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#923097 by ScoobySu
25 Jun 2016, 22:01
So we’ve been back four weeks – the work back log has been cleared and hubby has now paid his California speeding fine ;-) so I thought I would give a run-down of our road trip to say many thanks for all the feedback, points, tips and hints that you wonderful V-Flyers have given! Apologies in advance again for waffling on just a tinsy bit ….

Following our short trip in 2015 hubby was keen to go again. Mrsw’s http://v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=291217 and Hev 60’s http://v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=289810 trip reports were shown to hubby and he rather liked the idea of a road trip!

Our original thoughts were http://v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=291952 and to be fair we didn’t alter that much. We knew it was going to be a very full on road trip, but the plan was to find what we liked and didn’t like to then go back and spend more time – I am pleased to report that having cleared out our FC accounts on 1st January when we booked these G’s hubby and I are up to 76k and 59k respectively at the moment so the return could be sooner than we originally thought!


Day 0

We had a brilliant flight out http://v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=293139 and finally arrived at our hotel for the night – the LAX Holiday Inn Express. For this first night – knowing that we would be shattered after the flight I wasn’t bothered about a luxury experience – just somewhere clean, relatively inexpensive, and close to the airport. I managed to get this hotel for £ 84 via my bank account which I thought was a bargain compared with some other airport hotels! And it turned out that the hotel was 5 minutes’ walk from Hertz which meant no faffing around (so we thought …) the next day when we wanted to pick the car up.

What I hadn’t picked up was that this hotel transfer was on request so hubby and I had spent 40 minutes at the hotel shuttle pick up points before we realised – doh! The room itself was large, clean and functional. There as a McD’s across the road and a small mall with restaurants next door. Rather than trying to go to sleep on arrival (4.00 pm local time, midnight UK) which would have resulted in a stoopid o’clock wake up, we went for a walk to a CVS – about a mile away – to get supplies. We felt safe in the neighbourhood and weren’t troubled in any way – and we also found a petrol station to re-fuel the car on return!

We managed to stay awake until around 8.00 pm local time before we fell asleep, and both slept through to around 6.00 am – result on that first night in USA!

Day 1

Breakfast was included in the room rate, so this was self-service buffet of cereals, muffins, fruit, yoghurts, eggs, bacon and pancakes! The pancakes came out of a machine to order and were very nice!

We had booked a car through the Adrenaline Collection at Hertz – a Camaro SS Convertible (V8, 455 bhp). Hubby was very much looking forward to it – so much so he had downloaded a video of it being started up – and had planned our route to include some tunnels :-D The car was booked for pick up at 8.00 am and so we wandered down the road to Hertz. There were no queues on arrival and we were seen by a young chap. After the usual pleasantries there was some keyboard tapping and then – uh oh – “I just need to see my manager”. Hubby and I looked at each other ….. Back comes the young man to say “There’s a problem with the car and so we can’t offer that to you today”. “What’s the problem” we ask? “It’s mechanical”, “So when will it be fixed?”, “We don’t know”, “So what are you offering us instead” …

“Seeing as you know your cars we can offer you this Merc”. Ok we say, but I ask the question “And that will be at no extra charge?” “Oh no” the minion (well Hertz uniforms are yellow) says – “that’s $ 73 A DAY extra”. You can guess my response … After another quick visit to his manager he then offers us a Mustang V6 – so that’s a downgrade so will they offer a refund – uhm no. The minion then tries to sell us insurance – which is not needed as we bought through the UK site so all was included. So at this time I “suggest” that we speak with the Manager …. I’m guessing the young chap hasn’t experienced many Brits who have researched!

The manager comes over and sorts out the issue – they have five of the Camaro’s on their inventory but none have been returned. He offers us alternative cars or the option of waiting a couple of hours in case one is returned. As our plans for today were fairly fluid as we deliberately didn’t want to be too hectic on our first day we decided to take the second option.

So back to the hotel for an hour and a bit before walking back where there was still no Camaro. Instead they offered us a V8 Mustang coupe or a V8 HEMI Dodge Charger. After sitting in both we took the Charger as the Mustang being a coupe felt very claustrophobic.

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For those that aren’t into their cars think about Bo, Luke and Daisy (those of a certain age will know what I mean!) Unfortunately our General Lee was silver and didn’t have the Confederate flag on the roof ;-) but it did cue lots of quips on Facebook about jumping through the windows and yelling “Yee Haa” …

Back to the hotel to load up then time to hit the high road! Of course the advantage of all the “discussions” was that we had missed most of LA’s rush hour! First stop was to find Highway 1 – the coast road through Santa Monica and Malibu. Hubby had done some research and found out that for most of the beaches the car parking charges were horrific but he did find that on Zuma Beach there was a small car park that was $ 1 for half an hour – as we weren’t planning on having a beach day but just wanted to say we’d been that was fine!

