Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Category: Books

  • Starting to Plan for Yosemite

    I need to get serious about planning for the ride to California to go to the Treasures of Yosemite rally. The president of the Expresso riders, Bob Morrow, has been my point of contact for the rally and he’s been really wonderful. He helped me track down a roommate to split the cost of the room and even kept an eye out for folks coming from my part of the country to see if I could come up with people to ride with. The latter didn’t pan out, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Bob’s part — and he lined up a great roommate. I’m looking forward to meeting him at the rally

    http://www.expressoriders.org/2010%20Rally.htm

    Since this will be my longest solo ride to date I want to have it well planned out — how many miles I want to do each day and a variety of options of where to spend the night that include motels, hostels, and camping.

    It’s a 1,600 mile one way ride if I go straight to Yosemite from home, but I have no interest in blasting out and back on the interstate and want to stop at some national parks, especially Mesa Verde in southeast Colorado. I really want to see the cliff dwellings there and hopefully get some pictures.

    I am still trying to add states to my motorcycling resume so I want to take a northerly route out that loops up into Utah and then a southerly route home that will take me through Grand Canyon. Obviously Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico will be repeats, but I’ll be adding Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona.

    One book I used in planning the route to and from Canada last summer and am using again is:

    National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, 3d Ed.

    A new one that I bought for this trip is:

    National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States, 6th Edition

    I would highly recommend both and I’m really enjoying the information in the national parks book. Great write ups on what to see at each park and how to plan for visits of different lengths. And as you’d expect I’m doing a lot of research on the internet and plugging sample routes into MapSource.

    I would like to do no more than 500 miles a day. With stops to do some sight seeing and picture taking that should get me to my overnight spot before dark. I’m checking on US hostels to save money on lodging, but the trick will be seeing if I can coordinate that with the end of a 500 mile day going to the places I’d like to see. I want to do some camping while on the trip and other than that I want to find really cheap hotels since I’m traveling on a budget. I should be gone around two weeks for this trip and after splurging on the Tenaya Lodge where the rally is, I’m going to need to seriously watch my nickels and dimes for the rest of the trip.

    I’ll post more as the planning progresses.

    Motorcycle Sport Touring Association’s STAR 2010 rally

  • MapSource for US

    I’m not sure what to plan for the US. I would like to hit the national parks in New England particularly the Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park area so I found a list of the best campgrounds in the New England states and added waypoints for the best of those.

    Jean-Francois mentioned an interest in following the Appalachian Trail and sent me a link to a forum thread that discussed a MapSource route. I found the route on it has so many waypoints it’s hard to visualize.  I used the strip map provided on the National Park Service website (http://www.nps.gov/appa/planyourvisit/upload/APPA%20Map.pdf) to add waypoints and then in Topo mapped a route that was cross country (not on roads). I then switched over to City Navigator and found the roads closest to the cross country trail. You can download my Appalchian Trail MapSource file at http://www.motorcycle-journeys.com/current/routes_maps/routes_maps.html

    I have the National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways so I map a route in MapSource for each of their recommended routes in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

    The MapSource file for the New England scenic routes and camping spots is also at http://www.motorcycle-journeys.com/current/routes_maps/routes_maps.html.

  • Books part 2

    I received Adventure Guide to Canada’s Atlantic Provinces: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Labrador, Iles de la Madeleine by Barbara Radcliffe Rogers and Stillman Rogers and started reading it.

    I like this book better. It’s 600 pages so it has a lot more detail of each province and includes Iles de la Madeleine. While it’s not in a specific section, the writers also mention their favorite places and things that shouldn’t be missed. As it’s name states it’s a more adventurous, outdoor oriented book that thoroughly covers camping and outdoor activities.

    Each province is broken down into smaller areas with a detailed map for each area and sections for geography and history, getting around, information sources, adventures, cultural and eco-travel, sightseeing, where to stay and eat.

    I would like to take this book on the trip, but it may not make it due to it’s size and weight (9″ x 6″ x 1.5″ 2lb).

    I highlighted as I read and entered the highlighted information in the worksheet. Starting at Montreal and ending a Black Harbour in New Brunswick I have a list of almost 400 places to go, things to see, restaurants to try, and recommended campgrounds and lodging.

    I sent the list off to Jean-Francois relieve that I was able to get it done before going out of town for 3 weeks.

  • Books

    I purchased Frommer’s Nova Scotia, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island by Paul Karr since it was the best available at my local book store.

    I researched on the internet and ordered Adventure Guide to Canada’s Atlantic Provinces: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Labrador, Iles de la Madeleine by Barbara Rogers.

    I spent the weekend reading the Frommer’s book. This book is a little over 300 pages. The first section is a “Best of” list for active vacations, observing nature, scenic drives, hikes, family activities, history, picturesque villages, inns, bed & breakfasts, and local dining. The chapter on Nova Scotia is extensive, with smaller chapters on the other provinces.

    I highlighted what interested me and then entered all the highlighted information into a worksheet by province. The goal is to get an organized list of places by area so I can consult the list as we go through the trip to see what’s coming up in the area we’re headed to.