road trip U.S. Canada Alaska.

Hello everyone,

Astrid (39) and I (Erik 43) are new on this forum, we are from the Netherlands. We also said hello on the new member topic. Sorry for my English but i do my best. On the new member topic we asked for tips because we come over to your country. What is our plan?. We will ship our motorbikes (F650GS 2002 / R1150GSA 2003) to L.A. and we will arrive whit the plane on march 26th. From there we have 6 months for visiting the U.S. Canada and Alaska. We have nothing planned ahead, only a visit to friends in Boston and family in Canada, we will end up back in LA. We have about 6 weeks to go from LA to Boston, from there we are going in to Canada, when ist possible we also want to ride trough eastern Canada to Alaska, experience the Arctic Circle and then trough the west coast back towards LA. It?s that simple!!! 
That is a short explanation of our trip. We want to travel low budget because it is expensive enough and we are certainly not rich. So we are looking for useful tips and cheap nights over or perhaps there are people who have a spare room for us? We would like to see local things and want to experience the real American life. We are very excited!!!

Our route so far:

L.A. > Sequoia N.F. > Death Vally > Las Vegas >Zion N.P. > the wave (marble Canyon) > Bryce Canyon > Arches N.P. > Bonneville Salt Flats > Salt Lake City > Yellowstone N.P. > Devils Tower (Wyoming) > Mount Rushmore N.P. > Milwaukee (H.D. Museum) > Washington (The White House) > Boston > Niagara Falls > CANADA > Ridgetown (family visit) > Eagle Canyon Adventures inc > Winnipeg > Dawson City (Yukon) > ALASKA > Fairbanks > Denali Hwy > CANADA > Watson Lake (Yukon) > U.S. > Lime Kiln point state park ) > North Casades N.P. > Hwy 101 > Crater lake > Lassen Volcanoic N.P. > Lake Tahoe > San Francisco > Cabrillo Hwy 1 > L.A.



Astrid & Erik

What ideas do you have regarding any Canadian legs of your journey? You mention Boston to Eastern Canada and then back to west co. Have you outlined possible routes on a map? Should be an exciting journey. Six months should do it. Maybe a counter clockwise zigzagging loop from LA and back? A couple of nights here in Larry's River, Nova Scotia could be possible. - Bob and Mary (Nova Scotia, Canada).

If you should be in the Niagara Falls area, and if I'm not on the road, it's possible for you to spend a night or two here in London, Ontario (two hours from the Falls).

Be certain to see the Grand Canyon; much more impressive when looking at it in person, rather than in all the photographs or films that I have ever seen.

One place that I plan on seeing is Glacial National Park in Montana. It appears to be a must see.

Bonneville could be empty if the races aren't in progress; Salt Lake City can be a bit smelly thanks to the big dead body of stagnant water... but the mountains east of there are a good ride.

More comments in the "Ride Reports \ Four Corners Monument?" thread...

Looks like you will be doing the north of Lake Superior. Great ride and lots of interesting places to stop and also great camping. If you take hwy 17 west from Thunder bay you will go through Dryden so do not be afraid to drop a line.

For so far thanks everyone.

@ Paul_F we have family in Ridgetown so we stay there but Glacial National Park is standing on the list . Someone from the Netherlands told us that Going-To-The-Sun Rd is very beautiful. Thanks

@ tourunigo sorry but I think that we are not going so far east of Canada. We going from Boston to the Niagara falls and then more to the middle of Canada Winnipeg - Prince Albert - Hwy 155 up to road SK-956 to 881, Hwy 2, 49 97, 4 someting like that.

@ Garthw may be we will drop a line.

astrid_erik said:

> Yellowstone N.P. > Devils Tower (Wyoming) > Mount Rushmore N.P.



Astrid & Erik

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Looks like your going to be going threw here. On the way with your route in Wyoming, you must see. The Chief Joseph highway in Wyoming plus Beartooth pass and Red Lodge, MT http://beartoothhighway.com/beartooth-highway-maps/ , the Big Horn Mountains has lots to see and are very beautiful. This is all between Yellowstone and Devils Tower. We also have lots and lots of history here all around to see. Good luck and have fun.

Thunder Bay to Winnipeg

Some details to consider. When you leave Thunder Bay following hwy 11/17 take the hwy 11 turn at Shabaqua and then turn North on 622 from Atikokan then to Dryden and Kenora where you go past many lakes. It is about 70 km further but a far more scenic route. An alternative route but will also add additional km is to go on 11 as far as 502 and then North to Dryden

Edit to add a Map

As well as Going to the Sun in Montana, you might look at the Icefields Parkway on the way to Jasper, Alberta. Very scenic.

