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

northwest1965

How much should we be tipping the tour guides. Does it depend on whether it is just the 2 of us.?

northwest1965

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

Ask me that question in 6 weeks ......

Have you seen the flash floods in Page? Lots of vids on youtube. Looks like Antelope Canyon will be closed a while.

Dirk_Gently_2

blindman wrote: »

Golden Gate Toll is $6 cash

Paid it last year:cool: when went into Sausalito and to a couple of look out points

Interested to see that you can't actually pay at the bridge any more. It looks like it's all electronic now.


http://http://goldengate.org/tolls/paytollasavisitor.php

How Do I Pay My Toll as a Visitor?

Do not stop at the Toll Plaza. Equipment at the Toll Plaza reads FasTrak toll tags and license plates to process toll charges. As a visitor there are a few easy toll payment options for you:

FasTrak Account

FasTrak is the Electronic Toll Collection system in California for the Bay Area’s eight toll bridges and Express Lanes (I-680 and SR 237), as well as the toll roads in Southern California. If you have your FasTrak toll tag in your vehicle, the toll is automatically charged to your FasTrak Account.

One-Time Payment

You can make a One-Time Payment up to 30 days before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge or within 48 hours after crossing. A One-Time Payment can be made using a credit card or cash/check/money order. There are no extra fees when you make a One-Time Payment. Either:

1. Make a One-Time Payment online using a credit card at www.bayareafastrak.org.
2. Make a One-Time Payment using a credit card over the telephone by calling 877-BAY-TOLL (877-229-8655), outside California at 415-486-TOLL (415-486-8655). Click here for hours of operation.
3. If you prefer to use cash, you can make a One-Time Payment at a convenient Cash Payment Location.

Dirk_Gently_2

northwest1965 wrote: »

Have you seen the flash floods in Page? Lots of vids on youtube. Looks like Antelope Canyon will be closed a while.

Yep - dramatic stuff, Someone says Antelope Canyon is now 8 feet lower than it was before :shocked: I'm monitoring the situation but business there are already open and I suspect the road crews are out too. Will see what the situation is in 2 weeks before we fly out.

It's things like this that remind me just how different and dangerous the wild country is from the tame one us cosseted Brits are used to, and that's one of the reasons I love it so much,

If you do something stupid here it might delay you or damage your car - and if you get caught in bad weather you might get a bit wet and/or delayed. If the same happens out there it could quite conceivably kill you.

Dirk_Gently_2

northwest1965 wrote: »

How much should we be tipping the tour guides. Does it depend on whether it is just the 2 of us.?

I'd say it depends on the cost and duration of the tour, and how long you've been on it. Plus, of course, how much you feel they've made an effort and how much you've enjoyed it.

My rule of thumb is for a short trip (like on a hop-on, hop-off city tour) a couple of dollars. If it's a tour for a couple of hours then five dollars or so should cover it. For an all day trip I'd be thinking of $10 or $20 minimum. That'd be for two of us, BTW.

blindman

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

Interested to see that you can't actually pay at the bridge any more. It looks like it's all electronic now.


http://http://goldengate.org/tolls/paytollasavisitor.php

Obviously changed since I went last June.

irish_angel

I am hopeful that I will get the help I need here. We have a wedding next August which will be at an inland golf resort in San Diego. Now the fun starts! There will be myself, DH and two adult sons and we want to make this a trip of a life time. We want to visit Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, some of the national parks and of course San Diego, where we'd like to spend a week by the coast.
We will be flying out of either Dublin or Belfast. Unsure where to fly into. We will probably have to hire a car for some of the trip although this is something I'm not keen on, terrible passenger!
Advice in where to start will be much appreciated.

silvercar

irish_angel wrote: »

I am hopeful that I will get the help I need here. We have a wedding next August which will be at an inland golf resort in San Diego. Now the fun starts! There will be myself, DH and two adult sons and we want to make this a trip of a life time. We want to visit Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, some of the national parks and of course San Diego, where we'd like to spend a week by the coast.
We will be flying out of either Dublin or Belfast. Unsure where to fly into. We will probably have to hire a car for some of the trip although this is something I'm not keen on, terrible passenger!
Advice in where to start will be much appreciated.

Start with the flights. Seriously, do your research now on the price of flights and book anything that seems good value. Generally flights are cheaper the further ahead you book. Once you have the flights you will know what dates you need to book hotels for.

Consider an open jaw, where you fly into one airport and home from another. Another consideration (depending on budget) is flying business class or better, its a long flight...


Off the top of my head.

start: vegas (allow one full day to take a flight to the south rim of grand canyon and a helicopter into the canyon - this means you are picked up from your hotel and have no driving to do)
head for yosemite national park and mariposa grove
head for san francisco
then break your journey down the coast: monterey, san luis obispo, big sur, cambria (pick as many or as few as you want)
then los angeles,
finally san diego

fly back from san diego or LA.

You mentioned San Francisco, if this isn;t a "must" you could cut out a lot of driving.

northwest1965

I'll be first with bad news, you cannot do this trip without a car. Would you really want to be stuck on a coach for hours? Some destinations would take ages to get to.

Do as silvercar suggests and start with flights.

Then get google maps up and start getting driving directions from "say Vegas to GC". The driving distances are huge between some of these places. It's not a problem, part of the fun, but you need a car. Upgrade to a good car aswell.

How long are you going for? 3 weeks?

Dirk_Gently_2

Would agree with most of those suggestions, but I'd also throw in the option of going from LA to SF by the Coast Starlight train, which is a stunning trip up the coast.

http://http://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train

That might reduce driving, but if it was me I'd definitely drive from Sf to Yosemite and then down through Death Valley to Vegas - where you can do the aforementioned flight to the Grand Canyon.

Are you then able to fly back from Vegas?