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#915327 by ScoobySu
05 Jan 2016, 00:11
So now the flights are booked it's time to consider the route! Hubby's happy as the hire car is booked - after last years Camaro he's booked a Camaro SS - a true muscle car 6.2 l V8 with 455 bhp :-O I'm guessing that we'll be spending more on fuel than shopping ;-)

So after many an hour on maps over the last few days we've come up with the following first draft and I'd be grateful for your thoughts!

May 13 - pick up hire car from LAX & drive to Cambria/San Simeon area, stopping in Santa Barbara for brunch/lunch, visit Hearst Castle

May 14 - drive Big Sur to Monterey for lunch & a wander - possible aquarium visit, before driving late afternoon to Mariposa/Oakhurst

May 15 - into Yosemite Valley, then onto Stanislaus Forest before heading to South Lake Tahoe

May 16 - Cable car in South Lake Tahoe (hubby's considering a waterski though!) then down to June Lake/Mammoth Lakes

May 17 - down to Death Valley staying at Furnace Creek

May 18 - after Death Valley a short hop to Vegas, possibly via Red Rock Canyon

May 19 - Vegas

May 20 - Vegas

May 21 - onto the Grand Canyon South Rim, via Seligman or the Skywalk

May 22 - back to Vegas, via Seligman or the Skywalk if we didn't do it the day before

May 23 - Vegas

May 24 - drive to Palm Springs, via London Bridge, taking the Tramway in the afternoon/early evening/sunset

May 25 - return the hire car & back to reality - but at least there's now a Clubhouse at LAX :-D


This is just over 2,000 miles, which hubby is happy with. The longest drive in a day is Vegas to the Grand Canyon at just under 300 miles in a day.

The original plan was to drive through Yosemite on the 120, 108 or failing that the 4, but after researching there's a risk that as it's an El Niño winter none of those roads will be fully open - hence the overnight in South Lake Tahoe.

We've decided to add a night in Death Valley as last year we couldn't stop & take in the views as there was a HUGE sandstorm.

When in Vegas we plan to do go to the Hoover Dam to do a tour - this is our fifth visit and we've flown over it & driven over it but never actually been in! We're not sure if the SkyWalk is worth it though as we've been to the west canyon by helicopter before.

Many thanks in advance for all your help & I look forward to hearing from you!
#915338 by Eggtastico
05 Jan 2016, 08:42
You could do hoover dam on the drive to South Rim.
I drove vegas to south rim & back (inc. Hoover Dam) in a day. Not much to do at the south rim, except drive, jump out of car - look for 2mins, take photo, drive to next viewing stop.
This was in March a few years ago & North Rim was closed because of Snow (since you mentioned El Nino).
There is a scenic drive in Monterey as well, which has stop of points & pebble beach golf course at the end.

My biggest concern would be the amount of driving. About 3 hours a day by the looks of it. That can take a big chunk out of the day, unless your planning on driving between destinations early AM or arriving late PM?
#915341 by etk
05 Jan 2016, 09:26
Sounds amazing, very similar to the trip we did in July (just the reverse routing). I'm sure you'll have an amazing time :)

Can heartily recommend a stay in death valley - we really loved it. It's well worth doing sunset and sunrise at one or two of the scenic points. Morning at Zabriskie point is something I'll take to the grave with me, breathtaking.

Really enjoyed mammoth lakes too, wish we'd had a bit more time around there to do some walking.

Have fun!
#915345 by ScoobySu
05 Jan 2016, 11:44
Many thanks all!

Eggtastico wrote:My biggest concern would be the amount of driving. About 3 hours a day by the looks of it. That can take a big chunk out of the day, unless your planning on driving between destinations early AM or arriving late PM?


Yes - I agree - my spreadsheet says 2,183 miles without any detours! You should have seen hubby's first plan though :-O

A significant amount of time/driving is being spent skirting round Yosemite and the national forests and so we can cut back on Vegas time to take it a bit slower round there. The difficulty is finding the balance - we're not big hikers (a daily dog walk in the fields is our limit!) and this is the first "tour" we've arranged. Any hotel bookings that we have made are all fully cancellable so we can re-arrange as we fine tune things!

Eggtastico wrote:I drove vegas to south rim & back (inc. Hoover Dam) in a day. Not much to do at the south rim, except drive, jump out of car - look for 2mins, take photo, drive to next viewing stop.


Hmm - as that's one of the biggest drives we could gain another day by not doing that .... As we "did" West Canyon by helicopter at sunset in 2008 might be worth reconsidering!
#915348 by Sandissi
05 Jan 2016, 13:56
I would suggest a trip on the Tahoe Queen paddle steamer if you get a chance. It's many years since I was last there, but this was a very memorable addition to our ski holiday. You may also still be able to take a paddle steamer trip over to Squaw Valley.
#915349 by Snora
05 Jan 2016, 13:58
yep, a lot of driving..... and i can say Cambria is a good spot to stay a night. nice boardwalk alongside the ocean, pelicans and a short drive to Hearst Castle. we did the evening visit with the docents in place - felt like I was in the Great Gatsby - well worth it.

we were in Palm Springs for week in October and the only thing I can add is that leave plenty of time for the trip back to LAX. we were shocked at how much traffic there was, if it hadn't been for the HOV lanes I am sure we would have missed our flight.... and I allowed 4hrs.

