Touring holiday to Nevada, California & Arizona

jackieblack

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Hi Jackie

at this stage, everything is booked, a lot has been paid for, my new AMEX cash back card is activated and I'm looking at what clothes on my wardrobe that are suitable for hot weather fit me (easy answer, none, as I've lost over 4 stones since went anywhere hot :eek:)

As for being packed yet, nope, my PA (Mrs Cat) hasn't made a start on the packing yet, but she has made a start on 'the list'. I'm in charge of overall logistics for the holiday - she's in charge of the 'nitty gritty'. Checking the weather forecasts for where we are going - I don't think that we'll be needing any big coats :rotfl:

How exciting!
The weightloss (well done, by the way) sounds like a great excuse to buy new stuff when you're there. (My husband got some great stuff in Wal-Mart when we were away, half the price it is here.)

As for the packing, I think you could be right, no big coats needed, except maybe the day you arrive back in England!

Hope you have a great time and look forward to hearing all your tips when you return.

Scoobychick

I've just spent a pleasant hour reading this thread and all the links in it as we've just booked a road trip ourselves, there's some great tips and advice here so thanks

We're (2 adults) flying out of Heathrow direct to SFO on a Virgin 747 (return flights) on Friday 13th June :eek:. Having searched around a bit for the cheapest flights going I decided to stop being a tightwad and booked Premium Economy, the other half gets twitchy on a two hour flight and I didn't fancy putting up with him being contained in an economy seat (he's 6'2 and big) for 10 hours and 50 minutes

We've rented a convertible Mustang which we'll pick up from the airport and that's as far as I've got! The rough plan is to spend two or three nights in Frisco then head off down Highway 1 stopping where we feel like it Eventually we'll hit LA, drive around Beverley Hills then leave From there we'll head to LV spend one night there then head out to GC and possibly stay somewhere fairly near for a night. After that it's the 89A to Sedona, again staying if we feel like it. From there it all gets a bit vague but we've pencilled in Death Valley and Yosemite before heading back to San Francisco.

We've got just under three weeks to do it all in but will be sharing the driving. It's a bit of a change from our usual driving holidays in Scotland and we're more excited than we've ever been before a holiday

We're planning to book a few nights in Frisco then wing it the rest of the way although I'll probably book for the GC. Most people that I've spoken to have said that there are millions of hotels to choose from and that discount vouchers for accommodation and food abound at the gas stations.

However when I read other people's carefully planned and booked itineries I get a bit worried that we're taking a risk by not pre-booking but then on the other hand I want an adventure

I've got the Rand McNally large road atlas and have downloaded TomTom USA maps so am currently working out times and distances. Google Earth has been a fantastic resource for getting an idea of the lay of the land and GE Street View is awesome for the cities :cool:

A friend who has done a similar trip advised us to travel light and buy what we need out there as clothes are so cheap but he also advised we removed the labels before we went through customs

Other than that the only other plan I've made is to buy a US Sim card from http://www.0044.co.uk/ before we leave to save on calls/texts home.

One question I have and that is should we take out one of these Excess policies for the car? http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ Are they worth it or are they a con? The car is from Hertz and includes LDW insurance.

Sorry for the long post and Murphy, I hope you have an awesome time!!

Cheers

Sal

torbrex

You will have a great time scoobychick, I have been to all these places and it is difficult to suggest how long to visit each, I would say that if you are going to travel light and have no fixed plans or excurtions I would suggest not booking hotels after the first night as some days you might feel like travelling further and some days not.
Look out for the tourist information places as you cross the state lines as the are usually the best places to get coupon books.
It is also a good idea to have a day when you do not spend a long time driving, do a guided tour or just a lazy day to give yourself a break.

If you are passing it is worth dropping in to Sequoa and Kings Canyon NP for the giant redwoods, they are real jaw-droppers.

blindman

Scoobychick

Sounds like a great holiday :T

My tips would be :

1)Make sure you BOTH sign up to Virgin Frequent flyer club as travelling that far in PE will bring in a fair few miles that be handy for the next trip.

2) You do NOT need a car in San Fran and parking at hotels can be about $40 per day:eek:
I'd get transport into the city and then pick up the car when you leave.

3) In San Fran I'd stay 3 nights as your first night will be spent getting to the hotel and you'll be tired by about 8pm due to being 6 hours ahead of local time.

