American Girl Down Under - Travelbugblues on frugal traveling

Very Nice. Elisa what are all those people doing on the sand?

They're hiking and playing in the water. Nice place!


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Those are some great photos!!! The skies and clouds are amazing!! Hey, has your pack on the back of the bike gotten bigger, are you carrying a spare tire now?! .... Just kidding

Hank

If you go over Independence Pass, thru Aspen, then northwest on 82, my family and I have an extra bedroom for you. We are between New Castle, and Silt, north of i70. Pm if interested.

I just bought my 16 y/o daughter a Versys yesterday, she would like to meet a world rider.

Only spare tire I'm carrying is from all the damn cookies I've been living on! I borrowed camping gear from a friend in Texas- the blue bag- since I sent mine home in Colombia. Didn't want to camp in Central America. And my ghee-tar is still with me :)


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Thanks! May try to make it. My family wants to have a get together for my arrival though, which may be that weekend.


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Your 16 year old daughter is riding a Versys? Certainly sounds like a family I'd love to meet!

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Independence pass to Aspen. Don't miss this area. I'm having a hard time moving on.

Thanks for the route suggestions Animal Instinct!













At the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. I was so happy to be here. Felt like a mix of home (Pacific Northwest) and crossing the Alps from France to Italy and Switzerland a few years ago.









Was able to meet up with MotoBiko Luke in the evening. He's here in Colorado on his KLR to climb some 14,000' peaks, and is leaving for his own Americas ride this October. Keep a look out for his RR!

Looking good on my little CGL, Luke!






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Mitch, I'd love some route suggestions for Aspen to Idaho, through northern Utah. I did a road trip through the NP in Utah a year and a half ago. Beautiful.

I hiked 3 miles around the Maroon Bells. It was so nice to walk a bit. My ankle is still a bit messed up from hitting that traffic cone in Guatemala, so no long hikes for me for now. I may hit the climbing gym tonight to see how it holds up bouldering.

Looking forward to your RR in 2015 and thanks for the great info.

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Hi MikeS, thanks for the comment. In Latin America no one ever asked if I had any weapons. They'd suggest I ride only during the day, stay away from certain places, and mostly just assured me I'd be totally fine. One Mexican woman said to me, "you hear terrible things on the news. But you don't hear about the hundreds of women who travel through here alone and have fantastic trips". She worked at the hostel in San Miguel de Allende.

I so enjoy meeting and chatting with people. Americans are so friendly. I was chatting with a skinny stern old man on a trike a couple of days ago. I was struck with the impression he'd had some tough experiences in life, and I enjoyed our brief chat. Before he left, he came back and asked, "you carrying any protection?" I almost made a joke about my emergency (just-in-case rape) condom. He pulled out a little package, handed it over, said "Merry Christmas", and walked away. I shouted, "can I test it on myself?" He shouted back, "only use it on someone ya wanna drop!"





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Thanks! That Honda is one mean machine!

I like that. Thanks for sharing. Around these parts we always talk about "paying it forward..." and sometimes we actually get to do it. I travel a lot and I'm retired military. Whenever we're in DFW (which is a lot) we always look for the young kids traveling from tech school or boot camp and "anonymously" pay their lunch bill or something like that. We always do it anonymously so it's not about us (as it should be). Spread the goodness!

That's great! I had someone do that for me entire prom group of 10 at a pretty nice restaurant. I'll always remember that.

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Elisa depending on how much time you have in Colorado. I sent a google map take a look and let me know if you think this is doable with your schedule. If you have some more time. From Aspen I would take 82 south to Carbondale Hwy 133 via Montrose 550 to Ridgeway 62 south to Placerville 145 south to Telluride south to Delores on 145. From Delores head west 184 to Lewis then pick up 141 north direction Naturita then 141 north to Gateway. From there you will hit I70 from Grand Junction, Co just as you enter UT you will see a sign for Cisco or Thompson jct UT 128 this road is incredible and is the back way into MOAB It follows the river on the bottom of the canyon and you are surrounded by sandstone cliffs. These are my favorite roads on the western slope of CO. All back roads and during the week no traffic. If you liked coming up Independence Pass from Buena Vista. Then these roads should not be missed. It will make the dreaded heat of Texas all worth it. Your in CO at the Ideal time to hit the high mountain passes. Take advantage of the weather. As you approach UT especially Moab and north up the 191 you can hit daily rains in the late afternoon. Due to the unusual microclimate it's not unheard of getting hail or snow on the high mountain passes. These are the ultimate motorcycle roads not to be missed. Stealth camping all along these routes just turn off on the FS roads and head back a couple miles. Otherwise there are NF campgrounds and state campgrounds along the rivers. Man I wish I was out there.

Its triple digits here in Phoenix, AZ. I hope you got to see the US Pro Cycling race today was stage 1 in Aspen tomorrow their headed to Crested Butte. Another great little town like Aspen but much more rustic and down to earth vs the high priced tourist town of Aspen.

Hostel in Moab is the cheapest, it's really hot to camp this time of year in Moab.

Elisa you can call also. 970-930-5499 still have my Aspen phone number.

https://goo.gl/maps/vyplf

This map would be the ideal if you have time it takes you over Lizzard head pass and then takes you over and through the high desert and into canyon land.

https://goo.gl/maps/9QLrd

This last map is a good alternative if you don't have time for my other suggestions.

https://goo.gl/maps/1WP2c

All the restaurants have a bar menu, where they serve some of the Restaurant menu items for around $15 bucks it's so the locals can enjoy and not break the bank. Matsuhisa for sushi is world class, the locals eat at Takah sushi or Kenichi.
Treat yourself to some good food and people watching. After 10pm is when all the locals will be at the bars and dancing.

Forgive me if you've already addressed this, but are you staying off major hiways here in the U.S.? Sometimes I hear that the minimum displacement in some states for hiway travel is a 125, other times I hear you're ok as long as you can maintain the minimum speed limit, 40 maybe 45. I know my cgl seems to top out around 100kph, or 60mph, but not sure I'd want to do that hour after hour--it does seem quite happy at 80kph.

I always prefer the scenic secondary or tertiary routes. That said, if I'm in a hurry to get somewhere I take the main highways or tollways, like between Monterrey, Mex and Austin. Yes, it kind of sucks and is very boring on any bike, but I'm pretty used to being in horrendous traffic on that little bike, and it doesn't bother me anymore.

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If I wanted to cross Idaho, and I didn't want to use I-84, here is the route I would take (Lots of neat country and twisty roads): https://goo.gl/maps/RyyqE

Great ride report, it has been fun following along!

Hello

Nice ...awesome ride...


Greetings from Malaysia