Thanks for all the GREAT information (and History lessons)!!
It looks like my only option from the upper Peninsula is hwy 17 west to Winnipeg and all the great options through Manitoba (Thanks Machka).
Saskatchewan is probably all the Yellowhead 16 or it's parallel cousin's 5 or 15. (Should I avoid 16?) to Saskatoon, then due west (into Alberta) to Red Deer or slightly more South through Calgary to get all of Banff and Jasper.
Then I really like the idea of ending up in Prince Rupert and taking a ferry or cruise to Port Hardy to cycle Vancouver Island and then the San Juan islands. (Thanks jamawani)
This brings me to Anacortes and the beginning of the Northern Tier and the wonderful Hwy 20 over the Cascades WOW. From there it's just a hop / skip / and about a 3500 mile jump back home.
Rough numbers put it at about 8000 miles @ 333 miles/week = 24weeks = 6 months +2 weeks fluff =6.5 months. Leave home on tax day (April 15) and get home in time to vote (November 7). Not a a bad way to spend half a year!
Yes, valygrl I do try to avoid both planes and plains, but in this case to avoid planes, one must endure plains. On my cross country I was looking forward to the flatness of the plains, but they ended up being the worst part of my trip (read wind).
It looks like this adventure will have to wait till 2008, my offer on a building lot was taken, so this summer's adventure will be home construction, better get out my tool belt. The lot is on one of my favorite cycling roads, Rose Island Rd. named after the ferry that took passengers across the Ohio river to the Rose Island amusement park in the 1920's and 30's, the park was washed away by the great 1937 flood. (Just trying to keep in the history lesson theme of this thread)
I have a future bike tour folder that I keep all the information I find, so if you have route ideas, please keep them coming. Everyone needs a good bike tour dream to keep them warm through the cold winter months.