Testing... testing... 1... 2...

This past weekend, I took a trip up to north Georgia for some Easter camping.  I loaded up the DRZ with all the stuff I'm going to take on the Trans Lab trip.  I wanted to see how it was all going to work, how the bike was going to handle - that kind of stuff. 

First, the loaded up bike.

Before I ever got out of the driveway, I discovered issues.  First, I couldn't wear my Camelbak!  I had too much crap on the bike and barely any room for me.  So I had to strap that down on top of the bike.  Second, the comm unit I had on the helmet didn't have a jack for my mp3 player input.  Doh!!  No music for the whole trip.  I'm going to try to solve that by getting a Y connector where I can have two lines into one - one line for mp3, the other for my GPS (Garmin Montana 650t).

Got on the road fairly early.  I was following a route I created on the computer and downloaded to the GPS. About 30 miles into the trip, the GPS froze.  I had to stop and remove the battery and reinstall it before it would work again.  Then it happened again a little while later.  Ugh!  Looks like I'll have to make another call to Garmin.  

I saw a picture opportunity and as I rode by I thought I'd just stop on the way back.  Then I said no, I have to turn around and go get it.  I'm really bad about seeing something and not stopping for a pic.  This is what I got:

Haha!!  It's Mater!

A little later on in the trip, the clouds increased and it started to get dark and dreary.  It then started to rain lightly and the temperature dropped.  I didn't bring any clothes for cold weather because the forecast had been for nice weather.  After a while I was so chilled that I decided the next Dollar General store I saw, I was going to stop to get a sweatshirt.  That's what I did.  And I scored!!  I got a sweatshirt for $1 and a stocking cap for $0.50.  Haha!!  The stocking cap made the helmet bearable.  It doesn't fit right and I decided it's not going on The Big Trip.  I'll wear my street helmet.  Anybody want to buy a helmet?

After I got north of I-16, the GPS turned me to the west a bit.  I didn't think much about it at first - I just thought it was a jog in the route and I'd be turning north again soon.  But after a while, I realized it was trying to route me onto I-75!  I specifically set up the route NOT to get on the interstate.  Dang it!!  What is this crazy GPS doing?!?  I had to stop and figure that out.  This is a new GPS and I haven't learned everything about it.  It's a bit more complex than my old nuvi 550.  

I made it up there in a longer time than it should have taken but that was ok.  It took eight hours and should have taken six.  I have scheduled eight  hours riding per day for The Big Trip so that was a good test.  I was fine after riding  eight  hours.  

Overall, it was a good trip up.  It was great camping out and testing out the new tent and gear.  I packed everything back up much better than I had originally and had it organized much better as well.  The trip back was GREAT!  The Airhawk seat cushion was fantastic!  No achy butt.  The return trip only took six hours.  

Next up, I'll list the gear and equipment I'm planning on taking.