4) LA to LAS is about 4 hours drive and the traffic in LA at any time can be a 'mare so factor in these times.

5) Not sure how 'near' you want to stay at the GC but accomodation can be pricy. I stayed at Williams on Route 66 before heading up to the GC. A real old town America!

6) If you can fit them in :rolleyes: go to Hearst Castle (down route 1) Monument Valley and Dead Horse State Point (Utah)

Awesome !

You only need the excess policy if you have got a realy cheap car hire package that doesn't include the insurance (looks like you have that already).

Have a good trip.

Murphy_The_Cat

Hi scoobychick.

I'm glad that you've enjoyed the thread and found it helpful.. I wrote this thread from the POV of 2 adults and 2 small children, but I can also add a few things from several years BC (thats before children :rotfl:), in red, below.

Scoobychick wrote: »

I've just spent a pleasant hour reading this thread and all the links in it as we've just booked a road trip ourselves, there's some great tips and advice here so thanks

We're (2 adults) flying out of Heathrow direct to SFO on a Virgin 747 (return flights) on Friday 13th June :eek:. Having searched around a bit for the cheapest flights going I decided to stop being a tightwad and booked Premium Economy, the other half gets twitchy on a two hour flight and I didn't fancy putting up with him being contained in an economy seat (he's 6'2 and big) for 10 hours and 50 minutes

We've rented a convertible Mustang which we'll pick up from the airport and that's as far as I've got! Hmm, I had a convertible last time for a few days and found it to be a PITA. With the roof down, you risk getting sunburn in the heat (you are afterall going to be spending several hours some day on the move) and the constant wind noise was quite tiresome - a Luxury class vehicle was MUCH more comfortable & practical. If your car hire is cancellable/amendable, I've got a few ideas for you. The rough plan is to spend two or three nights in Frisco if your going to have a car in SFO, then try and book hotels that have car parking available (even if you have to pay for it) as SFO is the most car unfriendly place I've ever been to. I didn't really enjoy SFO (way, way, way to many weirdos), but I really enjoyed visiting Alcatraz at night (pre book to be sure to get on the tour) and also visiting USS Hornet in Alameda Harbour + the Golden Gate Bridge - the rest of SFO left me cold. But I'm in the minorty, most people love the place :eek: then head off down Highway 1 stopping where we feel like it Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel are nice stop off points on your way down, and we've got real soft spots for San Luis Opisbo & Santa Barbara. If you fancy blowing the budget for a night or two, the Apple Farm @ SLO is a lovely place Eventually we'll hit LA, drive around Beverley Hills then leave You may enjoy a tacky tour of the stars homes !!!! other than that, I'm with you and get out of LA ASAP !From there we'll head to LV if you don't fancy the days drive, consider dropping the hire car at LAX and flying to LAS. The flight is dirt cheap and is IMO a better use of your valuable holiday time. spend one night there then head out to GC and possibly stay somewhere fairly near for a night. It might be a good idea to prebook your accomodation at the GC, as availabilty isn't enormous, and once its gone, its gone !After that it's the 89A to Sedona, again staying if we feel like it. Depending on how your budget is working out, Flagstaff is a lot more economical to stay in than Sedona From there it all gets a bit vague but we've pencilled in Death Valley and Yosemite before heading back to San Francisco.
Heres a wild card suggestion for you (depending on what your hire car contract allows for/if its cancellable). Instead of driving all the way back to SFO from Sedona, instead drive the little bit further to Phoenix, explore Phoenix for a bit and then take a flight from Phoenix to SFO/Oakland/San Jose with an airline like Southwest (the fare is about £60 and a direct flight is 2 hours) and then head on out via the Napa Valley onto Yosimite and then back to SFO. IMO, car hire in the US is cheap, internal flights rae dirt cheap and it will help you see a LOT more of the country than driving through (fairly pointless) miles of Death Valley - only my opinion and only a suggestion.:beer:


We've got just under three weeks to do it all in but will be sharing the driving. It's a bit of a change from our usual driving holidays in Scotland and we're more excited than we've ever been before a holiday I don't blame you one bit - it sounds fantastic.

