Western Trip

[leo3wheel]

Roughly mapped my vision of our canyonlands trip in July/August. Will take the northern route west in July. There are slight diversions to allow us to visit states previously unvisited. Biggest diversion is to visit friends near Madison, Wi and then to participate in VR rally at Galena, IL. Plan to make a short visit with fellow rider in Loveland, Colorado. After visiting canyonlands, will return east on the southern route.

 

[Big Dog]

Looks like a great trip Leo! One that would be a memory maker, I wish I was at that point in my life to take a long ride. Enjoy it brother :10:

 

[leo3wheel]

Looks like a great trip Leo! One that would be a memory maker, I wish I was at that point in my life to take a long ride. Enjoy it brother :10:

Thanks Big Dog! Wish you could join us. Disappointed we cannot fit your Sarasota M&E into our schedule. Would love to escape the cold weather for a while. Say hi to Miles.

 

[Gorilla]

leo enjoy. maybe we will cross paths. MJ and I will be out and about on our pacific coast hwy trip around the same time. ride safe.

 

[hdruss]

If you are coming through Chicago - I have a empty apartment you can crash at. I live in Little Italy and you can't go away hungry here. If you're interested, PM me when you have your itinerary finalized. Russ - recrider@aol.com

 

[hdruss]

PS - I looked at your profile and noted you're retired from AT&T. So am I.

 

[leo3wheel]

leo enjoy. maybe we will cross paths. MJ and I will be out and about on our pacific coast hwy trip around the same time. ride safe.

Thanks! Pacific Coast trip sounds nice. Enjoy!

 

[leo3wheel]

If you are coming through Chicago - I have a empty apartment you can crash at. I live in Little Italy and you can't go away hungry here. If you're interested, PM me when you have your itinerary finalized. Russ - recrider@aol.com

Russ, We really appreciate your offer, but we are trying to avoid going through big cities, if possible. Not so easy at St. Louis. Thanks!

 

[leo3wheel]

PS - I looked at your profile and noted you're retired from AT&T. So am I.

Cool! Worked there 37.5 years and volunteered for a buyout in 2010. No regrets...

 

[leo3wheel]

Made this offer to folks on a couple other forums, and I would like to extend an invitation to anyone here who would like to ride along. Adventure starts in early August, after a ride-in at Galena, IL.

========

Folks, All of you are welcome to join us on this adventure. Even though many of the interesting sites are in CO, UT and AZ, we plan to enjoy our trip out and back. In other words, we will go at a moderate pace and stop for health breaks along the way. If someone knows of interesting places to stop in the heartland, we can consider them. I was trying to touch as many states as possible on this trip, but if this is a problem, then I can eliminate the small diversions I had planned, no big deal. I do have to say hi to a fellow biker in Loveland, CO, but we will go right through Loveland. Will just show up with other bikers. Sure he will be happy to see us.

These are some of the sites/towns in mind:

Rocky Mountain NP (CO)
Arches NP (UT)
Moab, UT
Canyonlands NP (UT)
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park (AZ)
Four Corners Monument & Navajo Tribal Park (UT/CO/AZ/NM)
Flagstaff, AZ
Sedona, AZ
Saguaro NP (AZ)
Grand Canyon NP, South Rim (AZ)
Grand Canyon NP, North Rim (AZ)
Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park (AZ)
Glen Canyon Dam (AZ)
Kanab, UT
Zion NP (UT)
Bryce Canyon NP (UT)
Capitol Reef NP (UT)
Glen Canyon NRA (UT)
Mesa Verde NP (CO)
Durango (CO)
Pagosa Springs (CO)

See I need to do more detailed planning to travel the scenic routes and pick up all the landmarks. I have the time...

What a dream ride...

 

[hdruss]

Leo - The offer stands if you change your mind. My traveling cronies ( mostly HOG guys ) are talking about a trip out west next year also!
You never know who you'll run into out there, it's a small world. Russ

 

[leo3wheel]

Leo - The offer stands if you change your mind. My traveling cronies ( mostly HOG guys ) are talking about a trip out west next year also!
You never know who you'll run into out there, it's a small world. Russ

Thanks Russ! Riding to Yellowstone is in our future plans. Too much happening this time to make that trip.

