As I have continued to pour over maps and other routing resources, plans have come together for picking a start date for the trip. Ben's grandparents invited us (along with Ben/Debi/grandkids) to spend the Labor Day weekend at their home in Sunriver, Oregon. So, since the trip to Sunriver is around 200 miles and in the general direction of my planned routing -- I decided to begin the motorcycle trip by traveling there on September 4. Deb and the rest will travel together by car. Then on Sunday, September 6 I'll begin the rest of the journey. With the goals identified below, I plan to proceed with nightly stops until Steamboat Springs, Colorado (about 1000 miles) where I have planned to spend two nights to enjoy an extra night off the road and get laundry done -- and then do the same thing to Osage Beach, Missouri (another 1000 miles) where I'll stay two nights. Thereafter, I'll proceed to Crown Hill, West Virginia -- Deb's hometown about 20 miles east of Charleston, West Virginia. If all goes as planned, I will arrive there around September 20 and Deb will already be there -- having flown in via Richmond, Virginia where one of her sisters lives.
I have specific routing priorities which I had fun putting into good bureaucratic form by way of a "strategic plan" below. Thankfully, this plan did not require ANY boring bureaucratic meetings:
Mission Statement: To accomplish a personal "bucket list" item: safely motorcycling USA backroads across the USA and back -- now specifically identified as Portland, Oregon to Williamsburg, VA and back.
Vision Statement: It's Not About The Destination, It's About The Ride!
Values Statement: To the maximum extent possible and practical:
1. Avoid riding in heavy rain -- allow this to be top priority when routing.
2. Avoid all interstate freeways.
3. Keep the daily riding distance under 250 miles.
4. Stop (get off the bike and take helmet off) at least every hour and a half of riding time.
5. Give priority to roads listed in Reader's Digest's "Most Scenic Drives in America" (50 of the 120 detailed here and the book shown here); National Geographic's "Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways," (detailed here and book shown here); and, those roads highly rated for scenic quality on the website www.motorcycleroads.com (which calls itself "America's Best Guide to Motorcycle Roads and Rides").
6. After all other prior goals have been considered/accommodated, give priority to the roads with the most curves.
Time Frame: Start September 4, 2009 and end in October 2009.
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