| Author | Message | ||
     Sanjuro |
I've posted the following on ADV; I am open to your suggestions and advice. I'm looking to leave within the next week. After a visit to my local AAA office (not to be confused with AA, I'm still in the denial phase you see), on the top of my desk is a map highlighted with a tentative route. My MP3 player is loaded up with The Doobie Brothers, Bee Gees and Dr.Dre; music, check. Dry bag loaded with camping gear, check. Thanks in part to the collective knowledge of ADV, equipment,.. check, for now, until I'm far from home. The time I have for this trip is fairly flexible but like most of us, budget is not. I've been reading a lot of threads about how to sleep on the cheap, and reading the threads about estimated costs vs "actualized" costs is adding a bit of pee to my cheerios already. In any case, although I'm seasoned rider, this will be my first ever cross country trip. I would welcome your advice on the following. In return, I plan on contributing some of my own gained knowledge as the result. E.g. "Crap, the Aero Press doesn't work so well as a BBQ flavor injector." 1. Nice, quiet but cheap places to stay on the way. (Due to budget, campgrounds preferred but will more than likely stay at hotels every third or fourth day) 2. Critique my route, offer alternatives, places I need to see along the way. 3. Tips and wisdom (i.e., money saving tips, possible pitfalls, gained perspectives from life on the road). My route, a rough draft: From Portland, OR take 84 then 12 to Missoula, take 90 to Yellowstone (visit Cody while there), drop down 287 to Ogden, then take 6 to Moab (Arches, Canyonlands), take 191 town to Monument, then down to Sedona past Flagstaff. Here's where my planning turns a bit grey: Take 40 all the way to Ark past Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City into Ark? Looks like a good straight path from there. I've not planned fully the return route but hope to have enough lembas bread left for the trip home. I'd like to thank YFFS (or Badwebbers) in advance for your help and assistance. | ||
| Skrobe |
Looks like you going to be doing quite a bit of highway riding -- there are many other nice 2-lane roads close to the Interstate route that have Buell written all over them. If you go through Yellowstone be sure to take the "BLACKTAIL Plateau" scenic drive - an all-dirt road (very easy) but beautiful views - nice place to munch on a light lunch. It's about a 20 minute side trip on the Northeast side of the park. Depending on what time of year you are going you'll need to check to make sure all roads are open through Yellowstone. Riding through Yellowstone is NOT a quick trip. In Cody be sure to check out the Buffalo Bill museum if you have never been. You can easily spend a day there if your interested in firearms at all. If you go through Red Lodge Montana there is a cool "olde tyme" candy store on Main Street - nickel candy - wax lips, pixie stix that kind of stuff. It's in an old movie theater building. it's filled with antiques and other cool stuff. If you go through Utah, there is a route that takes you past the "Natural Bridges", I think there are 7 of them. You can see many from the road - road is relatively desolate, plan your fuel stops well. | ||
| Pepperk496 |
Go through Red lodge and over the Beartooth Pass then turn left coming down the mountain to take the Chief Joseph HWY over to Cody. I've ridden in the Swiss Alps, the Turkish Mediterranean and the French Riviera.... Still, my all time favorite ride is the Beartooth Pass / Chief Joseph HWY. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
Just a couple suggestions for the first part of your trip-- 1) Consider SR-14 instead of I-84. You can ride it all the way to Umatilla and then you're right on Hwy 12. Good choice to do Hwy 12, by the way. Lolo Pass is one of the world's truly great riding roads. 2) Get off I-90 at Butte. Go south on MT-41 and then east on MT-287. This is a nice quiet road through small towns. If it's getting late, Ennis is a fine place to stop for the night. The white pelicans in that area are an amazing sight. In the morning, you'll be fresh and only an hour or so from West Yellowstone. Alternately, you can skip I-90 altogether and take MT-93 south from Missoula and then work your way east on MT-43, I-15, and MT-41 to MT-287. Bucolic scenery. Obviously not as fast as sticking on I-90. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Lots of great suggestions above. Mine is to copy the R.A.N. section of this site and take it with you. In fact, make some phone calls ahead of time to folks along the route. Take me for example, I have a spare room with a double bed, your own bathroom and beer. Supper is about six pm. You will ride within one mile of my house the first day. | ||
| Trevd |
+ 100 for Beartooth pass... easily the nicest, most scenic road I've ever been on. Nice curves too! Also, +1 for the Blacktail Plateau. Sounds like the road I took when I was in Yellowstone 5 years ago. I'm not sure it's the same one, but if it is, it's well worth doing - made dealing with the traffic of Yellowstone worth it. | ||
| Sanjuro |
That is a very generous offer Dan, thank you! I may take you up on a beer along the way. In this instance, you folks have saved the adage "Quality over Quantity" from the land of cliches. Great advice here (versus zilch from ADV). This is the stuff that I would not have known and exactly the type of advice I was seeking especially from those who's done that, been there. I respect experience in many regards. I'll study this list and print this thread along with the list (just in case) prior to departure. I'll make an effort to keep you posted (with photos) as I make progress. For now, I'm still waiting on a couple of pieces of equipment in the mail. For example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7EdhnReYH0 With a video commercial like that, it was too hard to resist. Besides, apparently, I can cut down a forest with it and build a cabin too!  | ||
| Xbimmer |
Get 10-day weather projections up to the day you leave, and bring your winter gear. You can get surprised quickly this time of year at some of the elevations you'll be riding! Sounds like a fun trip, ride safe!  |
