So you want to go somewhere, eh?

When someone asks me for suggestions for their adventures, there are some standard places I recommend. If you’re traveling by motorcycle, there are a few thoughts I have about distance riding. If you’re stuck in a car, you will also enjoy this list.

The first trip suggestion: Near home

So many times, we think that we have to travel far to see anything interesting.  While there is certainly nothing wrong with thinking big, you might want to work up to doing a long distance trip.

As I travel and stop at a diner or a tavern, I will often ask someone about the things to see while I am in the area. Usually, they say “Nothing. There is nothing interesting here.” After a few minutes of conversation, they will think of something “Well, there’s an old road that runs along the river, and cars and motorcycles seem to come from all over to ride it.” And they always end it with “…but I’ve never been on it.” Or, there is a historic house or farm, a neighborhood museum, or even a lighthouse. But they’ve never gone to see it, in all the years they have lived there. It’s just another everyday ‘place’, that has been there all their lives, so it never struck them as being something special.

With that said, look for things near where you live. Think about it for awhile, and let it stew in the back of your mind. Somewhere you hear about in the news, or from someone you talk to. Check the Internet or call a visitor’s bureau if you have one. Find something that you haven’t seen before, that some people think is worth visiting. You may surprise yourself with the places that drift into the background.

The town I grew up in had an inland lighthouse, near the edge of Lake Erie, on top of a hill at the corner of town. The lighthouse has been renovated, and you can still walk up inside. The light keeper’s house is now a museum for marine and local history. I was a volunteer tour guide during summer vacation in high school. Most every weekend, someone would stop in with friends from out-of-town who thought a lighthouse might be an interesting thing to see. Invariably, the local would comment, “I’ve lived here all my life, and I have never been here. This is a very interesting place!” We are like that, and everyone does it.

See something local. Learn some history about the area. Ask at a library. Everyplace has a story, and it is rewarding to find it.

Trip suggestion: Yellowstone

Yellowstone is my favorite national park, and holds 66% of the world’s geysers. It also has incredible waterfalls, canyons, and wildlife. But for me, the variety of geysers is always enjoyable. I’ve been there quite a few times, and there is much advice in those articles (I may summarize them someday). Beartooth Pass, between northwestern Wyoming and Billings, Montana, is a wonder ride on a bike, and it is even fun in a bigger vehicle (I am told).

Trip suggestion: The Black Hills and the Sturgis Rally

If you are doing the Sturgis Rally, you will find that being part of this celebration of bikers and road trips is an unforgettable experience. Sturgis is at the edge of the Black Hills of South Dakota. There are many things to see in this historic region. Even if you are not attending the rally, there are plenty of great reasons to visit this area.

Trip suggestion: New England

I have been to this area many times as a kid, and several times as a bigger kid. Rockport, Massachusetts is a very nice area. And certainly Bar Harbor, Maine, is where you will find great seafood and Acadia National Park. The White Mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont are also beautiful.  The Adirondack Mountains, in northeastern New York, are certainly worth seeing, and there is excellent riding throughout that region.

Trip suggestion: Colorado

If you want to see mountains and well-maintained roads, this is the place to go. From Four-Corners in the south-western part of the state, then just 30 miles to Mesa Verde cave dwellings.  You can go north to Silverton, Ouray, see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison river, and continue north to Aspen. Or, you can stay along the south on US160 and stay at the Movie Manor (a motel built around the back of a drive-inn movie theater – watch the movie from your room!), and the great sand dunes.  I-29 runs up the middle of the state, separating the Rockies from the high-desert to the east.  You can easily get to Colorado Springs, Denver, and Boulder. It is an scenic drive to Estes National Park in the Rockies.  Plenty of places to see and things to entertain the entire family, as Colorado caters to tourists.

Trip suggestion: The Great Northwest

Western Montana, Idaho, and Washington are really great areas to visit. Glacier National Park is in Montana, and is a beautiful place to see. The state of Idaho has great scenery and outdoor activities. And the Cascade Mountains in northwest Washington is remarkable.

