I usually have loose plans several years out for summer touring. Jim and I had been kicking around a tour in the Adirondack/Route Verte area. Jim had even routed out a good trip. In the meanwhile Oren and I had been discussing his touring wishes. We are all getting a little older and are more aware of our bodies abilities (or inabilities). Oren (in his 70's) wanted to ride a momentous trip while his body was still in fine form. A coast to coast trip was too time consuming, but border to border hit just the right number of days. We have 24 nights from the border to home in Rifle, CO. We will spend three nights at home. Then we depart for the northern section, which has 33 nights.

Jim and Genny agreed to delay the eastern trip. I think a big piece was pitching the idea that they could take the Amtrak both directions. They would skip the hot, often desolate southern section of the tour and join us in the mountains at our home in Rifle. From Missoula, they will head north to visit family and take the Amtrak home from Whitefish. Oren, Jacinto, and I will swing out onto the plains and finish our ride at Waterton Park in Canada. It seems fitting to end our 2,500 mile tour at a location worthy of the accomplishment.

I had been day dreaming of a tour through the Rockies since reading Tom Fortmann's Chasing the Great Divide journal from 2007. Tom laid the trip out with the overnight motels and mileages for each day. It would be easy to take the route and start riding. However, in order to stay in motels each night, they had some long days in sparsely populated New Mexico. I've been looking at Tom's route for years. I kept telling Jacinto that we could camp just 1-2 nights, just to get us through the long stretches without lodging. No go. He grew up very poor in Mexico and slept on the dirt floor until leaving home. Jacinto had no desire to sleep on the ground again. Not even to ride such a desirable route. Tweaking was in order. Oren pointed out that we could ride Highway 191 from border to border. Even I couldn't get lost following the same road for 2,500 miles!

Finding a nice route and lodging for a two month trip was a task. I've come a long way since Alison gifted us the motel route for the Sierra Cascades trip. At the time, the thought of routing a long trip made me break out in a cold sweat. Five years later, there's no better evening entertainment than a lodging location challenge.

I routed the southern part of the trip. We did largely stay on Highway 191. I'm especially looking forward to the Hannagan Meadow area. According to former Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt, it is the most beautiful spot in Arizona. Hannagan Meadows is the highest altitude 9,071 feet location that is occupied year round. It is on the Coronado Trail, which has 460 curves over 123 miles. It sounds like an epic section of the trip.

Jim routed the northern section and found lodging. He has us riding some nice backroads in Utah/Idaho. Jacinto requested we skip busy Yellowstone. Jim had a hellacious time with lodging in that area. Most places required a two night stay or longer. Other lodging was prohibitively expensive. Some places were closed for the winter and didn't get back to us in a timely fashion. Jim adjusted overnights several times. We did finally make it through the Yellowstone area with lodging. That shows Jim's perseverance.

We have our reservations done extra early this tour. Many of the overnights are one motel towns or cabins out in the middle of nowhere. We wanted to nail down the overnights early. We don't carry tents/sleeping bags in case of an emergency. We get to our planned overnight without deviation. I'm more than a little Type A. I like having a plan and sticking to it. We have done motel only trips for a number of years and it has worked well for us. We enjoy a hot shower and a comfy bed at the end of a hard riding day.

An advantage to an all motel trip is riding light weight. No one will ever accuse me of being a fast rider. I am a faster rider than I used to be, just because I no longer carry so much gear. Lighter goes up hill much more pleasantly than a heavy load. My goal weight is ten pounds of gear. It has been wryly pointed out that I am able to claim the ten pound weight as Jacinto carries the extra snacks and food. There is truth to that statement. In my defense, he is the one who bought a 2 kilo bag of oatmeal in Canada. I would have purchased the cheaper/smaller container!

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