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Two week summer trip Lesson's Followed/Learned


GS_George

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Joan and I just finished a very enjoyable 3717 mile 18 day trip from Phoenix up to the Badlands via Gunnison, CO; across to Yellowstone via Devils Tower; then home to Phoenix via Torrey and the Grand Canyon. We will be posting some pics of our trip shortly. Here are lessons that worked and did not work. We were on a R1200GS so storage space was limited.

 

1. Deer. I counted at least nine deer and one elk which ran in front of the bike during the trip. I was with Joan who precluded any hooning so fortunately I was able to see the animals in order to slow down. I had a very close call with a sea gull in southwestern Wyoming. The bird came within inches of crashing into my helmet. In Yellowstone, Bison were everywhere including herds going the wrong way on the park highways.

 

2. Weather. Two weeks on the road will guarantee that you will have different weather conditions throughout the trip. We left Arizona with temps in the high 90’s. Gunnison temps in the early morning were mid 30’s. We also encountered ice and snow on highway 14 in Wyoming just west of Sheridan.

 

3. Clothing. If space is limited, take what you need, not what you think you need. I took an extra pair of “dress slacks” which I wore once. Also took a hooded sweatshirt as well as my Gerbings jacket. The sweatshirt and slacks were wasted space. Summer clothing included light weight tee shirts. Electric Gerbings jackets are a must for cold weather. We also took several pair of lightweight thermal underwear as a backup in case of Gerbings.

 

4. Camera. Digital camera is a must. We took over 600 pics.

 

5. Travel time. We limited our travel time to mornings so that we arrived at our planned destination no later than 2pm. This was to beat the heat in most places. The longest and most uncomfortable leg of the trip was from Phoenix to Gallup, NM. 356 miles.

 

6. Breaks. We stopped every 60-80 miles to stretch our legs.

 

7. Reservations. Motel reservations were made before we left. We made sure we had phone numbers, motel addresses, and confirmation numbers.

 

8. Roads traveled. I tried to limit our travel to non-freeway highways. This made the trip more enjoyable and gave us the ability to stop when we needed to.

 

That’s about all I can think of at the moment. Please PM me is you have any specific questions regarding the trip. I will post pictures later.

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7. Reservations. Motel reservations were made before we left. We made sure we had phone numbers, motel addresses, and confirmation numbers.

This probably wasn't necessary to do, especially if you were making it a point to be off the road by 14:00, weekends in touristy and potentially touristy areas excluded. In my experience, while in between major destinations, travelers intent on securing lodging for the night typically start paying more attention to the roadside offerings a little later on in the afternoon.

 

It would probably be a good idea to have a list handy of preferred motels along the way, so that if any particular leg is taking longer than it should, a call can be made ahead to reserve a room before everything available gets snapped up while you're still a bit further away.

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Bill_Walker
In Yellowstone, Bison were everywhere including herds going the wrong way on the park highways.

 

Yeah, bison are stupid that way. It takes years to train 'em to keep right and to obey one-way signs. grin.gif

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I had a very close call with a sea gull in southwestern Wyoming. The bird came within inches of crashing into my helmet.

Not to nitpick or anything, but there are no "sea gulls" in Wyoming. This, according to Wikipedia:

 

"In common usage, members of various gull species are often referred to as sea gulls or seagulls. This name is used by the layman to refer to a common local species or all gulls in general, and has no fixed taxonomic meaning."

 

Ok, so I'm nitpicking.

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skinny_tom (aka boney)
I had a very close call with a sea gull in southwestern Wyoming. The bird came within inches of crashing into my helmet.

Not to nitpick or anything, but there are no "sea gulls" in Wyoming. This, according to Wikipedia:

 

"In common usage, members of various gull species are often referred to as sea gulls or seagulls. This name is used by the layman to refer to a common local species or all gulls in general, and has no fixed taxonomic meaning."

 

Ok, so I'm nitpicking.

 

I prefer the REAL NAME: "Coastal Variety Sky Rat." (as opposed the the urban variety people commonly refer to as pigeons.)

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I had a very close call with a sea gull in southwestern Wyoming. The bird came within inches of crashing into my helmet.

 

 

+ a few..........I know I've killed at least 2 birds with my bike/helmet......and I've hit 2 more that got away.

 

I tagged a REAL (grin.gif) sea gull while riding the coast of Oregon near Florence. It left a kink in my neck for almost a week. Not fun at all.

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I believe the proper name of the gulls in Wyoming are California gulls. wink.gif

 

Jbim, Joan rode on the back of the bike. She enjoyed the ride but admitted she did not feel as secure on the GS than the LT. blush.gif; she falls asleep on the back of the bike on long trips. The girl knows how to relax. smirk.gif

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Couchrocket

Not to nitpick or anything, but there are no "sea gulls" in Wyoming. This, according to Wikipedia:

 

Well, I guess I'll take Merriam-Webster over Wiki....

 

Main Entry: sea·gull

Pronunciation: 'sE-"g&l

Function: noun

: a gull frequenting the sea; broadly : GULL

 

And seagulls breed inland, sometimes very far inland. How many tiny baby-like seagulls have you ever seen "at the shore?" That would be none.

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Well, if you look up the word "seagull" you'll get a definition that fits "seagull." If you look up "gull" the sea isn't even mentioned. Look at it like this: A seagull is a gull but a gull isn't necessarily a seagull.

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Well, if you look up the word "seagull" you'll get a definition that fits "seagull." If you look up "gull" the sea isn't even mentioned. Look at it like this: A seagull is a gull but a gull isn't necessarily a seagull.

attemptingtogiveadamn.gif

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