This is another photo from Alabama state highway 63, on the way to the Wind Creek State Park campground. It was taken north of Eclectic, perhaps near a branch of Lake Martin.

Tonight I started packing for my weekend bike tour. It will be the first time in two years for a self-contained outing. There is a little mildew on one of the panniers, and some confusion. I first packed my son’s tent instead of my own.

The big question is, What will be the most important item that I’ll forget this time? That time two years ago I packed the wrong tent poles. They held up my hoop tent, sort of, but I couldn’t easily put the fly over them. It didn’t matter, because the temperatures were in the mid 90s during the day. All I needed was the mosquito netting. This time it will be cool at night — in the 30s — but in addition to my super-lightweight sleeping bag, I have a pair of goosedown pants that make good pajamas for times like this.

Then there was the time in 1999 when I forgot my tent poles altogether. I staked out my tent and used it as a sort of bivy, which worked out OK because the rain held off.

I’ve forgotten to take water bottles, but that can be remedied by buying bottled water at a gas station.

Usually I don’t start packing two days ahead of time. More often I start packing the morning of the outing. But still, even with this head start, I’m sure to forget something. I can hardly wait to get on the road and find out what it will be.

Late edit: There was the time I forgot to take money. It was my first-ever self-contained tour, a three-day outing in 1997. I had a credit card, but it wasn’t easy to buy food with a credit card — not at that time and place. And the place I planned to camp for the 2nd evening wouldn’t take a credit card. After that trip that I learned about ATM cards.