Trippin'

So I have been re-reading Vespa Vagabond lately and I caught myself of dreaming of doing the same . . .

Buy a motorcycle (I actually drove one in college for a year-and-a-half),

gear up and ride across America for a couple of months. Just me, the road and a wallet.

It took VV 2 months to go from San Fran to Manhattan - doing her best to avoid the interstates and travelling the scenic route.

I even began looking into bikes and making a list of places I would like to see (some I have seen and would like to see again):

Joshua Tree
Death Valley
Vegas
Grand Canyon (Stay at the El Tovar)
Carlsbad Caverns
Meteor Crater
Austin
New Orleans
Savannah
Drive the Appalachians
Gettysburg
Mt. Vernon
Washington DC
Arlington
Manhattan
Coney Island
Boston
Niagara Falls
Great Lakes
Philadelphia
Chicago
Lincoln's Tomb
Mt. Rushmore
Glacier National Park (stay at the Many Glacier Hotel)
Jackson Hole
Yellowstone (stay at the Old Faithful Inn)
Aspen
Telluride
Seattle
Olympic National Park
Redwoods National Park
Lake Tahoe
Napa
Yosemite (stay at the Ahwahnee)
San Francisco
Big Sur

Just to name a few . . . . what would you add?

Looking at this list, I realize that I would have to basically loop the whole country and it would probably take longer than a couple of months . . .

Then, of course, there is the question of $$ and job etc . . .

I am also not the most accomplished camper (when camping with friends, I typically show up with a tent, sleeping bag and a wad of cash to pay the ones that actually BROUGHT FOOD). Although just a sleeping bag on the ground wouldn't be such a big deal. . .

And then I think of visiting all those sights and turning to the person next to me . . . oh, wait, I would be alone . . .

The more I think about it, the less idyllic it sounds . . .

I just have a touch of cabin fever - which also explains my desire to do this . . .

With all that has been going on, we have been tied pretty close to the house (same goes for the dozen or so friends who tirelessly continue to spend their Saturday and Sundays sprucing up the place - thanks! sorry!). I imagine we are all ready to strap on our shoes, or jump on a bike (or sit in a lawn chair) and head for the hills at this point . . .

But driving around the country alone for months on end? Probably not for me.

Maybe I can talk a friend or two into making a two-week trek from San Diego to Seattle . . .

That is if I had any $$, or vacation time, or a motorcycle . . . .

Hmmm . . . maybe a day trip somewhere local . . .

Or a good book about someone else's adventure . . .

UPDATE:

Actually, now that I map it out . . .

Leg 1 (scroll to the bottom for the map)

Leg 2

Leg 3

Leg 4

it's 189 hours of driving over 11,079 miles. If I just average 25 hours of driving each week, I could do it in 8 weeks . . . . Hmmmm . . . . where's that vacation schedule? There is a Honda dealership on the way home . . . .

(I know I would never die on a motorcycle - motorcycles don't kill people, wives of men who go out and buy motorcycles kill people . . . =at least mine would= . . .)