Interesting thread!

I did my first (experimental ) fully loaded mini-tour a few weeks back; I rode 52 miles to a state park in the next state, camped the night, and came home the next day. (I had planned to make it a 3-day trip, but the weather forecast for the first day was truly vicious.)

I had checked my maps, and I knew there wasn't much in the area of the state park, but I did confirm by phone that there was a 7-11-type place up the road a way. So I figured I'd get there, set up camp, and then head out again to hunt for food.

Well. The best-laid plans, and all that . . . First of all, it took me a lot longer to get there than I had anticipated (I wasn't feeling at all well, lots of stomach trouble, so I was stopping a lot.) Then there was some drama with the campsite, and it ended up taking me close to 90 hot (and very exhausting) minutes to get set up. AND the coup de grace -- the state park is in a very hilly area. I was put-a-fork-in-me done at that point; no way was I getting back on the bike and riding 10 more hilly miles.

Fortunately, I had brought along a few of those freeze-dried "boil in a bag" meals that staehpj1 so loves.

For my first time, it wasn't too bad, though!