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As you can see at this point it was a little overcast. However as the day went on the cloud cleared and it got lovely and warm!

From Zuma Beach we joined Highway 101 heading to Santa Barbara – I think at some point we had planned to stop for lunch there but hubby had found a place in Pismo Beach he really wanted to try so we stayed on the 101 where we managed to find a parking space immediately outside the Cracked Crab! Now this isn’t fine dining – I believe its “family casual” but the food was amazing! We had the Big Bucket for Two – which is literally just tipped onto your table!

From Pismo Beach it was up to San Simeon where we stayed at The Morgan Hotel San Simeon, booked through Points Hound with bonus miles awarded. I’ll be honest, I wanted to stay in Cambria, but the price differential for a night was too much at the point of booking for hubby. After our stay hubby agrees that Cambria might have been better!

Following on from reviews, we had booked the evening docent tour at Hearst Castle, which is very close to San Simeon. We drove up to the visitor centre where we had a short wait for our bus to the castle itself.

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The sheer over the top-ness of the Castle is amazing, with the tour ending in the Roman Pools (not literally I hasten to add!). On our tour unfortunately the docents and the tourists didn’t really interact, but then again maybe I was expecting too much. Hubby and I both say that it was an experience, and we’d recommend it, but we see it as a once thing, rather than repeating on future visits.

Day 2

At the time of booking there are only two main hotels in San Simeon, The Morgan and Best Western Plus Cavalier Oceanfront and I think I chose the wrong one :-( There was nothing really wrong, but the rooms were a little tatty and the included breakfast really wasn’t worth it. And I think the main issue for me was that there were no sea views :-(

So after a night’s sleep today was to be a long day of driving. From San Simeon we took Highway 1 to Carmel, stopping at the Elephant Seal Rookery, Ragged Point, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (McWay Falls) and Bixby Bridge before driving over the Big Sur and into Carmel.

What can I say but – wow! For information, Google Maps will tell you that the drive is around 90 miles, around 2½ hours driving (before stops). It was a Sunday, and there was a bike race on, the road is single carriage way and twisty – driving north we were on the right hand side of the road with the cliffs on our right rather than the sea. I would guess that we took 5 to 6 hours to drive those 90 miles!

Ragged Point (me trying to be artistic):

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McWay Falls – a gorgeous place – but amazing how many people couldn’t read the “No dogs past this point” sign >-(

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Bixby Bridge – hubby’s research paid off in finding a track away from the Highway where we could get the perfect shot :-)

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Lunch today was at Carmel’s Lafayette Bakery – we arrived too late for their main lunch but had some gorgeous pastries, before it was time for me to drive the General Lee to Mariposa :-O I was amazed at how easy it was to drive, this being my first time driving overseas. This was just a point to point drive of 168 miles, to a little B&B we were staying in outside of Mariposa.

In Carmel we had our first experience of trying to re-fuel the car. Most of the pumps had self-pay via credit card, but our credit cards wouldn’t work as you also had to enter a Zip Code, so I ended up standing inside the station whilst the clerk held the card whilst hubby filled up! This was to be a recurring theme every time we tried to refuel.

Unlike mrsw I hadn’t managed to find accommodation inside Yosemite, and so given the various options on the west side of Yosemite I was looking at Mariposa, Oakhurst and Fish Camp. I found a wonderful B&B called Highland House Bed & Breakfast, which although is in the woods outside Mariposa seemed to offer the best for what we wanted. And it was fantastic! The owner/landlord lived on site, but basically we had the full run of the house. We were able to raid the fridge for snacks, use the kitchen to cook, and so on. We had the Morning Dove room, which was compact (and I needed a step ladder to get into the bed!) but it was clean and comfortable. The only downside was that it was isolated, being a 10 minute drive from Mariposa itself and the last section being on unlit single tracks, so if you wanted to visit bars etc this might not be the place for you! Also we had to empty the General Lee of everything to prevent bears trying to find food!

Day 3

Breakfast was promptly served at 8.30 am, where we were served turkey sausages, scrambled eggs and a variety of fruits and pastries, the pastries all being freshly cooked that morning – yummy and substantial! There was also breakfast tea available made with boiling water!!!!!

