Monday, December 19, 2011

The Princess' Challenge

High noon shadow
The days are getting shorter and the sun doesn't get very high above the horizon so there's lots of time to think about future rides. Moto-blogger Dar posted the following challenge on her blog Princess Scooterpie last week:

"1) to list at least 5 places in YOUR own country that you want to visit 2) if you could go anywhere in the world on your motorcycle or scooter where would it be?"

For the first part, I'll modify the challenge a bit to include Canada. It is difficult to reach most of the country without going through Canada.

Local Trips:
  1. Dawson City, Yukon Territory. Last year, I had included the D2D or Dust to Dawson non-rally on my "list" but I am more interested in just riding to Dawson City along the Top of the World Highway. I've driven this road several times and it is a beautiful trip above timberline.
  2. Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Last summer, a small group of us ventured up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle. Since then, I've driven up to the Toolik Field Station north of Atigun Pass and feel that as long as the weather is decent, it should be a great trip.
  3. McCarthy, Alaska. Over the years, I've driven to McCarthy several times and it is a beautiful trip. The road is an old railroad bed with the tracks removed and the scenery is spectacular. Once the road dries up, it's pretty decent.
Non-quite Local Trips:
  1. New England/Newfoundland. I haven't spent much time at all in New England except for some work related trips many years ago and I hear that eastern Canada is a wonderful place to visit.
  2. Canadian/U.S. Rocky Mountains. I've taken many road trips across the Rockies in both Canada and the U.S. as well as many hiking trips. The idea of a road trip back and forth across the mountains sounds wonderful.
I would still like to tour throughout North America. I've been to just about all of the US states at some time or another as well as through many of the Canadian provinces. My only venture into Mexico was many years ago. A bicycle trip down to Cabo San Lucas. I originally wanted to make the North American tour on my bicycle but now I would be just as happy to do it on a motocycle.

Anywhere in the World:

This is a bit more difficult. Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe all look interesting. If I had to pick just one, I would try and combine Australia and New Zealand together. After all, they're sort of in the same quadrant of the planet...

6 comments:

  1. Richard,

    I think due to where you are located, you probably have the most epic of trips. I take it even in summer it can be cold and the temperature can fluctuate. The Arctic circle would be a pretty amazing adventure. You can definitely include Canada as your home country as well because we are friendly and you have to drive through BC anyway. Your adventure list is awesome! I think you have probably seen more of my home country than I have.

    Awesome list! keep thinking 'road trip' and summer will be here before you know it! When you do your trips lots of pictures please! Dreaming of summer days & riding is perfect on a cold winter night.

    I think I would like to see Australia and New Zealand too.

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  2. That is pretty nice list there Richard. Hope you get to travel some of them soon.

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  3. Richard,

    New England in Fall is high on my bucket list. I wonder what's cheaper, bringing the bike over or rent one on location...

    As for the worldwide trips, I am going to join you on the New Zealand tour...

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  4. Dar:
    "Epic", I don't know about that. I really enjoy road trips and I believe I've driven between Alaska and the lower-48 about 18 times. I've never riden a motorcycle yet but plan on resolving that next summer.

    Trobairitz:
    Planning on the first couple next summer as they are the simplest ones to "knock off" the list.

    SonjaM:
    New England in the Fall is beautiful. I got to spend a couple of weeks there with a botanist during the color change to collect spectral data a long time ago. Back then, I really wanted to go back on a bicycle trip through Vermont but a motorcycle allows you to cover a lot more ground plus you can follow the colors south.

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  5. Richard:

    I just loved Newfoundland. We drove a few thousand kilometers and didn't even get to the Western Side. I kept thinking to myself that it would be great to ride a bike here. We had also planned to go to NovaScotia, PEI and New Brunswick, but plans keep getting postponed.

    We drove the Icefield Parkway (Valemont/Jasper/Lake Louise) but the weather was bad so few photos that trip. It would be great on a bike.

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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  6. Bob:
    I've wanted to go to the east coast of Canada for quite a while but there never seemed to be enough time. The Icefield Parkway is beautiful though I've always just passed through. I've never stayed there though we usually saw a number of bears on every trip.

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