Trip suggestion: The Pacific Coast

Washington state has some incredible riding. I suggest the ride to Mt. St. Helens as a worthwhile trip. The Oregon coastline was pristine when I first visited, and following the Pacific Coast Highway in California is a class trip. At the time, Oregon preserved much of their coastline from development, and there were many campgrounds and small resort towns

Trip suggestion: Utah

This state has much more to offer than the Mormon Tabernacle. There are many state and national parks that are each vastly different from the others. Arches National Park is great to see, especially at sunset (I imagine sunrise is great, too, but something I am not likely to wake up to see). Brice Canyon is full of tall rock spires, called hoodoos. Lake Powell is stunning, as you find this huge body of water in the middle of the desert.

Trip suggestion: Alaska

It was the most beautiful trip I have taken, and I am really surprised at myself for not getting it documented on this site, but my favorite state is Alaska. It certainly deserves a page to itself, but there are a couple of things I need to suggest.

The two main highways that connect the lower 48 to the state of Alaska are the Alaskan Highway and the Al-Can highway.  But, those can’t get you within 500 miles of the coastline, and that will give you an incredible appreciation of the beauty of the state.  You can take a cruise for four or five grand, or, if you want to save lots of money or take your motorcycle, you should consider the Alaskan Marine Highway System.  This is a ferry system run by the state and is how the people who live in Alaska get to the lower 48 when they don’t want to drive 1500 miles through Canada. It is not fancy, but is is quite sufficient. You can set your tent up on the deck for a very low price, but it’s Alaska… even in August it is fricking cold… so get a cabin. Prices for cabins depend on the the number of people and if you want a private full or half bathroom. There is food available, frequently a bar, an indoor viewing area, and you can walk the deck outside. Each day there are whales swimming alongside the ship (in May and June you might see them jumping).

You can catch the ferry just north of Seattle, in Bellingham, Washington, and to get to the Anchorage area, you can depart in the town of Whittier to save several days. Or you can take the ferry to most any coastal location.  From Bellingham, the first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska, about three days by ferry. So, you never land in Canada, and you do not need a passport for the journey up (but you will need one for the ride home).  The state capitol, Juneau, is worth seeing, with Mendenhal Glacier at the top of the list.

Plan on making reservations early in the year for the ferry.  It fills up reasonably fast during the summer months. Depending on what towns you might want to see, and how long you want to spend at various stops, you may have to change ships. Think about this in advance.

The ship travels up the Inside Passage, which is the area where the Rocky Mountains drift off into the Pacific Ocean. It is dotted with thousands of small islands, so you are not in open sea for more than a few hours of the entire journey. Most islands are pristine, but a few have houses on them.

Many bikers I have talked to will ride up to Alaska then take the ferry home.  But my suggestion is to get that deadline out of the way early, and take your time riding back.  Almost everyone tells me of the wonderful little towns they see on their ride north, and they would  have just loved to spend another day there, but they only had one or two spare days to get to the ferry.  So, get the deadline out of the way first, so you can spend the extra time enjoying the trip home.

While there, I visited Juneau, Valdez, a very brief tour of Petersburg, Homer, Hope, Anchorage, and Denali National Park. While I took a flight home from Alaska (very long story), I have not yet competed the ride through Canada, but I certainly hope to do so.

Alaska is remote.  The largest city is Anchorage, with under 400,000 people. You have this state, more than twice the size of Texas, with another 300,000 people living in it.  Everything is remote. In the summer, it barely gets dark outside. The flowers grow taller and have more color than they do anywhere else I have traveled. There are no interstates (think about it), and the state highways are numbered still in the single digits, and what look serve as bicycle paths in the summer are used for snow machines in the winter (a snow machine is anything you can get to run in the snow, certainly not limited to snow mobiles).

Whether you see Alaska by bike, boat, car, or plane, it is a place that you should certainly try to experience.

Ideas? Suggestions? Comments?

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