Bike Camping!

Well now that summer is gone, like way gone, and the tricks and treats has happened, it is well past time that I commit this to virtual paper lest I forget it ever happened.  Borrowing from the example set by the Reverend at the Church of the Sweet Ride I've been pushing to get at the good times and encounter the adventures in life that are available to me  now...aaannd to involve the young-in's in that paradigm. So it was with the threat of the end of summer and the beginning of the kid's school year that i rallied us to strike out on our first bike camping trip.  Truthfully this is not just the first family bike camping trip but my first camping trip upon the bike cycle too.
Preparations began a week ahead of time with the construction of some bucket paniers for the kids.  I was turned onto them by the Hipples and found instructions here.  Inevitably there was last minute scrambling and adjustments but eventually we got everything packed and away we rode.

Only to turn around before we got 2 blocks away so we could tighten Ry's rack which started to list to one side.  Then we were off again and within 4 blocks we stopped 3 times to adjust this or re-tighten that, but then we were really off and we didn't stop until we got to Charlie's Boat House for ice cream.  Then we followed the bike path to the causeway which we followed until we hit the cut.  There we needed to take the bike ferry, "Thanks Local Motion"

From there we rode the back roads of South Hero Island.  As we encountered our first hills the whining and complaining began to creep into  the collective conciousness. So I started spewing my best dadisms, such as: "Whining won't make it any easier.  It will only make me want to leave you behind."  and "Doing hard things is hard." Just as we were reaching meltdown we found a little wayside to distract us.

Nothing like ice cream, swings, and petting some goats and horses to set one's spirit right!

From there we had the finial stretch which was difficult for a couple of reasons.  First was we shifted from a relative quiet back road to the main thoroughfare of Route 2. There was a nice 6foot shoulder and the kids are confident riders but the constant traffic and higher speeds had everybody on edge and I couldn't wait to see the park sign that let us know we had reached our destination.

We reached the park and when we did it was all good times and smiles. The tenseness of the last stretch soon forgotten.

Boy was it windy.  The wind howled all night as it pushed up the waves on the mighty Lake Champlain and we passed the night cozy in a lean-to with the sounds of wind and waves in our ears.  Then we woke up had coffee and were on our way.  We had ridden 24 miles to the campsite and were facing a 20 mph headwind on the way back so I made the executive decision to call in support and have my lovely better half pick us up at the other side of the lake shortening the ride to 14 miles.   I thought that if I can keep the troops happy they will be more willing to set out with me again.  It was a good call as the previous day's miles and the headwind really made this a challenge for the 7 and 9 year old.  I had my own bit of suffering to do too.  See I borrowed a friend's Extra-cycle for the trip so I could haul the extra stuff that the kids weren't able to haul.  Little did I know that the seatpost was stuck too low and the saddle fit me in a way that left me calling it the ass-hatchet.  Needless to say we were happy when we saw the swagger-wagon waiting for us.

However when asked the kids both independently verified that they will be doing this again.  Good times!