Quote Originally Posted by bmccasland View Post
And with three kitties and a dog, there's no room in the car for my bike too.
Definitely some packing logistics were involved, as we also had to carry enough clothes to deal with the drop in temperatures over potentially 2-3 months.

We've got just the one dog, but we got a roof-top cargo box for my wagon, into which we stuffed our winter coats and a few bags of clothes. With 1/3 of back seat down I could get my bike in standing upwards with front wheel off. That way dog had 2/3 of the back seat, and I still had a good amount of trunk space, and I didn't need to pile things up so as to obstruct my sightlines.

Carrying the bike on top would have been the next option, but I just felt that the bike was safest inside the car.

Plus, it's a little weird knowing that with cargo on top, the vehicle is a bit taller than your used to. Center of gravity goes up and you have to pay more attention to clearances. The car is still not taller than most SUVs, though, so I haven't run into any problems.