it home in one piece.

This was taken at our first rest stop. The bike handled remarkably well with all the added weight, though I could definitely feel it through the tighter turns, and ended up taking most them pretty slowly. She behaved herself just fine through the wider, sweeping curves though, and that's the kind of riding I enjoy most anyway.We stopped in Henryetta, Oklahoma for lunch, at The Pig Out Palace. It's a little pricey for a greasy spoon (a little over $10 a person for the all you can eat buffet) but the food's pretty good, and the service, as well as the customers, are always very friendly.
For dessert, they have a selection of 4 different kinds of cobbler. I highly recommend the blackberry, with a little softserve on top.
If you're ever not sure where to eat on the road, just look for the place with all the trucks parked outside. If anyone knows where to eat on the road, truckers do.
We took the interstate on the way there, due to time constraints, but once we got close to the park there were some pretty good roads.
When we finally arrived, my new luggage rack and top case (more on those in the series of entries I'm currently working on) made unloading go quickly. When we first started planning the trip, I couldn't figure out how to bring everything we would need without covering the pillion seat. Luckily for me, the Majesty has a deceptively large amount of underseat storage, and a little ingenuity and some angle iron will go a long way.

Saturday was filled with hiking, and cave exploring. Here, Erika contemplates life while staring into an infinite abyss, just before we climbed around in it.
There was actually quite a bit of climbing on Saturday, not just in infinite abysses. The hole I'm sitting in is caused by pockets of sandstone, which weathers much faster than the harder stone surrounding it.
On the way back, we took I-540 south to Oklahoma Highway 9, which runs roughly parralel to I-40, but farther south. It's a much more interesting ride than the interstate, and as it turns out, takes about the same amount of time.
The only casualty from the trip was my homemade saddlebags, which had never really been filled up before. It was nothing a few zip ties and a pocket knife couldn't fix though.

p.s. I'd suggest always keeping a few zip ties on board your bike, not to mention around the house. They're really just too useful not to have.
The final mileage came out to 525 exactly, with the way there being slightly longer than the way back. There's a good chance that it was because I missed the first exit to the park on the way there, but I'd rather just chalk it up to backroads being a better way to travel.