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

gracie10

Last month we did LA 3 nights, 2 nights Pismo, 1 night Monterey, 3 nights San Franscisco,, 2 nights Yosemite,1 night Death Valley and 5 nights Vegas. We had such a fantastic holiday, wish I was back there now!!

jackieblack

gracie10 wrote: »

Last month we did LA 3 nights, 2 nights Pismo, 1 night Monterey, 3 nights San Franscisco,, 2 nights Yosemite,1 night Death Valley and 5 nights Vegas. We had such a fantastic holiday, wish I was back there now!!

We've done a couple of very similar trips and you've already been various places I would have suggested so I can't help with any other suggestions, although I'm sure there'll be others along shortly who can

Dirk_Gently_2

OK, back now and horribly jet-lagged after landing on Monday afternoon - my own stupid fault, but below is a summary of highlights (and lowlights) - and recommendations - of what was an absolutely wonderful trip.

I'll do this in two parts, and post the Vegas portion in the middle of the trip into the appropriate thread for Vegas-types to read.

We flew into Chicago and stayed at a cheap Sheraton near the airport. Dramatic thunderstorm the evening we landed that closed O'Hare down shortly afterwards but by then we were in the hotel so could watch the full drama of it.

Next day got the train to/from the city. Only took 45 minutes and was dirt cheap - $2 each! Had a great bus-tour and then a boat tour (in the rain!) but was a great way to get a quick introduction to the city for next time. We were flying out that evening so didn't have much time, but still had enough for a nice meal on Navy Pier - the sun was out by now and it was surprisingly good, and cheap, for somewhere so touristy.

Flew to Salt Lake that evening - I'll say nothing more of that except that United don't believe in concepts like customer service, helpfulness or flexibility, but no great surprises there.

2 days in SLC was great - again, went on a brief tour to show my OH the sights of the city. As it was a Sunday City Creek shopping centre was closed, but could still walk though it (great landscaping) and had a good day wandering around the city, doing the obligatory "indoctrination" tour of Temple Square and so on. Love the number and variety of restaurant start-ups - had a really lovely breakfast in the outside courtyard of a small Italian called Caffe Molise on West 100 South - definitely recommended!
Food in the evening was at a great pub called Beer Hive (128 S Main St) - the food choice was limited but adequate, but there were over 200 beers in stock, and an incredible "track" containing crushed ice all the way along the bar to keep your beer cold. This was a Sunday night and there were plenty of other places to drink.
Disappointed by Trolley Square shopping centre, where about 75% of the units are closed, though, but did some shopping the next day, and almost by accident, wandered into the old train station booking hall which is lovely. Surprised by how much my OH liked SLC – the feeling of the place, the air of “rebellion” amongst shops and restaurants, and how clean it was – not one piece of litter seen anywhere.
[FONT=&quot]We then picked up the hire car and headed off to Park City. This was a bit of a disappointment as I'd not been since before the Olympics, and it's gone up market since then. Many of the small quirky shops/restaurants have gone and been replaced by much more exclusive ones, but still had a good time. I’d recommended the Park City Museum, which looks small but is surprisingly large and really well-don and interesting (especially liked the struggles between old-time silver miners and new-age hippy skiers as the town changed in the 60s/70s. Also recommend is the Alpine Slide at Park City Mountain Resort - coming about a mile down a mountain on a tea-tray on wheels in a twisting concrete half-pipe is a wonderful experience....

Next day drove through Provo Canyon to Sundance Resort. A real indulgence, but suffice to say the setting, the service, the facilities and the whole experience was phenomenal. It' a lovely place and so, so tranquil - even after one day there we were so relaxed.

