Just curious how everyone goes about planning extended road trips.
Do you book your rooms in advance or as you go.
Do you travel X number of miles or point A to point B each day
Ok so you get the idea,how do you go about planning your rides.

The first thing I do is look at individual state maps to see how I can get to my destination and avoid as much interstate travel as possible. I get these cool maps by the way from http://store.randmcnally.com/. Even though we prefer back roads we know you can always find a place to stay if you are too far away from a major city or the interstate. We don't camp anymore so we take that into consideration.

We are never in a hurry since we are retired. However, we are out of our motel by 7 a.m. - 8 a.m. or so after coffee and perhaps a small bite of the motels breakfast. Normally will ride for a couple of hours and then sit down for some real sustenance. Our journey is calculated the night before at the motel, i.e. destination, miles, potential fuel stops, etc.

Over the years I have discovered that our trips average is 50 miles and hour. We only ride roughly 6 hours per day and that is actual road time. It doesn't include stops.. With stops in between we tend to reach the day's destination by 4 p.m., at which time we are looking for a place to stay. Normally we do not make reservations in advance while on the road. We will however make reservations in advance for the end of our destination as we normally plan to stay in the area for a few days. On our trip to Yellow Stone last year we made reservations at a specific motel.

So we've made reservations at the end. But I said we were never in a hurry. I calculate our distance and our times on the road pretty well but we all know that doesn't always work out because weather conditions are unpredictable to say the least. In the end however it always works out. The real tool for me on the road (I don't use GPS) are the folding maps from Rand McNally AND the annual road guide book map from HOG.

So, it's x number of miles AND point A to point B.
No reservations while on the road, only at the end.

Peace

+1 on alot of what Jimmy said! I don't use GPS, I use paper maps. Sometimes I just change routes during the trip! Best amount of miles IMHO is about 300-500 miles a day. Gives you a calm pace, riding back roads and enjoying the trip and the sites if you want to stop and look around. Only time you have problems finding a room is if you end up over a holiday where a bunch of tourist flock..... stay away from those areas...lots of cars! Hell, just roll with what feels comfortable to you and yours. Of course, like Jimmy...I too am retarded whoops, retired....

Trippin

We travel exactly the same as Jimmyacorn said above. The only time we ever book rooms is the end destination or if we are meeting up with someone along the way in a specific town on a specific day. I much prefer to keep open the options to stop at places I didn't know were there or even change routes for whatever reason without having to worry about screwing up the schedule and resorvations for the rest of the trip.

You remember what happened to Chevy Chase in the movie Vacation. Once he got off the plan he snapped!!! So make no solid plans.

Another tip is that off the beaten path you don't run the risk of bedbugs.  You definitely don't want to stay in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Peace

Lucky,
The first few days of our trip to N/C last year looked just like the movie Vacation,it would have been funny if it wasnt so exhausting,didnt take long to figure out we werent in the car blasting down the interstate.Jimmy we really like the small mom and pop  roadside motels, we still need to shorten our drives some they got much better as we went along,  I have made a few changes to the Ultra to get more leg room for myself which should help greatly.
Thanks for the tips,Trippin, I retired last year at 57 but the wife has about one more year and we are fairly new to motorcycle vacations,very different than what were used to. Thanks again Ride Safe

Well Hunter, you're not too far away from us though I don't know why anyone would want to pass through Ohio. But if you ever just give me a heads up.

Peace

Well lets see for most of my road trips I head a direction and see where I might end up. My very first road trips( decades ago) on a bike was "we got to be here by such and such time" that it drove me nuts. I do not travel with these people no more because we just can not find a happy medium between their stick scheduling and my happy go any where turn here traveling style. Now if I have to be say at a wedding or something like that where I am in the the party, i will beeline there and take care of business. But who knows how long it will take me to get back. I do not make reservations, I do not go with a plan, I just kind of go. Have been known to change destinations (bad storms) even when I was so pose to be there. So for the most part most people will not travel with me because they never know where I will lead them too.

Well now.  If we're not planning a trip to a specific destination, Gypsy and I pretty much do the same thing.  It's fun not knowing where you might end up and like you, storms have a tendency to send us a different way.  And after 5 years of her travelling with me, she prefers the unexpected.


Peace

Yep nothing like open roads no plans and the world wide open for what ever might come my way.   I have  meet some really great people and some great no where spots in this country simply by just going down a senic route (That is what the Wooly man calls it when I decide to go a different way)

Unlike everyone else I use a GPS. Wife and I take bikcations every year and ride anywhere between 1500 and 2000 miles in 10 days or so. We don't make reservations, unless it is going to be a place where we know will be there no matter what and it is a known place that books up pretty fast. Using a GPS gives us the freedom to take any road that we want and know where it it ends up, especially when you need to fuel and eats or a place to stay. We spent too many trips on the roadside wandering just where in heck are we and which way to go.

In September we are going to Maggie Valley, NC for 7 nights. We made reservations at our favorite Biker friendly motel with an efficiency. There we will go from there to our destinations using the GPS. Using the GPS will allow us to take our time and enjoy the scenery and just relax, don't have to worry about missing turns, especially if we haven't been there before.

One other tip for saving time and money, if you are going to ride all day and stay at motels, this is what we do. First invest in a good quality bike cooler, yes a bike cooler. We packed enough food and snacks for at least 3 lunches. We freeze water bottles for ice and they stay good for several days. Also, you can refreeze them at your motel if needed. This way we are able to pick the place and time when to eat and don't have to wait for the next town and hope there is a decent place to eat. Many trips we had our lunch under a tree over looking a river or a lake, nice and cool, relaxing, no waiting for the check and no tip and some alone time with your special someone.

