In preparation for our visa application, we prepared a preliminary itinerary. Initially I had thought of just touring one area of America, but a web site offering rentals highlighted a coast-to-coast tour which I thought was a fantastic idea. Our idea of a comfortable distance in the saddle is 500km per day, with occasional rest days, so it was necessary to work out what distances we were likely to cover and if the entire trip was feasible. I'll note here that the entire duration of the trip was extended due to the decision to do the coast-to-coast, adding on at least a week to what we had originally intended.
With MapSource open, this is what we came up with:
Dates
|
Destination
|
Distance
|
Nights
|
Places of Interest
|
02 Sep –
04 Sep
|
Los Angeles
California
|
0 km
|
3
|
Hollywood
Universal Studios
Venice Beach
|
05 Sep –
07 Sep
|
Las Vegas
Nevada
|
460 km
|
3
|
Las Vegas Strip
Lake Mead
|
08 Sep
|
Grand Canyon
Arizona
|
444 km
|
1
|
Grand Canyon
Indian Reservations
|
09 Sep
|
Hanksville
Utah
|
528 km
|
1
|
Indian Reservations
Lake Powell
|
10 Sep –
11 Sep
|
Salt Lake City
Utah
|
373 km
|
2
|
Great Salt lake
Olympic park
|
12 Sep
|
Casper
Wyoming
|
661 km
|
1
|
Flaming Gorge
Cowboys, railways and oil.
|
13 Sep –
14 Sep
|
Rapid City
South Dakota
|
408 km
|
2
|
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Mount Rushmore
|
15 Sep
|
Sioux Falls
South Dakota
|
558 km
|
1
|
Missouri River (lakes)
Indian Reservations
Falls Park
|
16 Sep -
17 Sep
|
Duluth
Minnesota
|
629 km
|
2
|
Minneapolis/St Paul
Lake Superior
|
18 Sep
|
Green Bay
Wisconsin
|
534 km
|
1
|
Lake Michigan
Ice Age geology
French/British history
|
19 Sep -
20 Sep
|
Chicago
Illinois
|
335 km
|
2
|
Magnificent Mile
Sears Tower
Chicago Harbour
|
21 Sep
|
Toledo
Ohio
|
394 km
|
1
|
Lake Erie
Settler History
Bridges, cathedrals, zoo.
|
22 Sep
|
Buffalo
New York
|
490 km
|
1
|
Lake Erie
Niagara Falls
Nightlife
|
23 Sep
|
Albany
New York
|
467 km
|
1
|
State Parks (Adirondack, Catskill)
Settler History
Pine Bush
|
24 Sep -
25 Sep
|
Boston
Massachusetts
|
273 km
|
2
|
Taconic Mountains to coastal plain.
Settler History
Salem
Cape Cod Bay
|
26 Sep
|
New Haven
Connecticut
|
221 km
|
1
|
Yale University
Long Island Sound
|
27 Sep -
29 Sep
|
New York
New York
|
130 km
|
3
|
The Big Apple
|
And to work out what type of gear we would need, an sample of likely weather we would experience:
Temperature
Ave High/Low (⁰C)
|
Rainfall (mm/days)
| |
Los Angeles
|
25/18
|
6.6/1.2
|
Las Vegas
|
34/20
|
7.9/1.9
|
Salt Lake City
|
25/11
|
33.8/6
|
Casper
|
23/5
|
24.9/6.8
|
Rapid City
|
28/8
|
27.9/6.5
|
Sioux Falls
|
23/9
|
65.5/8
|
Duluth
|
18/7
|
104.9/12.8
|
Green Bay
|
21/9
|
55.1/9.7
|
Chicago
|
24/14
|
87.6/8.9
|
Toledo
|
23/11
|
72.1
|
Buffalo
|
21/12
|
97.5/11.6
|
Albany
|
22/10
|
84.1/10.7
|
Boston
|
23/14
|
88.1/9
|
New Haven
|
23/11
|
118.1
|
New York
|
24/16
|
107.4/9.1
|
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