We're planning to book a few nights in Frisco then wing it the rest of the way although I'll probably book for the GC. good plan Most people that I've spoken to have said that there are millions of hotels to choose from and that discount vouchers for accommodation and food abound at the gas stations. True, you can get an awful lot, for very little. make sure that you have an AA card so that you can get AAA discount on your accomodation/meals (where the discount is available)

However when I read other people's carefully planned and booked itineries I get a bit worried that we're taking a risk by not pre-booking but then on the other hand I want an adventure . The only reason that I've prebooked in so much details is that I INSIST that the children have their own bedrooms and hotels with family suites can be thin on the ground/have very limited availibilty - when it was just Mrs cat & I, we were a lot more free & easy. If your budget allows (& you fancy it) staying in B&B Inns can be a really nice way of meeting REAL people who will love to chat to you.

I've got the Rand McNally large road atlas and have downloaded TomTom USA maps so am currently working out times and distances. Remember that in California, you are forbidden from fastening anything on your windscreen (an excellant idea which I wish we'd have here) Google Earth has been a fantastic resource for getting an idea of the lay of the land and GE Street View is awesome for the cities :cool: Also check out TripAdvisor for some reviews of places

A friend who has done a similar trip advised us to travel light and buy what we need out there as clothes are so cheap but he also advised we removed the labels before we went through customs Just be aware that the boot in a convertible isn't going to be huge. Completely adequate for a holidaying couple, no good if you're getting an entirely new wardrobe :eek:. keep an eye out for Outlet Malls where serious bargains for branded goods abound aplenty.

Other than that the only other plan I've made is to buy a US Sim card from http://www.0044.co.uk/ before we leave to save on calls/texts home. Good idea, but even better if you can avoid using it altogether :beer:

One question I have and that is should we take out one of these Excess policies for the car? http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ Are they worth it or are they a con? The car is from Hertz and includes LDW insurance. IMO, not needed, but some people take the view that you can't have enough insurance.

Sorry for the long post and Murphy, I hope you have an awesome time!! Nowt to apologise for, I love reading about peoples holiday plans :beer: and I'm now starting to get REALLY excited about my trip. Wednesday can't come soon enough for me :j

Cheers

Sal

Bennifred

Can't wait to read all about everyone's trips! Hope you all have a fantastic time:beer: - I'll keep the UK warm for you:p until y'all get back.

Scoobychick

Thanks chaps, I really appreciate the time you've taken to help :cool:

The hire car is already booked and we're keeping it - I can't bear the thought of not having a car. We're both total and utter petrolheads so having a 'Stang is awesome for us (fingers crossed for a free Shelby 'Stang upgrade) :rolleyes: I used to have a convertible when I lived down south and spent many a weekend driving up and down the M1 to North Yorkshire so I know what I'm letting myself in for but thanks for your thoughts

My latest plan is to book a hotel near SFO (Red Roof Inn perhaps with a view of the airport - we like planes ) and when we don't drive in to SF take the BART instead, the hotel offer a free shuttle service to the airport to catch the BART. We both have mixed feelings about SF but want to see Alcatraz (will pre-book), the Golden Gate Bridge and USS Hornet. Neither of us are townies, we both prefer the country so staying in big towns doesn't appeal much whereas out of the way places in the middle of nowhere does

I'm liking the idea of staying a few miles out of the busy areas (Williams looks just like the town in 'Cars' the movie ) so thanks for the suggestions of Williams and Flagstaff.

I didn't know about the law in CA forbidding the sticking of things on the windscreen so I'll get a dash/vent mount for my TomTom, thanks for that warning :cool:

We've decided to buy most of our maps and guides when we get there and as we travel, I love maps anyway so the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

I've been looking at Hotwire and Priceline too but don't think I like the idea of not knowing where I'm going to stay. We haven't really set a budget as such but are aiming for somewhere between £20 to £50 a night for a double room in anywhere that appeals, big flashy hotels aren't really our thing, clean and simple (with WiFi access ) does it for me. The B&B idea sounds quite cool though, I'll look into prices.

Just one more thing, my other half works for the AA so maybe we'll get even better discounts Oh and he was speaking to a chap the other day who had pretty much done what we are doing and spent 6k :eek:

We'll have to watch ourselves carefully

Just a quick edit to say that I think I've found the perfect solution for the TomTom here http://www.buybits.com/product/sku_3122.aspx

jackieblack

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Wednesday can't come soon enough for me

I don't blame you!
Hope everything goes to plan and you have a fab time.
Hopefully you'll post and tell us all about it when you get back!

