Preparation and research

With the Odyssey coming up within weeks (20 days to be exact!)  I have been busy preparing. Well I say preparing....really I mean last minute dashing and brain farts spent in between spending time with the kids, work and enjoying the sailboat (the days have been perfect sailing weather! 75 degrees with 10-15 knot winds)
* I have been told by a good friend via Facebook that you cannot have both a motorcycle and boat, one would always eclipse the other in funds and time. Fudge that! I found I can juggle them easily, as long as I remember that the motorcycle is my time and the boat family time. Plus, a guy cant have too many toys! But Im going off on a tangent....

In order to attempt an organized plan Ive got it boiled down to these specific catagories:

Preparation:

Motorcycle

- My bike is at approximately 48,000 miles. I know that when I bought her she had approximately 45,000. According to my buddy Rick when she was traded in in she recieved about $1,700 in services to include tires, plugs, oil change and detailing. So with that in mind, I feel a standard oil change should suffice. The tires look great and I have gone over her with the ratchet wrench to make sure all the nuts are still tight.
- Extra oil, parts,tools and such. The majority of my needs can be met at a local Auto parts store (hopefully)
- Extra Gas can??? (Im debating about this and only see a need for it when I drive Alligator Alley)
* I found a great website that covers alot of the motorcycle preparations for long distance rides Here 

Luggage

- Sleeping bag and inflatable pad.
- Tent
- Clothes (2 pair of jeans, 2 pair of shorts, 7 shirts, 7 underwear , 7 pair of socks)
- Towel
- Shaving and shower kit
- Sneakers (this I have been told is a must when long distance riding because after awhile boots get too uncomfortable)
- Rain Gear
- Motorcycle Jacket and normal gear (too hot to bring the chaps!)

Misc

-  Laptop and charger (how else am I gonna Blog?)
- Cellphone and charger
- Sunscreen and bug screen
- MP3 player

I know I'm missing something......lol

Research:

I have been asked several times where I planned to ride and do? And my standard answer has been "I'm gonna go wherever I want!" . But essentially I think that I just wanna explore the out of the way places and seldom ridden roads. Normally when I ride, ecspecialy with clubs, there is a specific destination and a specific time frame to do it in...this isn't necessarily bad, but it generally means the following:

"Arrive at meeting area 0700"
"Wheels up at 0800"
"a gas/smoke/rest stop at every 100 miles"
"Ride the highways at top speed so we can get there by 1300"
"after everyone checks in at the hotels, meet at 1500"
"drink beer till its time to leave"

I wanted to be able to take nothing but back/seldom used roads if I could. And If I saw something that caught my eye, I could stop and check it out. Due to finacial reasons I wanted to stay at camp grounds and leave when I wanted. The goal of this trip is going to be summed up in one word...

So here is a list of some great websites that I'm going to use on my Odyssey:

Here is a link to Motorcycle Roads US It has several interesting back roads in Florida  Here
Tent Camping Florida has some great camp friendly sites in this state along with feedback  Here
Roadside America covers some really interesting roadside attractions Here
And of course Weird US has a long list of neat places that are seldom visited Here