Funnily enough our fellow guests in the B&B were all from the South East :-O so we shared our experiences and hubby and I got some (more) tips and hints from them about Yosemite. What was amazing was that outside the windows of the breakfast room there were humming birds feeding – so pretty to watch whilst sipping tea!

We knew that it was about an hour from the B&B to Yosemite itself so we had pre-loaded the car up before breakfast so after paying it was time to head off. One of the guests at the B&B kindly gave us their pass which saved us $ 30 – so many thanks to them! For information – most National Parks charge an admission fee but the pass is good for seven days and does not have the car registration on so can be passed around.

The drive into Yosemite was wonderful as we followed the river. Being so early we were able to find a car parking space in the Village itself – which we had been warned might be tricky to find as (a) it was a Sunday and (b) the waterfalls were flowing for the first time in a number of years, both of which meant that Yosemite was very very busy!

We wandered around the Village and walked to Lower Yosemite Falls

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It was amazing walking through the dappled woods and coming across the falls, which really were in full flow.

We were conscious that we had a long drive up to South Lake Tahoe so decided to drive up to Glacier Point. Our original plan had been to spend a full day in Yosemite before driving the next day over Tioga Pass (SR 120). As the last winter was an El Nino winter we had been warned that there was a very high risk that Tioga Pass would still be closed – which it was – hence the plan to drive to South Lake Tahoe.

Along the way up to Glacier Point we stopped at Tunnel View and Washborn Point – the latter being recommended to us by a guide in the Village, before pulling over just before Glacier Point. And yes – there was still snow on the sides of the road as we drove!

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Glacier Point itself was mayhem, so unable to find a parking space we decided to head out of the Valley and to hit SR 49 north. The road system in Yosemite Valley is all one way, and unfortunately hubby missed the turning out, which meant we were then stuck in the system. Even more unfortunate was that it was late afternoon – which meant that the majority of day visitors were also trying to leave – it took us two hours to drive the three mile circuit :-(

So it was a very very long drive in the dusk and dark on the SR 49 to Jackson to join Carson Pass (SR 88) as Sonora Pass (SR 108) was also still closed due to the snow. A quick pit stop at Jackson before starting the 90 mile trek over Carson Pass. In daylight I’m sure that this would be an amazing road – lots of sweeping bends past vista points, lots of passing lanes, climbing up to 8,000 feet and past two lakes high in the mountains. But this was not to be – it was now night time and as we climbed freezing fog descended so we were crawling along trying to see where the next bend was. At one point a deer decided to try and out-stare us – fortunately we were going very slowly at this point as visibility had dropped so was able to drive round it :-O The on-board thermometer was showing a temperature of low 40’F – so very much heading to freezing!

At very nearly 10.00 pm we finally drove into South Lake Tahoe – and boy were we glad to see the lights of civilisation by this time!

Our hotel for the night was 968 Park Hotel, recently take over by the Joie de Vivre boutique chain. As a member of their Joy of Life club, I had been able to book a discounted rate with an automatic room upgrade and welcome amenity (cue bottle of wine :cool: ) As it’s no longer the ski season nor is it yet the summer season the room rate (no breakfast included) was a very reasonable £ 68!

We had a quick bite to eat and then basically collapsed into bed – the drive had been exhausting for both of us ;-(

Day 4

After a deep night’s sleep we woke really refreshed – the bed and pillows were sooo comfortable! The hotel as I mentioned above has only recently been taken over by Joie de Vivre, who are planning on some refits I believe. But it has a very central location, close to the Heavenly ski gondola, and the lake itself. Again it was clean. The only weird thing was that the wash basin was outside the bathroom???

We hadn’t decided before arriving whether we were going to go up the mountain on the gondola or try the Tahoe Queen paddle steamer as suggested by Sandissi so hadn’t pre-booked anything before leaving the UK. This turned out to be a good thing, as although refreshed from the good night’s sleep we wanted to make sure we were at Mammoth Lakes (our next stop) in daylight after yesterday’s night drive. If we had had more time then we would have taken the paddle steamer. It also turned out that the ski gondola was closed for maintenance being between seasons! Hubby’s research had found something though – Eagle Falls which overlooks Emerald Bay.

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After refuelling the General Lee as we were now down to vapours it was time for another 140 mile drive – this time crossing the State Line twice! As hubby had done the night time drive I offered to drive for a bit. "What sort of roads are they" I ask, "Oh - dual carriageways" he says. Where they heck as like - single carriage ways up to 8,500 feet with ravines to my right & rocks to my left! The V8 didn't get much use on those roads!