Murphy_The_Cat

Scoobychick wrote: »

Thanks chaps, I really appreciate the time you've taken to help :cool: No worries - its what a lot of us enjoy doing :beer:

The hire car is already booked and we're keeping it - I can't bear the thought of not having a car. We're both total and utter petrolheads so having a 'Stang is awesome for us (fingers crossed for a free Shelby 'Stang upgrade) :rolleyes: I used to have a convertible when I lived down south and spent many a weekend driving up and down the M1 to North Yorkshire so I know what I'm letting myself in for but thanks for your thoughts . Great, then you know what to expect - except the weather will be a LOT better than a trip on the M1 :j:j, Make sure that you wear a hat and that you lather on the suncreeen/sunblock.

My latest plan is to book a hotel near SFO (Red Roof Inn perhaps with a view of the airport - we like planes ) and when we don't drive in to SF take the BART instead, the hotel offer a free shuttle service to the airport to catch the BART. We both have mixed feelings about SF but want to see Alcatraz (will pre-book) the night tour gives you a real alternative view , the Golden Gate Bridge and USS Hornet.TBH, i got more out of that than Mrs Cat did :rotfl: Neither of us are townies, we both prefer the country so staying in big towns doesn't appeal much whereas out of the way places in the middle of nowhere does that is probably why I enjoyed SLO so much. It was a brilliant example of small town America & when they shut the town centre on a Thursday night for the Framers Market and street entertainment, its a truly lovely place.

I'm liking the idea of staying a few miles out of the busy areas (Williams looks just like the town in 'Cars' the movie ) so thanks for the suggestions of Williams and Flagstaff. We're staying in Cottonwood (pop 5900) as it is perfectly sited for The Verde Canyon Railroad, & Sedona

I didn't know about the law in CA forbidding the sticking of things on the windscreen so I'll get a dash/vent mount for my TomTom, thanks for that warning :cool: :beer:

We've decided to buy most of our maps and guides when we get there and as we travel, I love maps anyway so the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. We're not using SatNav. I've preprinted directions from Mapquest and using good old fashioned WifeNav as well

I've been looking at Hotwire and Priceline too but don't think I like the idea of not knowing where I'm going to stay. We haven't really set a budget as such but are aiming for somewhere between £20 to £50 a night for a double room in anywhere that appeals, big flashy hotels aren't really our thing, clean and simple (with WiFi access ) does it for me. The B&B idea sounds quite cool though, I'll look into prices. TBH, B&B is likely to be quite a lot dearer than using hotels, but it is USUALLY an awful lot nicer. Here is an example of one of the places that we're stopping at. A really good source of B&B places is here.

Just one more thing, my other half works for the AA so maybe we'll get even better discounts hmm, I wouldn't be so sure. What they are looking for is the 'Show and Save icon on the back of the AA card. Basic AA cover starts at £33 so you should get your money back very quickly/easily. Oh and he was speaking to a chap the other day who had pretty much done what we are doing and spent 6k :eek: Wow, that was someone who was living VERY WELL for his holiday time. While CA is nowhere near as cheap as Florida, you will still get tremendous value for your money - especially with the exchange rate being so good ATM.

We'll have to watch ourselves carefully & enjoy every moment

Just a quick edit to say that I think I've found the perfect solution for the TomTom here http://www.buybits.com/product/sku_3122.aspx

happy planning :beer:

jackieblack wrote:

I don't blame you!
Hope everything goes to plan and you have a fab time.
Hopefully you'll post and tell us all about it when you get back!

fingers crossed, the flights going out will be the biggest bugbear. The connection at ORD is very tight and the alternative routes /later flights from ORD to LAS look to be nearly totally full. It doesn't matter to me to much if we get messed about, but for the children it could be quite miserable. But then after then, it should be plain sailing.

cheerio.

duchy

Honestly Murph I wouldn't worry too much. I consistently cut it fine at Chicago with AA (connecting to Vegas) and usually have show tickets for the first night. Haven't missed a show yet !
Best tip is once you are off the plane-walk quickly-most people amble and of course once you get to immigration pick the line closest to the US desks as once the US people have been processed they call people over from the nearest alien line.
Have a FAB time......and keep notes. We expect a HUGE trip report when you get home !!!