Then drove down to Torrey - revisited a guest house I'd stayed in years ago, and it was even better than last time, so I'd recommend it to anyone - http://www.skyridgeinn.com/. Only has five rooms but they're all lovely - ours was in the corner of the house, with lots of glass and a private hot tub on our balcony, which we sat in to watch distant thunderstorms in the dark. Watching dawn come up the next morning over the red rocks of Capital reef was breathtaking - the inn is on a ridge so you can see for miles, and we heard coyotes howling as the sun rose and turned the rocks the colour of fire. Ate the previous night at Cafe Diablo in Torrey - just as good as all the books say.

Then drove highway 95 to Monument Valley. All the plaudits are for highway 12 in Utah, but I'd never driven 95 before and have to say I think it's just as good if not better. Through Capital Reef NP then down past the far end of Glen Canyon (stunning itself) - and down the Moki Dugway. So dramatic - what was a normal road suddenly stops and instead you're driving down narrow 10% gradients with hairpins just carved into the side of the cliff.

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Scary but really exhilarating and something you'll never forget!

After a brief visit to Natural Bridges NP, arrived at Monument Valley which is somewhere I'd always wanted to go - such an incredible place. We stayed at The View hotel overlooking the valley, and went on a sunset tour run by Navajo Spirit Tours. I know this is MSE, but all I'll say is that whatever it costs isn't too much for that experience. the hotel had a balcony where we watched dawn rise over the monuments, and the tour was simply sublime.
Although it was very bumpy, the guide was superb - knew just where to take us for the best views, and pitched it just right between Navajo heritage and fun. At one stage he took us to a sacred cave (the Navajo guides can go "off-track" to places ordinary visitors can't) and said he'd sing us a traditional Navajo song, at which point we winced a little inside - but it turned out to be a really sincere, magical and moving experience. Four other people on the tour, which made it fun, and even when the thunderstorms which had been threatening all day finally broke while we were still out (it is “Monsoon Season” in Sept, where the warm air going north meets the cold air coming south) that just added to the experience. You’ve not lived until you’ve seen a rainbow over Monument Valley. Forgive me if I’m gushing, but it really is one of the best places I’ve ever been to.
Food at The View was a bit basic - the choice was good but it was served in what seemed a bit like a school canteen - but we weren't there for the food!


Next day drove to Bryce via Glen Canyon Dam - a nice viewpoint - and ate at the Ebenezer’s Cowboy experience. Frankly a little disappointed with this - felt a bit like we were on a conveyor belt, and while the cowboy cabaret was entertaining enough (in a clich!d, hokey sort of way) it only lasted 50 minutes. Food portions were good but the whole thing felt a bit contrived - about 75% of those there were non-US tourists, too which made it all feel artificial.


Next morning Bryce was as stunning as ever, but really crowded full of annoying coach parties, so had to fight to see some of the viewpoints and get decent pictures. So we didn't linger there too long, and drove through Zion to Las Vegas. I admit I'd forgotten just how wonderful Zion was - it's dramatic, then you drive through a long tunnel, climbing all the time, and suddenly emerge in the light in one of the most dramatic landscapes there is - towering cliffs on each side. Although on this trip we were just passing through Zion, we loved it there and will definitely be going back.

To be continued ... covering the post-Vegas leg of Death Valley, Yosemite (or not, as it happened.....) and 4 nights in San Francisco.

Bennifred

Great trip report - thanks for sharing! :beer: Hope you get over your jet-lag soon.

travellerboy

Thanks for bring back the memories, I agree Monument Valley is unbelievable. Longing to go back maybe next September all being well.

northwest1965

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

We stayed at The View hotel overlooking the valley, and went on a sunset tour run by Navajo Spirit Tours. I know this is MSE, but all I'll say is that whatever it costs isn't too much for that experience. the hotel had a balcony where we watched dawn rise over the monuments, and the tour was simply sublime.
Although it was very bumpy, the guide was superb - knew just where to take us for the best views, and pitched it just right between Navajo heritage and fun. At one stage he took us to a sacred cave (the Navajo guides can go "off-track" to places ordinary visitors can't) and said he'd sing us a traditional Navajo song, at which point we winced a little inside - but it turned out to be a really sincere, magical and moving experience. Four other people on the tour, which made it fun, and even when the thunderstorms which had been threatening all day finally broke while we were still out (it is “Monsoon Season” in Sept, where the warm air going north meets the cold air coming south) that just added to the experience. You’ve not lived until you’ve seen a rainbow over Monument Valley. Forgive me if I’m gushing, but it really is one of the best places I’ve ever been to.
.

