Congrats on the retirement, we did a 4 week ride a couple years back and only made a reservation in Milwaukee. The rest of the time we rode till we felt like stopping and had no trouble finding a place to stay. All we had was a list of roads and areas we wanted to see it was one of the best trips so far.

 

Wow,Larry this could be an incredible Ride but it appears you will be using mostly interstates and then doing side trips when you get near points of interest and I can understand this but I think with some help from the forum members this could be a Ride of a lifetime,for example I would cross into Canada and go around Lake Huron to Sault St.Marie -cross border into Upper Mi.follow southern rt. of Lake Superior to Duluth west on rt.2 to Williston ND. and south to the Black Hills ,A ride like this would be a lot more relaxing for me,I hope some of the other guys jump in with some ideas because this could be Great. Sorry I'm running short on time today but I have other ideas for you as well, My wife and I rode several of the locations on your list just last year.

 

Ditto this, Route 50 one way, Route 20 the other way.

 

Larry,
sounds like a great trip. Lots of exciting roads in between most of those places you are staying and some pretty boring country in between a few of them as well.
I have ridden from Niagara Falls to Cleveland running 2 lane along Lake Erie the entire way. Lots of traffic, views, lighthouses, museums, and vineyards!
Cleveland to Milwaukee is a tough one, that dam pesky Chicago is in between them. You might consider going north along Lake Michigan and take the ferry across the lake to Milwaukee.
West of Milwaukee is a ton of great roads! Pick one and head west, cannot hardly go wrong but definitely spend some time along the Mississippi River riding.
The list could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Sit down with an atlas one night and look for the roads that are marked as "scenic" and try to follow as many of those as you can in between each of your stops.


Good luck and wish I were able to take a trip like this, maybe in 8 more years!

 

Thanks for all your responses, and will take them all in. My concern with not having reservations is in the national parks since they book up so quickly. My guess we can work around those reservations, and just take the advice from others and stop where we feel we want to.

 

We took a three week road trip when I retired in 2013 that went through the national parks and they were all booked. We had a night or two that we had to ride pretty late to get to a town that had camping available. Other than that we loved not having to be anywhere at a specific date so we could stay over for another night at a certain area.

 

Excellent, now we have an idea of your route.....i would plan it this way.....decide the major parks that are a must....then sketch a rough ride to get there, for example Yellowstone....from Vermont it would probably take you 4-5 day to get there so make reservations 5 days from when you leave Vermont...and so on and so on....at least that way you have a definite reservation for your must do parks....the days in between you can leisurely change your route to your desires.....

 

I can help with the first leg of your trip to Niagara Falls. Route 20 runs parallel to the New York State Thruway (90). I would suggest you hop on it in Albany and take it all the way to Buffalo. Route 20 is very scenic and runs through a number of small towns and also the finger lakes region. There are also plenty of good places to eat along this route. Sounds like a cool trip. Enjoy!

 

That rode I know. My daughter lives in Syracuse, and we do alot of riding on Rt 20. That is a perfect suggested road. My thought process is I may take Route 20 as far as I can before turning up to Milwaukee.

 

My experience in the West, including National Parks (Yellowstone/Glacier) comes down to timing. I call ahead at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. At that time I almost always know how far I will ride. I rarely do not get a room or a camp site. Most people cancel early so any open camping spots or rooms become available Noon to 1. I have even gotten rooms when they have a "waiting list". They book quickly after 2 and by 3, nothing is left. I frequently get a discounted rate and have shown up at 5 PM with them turning away customer after customer. My room or camping spot is always ready. I do this with 1 or two bikes sharing a room. Two rooms is MUCH harder. Only rarely do I have to try a 2nd place. I usually get a spot or room on the first call.

As a note, I generally stay just outside the park, not inside. That said, I've gotten a cabin at Roosevelt Lodge at 1 PM for the same day. Had I not called, NO CHANCE in HELL to stay there.