The Route.....(gulp!)

Well the blue squiggle running along the bottom of the 'lower 48' is the rough outline of the route I am proposing to take. It is pretty flexible and I shall simply play it be ear as I go along, stopping wherever suits me best.

Week 1: Get the bike ready and on the road and take things easy heading from Orlando to Tampa and then down Florida's west coast to Naples.

Week 2: Naples - Key Largo - Key West - Key Largo and then up the east coast to Daytona Beach. From there head west across Florida towards Tallahassee and onto Mobile, Alabama.

Week 3: From Mobile, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi,, west to Vicksburg and then south to Natchez before crossing Louisiana heading towards Mansfield and into Texas. Heading towards Waco and then cutting south towards San Antonio.

Week 4: Bandera (Cowboy Capital of the World) just outside San Antonio, southwest to Del Rio. Following Route 90 west to Alpine before cutting south to do a loop through Big Bend National Park. North through Marfa to Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Weeks 5 & 6: Carlsbad, New Mexico and then west across the state and into Arizona, dropping south towards Tombstone and then heading north through Globe, Show Low, Holbrook, Chinle towards Mexican Hat just over the border in Utah. Monument Valley, various national parks and then back into Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon.

Week 7: Flagstaff, Arizona west (a little of Route 66) towards Nevada and California into Death Valley and then north towards Sacramento and Tahoe

Week 8: Head north if weather permits, if not tour around California.

Week 9: Pacific Coast Highway.....follow the California coastline from north of San Francisco south to San Diego.

Weeks 10 & 11: Get rid of the bike (hopefully) and take things easy in the California sunshine.