Help! San Fran on PCH to Laguna taking in Monument Valley UT

Hi,

We are a couple from UK wanting to do a 2 week road trip which encompasses the Pacific Coast Highway ending up at Monument Valley or some other beautiful part of the desert.

1st-8th July - SAN FRAN
9th July- Drive to San Jose (boyfriend is desperate to go to a big waterpark!)
Stay? in San Jose or Santa Cruz?
July 10th - Monterey
July 11th- Big Sur
July 12th - San Luis Obispo (staying at madonna inn. is there much to do here)
July 13th - Santa Barbara
July 14th - Santa Monica
July 15th - Laguna
July 16th Huntington/Laguna
July 17th Drive to Monument Valley UT
July 18th
July 19th Monument Valley (stay somewhere?)
July 20th Zion National Park
July 21st Drive to Vegas
July 22nd Fly home

Phew, now just writing it down I'm exhausted. It feels like we're trying to fit too much in at the moment. Basically our main aims are to definately stay in SF for a week, thats non-negotiable, want to see some beautiful coastline and good beaches, want to stay at the kitchest hotel on the planet, the Madonna inn in SLO, and really would love to get out into the desert and see some great roadside attractions and some breathtaking sights in the desert. Monument Valley looks incredible but its a very long drive and would mean we'd have to fly back from Vegas? We dont really wanna go to Vegas itself. Considered the Grand Canyon but again its a real long trip. The point of going to California in the first place is basically to get a holiday that encompasses as many different terrains and locations as possible. Cities, beaches, forests, deserts. We need a trip that isnt too hectic but still encompasses these things. Please Help!
Thanks, K&D

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I think your outline right now looks ok, but I think there are some things you might consider changing.

First, if you are going to drive all the way out to Monument Valley, then you might as well go to the Grand Canyon, since you'd have to drive right by it to get to MV. Personally, given the choice of doing one or the other, I'd do the Canyon. That's not to say that MV isn't a worthwhile stop, but it is a few extra hours of driving and the GC is just a much larger place.

Considering your desire for diversity, I might consider doing a full loop, where after Vegas, you'd head through Death Valley and Yosemite, which would get you into the forests/mountains that aren't currently really in your plans. You'd probably have to shorten your time on the coast, but I think you could accomplish that, by skipping some of your stops in the LA area, and head east after SLO.

As Michael mentioned, if you head to Monument Valley you will be going right by the GC south rim and could spend the 18th there and then continue to MV. Your trip looks very relaxed at the beginning and a little rushed towards the end, given the miles you will have to cover. As Michael suggested you could take a little time spent on the coast to balance it out a little better, but if you want to keep it relaxed, maybe you should consider the loop, without heading out to MV and Zion and do a smaller loop back to SF. Death valley has an incredible landscape and Yosemite is just amazing and is a place you could easily spend 2 or 3 days !!

I actually don't think you are trying to cram too much in, it's positively relaxed by most road trip 'standards', it's just how you best want to spend your time. With the itineary you have laid out above, I think it would be much better with a day [or two] shifted to the second part of your trip.