Just remember if you use a GPS it is tool, don't let it dictate your journey.

Ride Safe, Arrive alive

I'll stick to maps and getting lost and laughing our asses off about it for years to come! Remember, its the ride...not the destination!!!!!!! If your in that big of a hurry, you probably shouldn't be on a bike. The tools on my bike are wrapped in an old t-shirt and a tool bag in my saddle bag. GPS... naw. But than you folks would laugh if you ever saw my cell phone (the model just before flip phones came out).

The sole purpose of buying the new Ultra Classic was comfort for the wife not the gadgets,hoping she would enjoy riding as much as I have,our first extended road trip last year was horrible,it rained 9 out of 14 days and do you remember the Government shut-down everything was closed and posted Keep Out up and down the North Carolina shore they even closed the Smoky National Park.The point is we still had a great Time and laughed our self to sleep each night and each day learned something new about the Bikes and the Great People we were meeting,we still have a lot to learn about road trips and how to change the way we look at traveling. Ride Safe Thanks again

I travel alone so i try to plan my stuff out to let someone know where i might be at the end of the day. The first alone ride was for weekend. I had a map with me and i had printed pages off the internet. My miles are different from those printed. I am terrible with maps i learned and wasted more time stopping. I wanted to avoid the highways and guy in WV said there is nothing to see around here to get on it. haha
I bought a GPS for my next trip and it was the best thing i did. You can set those things so you can travel as you want, like avoiding highways or not.

Never thought I would like a GPS until I got one last year. (it was actually given to me to do a review on).  But now I low it.  Like you said Steven I don't use it to dictate my trip, but it is nice to be able to be able to know where you are and which way to go without spending lots of time looking at the map.  I very seldom actaully set a destination and follow it, but use it to see what roads are around and where they go. However the one I have does let you set "direct route" or "winding route" so I will occassionally let it take me on a winding route of its choice from point to point.

I hear lots of folks saying they enjoy finding new roads, well I do too and I have found more since I started usiing the GPS. I can see in advance winding roads coming up that I would have never even tought to turn on. I used to see raods that looked liek they were going completely the opposite direction of where I was headed but the GPS shows me it does go my way... or visa-versa.

But like everything when it comes to riding... its a personal preferrence.

One of my favorite trips was the Blue ridge parkway, I forget what year it was but we spent 10 out of 14 days in rain gear.  All of us are still LOAO about all the fun and adventure we had on that trip.   By the end of the trip we was calling it " Its not my wife, its not my bike its only money, three wrong turns  and drop a bike, turn yourself around and hold on before you hit the ground"  It was all sung every night at the table.  Every day brought a new verse and to this day evey one of us  on that trip still talk the most about that one trip.   Tornados and floods OH MY!...   point I am making is it is not the trips that every thing goes right that you end up talking about.  It is the trips that every thing goes wrong and you still have fun no matter what that sticks with you.

Did ya'll know that every road in the eastern Pa. Poconos goes north? Or maybe it was East. LOL Anyway, I wanted to go west and I'll be damned if I could find my way. Hell, the way one can get turned around in any mountain range is amazing. To this day I can't tell you how I got out of there.

Peace

@ Bitchy the 2 best weather days of our trip were on the BRP Sunny and warm and the Fall colors were unbelievable,@Jimmyacorn Back in the mid 80s I spent quite a lot of time working in Ohio, just like Illinois with less Corn,not many good roads.I think for this year anyway i will stick to the maps and my Smartass iPhone,yep Trippin You need a upgraded phone LOL.

Just to confirm some of what's been said. I don't plan anything its all seat of the pants riding. I may have a general idea in the morning but as long as it's in the right direction I play the whole thing by ear. I still do a combination of camping and motels (rainy nights motel, clear night camping) so I sure to find something at around 4:00 or no later then 6:00. Still like maps but have broken down and gotten a smart phone with GPS just in case. Some days the miles pour on some I don't get far down the road. It's all a state of mind kind of thing and I don't mind.

I do travel alone most of the time so it not a issue as long as i'm ok with it, its ok.

@ Hunter....nope, still like my old phone and it works. You'd really have a good laugh in my house! No cable or dish just rabbit ears (they do pick up HD) and my computer is still on dial up.......

Thats Funny,when i got my iPhone in december the sales guys laughed and said they would contact the museum of natural history,they had a good laugh,

my rides i just know where iam going look at map at home for road numbers and then leave. goin to columbus so. carolina, then south to jacksonville, then highwat 98 along gulf coast to 59 noth to back home. leaving may 15th. anyone that wants to tag along, just let me know and we will me up someplace..

We plan our stops along the way so that we spend about 8-10 hrs per day in the saddle if we are riding towards a destination. I use the ride planner that Harley has on it's website for hotels and sites to possibly see along the way. If we are just planning on going on a vacation to no particuliar place or destination, then we pack a bottle of Jack for me and a bottle of Vodka for the Mrs. We hit the Atm on the way out of town and get lost for the next week or so. I have favorite rides that we do, and towns that we love to visit and I found half of them when I was completely lost. Remember the important thing is to enjoy the ride and forget all the crap that you have to deal with all the time. See ya out there this year!!