We had a tour with NST's also. Was your guide Aaron? He was brilliant with us. Well worth the money! We also loved Monument Valley.

Over the jet lag yet? We got back Friday lunch time. I am having trouble with my jet lag.

Question........Next time, we want to do Yellowstone. Would you fly into Salt Lake?
Also want to tie it in with Chicago/New Orleans.
Can it be done, do you think? (would do internal flight)

Dirk_Gently_2

northwest1965 wrote: »

We had a tour with NST's also. Was your guide Aaron? He was brilliant with us. Well worth the money! We also loved Monument Valley.

Over the jet lag yet? We got back Friday lunch time. I am having trouble with my jet lag.

Question........Next time, we want to do Yellowstone. Would you fly into Salt Lake?
Also want to tie it in with Chicago/New Orleans.
Can it be done, do you think? (would do internal flight)

Nope, he was Ben - but absolutely brilliant.

Jet lag is getting worse if anything - I'm working from home at the moment so the discipline I need to get myself sorted is missing ... my own stupid fault, though.

I'd definitely go to Yellow stone from SLC - but I might not fly there. My grand plan for the next trip is the California Zephyr from Chicago to SLC. 37 hours on a train, but relaxing, an experience and I'd get to see places like Iowa & Nebraska that I'd never see otherwise.

But Chicago to SLC is a pretty easy flight, and not that expensive. We got 2 nights at Little America in SLC plus flight from Chicago to SLC for both of us for £532 via an Expedia package offer.

Dirk_Gently_2

It struck me that I've not given the final leg trip report, so here goes ...

Left Vegas eventually - meant to be on the road at 9am but it was 11.45 in the end. An ice-cream breakfast and a rant at a service station attendant were mainly to blame. Interestingly, in Utah you can do a self-service pay at gas stations with a UK credit card, but in NV you need to enter your ZIP code at the pump, which of course won't work so things get complicated and you have to pre-pay, but as I was going through Death Valley I wanted to make sure I had a full tank, with a hire car where I had no idea how much it'd cost to fill the tank. But that's another story...

Got to Death Valley and loved it - only 104 degrees that day but my OH loved it as much as I do, which is a bonus. But the location of the road closures due to the Yosemite fire weren't where I initially thought they were, and effectively we had the choice of Death Valley *OR* or Yosemite but not both, so we cancelled Yosemite and booked into a hotel in Mammoth Lakes - a place where, for some reason, the ambition of everyone is to be Austrian! Wasn't overly impressed by the place, but did discover one of those little services that makes the US better than the UK in some ways - a pizza delivery company that not only delivers pizza but will bring you a 6-pack of beer as well. Brilliant stuff!

The next day we crossed the Sierras north of Yosemite, on the 108 Sonora Pass. Stunning road that I'd probably never have driven otherwise - and on the other side of the fire so we could smell it, see the fire trucks going to and from it, and - charmingly - see all the handwritten notices from locals posted on the roadsides thanking the fire-fighters.

It was a fairly straightforward drive to San Francisco, where we arrived at about 5. We were staying at Hotel Boheme on Columbus in the middle of North Beach, so I was worried about parking nearby to unload the luggage, but miraculously there was a free space on a 30-minute meter directly outside, so we checked in, unloaded and then dropped the car off. I had half a thought of hiring a car for a day later in the stay to cross the GG bridge and to go up to Calistoga area, but in the end didn't do that and as it turned out have no regrets.

