Southwest USA & The West Coast (California, Arizona etc) - General Thread

Dirk_Gently_2

Mich81 wrote: »

Read all of this thread and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I'm beginning to plan a road trip for next year - very far in advance as looking at going last week in September through to the first week in October.

The trip is a joint 'woohoo I'm debt free' / Mums 60th - I've not told her yet but thinking I'll leave it as a surprise.

I'd originally thought at doing just Vegas for a week, but after pricing up the packages, and deciding a week in Vegas is going to be too long for people who don't drink and who's only gambling with be some slots - have decided on a little trip.

I've been to a lot of places on the West Coast (and East) before on Trek America trips and have already been to the following:

LA - San Fran (via Pismo Beach, Monterey, Carmel
Yosemite
Vegas
San Diego - via Lake Havusu

so this time round I'm most interested in a route similar to this:

San Francisco - 2 nights
Drive to LA staying at maybe San Luis Obispo (sp?)
LA - 3 nights
Death Valley - 1 night
Vegas - 3 nights

My main concerns are
- finding a budget hotel in San Francisco
- Trying to figure out how much fuel will cost!

I know most people don't tend to like LA - but I didn't get to see too much of it last time I was there -and I know my mum would enjoy Beverley Hills / The Grove / Santa Monica - and I know I would really enjoy a more chilled 3 nights in between the long driving days!

Any thoughts or suggestions on the itinerary welcome - including if you don't think the timescale is doable!

I'd say build into the plan to go North on Pacific Coast Highway - views are much better.

Also, although I found San Luis Obispo a bit boring as a town, stopping there is cheap and sets you up perfectly in terms of timing for a visit to Hearst Castle, which I'd say is a must-see - bet to book a tour for this, I found.

Also, Big Sur is a lovely place to stop - depends on time, but I have stayed at some log cabins there with a great eating house just across the road. Cheap and nicely located - although it takes time to see Big Sur properly.

Monterey & Carmel are mentioned above, but 17 the Mile Drive and the Aquarium are superb.
One of my favourite itinery tricks when going North is to stay at Monterrey, and when leaving for San Francisco I don't have breakfast there, but instead eat at one of the traditional places on the pier at Santa Cruz - I've had some memorable meals there.

Plenty of budget hotels in Sf - depends exactly how long your budget is and where you want to be - I'm tremendously excited to be trying out Hotel Boheme in North Beach this September.

For fuel cost, I'm using Google maps a lot to get mileage and adding on 15% contingency, and working on 20 mpg and $3.6/gallon (US gallons, don't forget!)

But this link http://www.roadtripamerica.com/fuel-cost-calculator.php (and the whole site) will probably be useful.

In terms of distance I'm doing LV to Yosemite via Death Valley and expecting an 8 hour drive - that's about the longest I'd contemplate now. I have done LV to Monterey in a day but it was a long, long one with little of interest along the way.

Murphy_The_Cat

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

Also, although I found San Luis Obispo a bit boring as a town,
.

nooooooooooooooooooo ---- SLO is one of my favorite places. Oddly enough, I don't know why ! Its simply somewhere that I feel perfectly at home :beer:

Dirk_Gently_2

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

nooooooooooooooooooo ---- SLO is one of my favorite places. Oddly enough, I don't know why ! Its simply somewhere that I feel perfectly at home :beer:

Maybe it's just me then - I've never really seen it as more than a convenient place for an over-nighter. Perhaps if I were to look past the rows of motels I might find hidden depths, so I may well be doing it a great injustice.

Murphy_The_Cat

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

Maybe it's just me then - I've never really seen it as more than a convenient place for an over-nighter. Perhaps if I were to look past the rows of motels I might find hidden depths, so I may well be doing it a great injustice.

I'm a sucker for the Downtown Farmers Market and nearby Avila Beach.

Dirk_Gently_2

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

I'm a sucker for the Downtown Farmers Market and nearby Avila Beach.

I can see there's some definitely some appeal that I've not explored yet.

In some ways it's self-perpetuating for me, though - when I book into SLO I think of it just as a stopping place, so I don't factor in any time to explore it..... The problems of having so many wonderful places you want to go to in CA and always too little time.

Mich81

Thanks Dirk!

I'm pretty set on ending the trip in Vegas so going South on the PCH seems my best option, unless I change my mind on where we visit!

blindman

Mich81 wrote: »

Thanks Dirk!

I'm pretty set on ending the trip in Vegas so going South on the PCH seems my best option, unless I change my mind on where we visit!

I thought South on the PCH was best as you are near the sea and not the cliffs when you drive on the right (as they do in Good Ol USA:cool:)

Hearst Castle night tour is best-But you need to stop nearby

San Fran-Look at Priceline (Someone wrote an excellent guide on how to bid )

I think your main concern is finding a budget hotel in Death Valley!

Mich81

blindman wrote: »

I thought South on the PCH was best as you are near the sea and not the cliffs when you drive on the right (as they do in Good Ol USA:cool:)

Hearst Castle night tour is best-But you need to stop nearby

San Fran-Look at Priceline (Someone wrote an excellent guide on how to bid )

I think your main concern is finding a budget hotel in Death Valley!

Oh I forgot about priceline - to be honest, hotel wise I'd book hotels I can cancel and just keep looking for better offers etc closer to going

DV - I looked at equivalent dates this week, and the ranch at Furnace Creek was coming up at $179+tax which wasn't too horrendous I didn't think?

I was looking to budget £100 per night for hotels - but am playing myvegas after reading about it in the Vegas thread, so if thats still going next year I hope to have enough to cover at least 3 of the nights in comp rooms - which will give me leeway to go above budget in some locations.

blindman

Mich81 wrote: »

Oh I forgot about priceline - to be honest, hotel wise I'd book hotels I can cancel and just keep looking for better offers etc closer to going

DV - I looked at equivalent dates this week, and the ranch at Furnace Creek was coming up at $179+tax which wasn't too horrendous I didn't think?

I was looking to budget £100 per night for hotels - but am playing myvegas after reading about it in the Vegas thread, so if thats still going next year I hope to have enough to cover at least 3 of the nights in comp rooms - which will give me leeway to go above budget in some locations.

£100 per night with PL gets some decent 4* hotels in San Fran

On a road trip I usually book PL hotels at the start ( I know I'm going if the airline tickets are booked) and then at the end (similar reasoning).

Vegas is "odd" in that you can get comped nights if you look around (as you are doing)

May be early enought to sign up for CC's to get Holiday Inn points or SPG points for a free stay.

Dirk_Gently_2

blindman wrote: »

I thought South on the PCH was best as you are near the sea and not the cliffs when you drive on the right (as they do in Good Ol USA:cool:)

Perhaps it's one of those Blackadder-style "opinion is divided" things, but I always prefer going North. I think it works better with the way overnight stops pan out (but of course there are a myriad of different ways of doing this of course) but overall as a driver I feel safer.

Going North, on the right, I can look at the views *and* the other side of the road at the same time. Going South although I'm closer to the road edge and the views, to look at them I've got to look away from the other side of the road rather than across it.

So as a driver I'm convinced I get a better experience going North.