my road trip

mcfisco

For me, having all the stops planned ruins a road-trip
I much prefer to have a very loose itinerary and see what crops up.
I'd normally have a few 'must do' things but I'd hate to be tied to a date and time on it.

Some people love it but I usually find an over-researched and over planned holiday a bit of a let down.
As long as the plan works for you, go for it.

joaniemerc

silvercar wrote: »

We've just done this trip in reverse order. Did it over 18 days - 1400 miles altogether!

LA - Cambria - Big Sur - Monterey - San Fran - Yosemite - Lone Pine - Vegas (incl trip to grand canyon south rim).

Enjoy!

Where did you stay in Yosemite pls? We're past campers (summer holidays when children were younger) and fancy Curry Village. We're planning to go next September - hoping to get flights booked in October - so hopefully warm enough for Curry Village. Plan to stay 3 nights.

Anyone any experience of Curry Village pls?

Gloomendoom

mcfisco wrote: »

For me, having all the stops planned ruins a road-trip
I much prefer to have a very loose itinerary and see what crops up.
I'd normally have a few 'must do' things but I'd hate to be tied to a date and time on it.

Some people love it but I usually find an over-researched and over planned holiday a bit of a let down.
As long as the plan works for you, go for it.

I'm the same. We did an almost identical trip to the OP and only booked the first night in advance. We spent longer in some places than we original planned and less time in others. Las Vegas, for example. Glad I went there but I doubt I'll be going back. Blackpool in the desert.

I saw a bear in Yosemite. I wouldn't fancy camping.

malid

Ok, you have to make your own mind about pre-booking but after 10 + visits to the USA, we now book hotels/motels in advance.

In the 90s, we didn't book anything, not even the first night and looking for a place for the night was part of the excitement. However, given the internet and all the info available, we now look at this as part of the 'excitement' before going and research and book. It really does then mean that whilst on holiday you don't have the hassle of trying to find somewhere - cheap or otherwise. And actually, sometimes, accommodation is hard to find if it is a holiday weekend or something.

What I do is book a place I fancy in the area I want to be at the best price but I try and ensure that I book something which can be cancelled up to 24 or 48 hours before just in case. I don't start out by looking to cancel but you never know. I never seem to pay up front just used cc as deposit in case of no show.

This has worked well for us over the last couple of trips and we look forward to the end of the month when we start our 23 day Route 66 trip. I must admit, using wifi on a laptop/computer has not been an issue.

Enjoy whatever you decide to do.

Murphy_The_Cat

ILOVEHOLIDAYS wrote: »

we wanted to go and not book the accomadation but having never done this before my OH is very dubious and after being on the road i can imagine the arguements it would cause

In the words of Churchill The Dog 'Oh Yes' -- I'm with your hubby on this.

Murphy_The_Cat

Archergirl wrote: »

If you do manage to go to St Louis Obispo make sure you book into the Madonna Inn. It's a big pink building look it up online, it's quite expensive but it's a fab place with every room a different theme, well worth a night.
Make sure your hire car has cruise control, I think most of them do now.

That is one hell of a place, isn't it ?
The gents toilets were worth stopping there for alone !

Murphy_The_Cat

mcfisco wrote: »

For me, having all the stops planned ruins a road-trip
I much prefer to have a very loose itinerary and see what crops up.
I'd normally have a few 'must do' things but I'd hate to be tied to a date and time on it.

Some people love it but I usually find an over-researched and over planned holiday a bit of a let down.
As long as the plan works for you, go for it.

You've hit the nail on the head there -- is it a free and easy road trip or a touring holiday ? Each has a different type of mindset to it.

I'm now thinking that my comments on here are to biased towards touring holiday

Gloomendoom

Archergirl wrote: »

If you do manage to go to St Louis Obispo make sure you book into the Madonna Inn. It's a big pink building look it up online, it's quite expensive but it's a fab place with every room a different theme, well worth a night.
Make sure your hire car has cruise control, I think most of them do now.

And, of course, no visit to San Luis Obispo is complete without a visit to their gross alley covered in spat out bubblegum...

Murphy_The_Cat

Gloomendoom wrote: »

And, of course, no visit to San Luis Obispo is complete without a visit to their gross alley covered in spat out bubblegum...

We stayed in SLO for 5 nights.

Guess what we forgot to do :o:o

Gloomendoom

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

We stayed in SLO for 5 nights.

Guess what we forgot to do :o:o

Spit out some bubblegum?

My main memories of SLO are of being absolutely desperate for a pee and not being able to find a toilet that wasn't closed for maintenance or cleaning. In all my adult life I don't think I have come as close to wetting myself in a public place.

The other memory was of how early places stopped serving food. It was practically impossible to find anywhere open after 9:00pm.