The hotel was brilliant - small, with two flights of stairs and no air-con, and with a noisy street outside, but it was so full of character it's unreal - the real antithesis of the standard faceless Sheraton/Hilton/whatever. Unique furniture, interesting decor and a real feeling of history - for instance a picture taken by Alan Ginsberg, with his hand-written notes on it, in the bathroom.

Next day we did the obligatory motorised "cable-car" tour - almost a tradition of ours, and quite a good way to get around as it's hop-on/hop-off. We did so much and saw so much I'll just pick out the three highlights I'd recommend to people :

The first was an Alcatraz night tour at 5.55pm - we'd booked that about 5 weeks earlier. I was a bit dubious about this beforehand - I've seen the crowds for Alcatraz tours in the past and wasn't looking forward to them, but the night tour is quite different and I can't recommend it enough. They only have a maximum of 314 people on the island at any one time, so it's lot less crowded, and in addition the guides do special presentations of topics they've researched. For instance, after the self-guided tour which was a lot better by not being rammed solid with people, we went to presentations from a guide who'd researched the life of one of the inmates, got to go into the prison hospital which is only open in the evenings, and last of all had a demonstration of the cell doors opening and closing. We stayed on the island until the last baot at 9.30 and were absorbed throughout. So if anyone's thinking of going to Alcatraz I'd say definitely make sure you book for a night tour - I think they only run Thursday to Saturday.

Although we had tickets on the hop-on/hop-off to cross the GG bridge, we wanted to do this in a bit more style, so we booked up for a tour across the bridge on a 1955 Mac Fire Engine - superb experience. There were only 8 of us on the tour (it takes 14, but that'd be crowded!) but it was so much fun. Lots of people looking at us on the tour through the Presido, over the bridge and around Sausalito, with a couple of good photo stops. The driver and the girl who was guiding - and singing! - were great fun - it was just a whole bag of fun, quite unlike anything else, and well worth the $47 each for the 2.5 hours. Just a really unique and memorable way of seeing the bridge. Added bonus was seeing Team USA getting slaughtered in the Americas Cup from the tour!

On our final day we opted for another tour. I hate the "last day limbo" - when you don't want to leave the city but you know you can't do too much as you've got to be at the airport at 4pm. So our solution was to go on a SF Movie Locations tour - $50 for 3 hours, in a bus going all the way around the city showing film clips on a large video screen of the locations outside the windows. Saw lots of interesting places and learnt a lot - all really well-presented by a guide who knew his stuff and was really enthused by it - and had a couple of well-chosen photo stops. Definitely recommended, even if you're not that much into films - only slight problem is that you didn't always have enough pairs of eyes to see what was on the screen and the locations outside as well.

Hopefully someone will find this useful - I honestly can't recommend these three things highly enough.

http://www.alcatraztickets.com/offer/18343/Alcatraz%20Night%20Tour#.Uj8klX-Geag

http://www.fireenginetours.com/

http://www.sanfranciscomovietours.com/

northwest1965

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

Interestingly, in Utah you can do a self-service pay at gas stations with a UK credit card, but in NV you need to enter your ZIP code at the pump, which of course won't work so things get complicated and you have to pre-pay, but as I was going through Death Valley I wanted to make sure I had a full tank, with a hire car where I had no idea how much it'd cost to fill the tank. But that's another story...

Got to Death Valley and loved it - only 104 degrees that day but my OH loved it as much as I do, which is a bonus. /

Yep we had the gas station episode as well! We nearly always went in and pre paid, just saves time. Glad you loved DV. We had 3nights there, you have to drag me away from the place. Zabreskie point and the Dunes are my favs.
It topped 116 while we were there.
Just as well you topped up the tank, did you see the price in Furnace Creek? Dollar cheaper though at Stovepipe.:)
We did Scottys Castle. I wan't looking forward to this, thought it would be a waste of time. I LOVED it

glenbois

Dirk, we did the fire engine tour over the gg bridge and the night time Alcatraz trip. Agree whole heartedly on both, great way of seeing some of the memorable attractions.