Once we hit the US 395 however it was fairly plain sailing, so this was really just another point to point drive.

Our destination for the evening was Tamarack Lodge Resort, again primarily a winter resort set out of the main town. We stopped for something to eat in Mammoth Lakes itself so we could get to the resort before dark. First impressions of the resort was that it looked really quaint – there was a small main building hosting the reception and restaurant, but the main lodgings were individual wood cabins in the woods. It turns out that the restaurant was closed for renovations (again as it was out of season) so it was a good call to eat before arrival!

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We drove to our cabin and again emptied the General Lee to prevent bears – apparently they find the smell of sun-screen very appetizing – not that there was any need for sun-screen as it was snowing! Our cabin had a kitchenette and a gas fire which was needed. Unfortunately the fire stopped working and despite the efforts of the one person on duty wouldn’t restart :-( Also, the kitchenette had a number of chips and burn marks. Finally, the door to the cabin had a big gap at the bottom – which is where the bags came in handy to stop the drafts! It may be that as it was the off-season the cabins were so tired and they would be refurbished over the summer.

Day 5

After a cold night we went to the restaurant for breakfast, which was completely unappetising – cold boiled eggs, pre-packaged muffins & pastries and yoghurts. We checked out where I negotiated a discount on the resort fee due to the fire not working. My gut feeling is that this is not a hotel we would visit again, and would probably stay in the main resort of Mammoth Lakes if we were this way again.

Today we were heading south east to Death Valley, maps telling us it was around 210 miles. The majority of the drive would be on US 395, fairly straightforward and boring. Hubby and I took it in turns on this drive, watching the temperature rise, before we turned onto the CA 190 into Death Valley. The CA 190 is the same road as we had driven last year when we drove from LA to Vegas.

All I can say is Death Valley is stunning and immense – even though today it was fairly overcast and a little windy – and when we stopped at Stovepipe Wells it was even trying to rain :-O

It didn’t get as hot today as it did in April 2015 – then we hit a hot spot of 97’F, today we only managed 90’F. We stopped at Mesquite Sand Dunes (as it seemed everybody else did) and managed a little walk into the Dunes to try and view without the crowds.

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Then we drove to Ubehebe Crater – 40 miles or so from Stovepipe Wells.

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Scotty’s Castle was still closed following storm damage in October 2015, so we headed off to Furnace Creek where we were staying at a cabin at the Furnace Creek Ranch (unfortunately I couldn’t manage to get a room at the Inn).

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Another clean but compact room, with welcome air conditioning! What surprised us here compared with Yosemite is that there is no check point to pay the $ 20 entrance fee (again the fee covered seven days). I wonder how much cash flow the National Park Service loses from this? I guess they feel that the fees they could collect would not cover the cost of check points at every entrance to the Park.

Day 6

There was no breakfast included in our cabin booking, so we snacked off some of our CVS supplies. The charges at the various restaurants and general store in the resort were not that excessive, but you could still see the obvious mark-up due to its location. I would like to have stayed at the Inn, but there were no downsides to staying at the Ranch and I’d do it again.

Today’s plan was to see Zabriskie Point and Dante’s View before heading to Badwater and Artists Palette, then carrying onto Shoshone to get to Vegas. When checking out I picked up the daily newsletter, and saw that the road from Badwater to Shoshone was closed – again due to the October 2015 storms. So our plans were reversed a little. The newsletter also said that Tioga Pass was opened today!!!

At Badwater you could actually walk out into the basin, but we decided against it as it was beginning to heat up.

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Artist’s Drive is a one way system, and covered some amazing views and colours – amazingly the blue isn’t copper!

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Zabriskie Point is only just off CA 190, and so is a favourite stop off point.

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But the best was Dante’s View. This is a 20 mile drive (each way) off CA 190, with some very steep climbs. It was jaw dropping pulling into the car park at the top (I can’t remember if there are barriers between the car park and the drop or not!!) and stepping out to see this

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Then it was the short-ish (by our standards so far this trip!) hop to Vegas. We had driven this last year so we knew it wouldn’t be long. It took a bit longer than expected unfortunately though as a nice Highway Patrol man decided to have a little chat with hubby about speed limits … :-O ;-(

After the formalities we hit the road again, but when I went to get the SatNav out of the glovebox it seemed a little wet. So I wiped it down and then realised that all the car paperwork in the glovebox was also wet – it turned out that the sunscreen we had put in there had leaked over everything :-O It did smell nice though ;-)

Unfortunately the sun screen had got into the Sat Nav as well so the screen was getting darker and darker, and then the plastic started to peel off the case as well ....

