thehueg,

Camping is an excellent idea. You will survive the heat and humidity just fine. I lived the first 30+ years of my life growing up in Chicago and as an adult in Minnesota without A/C. It will give your trip stories a little more color when you retell your adventures.

al-Gore is full of crap. This is shaping up to be a cool summer. You may luck out.

Somewhere around Lincoln, Nebraska the humidity starts to drop.

OD

 

We camp quite a bit. BUT, we pull a trailer. (see pics below) Since we have all the room in the trailer, we carry a deep cycle marine battery and an invertor. That way we can run a fan if it gets hot, the wife has her hair dryer, etc. etc.

Eventually we want to get a pop-up tent trailer. They still have plenty of room for the wife to bring all that she wants, and is much easier than unpacking the trailer and setting up the tent.

If not pulling the trailer, we stay in motels on trips. Sometimes, we stay in motels anyway, even with the trailer.

We have tried it, but there is no way the wife is happy camping with only the stuff we can carry ON the bike.

 

One one of my trips, we camped in Yellowstone over the 4th of July, believe it or not, we were snowed in one day, and 80 degrees two days later. Yes, it was cold on a bike in a tent. What i found worked best was every third day we got a cheap motel. It was nice to have a real shower and a nice mattress every once in a while. Same trip, in the Badlands, it was HOT. Alot of it depends on how hi up into the mountain passes you go as well. Got a great pic crossing the Big Horn mountains, right at the top, side of the road was full of snow still!

 

We've got a bushtec turbo+2 trailer that we throw a tent & sleeping bag & all the wife's stuffin. We didn't buy a camping trailer simply because wewon't camp all the time. We use it to go buy groceries and all sorts of things.

The trailer you had in your post looks very nice though & set up will be much easier than for us. Whatever you get I'm sure you'll enjoy it. We love ours so far.

Sorry hit the wrong link was supposed to be in reply to ABNMARINE

 

I camp when I go on my annual week long ride with a couple of my old high school friends. I find that after parking the bike and setting up camp for the night, having many beers helps me go to sleep no matter what the weather conditions!

 

We are looking at a few different models so our mind isn't made up yet. There is a manufacturer in VA that we will visit this summer after I return home. We have been talking about going camping for some time now and anything that involves the bike, I'm all for.

 

Whether or not you'll save any money is debateable.
If you dirt camp for free you will but RV parks and camp grounds aren't all that cheap these days.
I've found that by hitting the old part of towns where the highway went through before the freeways passed them byyou can get older but decent rooms almost as cheap as a campsite and sometimes even cheaper.
I never need anything fancy,just a bed and a shower,a mini fridge is a bonus and comes in handy if you hit a store for some breakfest goodies.
We hit a Safeway for deli takeout food and then get a couple things for in the morning so we're not spending big on dinner or breakfest in a resturant and leaving tips.
We always ask to see the room so we can see if it's clean and ifthe shower works etc.,doesn't hurt to shop around and look at a couple different motels,if you find you like one better but the price is lower down the street ask if they'll match the price down the street.
Have AAA? ask for a discount,pick up travel coupons at tourest stops that will get you rate reductions on rooms and meals.
There's lots of ways to save a buck,you may find it costs the same to motel it as to camp and you won't have to pack all that gear or sleep on the ground and use community showers if there are any.

 

Im in Columbus Ohio, gets pretty dam hot in the summer, but nights are alright. Bring some mesquito repellant. Sounds like a great ride, I love to camp and have so on my bike, just got to scale down my gear. If you're close to Columbus message me and we'll have a cold beer.

 

It just depends on what kind of "experience" you're looking for. We enjoy camping, but my wife and I did a 2 week trip out west in late June/early July of 2006 and we elected to stay in Super 8's every night, with the exception of a Holiday Inn in Pocatello, Idaho. Most nights we paid $50-$60 for a hot shower, clean bed, and on several occasions a pool that was VERY nice after a day on the road.

 

If you choose to ride the back roads, look to spend the nights in the small towns. The smaller the better.
Stop at a local bar or store, and ask if there is a municipal park, or some place to pitch a tent.

You'll get free camping in most small towns, cause they want you to spend the night (and some cash).

Just being nice will get you a long ways.................