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

John259

glenbois wrote: »

fancy somewhere where we can make base and make day trips.

Just a few vague ideas:

Southwest Utah and southwest Colorado are two obvious areas where there's a lot to see within a relatively short distance but you say you've done a lot of those states.

In California, Porterville (north of Bakersfield) is a pleasant medium sized town and very convenient for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks if you wanted a day or two for each of them, but AFAIK there's not a lot else that's obvious in the area.

Nearer Los Angeles, Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains is a very nice location and you could have trips to Ontario (the city in California, not the Canadian province!), San Bernardino, Riverside and Joshua Tree National Park.

Somewhere on the coast between Los Angeles and San Diego might be worth investigating but it's not an area that I'm sufficiently familiar with to make any specific recommendations.

How about the east, somewhere near Shenandoah National Park and/or the Blue Ridge Parkway and/or the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For example Waynesboro VA (flying to Washington Dulles), Boone NC (flying to Charlotte, maybe), or Asheville NC (flying to Atlanta GA).

Hope this helps.

Bri1

glenbois wrote: »

Has anyone gone to the USA and just for a couple of weeks, lived like a local, i.e. watch TV, go to the supermarket, just relax and do a couple of trips in the area?

Been to Vegas, Arizona, San Francisco, Utah, Colorado for the national parks etc... Not been to the west coast and fancy somewhere where we can make base and make day trips.

Probably flying in to LA (as it seems cheaper to fly into there), but not keen on staying more than a couple of days.

Around 15 days stay.

Any suggestions?

That's more or less what we do when we go to the west coast, potter around off the tourist track, I'm a mature skateboarder so my holidays are not your usual one I guess as going to skateparks is not the usual thing that most do, we like to try out local diners, shops, talk to locals, stop randomly whilst driving around when something interests us that we pass along the way, never have a rigid itinerary only a vague one & just rub along with the laid back CA lifestyle


P.S. The TV is crap :laugh:

Crispy_Ambulance

glenbois wrote: »

Has anyone gone to the USA and just for a couple of weeks, lived like a local, i.e. watch TV, go to the supermarket, just relax and do a couple of trips in the area?

Been to Vegas, Arizona, San Francisco, Utah, Colorado for the national parks etc... Not been to the west coast and fancy somewhere where we can make base and make day trips.

Probably flying in to LA (as it seems cheaper to fly into there), but not keen on staying more than a couple of days.

Around 15 days stay.

Any suggestions?

San Diego is lovely - there is lots to do in the city itself and of course, the beaches.

itsanne

Hi all

I'm hoping for some suggestions, especially with recommended budget hotels/motels, to do with the road trip part of our imminent visit to the US.

If it helps with other suggestions, we've been to both San Francisco and Yosemite before. We're working on the assumption that the Tioga Pass will still be open and will have a Plan B in case it's not. Suggestions for Plan B would be welcome. We're not interested in spending any time in LA at this point.

Our planned itinerary is below. We still have a day to play around with if we change Day 11, but need to leave luggage in Palm Springs and then pick up friends from LAX on the afternoon of Day 12.

ETA Having seen the advice elsewhere, we're going to do the trip in reverse.


[FONT=&quot]Day 1 arrive LA, spend night near LA before heading north – where?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 2 drive (approx 5 hours) north on coastal route, stay (suggestions?)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 3 continue on to San Francisco (approx 5 hours), 2 nights stay[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 4 San Francisco[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 5 drive (approx 3 and 1/2 hours) to Yosemite, 2 nights stay in that area (suggestions?)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 6 Yosemite[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 7 drive via Death Valley (approx approx 6-7 hours) to Las Vegas, 2 nights stay[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 8 L[FONT=&quot]a[/FONT]s Vegas [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 9 drive to Flagstaff via Hoover Dam (approx 4 hours), 2 nights stay[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 10 Grand Canyon[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 11 drive to Palm Springs (possibly via Phoenix?) (approx 6-7 hours)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 12 Los Angeles [/FONT]

PeacefulWaters

Currently in the middle of something similar. Fantastic so far.