We managed to find our way to Vegas (after stopping at a CVS in Pahrump for some more sun-screen!) and just as we drove onto the Strip we stopped (due to traffic) just by the Bellagio Fountains where there happened to be a show on - my favourite “Time To Say Goodbye (Con te partire)”

Valet parking at Aria was a doddle and it was off to check in – where the queues were horrendous! I am however currently MLife Gold (mainly from charging everything to the room in 2015 – not from gambling!!) so we were able to use the “Invited Guests” line where we waited for say 10 minutes. Our check in agent was very nice and tried of course to sell us an upgrade. We’ve taken these upgrades at check in before in Vegas if they are less than the on-line price, but this year we weren’t so fussed. We were only in Vegas (for this part of the stay) for three nights, we like the rooms at Aria anyway having stayed here in 2011, and more importantly I had managed to get a room rate of $ 90 (before tax and resort fee) by re-booking each time the rate dropped. This is a definite advantage of booking direct with MLife rather than through third-parties. Being Gold however we did get an upgrade FOC to a Strip view.

After taking everything to the room, it was time for Vegas ritual no 1 – Secret Pizza time at the Cosmo!!! Then Vegas ritual no 2 – Lemondrop time!! Finally Vegas ritual no 3 – buy bus tickets! These are a real bargain - $ 20 each for three days meant that we could go up and down the strip, up and down to both Outlet Malls, and could even use them to go off strip (not that we did). I would really recommend them if visiting Vegas!

Finally, it was mini V-Flyer social time over at the Wynn to meet the esteemed Bretty and TGO. We met at Parasol Down – my favourite bar in Vegas where the traditional Wynncore White Cosmo was waiting – well I had to check that it was still ok didn’t I????? It was great to meet Bretty and TGO and we hope to meet up again as we don’t live too far from each other.

Day’s 7 & 8

Day 7 started off in the Aria Pool to chill after all the driving. It was quite warm in the sun but we managed to find some loungers in the shade of the trees which was nice and relaxing. Service was ok here but not brilliant so I obviously didn’t tip enough on our first order! In 2011 there were three pools available plus the Liquid party pool. Now one of the three pools is exclusive to Sky Suites so it was crowded down by the pools. Space was also restricted by a number of loungers being reserved by pre-payment – a new Vegas cash spinner for the casinos. I also spotted for the first time in Vegas water coolers available for all to use – this is a good thing seeing as it was getting hot.

After chillaxing a bit it was time for Vegas ritual no 4 – Outlet Mall time! A hint here is to register as a VIP with the malls, print off the voucher, and then you get a booklet when at the mall that will give further discounts. As with all Outlets, you can’t go looking for a specific thing, as the stock is so variable. We did manage to get a Huff five panel hat and some Vans for our boys, but then the credit card stopped working! Back at Aria we managed to call Halifax and get the card un-blocked. For information the shops seem to use a mixture of swiping, swipe & sign, and chip & PIN!

Day 8 was spent back at the Mall now the card was unblocked. In the evening I had booked the dusk tour of the Neon Boneyard – I would again recommend this, it costs a little more to go in the evening but some of the signs are then illuminated (not working but lit up although there are some were fully restored).

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If we go again and are in Vegas for a longer time I would get the joint ticket for the Mob Museum, which also gets good reviews! We used Uber to get there at a cost of $ 17 in surge pricing, but caught a regular cab back which cost $ 30 – so Uber is really worth it in Vegas!!!

Then, a personal highlight, a cousin reunion! Through Facebook it turned out that my younger cousin would be in Vegas the same time as we were – we hadn’t seen each other since my wedding 26 years ago!!! So we arranged to meet up at Chandelier Bar at Cosmo, where we had a brilliant time and she won $ 500 on the slots :-D We left her and her husband at 2.30 am when they had to be at the airport at 5.00 am!

Day 9

So it was time to say goodbye to Aria. Hubby and I really like this Vegas hotel – it’s a fairly central Strip location but being just a little back from the Strip and not having any obvious theme it doesn’t tend to attract the tourist foot traffic like Bellagio, Caesar’s etc do. Even though it’s classed as five stars it is also really inexpensive – as I mentioned earlier our room rate was $ 90 per night before tax and resort tax. The rooms are nicely appointed and have a tablet to control the lights, curtains (sorry – drapes) etc. The bathrooms are big but have the bath behind the shower tray?? Finally – the beds and pillows are sooo comfortable – on our first stay in 2011 we bought the pillows and did again this trip!