 

[Bikerbozo]

Sounds like a good trip, Leo. My recommendations. Medina, ND. Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This is the Badlands of ND. More Buffalo and better scenery than SD Badlands.
Also, since you are heading for Moab. Try getting there the back way. I-70 to exit 214. Route 6 West. Then Route 128 to Moab. NOBODY goes this way. Great scenery and empty road. Note there is zero gas. You can pull over plenty of places for photo ops.

 

[leo3wheel]

Sounds like a good trip, Leo. My recommendations. Medina, ND. Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This is the Badlands of ND. More Buffalo and better scenery than SD Badlands.
Also, since you are heading for Moab. Try getting there the back way. I-70 to exit 214. Route 6 West. Then Route 128 to Moab. NOBODY goes this way. Great scenery and empty road. Note there is zero gas. You can pull over plenty of places for photo ops.

Bozo, Medina, ND will be on our next trip. We do like to see herds of bison. Yes, see I-70 cuts through the mountains and is much more scenic. After going through the Rocky Mountain NP, will take Route 40 south to I-70/Route 6 west. Will then get off I-70 at exit 214 and take Route 128 to Moab. Looks great! Thanks for the heads-up about gas availability. Thanks again! ThumbUp

 

[DakotaTG]

Just thought I would chime in a bit and make a slight correction. It is Medora, ND that is at the gateway to Theodore Roosevelt NP. It's a neat little town of about 400 except in the summer when it is the #1 tourist spot in ND. A great golf course named Bully Pupit that is partially in the Badlands and also in the area where Custer crossed the Little Missouri on his way to Little Bighorn. This is the entrance to the south unit of the Badlands of ND. There is also the north unit as well that is on Hwy 85 north of Belfield going up to Williston. This is the Bakken oil country. By the way there is a Medina, ND that is located about 35 miles west of Jamestown. Just a small town with a couple really good little cafes.

2011 Merlot and Black TG

 

[leo3wheel]

Dreaming of a Canyonlands vacation... :Trike1:

 

[Trent]

Hey Leo...Boy, that will be a fun trip fer sure. I grew up in Utah, lived there for 37 yrs, and spent a lotta fun times right where you are headed. You will love it there. Have a safe and very fun ride!!

If you or anyone else here ever make it further west to Idaho, make sure you all stay in touch with me. I would be happy to adjust my schedule and take you on a tour of S.W. Ideeho. It is about a 6 hour ride from Yellowstone to Boise area. 2 hours north is Hells Canyon, which is the deepest canyon in North America. Even deeper than the Grand Canyon. I am always up for a ride to the bottom. It is something to see.

 

[leo3wheel]

Hey Leo...Boy, that will be a fun trip fer sure. I grew up in Utah, lived there for 37 yrs, and spent a lotta fun times right where you are headed. You will love it there. Have a safe and very fun ride!!

If you or anyone else here ever make it further west to Idaho, make sure you all stay in touch with me. I would be happy to adjust my schedule and take you on a tour of S.W. Ideeho. It is about a 6 hour ride from Yellowstone to Boise area. 2 hours north is Hells Canyon, which is the deepest canyon in North America. Even deeper than the Grand Canyon. I am always up for a ride to the bottom. It is something to see.

Thanks Trent! Still in the planning stage, but trip is looking good. We have a number of folks to visit, and we most likely will have folks riding with us for at least parts of our trip. Will be nice to have Jeannette with me to share this experience. Very excited!

 

[nytriker]

Leo,
If you stay in Moab UT a good place to eat is the Moab Brewery. Good food and drink...although no lobster...:laugh:

 

[Bikerbozo]

Hey, Trent. Idaho was the last of the "lower 48" that I needed to visit. Passed through in 2009. For some reason, my GPS kept having problems getting a signal. Gas girl said it was UFO's. I'm thinking she ate a bad potato.

 

[leo3wheel]

Leo,
If you stay in Moab UT a good place to eat is the Moab Brewery. Good food and drink...although no lobster...:laugh:

No lobster... :AGGHH: :laugh: Thanks! Will keep this in mind.

