2011 Trip
 

Well a couple of us are going to be doing a California trip next year. Here is the potential destinations for each day and when we will be there. If you are on the route, let us know.

May 27 - Eureka Springs, Arkansas
May 28 - Boise City, Oklahoma
May 29 - Pikes Peak, Colorado
May 30 - Grand Canyon, Arizona
May 31 - Las Vegas, Nevada
June 1 - Day off in Vegas
June 2 - Yosemite, California
June 3 - San Francisco, California
June 4 - Redwoods, California
June 5 - Crater Lake, Oregon
June 6 - Jordan Valley, Oregon
June 7 - Yellowstone, Wyoming
June 8 - Day off in Yellowstone
June 9 - Mt Rushmore, South Dakota
June 10 - Sioux City, Iowa
June 11 - Mt Vernon, Illinois
June 12 - Home

Not on the route, but if the trans lab trip with Ebbs doesnt work out I might just follow you guys.

Any thoughts or plans for 2012?

2012 will probably be just a week long trip. I don't know if my wife will let me do another super long trip. I don't really know where I can go with a week though. I was wanting to do the BRP and a few other roads though.

Sounds like fun.

My unsolicited $.02:

The Vegas to Yosemite is a haul. There is no direct way to get there.

Yosemite is incredible, forget your extra day in Vegas and use it in the park.

if we are near tucson I have a friend that lives out there and we can crash for free

No, we don't go near tucson.

It's all a haul, yeah I will regret not seeing yosemite more, but even with a day, you can't really see much. I have never been to Vegas either though.

I'm in Vegas

you will have to come party with us or show us where to party

I'd ride with you from the panhandle of OK up to Pike's Peak....then loop back home to Kansas from Colorado Springs. :dthumb:

f$ck the west.

Are you camping or gonna hotel it?

Both, definitely want to camp in the parks, may hotel some of the shittier destinations or if it's just pouring rain/storm.

Hotel for Vegas definitely.

pikes peak is the shit, fwi

:rockwoot:

From what I was reading online, you can't actually camp in Redwood National Park. But I'm sure there are campsites very close by.

Oh, and talking to my parents about possibly bringing my daughter out and meeting us at the redwoods. My dad won't fly, but I doubt they'd be able to take my daughter on that long of a drive since school isn't out until June 2. He may drive himself, then pick up my mom and daughter at an airport somewhere close by, but on the way there. They would then follow us for a couple days, maybe all the way to yellowstone, then they would head home from there. These are just thoughts, not definites, at this time.

Looks good. However, isn't that ending the same time when the TWFix Rally is normally?

And what... no michigan?

if your staying around Crater Lake... the next night should easily put you in Idaho. unless there is something you want to see. it's only 8hrs from Crater lake to Boise.

to be honest... the best thing about being out in eastern oregon is how remote it is... unless you really wanna camp (which I do... because I used to hunt there as a boy) might as well press on and spend more time at Yellowstone. :2cents:

Maybe fnfalman can meet up with us for part of the ride if we're going to be near Boise. Didn't he move there?

Not stopping in Boise, bleh. Still going to stop and check out the Steen Mountains. We get a full day in Jellystone.

Missing Texas on purpose I see. That's ok.

Been to Texas before, this is about going somewhere I haven't.

O. I have 42 states but im gonna reset to 49 since i was a kid when i went through them.

Ok, but this isn't just about adding to my 50 state map for me (texas isn't part of that yet cause I only consider states I two wheels in and never rode in texas), I want to see more of America. Going through Texas will waste too much time and I am very limited on time. I don't particularily want to go through the plain states at all, but they are in the way of where I actually want to go and see.

That stretch between the panhandle of Oklahoma and Colorado Springs will be a REAL eye opener....western Kansas / Oklahoma is bad for wide open, flat and windy spaces....but....eastern Colorado is worse. It is literally a wasteland...miles and MILES of barren and WINDY desert.

That said, I'll still meet you in the panhandle and ride over to Pikes Peak with you...spend a few days in that area and then ride back to Wichita.

Man, if only I had a full summer off to just ride. It's amazing how little of the world people get to see.

yeah no kidding, it would be nice to just ride til you ran out of money. Kaneman has an awesome trip on adv rider. Great thread.

This is why I'm sticking with my job... 11 years and I'll have a pension of at least 1100 a month. that's enough to travel on two wheels around the world. I won't be living in luxury but I'll be living.

I plan on 4 years before becoming a Walmart greeter :lol:

I'll be doing the same thing but going for the slightly higher pension (double his) that affords me a daily shower. 14 yrs left

stay away from women then. LOL

Either that, or get snipped. Accidents can happen, you don't need a rug rat tying you down! 13 more years till mine leaves for college, but I will have to work for another 10 after that. :(

I don't think a wife/girlfirend would hang around for 4 years while he explores the world either. Unless she is part of the trip.