There was a short delay whilst our car was bought round to valet - with hindsight we should have used the “Call” facility and telephoned from our room rather than going and waiting at the valet desk. Then it was off to Hertz at the Rental Car depot at the airport to try and sort the fried SatNav out! Fortunately they accepted that Death Valley had toasted it and just swapped the units over. It was only when we were in the car and fired it up that we realised it was in French! School girl CSE French rapidly remembered we re-set it to English and we were off to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

We knew this was going to be a long drive, maps saying around 280 miles. Our route was US 93 to Kingman, then I 40 and US 180. We found the first part of the drive (US 93) to be really difficult – it’s a long, straight, flat road with few rest stops – and admittedly we’d been up late the night before. From Kingsman the I 40 was much easier as it was more interesting to drive, having curves and hills to keep you focused. We pulled off onto the old Route 66 to have lunch at Seligman – this is the town that the Disney film “Cars” is allegedly based on. We had something fairly substantial at Westside Lilo’s Cafe which hit the spot and was reasonably priced.

From there it didn’t seem a long drive to the Grand Canyon Village, although be warned the US 180 is another straight road and is also single carriageway. It’s a road where it’s compulsory to have headlights on in daylight – which I guess is to try and reduce the number of overtaking collisions.

I had originally booked the Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire Inn at Tusayan as when we first started looking there was no room at Grand Canyon Village itself. However two weeks before we flew I managed to find a room at Yavapai Lodge, which was actually cheaper as well as saving the time to drive into and out of the park each day! So it’s not just G’s that it’s worth keep checking for ;-)

The drive into the Village itself is well signposted, but you have to go through a check point first and pay the $ 30 fee. There is an $ 80 pass that covered all the National Parks, but as we had been given a ticket to Yosemite it wasn’t worth us buying the pass, although we had planned to!

By this time it was getting towards 6.00 pm and sun set was at around 7.30 pm, so we headed off to use the free transit. These are buses which run frequently around various routes, full details where in the guide handed out when entering the park.

Our choice for sunset was Hopi Point, so we used the red Hermits Rest bus to get there. This is a very popular viewing point but we managed to find a spot to settle down whilst we waited.

Words cannot describe this experience, it truly is amazing to see the sun set and the Canyon change colour. Where we managed to stop there was nobody else there so we could take in the silence.

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Day 10

Our room at the Lodge was clean and comfortable, being in the recently re-fitted East rooms. The Lodge itself is not on the rim (despite what some adverts etc say) and is a good twenty minute walk to Bright Angel Lodge and the El Tovar Hotel (if you have little legs like mine). The various rooms are also very spread out in small two storey blocks. However the buses are very frequent.

There is a cafeteria on site as well as the Market, but we still had supplies from CVS left! We then caught the bus up to Hermits Rest, getting off at each stop. We decided against the original plan to catch the Orange bus to Yaki Point, as we knew we had the long drive back to Vegas! We didn’t stop on the way back and did find the drive easier today for some reason .....

Our second Vegas hotel was the Mirage for two nights. We chose this for two reasons – despite this being our fifth/sixth trip to Vegas we’d never seen the volcano in action, and also because of the price. There was obviously something happening in Vegas this week because our room at Mirage cost $ 200 a night before tax and resort fee compared with Aria the week before! It turns out the Billboard Awards were on and there were two conventions with 44k attendees between them :-O So it pays to check the calendars if planning a trip to Vegas!

To be honest I wasn’t impressed with Mirage – the rooms themselves were large but the bathrooms were TINY! The shower was over the bath rather than being separate and there was only one sink. Perhaps I was expecting too much after staying at Aria and last year at Bellagio. But who spends much time in their room in Vegas ;-) :cool:

So we finally managed to see the volcano

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before hitting the penny slots, and not winning ;-( I really didn’t take to the casino here – the slots appeared to be quite old and they didn’t give me anything – at Aria I had managed to get $ 20 to last three nights but here $ 20 was gone in five minutes! Also at Aria the cocktail waitresses would bring full size drinks, but here at Mirage they were tiny!

Day 11

Our last full day in Vegas meant it was time to hit the pool before a bit of window shopping. The Mirage pool is very nice but apparently it does get very busy. We went for a walk through the Forum Shops and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory – where hubby chose a Newcastle Brown Ale as his drink of choice!