 

[Trent]

Hey Bozo....We see UFO's here all the time, along with a lotta Sasquatches too, ( for real!) but they never seem affect my GPS, and I use it everyday!..,,Maybe that girl had been drinking some of that really good Spud Vodka that a company here makes from Idaho potatoes. Also for real!!...

 

[Short Bus Bob]

Suggestions: Rent a jeep in Moab. There are some extraordinary off road excursions you can take self guided.. $200/$250. Also when you get down by 4 Corners, Canyon de Chelly NP is worth seeing. A guided jeep tour is worth while there. I enjoy getting off the saddle once in a while on these long trips.
Bob

 

[Short Bus Bob]

Most of Southern UT + Monument Valley will be 100-115 Degrees in Aug. ride early & plan short days. Maybe pick a Cool (Wet) Vest. I ride these roads every chance I get. Beautiful area.

 

[leo3wheel]

Suggestions: Rent a jeep in Moab. There are some extraordinary off road excursions you can take self guided.. $200/$250. Also when you get down by 4 Corners, Canyon de Chelly NP is worth seeing. A guided jeep tour is worth while there. I enjoy getting off the saddle once in a while on these long trips.
Bob

Thanks Bob! You're right. The sights are often not along the paved roads.

 

[leo3wheel]

Been thinking about our western trip. Some things have changed, and it now makes sense to delay this trip a year. Have registered for Music City Nites Ride-In in TN and will sign up for TrikeTalk Northeast Rally in CT. In addition, it now appears there is interest in a 2014 Southwest Ride-In in NM, so it makes sense to juggle our plans a bit. We will still be going to the 2013 International Rally at Galena, IL and Freebird's Maintenance Day at Oberlin, OH. Just need to make arragements at CT, and we are all set. Many thanks to everyone who offered to meet up with us along the way. Hoping this will happen in 2014.

 

[AzDaven]

Your map looks awesome and I really look forward to meeting you. I am in Phoenix, Arizona, as you might know from my previous threads and my name. I belong to two HOG chapters here in Phoenix, chapters 93 and 2376.. Guess You can tell by the low number how long it's [93] been around. We do some really awesome three days a week and would welcome you to join us for any one of them. Another really cool thing is chapter 93 is for Buddy Stubbs Harley Davidson. If you look them up online Buddy Stubbs has been a Harley rider since the 40s and has a museum over 155 Harly's he has had for the last 75 years. The largest private collection besides Jay Leno in the country. Well worth the free tour. One question I have is why is Alabama not colored in on your map? It looks like you've been all around the south and I'm not sure if you purposely avoided Alabama. LOL

 

[AzDaven]

Ok that's funny what e auto correct did to al a bam a

 

[leo3wheel]

Hi AzDaven,

It will be nice to meet you too. Disappointed to put trip off until next year, but too many rides planned for 2013. Will take route west as far as Galena, IL this year for a ride-in and then return home. I really like the route too. If our group has the New Mexico ride-in in 2014, then we will certainly take this route and spend time in the Southwest. I so want to drive the National Parks with our trike. We don't have a Harley, but instead a Harley look alike by Yamaha. Certainly do appreciate all bikes/trikes. Yes, it looks funny how I missed Alabama. Last year, broke my right shoulder and missed a ride-in in Alabama. In September, was healed and went to a ride-in at Eureka Springs, AR. Rode home with two other riders from Key West and Nashville. We rode to Corinth, MS to see a bike at a dealer. We then split up and two of us went north to TN. So I never made it to AL. :laugh: Rest assured, I'm not avoiding Alabama. Take care!

 

[pa_don]

Leo,
Let me know when it gets closer to when you plan to do your trip next year.
I've made the run a few times from PA out west... I can tell you a few decent diversions that you might want to consider depending on the amount of tike you have. Last one I did to get out to Yellowstone was by dropping south and actually running part of rte 66. You can pick up lots of nice stopping points like Church Hill Downs, Mammoth Cave, Ozarks, and Taos....
Northern Route is a little more limited. I have a few that will let you do pretty good time too.

The trip looked fantastic!