Harley Davidson Forums - My plans for summer vacation....

I've completed the planning and have used the Harley Davidson Ride Planner to be able to upload the directions into my GPS.

My objectives of this trip are:
1. Meet my friends in Deadwood, SD on 8/10 to go to the Sturgis Rally and ride around the Black Hills with the group. We're staying at a hotel on main street in Deadwood from 8/10 - 8/13...we're going to see a LOT and the riding in the area is outstanding.
2. Travel to as many states as possible
3. Put as many miles on my bike as I can.....it's all about riding

So....that being said, my schedule looks like the following:
8/3 - Home to Evansville, IN - total of 430 miles....states visited: GA, TN, KY, IN
8/4 - Evansville,IN to St. Peters, MO - total of 314 miles....states visited: IN, IL, MO
8/5 - St. Peters, MO to Sioux Falls,SD - total of 591 miles....states visited: MO, KS, NE, IA, SD
8/6 - Sioux Falls, SD to Hardin, MT - total of 614 miles...states visited: SD, WY, MT
8/7 - Visiting Little Big Horn Bighorn Battlefield
8/7 - Hardin, MT to Red Lodge, MT - total of 106 miles
8/8 - Red Lodge,MT to Cody, WY - total of 347 miles....states visited: MT, WY, ID
for this leg of the trip....I'm hitting some great places including: Beartooth Pass, YellowStone and into Idaho
8/9 - Cody, WY to Gillette,WY - total of 277 miles....state visited: WY - hope to visit my cousin in Thermopolis,WY
8/10 - Gillette,WY to Deadwood, SD - total of 414 miles....states visited: WY, SD
going to see the Devil's Tower....and going through Spearfish Canyon and the Black Hills National Forest, then visiting a friend at the Rapid City, SD Harley dealership
8/11 - Riding with the boys
8/12 - Riding with the boys
8/13 - Deadwood, SD to Luverne, MN - total of 624 miles....states visited: SD, ND, MN
8/14 -Luverne, MN to Hannibal, MO - total of 598 miles....states visited: MN, WI, IA, MO
also plan on going to the Mark Twain museum
8/15 - Hannibal, MO to Tupelo, MS - total of 628 miles....states visited: MO, AR, TN, MS
plan on visiting the "Birthplace of Elvis"
8/16 - Tupelo, MS to HOME - total of 288 miles....states visited: MS,AL, GA

The total miles (including what I think we'll be doing while we're in Deadwood) is right at 6000 miles....which for 15 days on the road equates to about 400 miles/day.....which on a motorcycle equates to about 9-10 hours.

I'm making one more "trial run" this weekend....going to North Carolina to do "The Trail of the Dragon" again with a group of folks from the dealership.

I've booked hotels at each of the stops since hotels have a tendency to fill up from people riding to/from Sturgis.......and who knows...I might decide to change the destination and routes.....the only place I REALLY have to be is in Deadwood sometime on 8/10 and home sometime on or about 8/16-17.

So....I can't wait to fuel up the "red beast" and hit the road....hopefully I'll see some of you out there. I'm riding largely by myself to get my head straight. A year ago my wife and I lost our 29 year old son in a traffic accident.......I find that on the bike I can connect with his spirit (yeah...I know this sounds weird but it works for me).