That evening we had tickets to “Love” – using MyVegas points to buy them so gratis :D

As I said in my outgoing trip report, this is a Cirque de Soleil show definitely worth seeing – I would pay to see it again. There is no real story flowing throughout the show, but each individual song is dramatized through the dancing, acrobatics and flying! The roller skates are jaw dropping but my favourite part was “Yesterday”. It bought a tear to my eye. I’d recommend seats in the 200 blocks, so you are above the stage so can fully see stage and over-head action without getting a crick in your neck!

One final update for future Vegas stays – MGM Properties have now introduced (from 6th June 2016) parking fees for all their strip properties, and what MGM starts the others will potentially follow :-(

Day 12

Today it was time to head back to LA. We checked out via the TV (having managed to get $ 30 off our bill through my MLife play), picked up the car from valet and headed off on the mammoth five hour drive.

Both hubby and I really didn’t like this drive – four lane highways, lorries that were not speed restricted unless on hills or in roadworks so they too were barrelling along at 75 mph, under taking, overtaking …… But enough said – we arrived safely in LA and found our hotel easily.

Today we were staying at the Hotel Beverly Terrace. This is a small boutique hotel and it was lovely! Our room was “compact” and the bathroom even smaller than at the Mirage :-O but it was centrally located just off Santa Monica Boulevard, offered complimentary breakfast and had an on-site restaurant – Café Amici. We walked down Melrose doing a bit of window shopping before heading back and eating at the hotel. And it was a gorgeous Italian meal too! We then relaxed on the roof top terrace watching the sprawling lights of LA.

Day 13

So time to head home. Not much packing to be done – thanks to the wonderful packing cubes! We thought we’d head off to a vantage point to see the Hollywood Sign, but got distracted by being next to an RTA that hubby decided he’d be a witness to.

I managed to persuade hubby to drive down Rodeo Drive – but we didn’t find a car parking space ;-( so we ended up at Santa Monica beach where we strolled for half an hour or so, before heading back to the airport.

http://v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=293145


Conclusion

Would we do it again? Heck yes – hubby has already started a new spreadsheet! The plan is to fly into/out of LAX/SFO (preferably LAX), spend two or three days there, three days on the Pacific Coast, two or three days in Carmel including a wine tour, before flying to LAS for five or six nights.

We enjoyed Yosemite, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon very much, but think we want to keep those as “once in a lifetime” memories, unless we can get fit enough to do some of the hikes! South Lake Tahoe looked beautiful but it was out of season so we’d need to time a proper stay there – rather than it just being a stop on the way round Yosemite. We didn’t have time or energy to explore in Los Angeles and so that is on my wish list.

We also wouldn’t go with a Adrenaline car again – yes it was fun (I still can’t get the Dukes of Hazzard theme out of my head whenever I think about the General ;-)) but next time probably an SUV would do.

I’m sorry again for rambling on so much, but I wanted to say THANK YOU again for all your help with planning this trip, and hopefully others may find some information useful for their future trips.

Thank you for reading!

Edited to correct links to photos
#923098 by Karen w
25 Jun 2016, 22:45
Great TR, thanks, we are off on a California road trip in August, albeit a different route and starting in Chicago, with California Zephyr to SF. Which of the San Simeon hotels did you stay in?
#923099 by ScoobySu
25 Jun 2016, 23:19
Hi Karen

We stayed at The Morgan - with hindsight I'd rather have paid the extra and stayed in Cambria. Besides the hotel being tired & the breakfast poor there was very little to do after the Hearst Castle tour around the hotel (the Best Western was next door) so it was a very quiet night for us!

For the next trip we are thinking of staying at Carmel, Ragged Point & Santa Barbara.

ScoobySu
#923100 by buns
26 Jun 2016, 06:14
ScoobySu

Thanks for sharing this epic journey with us - something that is not for the faint hearted, but from your pics ultimately enjoyable and worthwhile.

I think I am one of those who would always want to to one of those trips into the interior (having done the Pacific Coast Highway) but will never get around to it.

Thanks once again

buns
#923102 by etk
26 Jun 2016, 07:56
What an amazing trip report! It sounds like you had a really great time and saw so much of one of my favourite places on this planet.

We did a similar strip last summer (into Vegas, out of SF via Death Valley and mammoth lakes), it was the best holiday I've ever been on - not least because we got engaged while in Vegas!

Thanks so much for sharing all of that, it's brought a lot of memories back :)
#923104 by Karen w
26 Jun 2016, 08:13
ScoobySu wrote:Hi Karen

We stayed at The Morgan - with hindsight I'd rather have paid the extra and stayed in Cambria. Besides the hotel being tired & the breakfast poor there was very little to do after the Hearst Castle tour around the hotel (the Best Western was next door) so it was a very quiet night for us!