Told mine she needs to get a job and get her own place cuz I'm leaving her till I get back.

And getting snipped is the greatest thing ever <--- Experience

:lol: she will probably just shack up with some other dude

Thats fine, she got time from when I leave till I get back, i figure at least 2 years, maybe more.

I'm not kidding either, I told her the problem (she wont camp) and the solution (she wont go). She knows its coming, and she knows that shes not getting a cent of my retirement check, and she will prolly have to contribute to the trip fund too.

ah, wishful thinking.... :lol

I always forget, are you married? If so, that's definitely wishful thinking. :lol:

Honestly it's probably gonna be closer to 14... I'll probably make it to SMSgt... E8... dont' wanna stay in long enough to make E-9 though.

shit... no problem with that... I'm very up front about my plans... and regardless of having a child or not... I'm going. but I'm not planning on having a child... and unless things change a lot... will never be a father.

You're impotent??

no...just not getting laid

You say that, but let me tell you, once that kid comes along, it's the greatest thing in your life and you will not want to be away for too long. Oh, sure, there will be times when you just want to get away for a bit, but not for a long period of time.

:lol: I only laugh cause I'm in the same boat. Broke up with the g/f a little while back and it's been dryspell central around here. Ugh!!

gonna happen regardless... I'm in the military. but I know what you mean. but if it doesn't happen in the next 2-3 years... I'm getting snipped....



yeah I'm sure there'll be those to come in and brag about how much they get laid.. what can i say... I require a bit more than three holes and a pulse.
but it's all good... not all that worried about it.

Think again, a lot of us are married. :lol:

kids, the anti-bike since the 000 B.C.

Yeh but you only have the one kid, soon as the second one comes, and is able to walk and talk all you want to do is leave. I yelled at my two a dozen timesin the first 5 minutes after I walked in the door today

There are dozens of ways to get from Pikes Peak to the Grand Canyon. Here’s my suggestion, assuming you spent the night gambling in Cripple Creek after riding up Pikes Peak. Ride over to Victor and take Phantom Canyon Road (dirt road) toward Cañon City (US 50).

At US 50, ride over to Skyline Drive, just west of Cañon City, and take the one way road along the hogback. Back to US 50, take it through Gunnison to Montrose. Then south on 550 to Ridgeway. From here, you have a major decision, 110 (Million Dollar Highway) or 145. Since you won’t have time to do a complete circle, I suggest riding to Telluride (To Hell You Ride) for lunch, and then backtrack over to 110 and stop in Silverton and/or Durango for a snack.

Next, go on to Cortez and over to 160. Then cut off onto 163. It’s a little out of the way, but coming over Comb Ridge into Monument Valley has to be one of the West’s most “Western” experiences. From there, it’s 160 to 89 to 64 to the Grand Canyon. I used to stay in Flagstaff and get up early to see the sunrise at the Canyon the next morning.

Do you know the mileage and timing of the route? I can try to throw all of that into google maps tomorrow, but thought you might know. Also, depending on who is with us and what they're riding, dirt may not be viable.

yeah, can you give us an option without dirt. I would like to have a backup if drewpy does come on the buell.

Words of truth

Timing? I'm a geologist. I stop to look at rock formations and there's a million of them exposed out west. You'll probably want to stop and take a picture of you and your bike on the Continental Divide (Monarch Pass on the route I suggested), and some other scenic places.

Dirt road? As far as I know, and I haven't been down there in years, the road up Pikes Peak is only paved part of the way to the top. Mount Evans, west of Denver, is the Fourteener that has the road that's paved to the top.

But the dirt road up Pikes Peak and the dirt road through Phantom Canyon are maintained and graded. They are probably in better shape than some paved streets in our bigger cities.

And speaking of high altitude, the road up Mount Evans closes after Labor Day. I wanted to take my 12-year-old dog with us to the top last week. My wife said the altitude may not be good for an old dog. We brought the dog and we stayed on top photographing mountain goats and big horn sheep. When we came down, I was the one who got altitude sickness. A splitting headache that no amount of water or aspirin can cure. It doesn't affect everyone, but be forewarned.
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8733/bighornsheep.jpg

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Did your budget include the cost of hookers in vegas? Not the cheap ones that grow their own wasabi sauce between their legs, I'm talking about the good ones.

instead of going to death valley we could hit up the bunny ranch in Reno.

Yes, that's my vote

I am seriously considering getting rid of the death valley leg. Everyone keeps telling me it's not worth it, but still want to go through Yosemite, so doubt we go to Reno.