Sounds like you'll have an amazing time.
Take your time coming north, the Beartooth Highway isn't open until the end of May.....first of June.
May in Montana can still be very cold, so I'd hang out south of Idaho until then.
Send me a private message, PM if you'd like.....I live about one hour from the Beartooth and would love to chat with you.

Cheers!

P.S. Unless you want to visit Salt Lake City, I'd avoid riding through it......traffic is very heavy there.

Rharrod said:

Looks like your going to be going threw here. On the way with your route in Wyoming, you must see. The Chief Joseph highway in Wyoming plus Beartooth pass and Red Lodge, MT http://beartoothhighway.com/beartooth-highway-maps/ , the Big Horn Mountains has lots to see and are very beautiful. This is all between Yellowstone and Devils Tower. We also have lots and lots of history here all around to see. Good luck and have fun.

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Oky, Thanks and I put it in my Navigation. look nice on Google maps

garthw said:

Some details to consider. When you leave Thunder Bay following hwy 11/17 take the hwy 11 turn at Shabaqua and then turn North on 622 from Atikokan then to Dryden and Kenora where you go past many lakes. It is about 70 km further but a far more scenic route. An alternative route but will also add additional km is to go on 11 as far as 502 and then North to Dryden

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I put it also in my navigation. Thanks, I like that information.

You have a lot of US National parks on your list so you should consider getting a US National Park Passhttp://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm. It can save you money on entrance and camping. If you are going to visit 3 or more Canadian national parks you should consider their national park pass, http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/ar-sr/lpac-ppri/ced-ndp.aspx. Same as the US version it can save you some money.

Thanks for the info TEXPAUL, we heart about the US National Park Pass, but not from the Canadian. Always nice to save money. We will look at

We forgot to tell, that we travel with the tent. So if someone have a garden where we can spend the night, that would be fine.

We keep a travel blog on facebook, only its in Dutch, but maybe if you are interested you can use Google translate? https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005738056328. Be friends with us and follow.

Thanks everyone, can not wait to come over

I recommend avoiding our big cities. Starting and stopping in Los Angeles should cure you of any further desire to maneuver through big city traffic. Do try to get off the interstate or the "slab" as it has affectionately been referred to by many a rider on this forum. As an MOA member you should have the anonymous book. (If you don't you can call the MOA and they will send you a copy, I'm not sure if you left yet, coordinating delivery while on the road may be difficult). If all else fails you can coordinate your travels through the digital version on the anonymous book or here in the forums.
The reason why I mention this is because you said you were traveling on a budget, I think a few phone calls would find you a place to stay overnight for free. I didn't see the lovely cotton fields of and stinky chicken farms of southern Alabama on your itinerary, otherwise I'd put you and the bikes up for free.

This is a fun and often mind opening site as to how large some countries and states are in comparison to what one is used to. I used it to show friends/family the scale of traversing Canada for last summers trip. Some of these images are just a Google search find.

http://overlapmaps.com/

Your trip

You are welcome to rest up at our place on the way down from Alaska.
N 50 28.523' W119 12.633' Armstrong BC

Alaskans always wonder how the people in medium sized states such as Texas can live with the congestion.

Of course Canada makes them big just about everywhere.

rangerreece said:

I recommend avoiding our big cities. Starting and stopping in Los Angeles should cure you of any further desire to maneuver through big city traffic. Do try to get off the interstate or the "slab" as it has affectionately been referred to by many a rider on this forum. As an MOA member you should have the anonymous book. (If you don't you can call the MOA and they will send you a copy, I'm not sure if you left yet, coordinating delivery while on the road may be difficult). If all else fails you can coordinate your travels through the digital version on the anonymous book or here in the forums.
The reason why I mention this is because you said you were traveling on a budget, I think a few phone calls would find you a place to stay overnight for free. I didn't see the lovely cotton fields of and stinky chicken farms of southern Alabama on your itinerary, otherwise I'd put you and the bikes up for free.

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Hi Rangerreece, thanks we will try to get a digital version of it. That is easier for us. By the way we take the plane at 26 of march to L.A.

henzilla said:

This is a fun and often mind opening site as to how large some countries and states are in comparison to what one is used to. I used it to show friends/family the scale of traversing Canada for last summers trip. Some of these images are just a Google search find.

http://overlapmaps.com/

Click to expand...

Its amazing to see the different sizes. What do we live in a small country
Thank you for showing it.