For the next trip we are thinking of staying at Carmel, Ragged Point & Santa Barbara.

ScoobySu

Thanks Su, we are driving down from Santa Cruz at that point and its Monterey car week, so hotel prices are sky high/ or booked up way in advance so we had to opt for a longer drive. Hearst castle sounds good though.
#923107 by Virgin AU Flyer
26 Jun 2016, 09:35
Thanks for the great trip report Scooby Soo. Very comprehensive and detailed and a great read.

I've had the same experiences at the fuel pumps. often they can take a scan inside to where above what you think you will need, then fill up and the receipt then comes out of the pump machine with a charge for just what you have spent.
#923116 by Hev60
26 Jun 2016, 16:08
Wow - firstly for posting such a comprehensive & interesting trip report and secondly for having the stamina to survive such an awesome trip. The miles you covered and the places you've seen made me tired just reading about it. That was one heck of a road trip in such a short while. That distance from Carmel to Yosemite in around half a day was amazing!

Loved seeing your photographs from along the Big Sur and so pleased you saw those beautiful views in sunshine, unlike our horrid weather in 2015. Some of your accommodations looked a bit rustic!

Your initial issues with the car hire could have got you off on a bad start but glad you overcame them and also sorted out the 'pushy' salesmen (they must think us Brits are so gullible >-( ) We are renting from Hertz next March and are picking an SUV up from the LAX Marriott, very handy using their lobby location at the Marriott after an overnight stay.

Note you are already planning the next west coast trip. I would certainly fly into LAX, drive up the coast to San Francisco for your return flight back to the uk. I'd also fly return SFO to Las Vegas. The domestic US fares are very competative, especially if you don't need to fly at weekends. We've got a flight from San Diego to SFO for around £75 (although it would cost a bit more now due to the falling £ :-( ).

I read you are thinking of staying in Carmel on your next trip. Lovely quaint little town with lots of fantastic restaurants and bars but they have the motto there - 'early rise and early to bed'. When we stayed in the town, we noted it was virtually empty after 10pm. However Monterry is only a short drive away and that is probably more 'lively' in the evenings. I still love Carmel though. Anyway, happy planning and keep an eye out to pounce on those G's when your dates appear. Hev
#923193 by ScoobySu
28 Jun 2016, 20:47
Thank you for all your kind words :blush:

@Buns - I never thought I'd enjoy a road trip (being a relax as hard as you like type as another holiday company says) but it was really good - I'd recommend it - and of course if you fly into LAX or SFO you'd be able to get your Dreamliner flight as well!

@etk - congratulations on your engagement ;-)

@Karen w - yes Hearst Castle was an adventure!

@Dick D - Thank you

@Virgin AU Flyer - you're right about the fuel pumps mainly charging what you actually take, but we did have one where I had to go and get a $ 10 refund

@Hev60 - Thank you - it was your's and MrsW's reports from last year that convinced us to try it, and I've already got some G's :-D :cool:
#923198 by Bretty
28 Jun 2016, 23:35
Wow, what an awesome trip. I've been looking at the topic for days but only just got the time to read and digest it. Great photos too that really bring the trio to life. Thanks for sharing that excellent, but gruelling, trip.

It's not for me, too much driving involved but you seemed to have a great time.
It's also a reminder that I've got two trip reports still to write.
#923260 by JudyW
01 Jul 2016, 22:13
I'm new to this site and so pleased I found it! Your road trip blog is really useful and full of tips. Hubby and I are off to CA in Nov for our 25th. 20 days of driving..... might result in a divorce :-D but I'm full of optimism for an enjoyable holiday with lots of experiences. So, next step is to Google your routes and accommodation. Thank you :D
#923282 by mrsw
02 Jul 2016, 23:59
What an amazing trip report Scoobysu! Lovely photos, too. (Sorry for the delay in commenting also - I first saw this on my phone when I was in Chicago and thought it deserved my full attention so have only just got round to it).

It has really brought back lovely memories for me, and I'm impressed by how much driving you guys managed!

A few random thoughts:
1) I like the pancake machines at HIX, too. It's pretty magical;
2) Car hire companies are not fun to deal with...
3) Completely agree with your comments on the Mirage;
4) I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to say goodbye to $20 in less than 5 mins at the Mirage casino;
5) Good job your sun screen spillage happened after Yosemite! Imagine the excitement it would've caused the bears otherwise ;-)

Thanks very much for sharing the trip. It sounded like an epic trip.
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