What you don't want to see on your motorcycle trip

Went camping last week.  Three day biker party in eastern Washington.  Decided to head over early to rope off an area for our group.  Thought process:

Eastern Washington in June, it's gonna be hot, probably don't need a lot of extra gear

so I broke my own rule and wasn't prepared.  I left my chaps at home and didn't bother to take rain-gear.

Needless to say when I saw this up ahead I started to rethink my plan.  And yes, I got soaked five minutes later.

For the weekend:

Tuesday: soaked on the way over dried out but then it rained on our campsite in the late afternoon

Wednesday: seemed to be drying out but then ran into further away town (45 minutes) to get supplies and visit some friends; hit a mini-torrential downpour on the way back, spent the evening trying to dry stuff out

Thursday: got everything pretty dry in the morning, made a short trip into the closer town (15 minutes) and got hit with a mini-torrential on the way back

Friday: drove a friend's truck into further town to try to find some collapsible camp poles to put up another tarp.  Got halfway there and hit a mini-torrential.  Celebrated foresight in not riding the bikes.  Friends made fun of us for not riding anyway.

Saturday: Beautiful and sunny, went on a 150 mile ride to enjoy the sun

Sunday: Beautiful and sunny, rode home at 80 mph cause I was tired and just wanted to be home

Sunday night: So hot that I could barely sleep.  For pete's sake, where was that while we were camped in the pines.

So, lesson learned.  After thirty years of motorcycle travel and camping, after thirty years of always being prepared, I got sloppy.  Pack chaps and rain-gear.  Period.  No matter what you "think" the weather is going to do.  On the other hand, it could have been a lot worse.  I knew I was going to be camping in one spot and that the major travel would be there and back.  I would not have made the same mistake if I had been planning a trip.