I did a three week cross country crossing a few summers ago. Started out with my wife on the back and we kicked off our tour at the BMW MOA Rally in Bloomsburg, PA. From there we made a stop in Sandusky, OH to spend a day at Cedar Point, and then we headed off to Duluth, MN to visit the Aerostich factory. That's where everything went wrong.
When getting off the bike at the factory, my wife's heel got caught on the seat somehow, and in trying to get it free, she tumbled off the bike and broke her wrist. She was taken to the hospital where they plated her wrist and we had three unplanned days in Duluth. There was no way she could finish the ride, and no way I could even ride her home so we put her on a plane and I arranged for a friend of mine to pick her up at the airport when she arrived. I was going to head straight home after her, but she INSISTED I finish the trip as I rarely have that kind of time off and she didn't want me to (consciously or subconsciously) blame her for not being able to see it through.
After a lot of discussion, I decided to press on, though I did have to alter the route considerably. Now, instead of visiting Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and other locations south, I'd stay with my friend in Northern California for a couple of days and then head straight back home on I-80. I did take two detours on the way, stopping to see "Carhenge" in Nebraska, and spend a day at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
On the way out I visited a couple I'd met through Facebook (they live in Sheridan, WY) and rode through Yellowstone Park for the first time in my life. It was a "Griswold Visit" though. Stopped at Old Faithful to record the eruption, then rode right back out again. BEAUTIFUL park and even though I didn't stop anywhere else the views from the road were spectacular. Prior to Wyoming, I also rode through the Badlands of South Dakota and stopped for lunch at Wall Drug. This was the weekend BEFORE Sturgis, so there weren't any crowds. Saw Mt. Rushmore and spent some time at Crazy Horse mountain (the last time I'd been out that way, he didn't have a face, so they've made a lot of progress).
So, three weeks on the road, two and half weeks all by myself with some stops to visit friends. I'm actually fine on trips like that. I find my motorcycle club jacket, and even my license plate, is a fine conversation starter the farther I get from home.
Photos from that trip:
http://jaime.nassauwings.org:8800/cgi-bin/PhotoAlbum.rex?2011_Grand_Tour_of_the_US