The drive from LAS to PS is around 4 hrs - not sure I would add it to your itinerary this time around. If there is any cloud at all you won't see anything from the top of the cable car. Then 3 - 4 hrs next day to LAX...... we are full on when we fly drive in the USA but that would be on the planner for another trip for us.

Whatever you decide - have a great trip. !
#915351 by ScoobySu
05 Jan 2016, 14:39
Snora wrote:we were in Palm Springs for week in October and the only thing I can add is that leave plenty of time for the trip back to LAX. we were shocked at how much traffic there was, if it hadn't been for the HOV lanes I am sure we would have missed our flight.... and I allowed 4hrs.

The drive from LAS to PS is around 4 hrs - not sure I would add it to your itinerary this time around. If there is any cloud at all you won't see anything from the top of the cable car. Then 3 - 4 hrs next day to LAX...... we are full on when we fly drive in the USA but that would be on the planner for another trip for us.

Whatever you decide - have a great trip. !


Thanks Snora - we were planning around 4 hrs into LAX - aiming to arrive at 2.00 pm for the 17:50 flight but yikes - 4 hrs to do 120 miles :-O

We're currently looking at Bryce Canyon as an alternative to the Grand Canyon following your post yesterday though
#915353 by Eggtastico
05 Jan 2016, 15:38
ScoobySu wrote:Many thanks all!

Eggtastico wrote:I drove vegas to south rim & back (inc. Hoover Dam) in a day. Not much to do at the south rim, except drive, jump out of car - look for 2mins, take photo, drive to next viewing stop.


Hmm - as that's one of the biggest drives we could gain another day by not doing that .... As we "did" West Canyon by helicopter at sunset in 2008 might be worth reconsidering!


advantage of splitting into 2 days is you could stop off at a few other places. There are abandoned towns (Cars movie based on one) for example - plus other things.
I just stayed on the highway all the way there, all the way back.
It was funny watching americans deal with roundabouts as you enter the national park.
#915357 by Hev60
05 Jan 2016, 17:04
Wow that is a far amount of area to cover and alot of driving but sometimes that is part of the fun of touring and it all sounds fantastic. We covered parts of your itinerary last year and in 2013.

In your last post you say you are considering Bryce as an alternative to the Grand Canyon.
We actually drove from Las Vegas up to Zion Canyon and then onto Bryce Canyon. It was absolutely gorgeous especially the scenery.

With Zion Canyon, you are actually down in the Canyon and looking up, whereas with the Grand Canyon you are looking down! They are very different places and Bryce is all about the rock formation. To do the Grand Canyon justice, you really need more than a few hours which all you can get driving from Vegas. Everyone has a different opinion, but for us it was far more than jumping in and out of a tour bus or car, taking a snap shot and then onto the next viewpoint.

We too did a helicopter to the 'west' grand canyon in 2008 but nothing can compare to that sight of the real Grand Canyon south rim. Honestly there was no comparision between the west & south rim and the Skywalk is known by folk over on the GC Trip Advisor Site as a 'tacky tourist attraction' but obviously some people want that kind of man-made hype attraction and it cannot be described as awesome or stunning which are just two adjectives referring to the true Grand Canyon.

I was surprised to read you intend to drive from Vegas to the GC south rim, return to Vegas and then drive to Palm Springs? Would you not be better to drive on from the Grand Canyon onto Palm Springs and then from there back to LAX? Just a thought.

The month of May should be a lovely time to travel around, not too hot (well the desert & Vegas may be a bit but bearable) but the Californian coastline should be lovely. As mentioned, Pebble Beach golf club near Carmel is well worth the drive to before you get to Monterrey. The Big Sur Road is a very long drive from the Cambria/San Simeon area up to Monterrey and they drive slowly along! You might be a little pushed to be in Monterey by lunchtime.

Sounds a fantastic trip and not really long to wait for :-)
#915369 by dickydotcom
05 Jan 2016, 19:36
I wouldn't worry too much about petrol costs. On long journeys with steady cruising you might manage 20mpg
so 100 gallons should do the trick at $2.75 that only £200.
Last year we had a 5.9 litre Infinity giant car and I was amazed that it cost less to run than my motorbike does here.

Holidays are the time to treat yourself; Enjoy.

Dick D
#915386 by ScoobySu
05 Jan 2016, 23:13
Sandissi wrote:I would suggest a trip on the Tahoe Queen paddle steamer if you get a chance. It's many years since I was last there, but this was a very memorable addition to our ski holiday. You may also still be able to take a paddle steamer trip over to Squaw Valley.


