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longest trip planned so far.


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On July 9th, the wife and I plan on taking the scoot on our longest trip so far. Plan on leaving New Lisbon, WI in the am and traveling to Hannibal, Mo. do the Mark Twain stuff and leave the 11th and ride to Lexington, Ky to see some civil war stuff (Wife is a civil war buff) and visit the National Horse Museum. From there we are gonna go tackle the Dragon. then return home. My concern is the 800+ miles from Hannibal to Lexington on where to stop. we want to avoid the interstate/tolls as much as possible. I know I cant make from A to B in a day.

Thoughts? BTW. on the return trip we are just gonna play it by ear on hotels and such, i.e. ride til I cant. so if any of you have ideas on the return trip avoiding the major metro areas let me have them.......

 

Thanks,

Stat

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I'm not overly familiar with that area, but one thing that happens when I tour is any mental itinerary usually gets fudged. I've noticed this can be distressful to some. A pinch of extra traffic is all it takes for me to drastically change course and I never sweat it anymore.

 

If your relying on lodging then start looking before dusk, sometimes it can take a while to find a suitable room. I cant count how many nights I've rolled through pitch black and properly cold mtns looking for someplace to dry and thaw because I waited until I needed a room to find one. We're entering tourist season so keep that in mind and if you know where your going and you are sure your itinerary wont get fudged I would sway towards booking rooms in advance. It wont work for me because I never know where I'm really going until I get there.

 

When I'm traveling around that's often the hard part, partially because I almost never pay more than $50/night to avoid sleeping on the ground. I generally stay well out of the way so cheap dive rooms and greasy spoons aplenty in my travels, but it sounds like your going someplace where this may not be the case.

 

PS, Pack some cold/wet weather gear! You may not need it but if you do it will absolutely suck not to have it. Most of all have a great time and stay safe.

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If you drop farther south through ILL you can see the Shawnee Forest, Garden of the God's, Cave in Rock where Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn floated the raft. You can cross the river at Paducah KY or ride the free ferry from Cave in Rock to Marion KY. West to East is the West Ky Parkway which isn't very busy, Hwy 80 is farther south but goes through the older smaller towns. Towns aren't far apart here and hotels are usually pretty easy to find. While in Lexington look for the Castle, it's near the end of the Bluegrass Parkway where it changes to hwy 60.

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Trip planning. That's one of the reasons I joined up with Best Western. I can always find a room the night before... Even have asked hotel people for help if I didn't know area. I'm now pretty good with their app.

 

On the scoot, I'll either plan ahead or stop at lunch and look ahead in app to see what's around and plan from there. Makes it easy. Or at least...easier!

I imagine other hotel chains have apps that do the same.

Edited by videoarizona
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Hi Status,

 

I'm super excited you and your bride are gonna get to take a good long ride. I bet its gonna be a great trip. The Kentucky Horse Park is great!

I noticed you said 800+ miles from Hannibal to Lexington. Google Maps shows it to be 453 miles. Are sure you have that correct? 800 miles is a lot to cover in a day.

 

Big Lenny

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As I'm sure you know KY is famous for it's whiskey, both legal and backwoods. Look up the KY Bourbon Trail if you like that kind of thing. It leads to distilleries across the state with tours and tastings. While some might disagree the best bourbons come from here. I worked in a sheet metal shop years ago and might know a little title about still design.

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If you drop farther south through ILL you can see the Shawnee Forest, Garden of the God's, Cave in Rock where Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn floated the raft. You can cross the river at Paducah KY or ride the free ferry from Cave in Rock to Marion KY. West to East is the West Ky Parkway which isn't very busy, Hwy 80 is farther south but goes through the older smaller towns. Towns aren't far apart here and hotels are usually pretty easy to find. While in Lexington look for the Castle, it's near the end of the Bluegrass Parkway where it changes to hwy 60.

 

looking in to it as a type...thanks

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looking in to it as a type...thanks

 

WHAT A BLAST STAT!!! Hope you are having a GREAT time and you are successful in finding sleeping quarters!

Following your adVenture here made me think of something.. I have no idea if your CTFW in the old school method of dropping the tent where ever you land for the night but if you are and you are in the area of Mark Twain National Forest, you might consider it for an overnight LZ (see vid).

Also, if CTFW down in KY, there are still ample spots for a quick - but VERY worthy drop in and sleep there too (see vid #2 ). Never was much of a moteller but if you folks are doing that type of CTFW adventure I am 100% sure that the southern hospitality, being what it is, will prevail and you will easily find those hidden morsels of goodness simply by stopping in a town and asking accomadational advice from the locals.. Some of the most AWESOME adVentures for Tweeks, Tip and I came about simply by doing exactly that (locals pointing us to fantastic exploring of off beat roads/trails, finding hidden caves and even historical attractions that are not on any maps) and it always amazed me how willing those southern folks were to assist. Bottom line = ENJOY and sieze the day out there CTFW!!!