Days Inn and Comfort Inn are my favoured chains. Use TopCashback and Hotels dot com to book for a mix of commission and free night. My criteria are pretty much parking, wi-fi and breakfast included. Brekkie is basic but you can fill yourself up with cereal, toast and waffles. I had to break that rule for Vegas - I'm currently in the Mirage who charge for breakfast (but at least have free parking). McDonalds over the road though.

Other brands are all plentiful at or near your planned route.

Consider a route going the other way round to be on the coast side of the PCH. Assuming you want to do that drive.

Phoenix to Flagstaff is one thing. Phoenix to Flagstaff via Oak Creek / Sedona is well worth the extra 30 minutes.

John259

itsanne wrote: »

We're working on the assumption that the Tioga Pass will still be open and will have a Plan B in case it's not. Suggestions for Plan B would be welcome.

I thought I replied yesterday but either my post got lost or my memory is getting worse! Anyway...

Plan B: Yosemite Valley > Bakersfield > Tehachapi Pass > Death Valley > Las Vegas (but the section in the Central Valley west of the Sierras is considerably less scenic than US395 and the Tioga Pass). Depending on whether you want an overnight in Death Valley, you might want to break the journey at Bakersfield, possibly at a motel on the outskirts.
Rough map: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Curry+Village,+Yosemite+Valley,+CA,+United+States&daddr=Bakersfield,+CA,+United+States+to:Furnace+Creek,+CA,+United+States+to:Las+Vegas,+NV,+United+States&hl=en&sll=37.6,-95.665&sspn=40.894464,86.572266&geocode=FXrVPwIdNXjf-CnvnyQTOfKWgDFifzBICQZvWQ%3BFezAGwIdKOvn-CkNy5S5yGvqgDHIdP6YCQw2WQ%3BFRROLAIdGrEI-SlzXfVWBz_HgDE26Fu74GJILQ%3BFdXoJwIdChsj-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg&oq=las+vegas&mra=ls&t=m&z=7

Plan C: Yosemite Valley > Lake Tahoe > US395/Owens Valley > Death Valley > Las Vegas (but it's a lot further and you'd need at least one more overnight stop probably at Lake Tahoe). The choice of the second stop depends again on whether you want an overnight in Death Valley; other possibilities are Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, Bishop and Lone Pine.
Rough map: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Curry+Village,+Yosemite+Valley,+CA,+United+States&daddr=South+Lake+Tahoe,+CA,+United+States+to:Furnace+Creek,+CA,+United+States+to:Las+Vegas,+NV,+United+States&hl=en&ll=37.483577,-117.949219&spn=5.168724,10.821533&sll=36.421916,-117.467063&sspn=5.241228,10.821533&geocode=FXrVPwIdNXjf-CnvnyQTOfKWgDFifzBICQZvWQ%3BFRYtUgIdHUvZ-CnhT6XuiYWZgDGOkSP7Ri8b3Q%3BFRROLAIdGrEI-SlzXfVWBz_HgDE26Fu74GJILQ%3BFdXoJwIdChsj-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg&oq=south+Lake+Tahoe&mra=ls&t=m&z=7

If there's recent or predicted snowfall then the southerly Bakersfield route would be far less likely to be disrupted.

itsanne

John259 wrote: »

I thought I replied yesterday but either my post got lost or my memory is getting worse! Anyway...

John, I'm really sorry but I've caused confusion. I meant to post on this thread and accidentally posted on a different one about someone else's trip. When I discovered that late last night I deleted my post and copied it on here without thinking to comment on both for anyone who had seen the original. Sorry. Thanks for responding.

itsanne

Having seen the advice elsewhere, we're going to do the trip in reverse - an easy change as we haven't booked any accommodation yet.

blindman

itsanne wrote: »

Having seen the advice elsewhere, we're going to do the trip in reverse - an easy change as we haven't booked any accommodation yet.

You're driving backwards all the way :eek:

itsanne

blindman wrote: »

You're driving backwards all the way :eek:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: