Touring holiday to Nevada, California & Arizona

torbrex

jackieblack wrote: »

That's good to know - I had been a little worried - have heard stories about people getting snowed in at the Grand Canyon in April, but we're restricted to school holidays and don't fancy it it the summer, so not much choice!

I have been to the south rim of GC in early January and it had snowed the previous day, the snow was 10 feet deep at the side of the road but the roads had been cleared and were easily passable, with loads of tour buses as well as cars they cant afford to lose the revenue. As long as it does not fall on the day you are travelling there should'nt be a problem.

jackieblack

Alikay wrote: »

It's great to have something to go back for! We're off to tour the California coast (San Fran to San Diego) next Friday :j and everyone has been saying "oh, you MUST visit Yosemite!". Nah...not this time, its too cold. We'll have a great time seeing the coast and chilling out for a few days in San Diego at the end. And Yosemite will still be there when we go back another year, maybe in May or Sept when the weather's more suitable.

That's the only trouble isn't it! Too much to do in one trip!

We're hoping to do San francisco, Yosemite and Monterey Bay on another trip, maybe in three or four years time.

torbrex

I switched the tv on whilst having my evening meal and switched to film 4 and what a coincidence there was Richard Widmark romping about the desert and mountains around Sedona in a film called 'The Last Waggon'. It was great for me to be able to recognise some of the places that I had been to in and around Red Rock State Park and as I previously mentioned the rock slide at Oak Creek Canyon. It did worry me that some of the scenery was in the wrong order for the direction that they were supposidly travelling but beautiful camera work all the same.

malid

Hi everyone

My family and I have been travelling to the states (west coast) since 1990. Our first trip was with a 5yr old and 17 month old. We then had a third so for many years travelled as a family of 5. No problem travelling with children of any age. We have enjoyed every trip. We went as a family of three last year - me, hubby and 15 yr old son. Spent three weeks - LA - Grand Canyon - Sedona-Scottsdale-Palm Springs - Huntington Beach. Fabulous - never tire of the place.

Here is a brief outline of where we have been - Los Angeles (Anaheim and beach areas), coast to San Fransisco - through San Simeon, Carmel, Monterey, Yosemite, through Death Valley, various canyons, Lake Powell, Flagstaff, Gran Canyon, Las Vegas, Sedona, Scottsdale, San Diego and Palm Springs.

Useful sites:
www.mapquest.com - this will give you an idea of mileage and routes

We always book a people carrier - 7 seater van - lots of room and comfy

Here are some sites to try for cr hire:
www.allstatescarhire.co.uk
www.usrentacar.co.uk
www.airlinenetwork.co.uk
www.travelsupermarket.com
www.sidestep.com
www.alamo.com
www.dollar.com

I have loads of other info - hotels, various tips. Happy to help if anyone want any more details.

Enjoy :cool:

Murphy_The_Cat

malid wrote: »

Hi everyone

Here is a brief outline of where we have been - Los Angeles (Anaheim and beach areas), coast to San Fransisco - through San Simeon, Carmel, Monterey, Yosemite, through Death Valley, various canyons, Lake Powell, Flagstaff, Gran Canyon, Las Vegas, Sedona, Scottsdale, San Diego and Palm Springs.


I have loads of other info - hotels, various tips. Happy to help if anyone want any more details.

Enjoy :cool:

Oh yes, that'll be me then :rotfl:, but probably nearer to takeoff time as we finish dotting the i's and crossing the t's. There are some parts of the trip where I need to find several alternatives for things to do.
When we're in Mesa for three days, we're with the OutLaws, so I'm sure that they'll want to show us the neighbourhood, but a few ideas of our own would be good.
We've got 4 days in Tucson that have to be filled with enough things to keep 3 generations happy.
& we've got 2 days in Palm Desert to enjoy (other than the Water Park, cable car and wind farm, I haven't looked to closely into the area).

By and large, most other areas we should be OK.

BTW, did I mention that its less than 11 weeks to go now :j:j:j:j:j

lynzpower

Incidentailly, i know we yhave been talking car hire here, and theres 3.9% cb via quidco for car hire in the US with Airl ine Network :j

Madmel

Murphy_The_Cat, I took the DDs to the Desert Museum just outside Tucson, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. There were people handling snakes and an area where you can walk through a hummingbird enclosure - magic! We all learned something, and had a great time.

It took about 30 minutes to get there (from close to the University Medical Centre) and the entry chanrge was nominal - in fact one of the nurses gave us free guest passes because her DH worked there. I think close by there's the place where they made loads of films, but we didn't get another full day to ourselves to do it justice as DH was by then on the mend, and demanding things that meant we just HAD to indulge in some US retail therapy :rolleyes: .

For a half day, we went to Reid Park which has a small zoo. Again, my kids loved that and it was compact enough for small legs to wander around. I think there were other things to do there, but we didn't want to stray too far from the hospital at that stage so didn't spend more than 3 hours there.

HTH

Murphy_The_Cat

Madmel wrote: »

Murphy_The_Cat, I took the DDs to the Desert Museum just outside Tucson, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. There were people handling snakes and an area where you can walk through a hummingbird enclosure - magic! We all learned something, and had a great time.

HTH

cheers Madmel

the Desert Museum sounds like a real winner, especially for the children. I'm trying to plan a range of things for each of our stops that is suitable to all age groups - and its proving to be quite challenging. While three of us would have a wonderful time in the WaterParks, my daughter would struggle on a WildWater ride :rotfl:. But things like the Desert Museum sound ideal.

vanilla8

Here is our itinerary so far:

4 Nights SF @ Westin St Francis
2 Nights Yosemite @ Lodge at the Falls
1 Night Death Valley (Not Booked Yet)
4 Nights Las Vegas @ Bellagio
1 Night Gran Canyon @ El Tovar
1 Night Lake Havusu @ Agave Inn
2 Nights Anahiem @ Sheraton Park Inn

Now we are not sure what order to do the following before flying home from LAX:
1. Santa Monica/Hollywood to spend 2 nights visiting Universal and seeing hollywood
2.San Diego for 4 nights.

We are tempted to leave San Diego to last as we will be by the beach for some relaxation?

Any tips grateful!

Murphy_The_Cat

vanilla8 wrote: »

Here is our itinerary so far:

4 Nights SF @ Westin St Francis
2 Nights Yosemite @ Lodge at the Falls
1 Night Death Valley (Not Booked Yet)
4 Nights Las Vegas @ Bellagio
1 Night Gran Canyon @ El Tovar
1 Night Lake Havusu @ Agave Inn
2 Nights Anahiem @ Sheraton Park Inn

Now we are not sure what order to do the following before flying home from LAX:
1. Santa Monica/Hollywood to spend 2 nights visiting Universal and seeing hollywood
2.San Diego for 4 nights.

We are tempted to leave San Diego to last as we will be by the beach for some relaxation?

Any tips grateful!

It sounds like you're doing the 'top bit' and I'm going to do the 'bottom bit' - lets compare notes and make a tourist guide :rotfl::rotfl:
As for your last few days, I'll confess to being biased.
San Diego is one of the nicest places that I've ever been to (plus LA has no attraction to me whatsoever)