Post Punk Kitchen Forum

In four days I leave for my holiday trip in the U.S, so I figured I should start to plan a little bit.

The route I have in mind is sort of
- Los Angeles
I 40 to Flagstaff AZ, perhaps detour to Grand Canyon Village

Albuquerque NM, then perhaps detour to Roswell and on to Amarillo TX

Continue I 40 to Oklahoma city, Little rock AR, Mephis, Nashville, Knoxville, Asheville.

From Asheville I want to do the dragons tail and cherohala Skyway (if possible) http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon.html

After that towards Charleston and take the I 95 to Orlando FL.


The biggest problem I see so far is that I'm clueless on distances and how much miles I can do per day.
(I have 14 days for this trip) That's also the reason why I don't focus on sight seeing, I have to be in Orlando on the 19th no matter what.

I would like to meet ppk'ers along the route but can't say when I'll be were in the U.S at this time. I'm going to take things day by day. If you want to try to meet me, let me know and I will let you know when I'm in your area.

Does anyone have travel advice for me, as:
- non expensive places to stay near my route (motels etc who don't refuse motorcyclists?)
- places to eat? (if I can't find vegan food, I'll just live on oreos, cliff bars and fruit)
- other advice?

Get good thermal riding gear. States like Ohio will be getting cold!

Why aren't you coming through DC?

No motel should refuse motorcycles. Make sure you park your bike in front of the office or other well lit, visible area.

We were in a car, but my friends and I drove from San Francisco to NY and back to Virginia in less than a week and we slept different places each night, so I think you'll be fine.

Flagstaff is amazing! But it will be really cold, I think. We were there around the end of December and I thought I was going to die. You're probably used to the cold, though.

If you get a chance to drive through the painted desert, do it! It's so beautiful. My only warning is to watch your gas tank. We were in the desert and got dangerously close to empty before we found a tank station. They're few and far between once you get off the main interstate.

One of the first things I'll do is to get a canister for spare fuel cause other people also mentioned the fuel problem.

I'm bringing fleece sweater and cardigan in addition to the regular liner of my jacket. Long johns with sweatpants and the liner in the pants. If that isn't enough then I'll buy electric heated liners in New Mexico.

I'm not going through DC because this was a special offer and thus have no choice in the pickup or drop-off point.

Perhaps the story that some places refuse motorbikers is a myth then?

I would love to meet you in Orlando, FL which will be wicked hot.

I am in Asheville and we can do a meet up when you get here. There are plenty of restaurants to eat at here. Nashville also has options, I'll try to get you a few names. This is one: http://www.thewildcow.com/twc/
You could also get a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread for the road. Depending on location it might be hard eating at diners and what not in smaller towns.
There are a lot of hotels in Asheville in the downtown area and nearby. There is also a hostel-I don't know how much you are hoping to spend each night. I can get you the name of it if you'd like. You're also welcome to spend a night on my couch at Casa Panda. I don't have fancy accommodations but it would be free.

The drive from Asheville to Orlando takes about 12 hours down I-95 and I-4. I've only done it by car, but I don't see why that would matter. Definitely hit up Ethos Kitchen when you're in Orlando.

Go to hdforums.com and check out some of the traveling forums. There are a lot of crassholes on the forum, but a lot of very nice people too.

I can make it from St Pete in 11 hours unless I have a tire issue in Jacksonville. But I take a lot of backroads so I can enjoy old-timey Florida.

Are you really coming to Ohio, or did you mean Oklahoma?

That is plenty of time. We took 3 days to get from Denver to Maryland, we did about 500 miles/day and that wasn't aggressive timing. The roads are generally decent if you are traveling on interstates.

I find the Grand Canyon to be amazing but it is a good detour off of Flagstaff. I love ABQ and you should find some decent vegan options there. I don't know about any of the other areas other than Asheville which is fun.

Hi Eric -
It's probably a little late, but I hope you're having a blast wherever you are!
I reviewed a few places at the end of your trip on my blog two weeks ago, and talked about motorbiking round europe this summer too. Hope your bum aint too numb! A towel underneath sometimes makes the world of difference! Are you using your own bike or hiring it? If so, how much did it cost, if you don't mind me asking? Would love to do it!

I'm renting a bike cause shipping my own bike would probably just as expensive.

I've got a HD electra glide which was quite comfortable so far http://www.eaglerider.com/rentals/harle ... glide.aspx
(I rented that through a dutch agency from that company)

Once I'm back home I'll look up the invoice cause it's rent plus insurance per day, plus the flight in one price and I can't remember now how much it was for the bike itself.