What’s in the Chase Vehicle?

The possibilities are endless. Sorting through the possibilities is where the fun begins.

Sometime in the last year’s preparatory months I was tasked with submitting a packing list for two years on the road, based on my experience of what I had been packing for motorcycle vacation trips over the years. My challenge was to take that experience and expand it into a list that would sustain us for a couple years. That required quite of bit of additional thought. When you forget something on vacation, you either figure out a way to makeshift, or just plain do without until you get back home. If you over-packed or brought things you didn’t need, lesson learned. Do it differently next time. There is no “next time” on Chick and Alice Adventure’s. It’s just this time.

I was also tasked with creating a list for a chase vehicle should we be lucky enough to have that.  That was fun, creating a wish list for all those things that would be nice to have but couldn’t be packed on two motorcycles.

Fast forward to today… Now I’m driving my truck and trailering my bike. A bit of different circumstances. We don’t need to load down two bikes to their max in order to have everything we think we need. The load changes the ride. Now the ride is the ride it’s supposed to be. (Bonus - no more wrestling with straps and bungee cords on a daily basis.)

We also have some serious experience under our belt from our various trips this summer, especially the infamous one-week 2800+ mile stress test ride that Alice designed for us. We learned a whole lot about a whole lot. We packed our bikes according to our packing list for the 50-state ride. We found out what we really needed, what we didn’t need, what we wished we had. Our list needed some serious revisions. But now we get to include the truck in our packing plan. This is going to be fun! Our space parameters are expanded and all kind of options are open now. I like more options.

So what’s in the Chase Vehicle? And how do we pack it the most efficiently for the road so we can easily find what we want, when we want it? My brain has been having fun with this one. I think it’s run into itself a few times, but here’s some the thoughts that have emerged:

We pack with the same luggage we use on our bikes according to our “bike packing list.” We pack to be self-sustainable on our own, just as if we still just had two bikes. You never know when circumstances could force a change in plans. We could need to separate briefly and put luggage back on one of the bikes. Or, in my dream world my hand will become fully healed and I can ditch the truck, at least for awhile. In addition, the compact packing design of our gear will not take up an excessive amount of space in the truck.

We each get half of the back seat for the gear that would have been on the bike. Mine on the driver’s side (since I’m driving) and Alice’s on the passenger side. We each get our own private space with easy access separately from the back doors. (And Alice can have her own space that I can’t trash.)

The front seat will be reserved for what I happen to be carrying with me on any particular day, or the occasional passenger. Nothing permanently packed in front.

That leaves the entire back-end of the truck and the tool box for our wish list, things like:

Cooler (we hadn’t figured out where to put even a small one on the bikes yet). Now we can use a decent sized one.

Camping Gear. We each have our personal camping gear with limited cookware and dinnerware.  Now we can add some serious camp cookware.

More tools.

Additional clothing options… Our fuzzy warm bathrobes! Hot Dog! And, just maybe I can sneak in a couple extra pairs of shoes (must be prepared for any occasion, you know).

Some really cool pillows that wrap around you, in case of needing to sleep in the truck. You know, those creatures in the desert…or the weather…and who knows when the truck will be more appealing than the tent on a given night.

Our favorite blankets.

“The Beast’ blender for smoothies or protein shakes. My truck comes equipped with a regular outlet and we’ve already determined that we’re not real big on preparing and eating meals. It certainly doesn’t happen consistently now and we doubt it will change much when we’re on the road. We’re always on the move but still need to make sure we have the nutrition we need.

Batteries and extra quantities of supplies that will need to be replenished on the road and cannot be easily purchased at a local discount store.

And, now that Alice doesn’t need to carry all that gear on her bike, she just may be able to take something else really special to her on the bike.

There will be a lot more detail to our packing list as we fine-tune it in the coming months. Only one of the many things to do in preparation for May 1, 2027.

If you think of something we probably couldn’t live without, drop it in the comments.  It may just be the one thing we really shouldn’t go without.

Love and Peace,

Chick