Puc

P.S. = please remember the :photographing:'s for us to go along with some awesome ride reports!!

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revamped route.....2.5 hours looking at possible destinations, cause, you know, us government workers have that kind of time....lol

step 1. New Lisbon, Wi to Hannibal, Mo 2 nights. touring Mark Twain Museum and Caves etc....

step 2. Hannibal, Mo to Eddyville Ky 1 night Touring Cave in the Rock per suggestion from member

step 3 Eddyville, Ky to Maryville, Ky....Ride the Tail of the Dragon....then 1 night stay in Maryville cause all the Motels close to the dragon are booked.

step 4 Maryville, Ky to Lexington, Ky 2 nights. Going the International Horse Museum and whatever civil war sights we can see around there. Suggestions????

step 5. return home avoiding Cincy, Indy, Chicago and Milwaukee. Probably stopping around Bloomingtion, Ill (halfway) of the 700 mile return trip.

 

Barring weather and Heat it should be alright even though the clutch is starting to slip on the scoot under HEAVY acceleration.

 

Stat

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revamped route.....2.5 hours looking at possible destinations, cause, you know, us government workers have that kind of time....lol

step 1. New Lisbon, Wi to Hannibal, Mo 2 nights. touring Mark Twain Museum and Caves etc....

step 2. Hannibal, Mo to Eddyville Ky 1 night Touring Cave in the Rock per suggestion from member

step 3 Eddyville, Ky to Maryville, Ky....Ride the Tail of the Dragon....then 1 night stay in Maryville cause all the Motels close to the dragon are booked.

step 4 Maryville, Ky to Lexington, Ky 2 nights. Going the International Horse Museum and whatever civil war sights we can see around there. Suggestions????

step 5. return home avoiding Cincy, Indy, Chicago and Milwaukee. Probably stopping around Bloomingtion, Ill (halfway) of the 700 mile return trip.

 

Barring weather and Heat it should be alright even though the clutch is starting to slip on the scoot under HEAVY acceleration.

 

Stat

 

While you are in the area of the Dragon take a day ride up to Marion,va and take rt 16 to Taxewell,va 33 miles and it is the back of the Dragon before you head back to WI.

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I have the Hotels.com app on my iphone and just pull over and look up the closest hotel in my price range that has a room available. Stay 10 nights and get a free night.

:amen: I have only used it once or so. But it was suggested by someone I forget where. But if your 2 up say an hour or so before your ready to stop, have the co-pilot start looking.

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Just to follow up on Cave in Rock, the cave itself is only a few minute walk from parking and is only 100-150 yards deep. Interesting to see but not a lot there. The village of Cave in Rock looks to be straight out of the 1800s, really nothing there since the fluorspar mines closed. The ferry is free to ride over to KY. Garden of the Gods in the same county is neat to see. No gas in CIR but 15 minutes down SR 146 is Elizabethtown with gas and food, there is a floating fish dock that serves the best catfish sandwich you can curl a lip over. When you get in the area contact me and if we're free we may run over, my wife grew up in Cave in Rock. We're 2 hours away.

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revamped route.....2.5 hours looking at possible destinations, cause, you know, us government workers have that kind of time....lol

step 1. New Lisbon, Wi to Hannibal, Mo 2 nights. touring Mark Twain Museum and Caves etc....

step 2. Hannibal, Mo to Eddyville Ky 1 night Touring Cave in the Rock per suggestion from member

step 3 Eddyville, Ky to Maryville, Ky....Ride the Tail of the Dragon....then 1 night stay in Maryville cause all the Motels close to the dragon are booked.

step 4 Maryville, Ky to Lexington, Ky 2 nights. Going the International Horse Museum and whatever civil war sights we can see around there. Suggestions????

step 5. return home avoiding Cincy, Indy, Chicago and Milwaukee. Probably stopping around Bloomingtion, Ill (halfway) of the 700 mile return trip.

 

Barring weather and Heat it should be alright even though the clutch is starting to slip on the scoot under HEAVY acceleration.

 

Stat

 

As has been stated, Garden of the Gods is a good stop and is near Cave In Rock. It is a walking tour that takes you up on a bluff of rock formations. Takes about 1 hr. Not much touring to C N R other than walking down to the cave. You can catch the ferry at C N R that will take you over to Ky. The little restaurant in C N R has good food. It is to the left just before you start down the hill to the river. Going through Red River Gorge S. E. of Lexington is a good ride if time permits. Willow Pond is a good place to eat near Eddyville. Happy trails and always give us VR members a holler if you need anything while traveling. We are scattered out all along your routes.

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While you are in the area of the Tail of The Dragon you may want to ride the Cherohala Skyway and stay at Tellico Plains. The Lodge at Tellico Plains caters to bikers withe a garage to park in and a place to wash your bike.

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