My husband & I are riding from NYC to Amerivespa in Lake Geneva WI (by way of Chicago). We have almost a month. We're leaving NYC Mon 6/11 and plan to arrive in Chgo Fri 6/15.

We're looking for route ideas - scenic backroads (not interstates).

On the way there, we're probably going through NJ to PA and taking Rte 6 through PA, but would love any suggestions, especially for Ohio & Indiana.

Also, (although I’m not looking for scenery here!) in terms of Chicago, any suggestions on how to get from Gary to Lake Shore Dr (final destination is Evanston) without doing the Skyway, etc.? I'll be on my 150cc Blackjack.

On our way back, we're hitting Madison after Amerivespa and then are thinking of going north, across the UP & into Canada. Again, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Kate

_________________
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
-Leonard Cohen

Any divas in these states?

_________________
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
-Leonard Cohen

I rode RT 6 in PA home from MI last year and it was a disaster. Only one lane in each direction for much of it. Many trucks use it and go very slowly as there are also many curves. A bridge was out in the western end and the detour wasn't well posted and I got lost in the middle of nowhere. (Thankfully, some very nice folks gave me good directions to find my way back to RT 6).

It was also 95 degrees and above every day and very humid. Riding so slowly didn't permit any wind to cool me down. I gave up riding every day by 2 or 2:30. Took me 4 days to ride 800 miles. Next summer, when I plan to ride cross country, I will stay on I-80. It is a beautiful ride and I felt very safe on the Mod Quad, (Silver Wing).

It is also much easier to find hotel rooms off I-80. The motels along RT 6 are smaller and during the summer, are either fully reserved or fill up early as it is a major tourist area. If you plan to ride RT 6, make hotel reservations before you leave so you don't encounter the same situation as I, all the motels for the next 3 towns upline were full by 2 PM. I lucked out and got the last room in the town where I stopped for lunch.

Have a great trip and a safe trip. Carry oil, check it every day. Don't strip the dipstick.

_________________
The JOY is in the journey.

A 150 is no good for the interstate....try and check out the Amish areas in some of the states you'll be passing through. Beautiful farm country. I drove Rt. 15 up through IN to Elkhart last summer, and it was decent country road. The RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart is very cool if you have an interest in antique campers (why I was headed there). Googling something like "scenic roads PA" will get you a list of what each state considers to be their scenic roads. And there is this site:
http://www.motorcycleroads.us/states/pa.html

Whoa, that's a bummer. I thought Rt 6 was the easy part of the trip - supposed to be nice and scenic - Pennsylvania has a whole website devoted to it: http://www.paroute6.com/ Can't do I-80 on the Blackjack. Thanks for the advice on the motels as well. Oh well, we'll figure something out.

Ummm ... what do you mean, "Don't strip the dipstick"?

_________________
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
-Leonard Cohen

You rode all the way to Indiana to go to the RV Hall of Fame? Very cool! I'd love to have an old camper someday. We're still at the old tent stage.
Amish country - that's a great idea.
I have checked out the motorcycle roads website, but not yet for all the areas we'll be in. There was nothing for northern Ohio.

_________________
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
-Leonard Cohen

Yeah, I did...I was on the way to NH from FL, so it was a little out of the way, lol, but I-95 gets boring after so many years of making the trip. The museum almost went bankrupt last year, and got funding at the last minute to stay open, so I figured I'd better go see it while I could. Very cool place if you like that sort of thing.

Some pictures I took here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... afacf5daf5

I think what Picco means about your dipstick is that when you take off and put back anything with threads, like your dipstick, you want to be careful not to cross thread, or tighten too much and strip the threads. If you did mess up the threads, a competent motorcycle shop should be able to put a Heli-coil in. We had to do it on one of my son's dirt bikes. I don't remember if it was around $100 or $200...somewhere in there.

Do you belong to AAA? Maybe get Tour Books and maps for the areas you'll be traveling through, and just tear out just the pages you need. I do things the old fashioned way, but there's probably an app for that if you one of those phones I've decided are smarter than me.

BTW, Kate, when you get there, don't forget to look for Groovymom and her yellow Vespa (GA) with flowers and a Ron John sticker on the top case....hunt down ScootsMcGillicuddy (did I spell that right?) at the Gen-U-Bin dealer display....another friend of mine, that hasn't discovered SD yet, but will be there...a gal named Jacque with an expresso (brown) Vespa LX150 with NH plates....

Hi etak,

Sorry, I didn't realize you were riding a 150. RT 6 is pretty in sections. Happy Camper is right, a 150 is not suitable for I-80. She is also right about the threads on the oil dipstick. I stripped the dipstick in Michigan and had to wait overnight for a new one. Cost me another night in a hotel, (thank goodness there was a Super 8 near the cycle shop, so it wasn't too expensive, but a waste of a traveling day).

Perhaps you might find some back roads through PA that are not so heavily used by trucks. Very early in the morning, the road was clear, (I left one morning at 5 AM. It was cool and no trucks.)

Keep us posted on the trip.

_________________
The JOY is in the journey.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for these divas!
And thanks for your other tips as well. I do belong to AAA but due to my procrastination it's too late to get maps. But I like paper maps as well, and will be tearing out some pages from my Rand McNally atlas.

_________________
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
-Leonard Cohen

Good to know about the dipstick. I checked my oil a lot on our trip last year (and I was losing oil...) - glad I didn't strip it anyway.
My goal is to get early starts - it's not my natural inclination, but I really want to try to do it so we can get in several hours of riding (and stopping to enjoy the sights) and still stop for the day by mid afternoon. I've been looking at some alternate roads to Rt 6 for some portions - looks like there might be some nice ones.
Will keep you posted!

_________________
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
-Leonard Cohen