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Notes
Created by JRH2
Sun 06/25/00 (day 1)
Part One of the Sabbatical 2000
by JRH2
The inspiration...
This was a dream trip for me. My dad and I would talk about doing this type of a trip all while I was growing up. He kind of put the idea in my mind early on. He always wanted to but has never done anything like it. I guess he always dreamed of it...MAYBE ONE DAY WE WILL DO IT TOGETHER!
Alone or with company...
I tried to talk my friends and my DAD and mom into doing this but no one wanted to. My girlfriend didn't even want to! So...I planed the trip for just me, the packing, the money and everything about it. When the day came for me to go the old lady changed her mind. Which change the plan a little. I was OK with the money, it just would be a little tighter (I had figured she would change her mind, women).
The bike...
I spent another week getting a trailer hitch for the bike and getting it mounted. Then I got a small trailer for the extra gear and to give her a seat. Now for all you guy's that do not like trailers...let me tell you that's the way to go. I'm not into trailers myself (only used it for this trip) but I love it for these reasons.
1) The trailer takes the weight off the bike. Which is so nice because it gives you back some the handling you loose by packing the bike up with the load. You don't feel like you are riding a wheelie all the time. But it will push you in a corner so be careful.
2) You can pack the trailer dividing it up into different areas. We packed enough clothing for 10 days for each, plus rain gear and jackets, just in case. Every thing is right at hand and locked up inside it. You don't have to unpack everything just to find something.
3) When you get to a camp ground you can leave it to go explore the area.
Other things I did which helped out...
I did purchase a National Park Pass for $50.00 at the first park we went to. This gets you into all the National Parks for free. This helps when on budget.
Also, go a KOA Kampground Kard because I like their Kampgrounds. They are nice and clean, people are friendly, most have stores on site and some (a few) have entertainment and/or meals at night for the guest.
As for the trip...
I had no route planned out when we started. I just had an idea of some places we want to go to. No direction other then just making one big loop a round the USA. I had planned on stopping once a week to do laundry and to freshen up in a hotel. The rest of the time would be spent camping.
As for the "Trip Plan" on this site...
I did research website of the locations I listed, most have their own maps and directions. The address I used were pulled from the website's as Mailing address and not the Location address. The phone numbers are for the Visitor Centors or Information Numbers for the location listed.
Directions and Maps:
There was not much on this site to work with as far as maps go. I guess if I spent a bunch of time I could have done it. But I wanted to start with the list of places first. Maybe later I'll fill in a online map.
City:
I put the Start City (to Finish City) on this. By doing it this way it also helped me keep track of my days.
In the Notes: section under City I put the following:
Route: (as best I can remember)
States: (for that day of travel)
General notes about the trip
These cities or places list the overnight places only. We would explore the area's we stopped at. Sometimes for food/dinner (we packed food from grocery stores for dinner) and others just to explore the area.
Things to Do:
This is where I placed Parkways, Highways or other Byways because there is really no where to put them. The program is not set up for this unless you use the Journal.
Entertainment:
Here is where I put the Parks, State Parks, Waterfalls and just all around places we stopped.
Shopping:
I put the Harley Davidson dealers that I stopped at along the way here (the one's that I remember, I know I forgot some). I ride a Harley that had over 58,000 miles on it when we started the trip. We visited some along the way and got my bike worked on a couple of times in others.
Other:
I started putting cities that I visited here. We only went to a few cities along the way so I put them there. I can keep them separate from the other City's on the list. That way the day's events would be different. Because these Cities we never really stopped at over night anyway.
See part two for more...
The inspiration...
This was a dream trip for me. My dad and I would talk about doing this type of a trip all while I was growing up. He kind of put the idea in my mind early on. He always wanted to but has never done anything like it. I guess he always dreamed of it...MAYBE ONE DAY WE WILL DO IT TOGETHER!
Alone or with company...
I tried to talk my friends and my DAD and mom into doing this but no one wanted to. My girlfriend didn't even want to! So...I planed the trip for just me, the packing, the money and everything about it. When the day came for me to go the old lady changed her mind. Which change the plan a little. I was OK with the money, it just would be a little tighter (I had figured she would change her mind, women).
The bike...
I spent another week getting a trailer hitch for the bike and getting it mounted. Then I got a small trailer for the extra gear and to give her a seat. Now for all you guy's that do not like trailers...let me tell you that's the way to go. I'm not into trailers myself (only used it for this trip) but I love it for these reasons.
1) The trailer takes the weight off the bike. Which is so nice because it gives you back some the handling you loose by packing the bike up with the load. You don't feel like you are riding a wheelie all the time. But it will push you in a corner so be careful.
2) You can pack the trailer dividing it up into different areas. We packed enough clothing for 10 days for each, plus rain gear and jackets, just in case. Every thing is right at hand and locked up inside it. You don't have to unpack everything just to find something.
3) When you get to a camp ground you can leave it to go explore the area.
Other things I did which helped out...
I did purchase a National Park Pass for $50.00 at the first park we went to. This gets you into all the National Parks for free. This helps when on budget.
Also, go a KOA Kampground Kard because I like their Kampgrounds. They are nice and clean, people are friendly, most have stores on site and some (a few) have entertainment and/or meals at night for the guest.
As for the trip...
I had no route planned out when we started. I just had an idea of some places we want to go to. No direction other then just making one big loop a round the USA. I had planned on stopping once a week to do laundry and to freshen up in a hotel. The rest of the time would be spent camping.
As for the "Trip Plan" on this site...
I did research website of the locations I listed, most have their own maps and directions. The address I used were pulled from the website's as Mailing address and not the Location address. The phone numbers are for the Visitor Centors or Information Numbers for the location listed.
Directions and Maps:
There was not much on this site to work with as far as maps go. I guess if I spent a bunch of time I could have done it. But I wanted to start with the list of places first. Maybe later I'll fill in a online map.
City:
I put the Start City (to Finish City) on this. By doing it this way it also helped me keep track of my days.
In the Notes: section under City I put the following:
Route: (as best I can remember)
States: (for that day of travel)
General notes about the trip
These cities or places list the overnight places only. We would explore the area's we stopped at. Sometimes for food/dinner (we packed food from grocery stores for dinner) and others just to explore the area.
Things to Do:
This is where I placed Parkways, Highways or other Byways because there is really no where to put them. The program is not set up for this unless you use the Journal.
Entertainment:
Here is where I put the Parks, State Parks, Waterfalls and just all around places we stopped.
Shopping:
I put the Harley Davidson dealers that I stopped at along the way here (the one's that I remember, I know I forgot some). I ride a Harley that had over 58,000 miles on it when we started the trip. We visited some along the way and got my bike worked on a couple of times in others.
Other:
I started putting cities that I visited here. We only went to a few cities along the way so I put them there. I can keep them separate from the other City's on the list. That way the day's events would be different. Because these Cities we never really stopped at over night anyway.
See part two for more...