Ooh - I've had a look - we might be able to take the evening cruise - thank you for the suggestion!

Eggtastico wrote:advantage of splitting into 2 days is you could stop off at a few other places. There are abandoned towns (Cars movie based on one) for example - plus other things.
I just stayed on the highway all the way there, all the way back.
It was funny watching americans deal with roundabouts as you enter the national park


That's Seligman - looks quite quaint - and hubby is grinning at the thought of americans and roundabouts!

Hev60 wrote:I was surprised to read you intend to drive from Vegas to the GC south rim, return to Vegas and then drive to Palm Springs? Would you not be better to drive on from the Grand Canyon onto Palm Springs and then from there back to LAX? Just a thought.


We did think about heading straight from the Canyon to Palm Springs, but according to Google Maps that's at least 6 hours straight driving! And the cunning plan is to escape Vegas on a Saturday night .....

You've given food for thought about the differences in the different canyons & parks though! I only threw the SkyWalk in to see if anybody had actually done it, but I'm tending to go with the Trip Advisor view at the moment ...

dickydotcom wrote:I wouldn't worry too much about petrol costs. On long journeys with steady cruising you might manage 20mpg so 100 gallons should do the trick at $2.75 that only £200.
Last year we had a 5.9 litre Infinity giant car and I was amazed that it cost less to run than my motorbike does here.


We used to have Subaru Impreza WRXs and were lucky if we got near 20 mpg on super unleaded :blush: but that was mainly town driving! Whats more worrying to me is the lack of boot space as I'm sure we would pass an Outlet Mall or two ..... Did I mention I like shopping? ;-)
#915467 by PilotWolf
07 Jan 2016, 01:49
We just did LA - Morro Bay - Carmel/Monterey - San Fran - Santa Cruz - SLO with my parents over Christmas and New Year.

If you're planning on actually visiting Hurst Castle check the website as to see it all you need to do separate tours and for us it just wasn't worth the cost - around $100 each I think to see it all.

Allow 50% more time everywhere than you think you'll need!

W.
#915550 by Maximus
07 Jan 2016, 23:06
Hev60 wrote: To do the Grand Canyon justice, you really need more than a few hours which all you can get driving from Vegas. Everyone has a different opinion, but for us it was far more than jumping in and out of a tour bus or car, taking a snap shot and then onto the next viewpoint.


I was about to say all this but was clearly beaten to it!

The South rim view of the Grand Canyon from the National Park is breathtaking. I could spend days there and not tire of it. But 3 hours is all you get on a day trip. Nonetheless, if that is all tthe time you have it will still be worth it IMO. Truly one of the greatest wonders of the natural world.

I intend to return and will spend at least one night in the National Park.

Death Valley is likewise unique and a very special place.

Enjoy the trip!
#915562 by ScoobySu
08 Jan 2016, 11:33
PilotWolf wrote:If you're planning on actually visiting Hurst Castle check the website as to see it all you need to do separate tours and for us it just wasn't worth the cost - around $100 each I think to see it all.

Allow 50% more time everywhere than you think you'll need!

W.


Thanks PilotWolf - we were only planning on taking one of the tours but just have to decide on which one - MrsW did the "Grand Rooms" tour and Snora the "Evening" tour - so we'll review when the tickets go on sale - as we'll probably have been awake since early morning that will be a tough call!

Maximus wrote:The South rim view of the Grand Canyon from the National Park is breathtaking. I could spend days there and not tire of it. But 3 hours is all you get on a day trip. Nonetheless, if that is all the time you have it will still be worth it IMO. Truly one of the greatest wonders of the natural world.


Thanks Maximumus - we plan to spend a night at the Canyon - unfortunately I can't't get accommodation inside the park at the moment so have currently booked the Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire Inn at Tusayan.
#915622 by Hev60
09 Jan 2016, 01:04
ScoobySu wrote:
Thanks Maximumus - we plan to spend a night at the Canyon - unfortunately I can't't get accommodation inside the park at the moment so have currently booked the Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire Inn at Tusayan.


We saw the BW at Tusayan on our way up to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix last April. It looked a very nice hotel. You are actually through Tusayan before you realise it! It is situated between two roundabouts on the 64 highway. The GC airport is close by where the small aircraft land and helicopter tours go from.

It is a very short drive up to the south entrance so I wouldn't worry too much about not staying "inside the park" We actually had an overnight at the El Tovar which if I'm honest was very overpriced and not very comfortable but its location is on the edge of the canyon with fabulous views both for the sun rise (goodness it was cold) and late at night. From here you can walk the south rim along a safe path, with awesome views which we did right along to Mather Point and then got the bus back to the Village. You'll be able to do this even if you don't get your 'inside' accommodation.
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