West Coast States 2013

Better late than never i guess. On May the 3rd in 2013 Margaret and i arrived in Los Angeles for our 2nd visit. Arrived at 7am on the friday. We hopped on a shuttle bus and went to Dollar Rental cars. We had booked it through Auto Europe, a broker. Just had to add the roadside insurance on. Saved a few hundred dollars by going through broker. Was advised on a forum not to update the car though as they could then charge you the difference. We hired a Ford Taurus with its big trunk so as to hide all our gear there. We then drove out of town and headed for Barstow stopping on the way at Carl's Jnr for a feed. As you have to have your first night booked when you fly in, we had booked at the Quality Inn in Barstow.
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We left Barstow after a good breakfast and headed for route 66. Dropped own into Kingman and there was a custom car show on in the streets. We had a great time looking at the cars. One part there i went back to the car to get a hat. We lost each other for a while and Margaret walked into a shop and mentioned she had lost her husband. Lady looked straight at her and said "thats a good thing isnt it". hahaha. Ive tried that since but i dont get the same reaction lol.
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Seligman was the next stop for a look. Love all the 50's 60's stuff on display there. Had my photo taken with Marilyn. She didnt say much but that was ok. Went into the hotel there and met Tom who told us some good stories of Roadrunners.

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We dragged ourselves away from Seligman and headed for Williams for the night. Stayed at a cheap motel. Wasnt flash but it was a bed and shower. Looking forward to going to Grand canyon in morning.

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As i have no idea what im doing here as far as uploading photo's ill go and see what happens.

Keithg

Hey Keith, great to read some of your adventures, even after all this time. Looking forward to the rest.

I have sent you some instructions as per the photos - use the third link.

Lifey

Thank you very much for that Lifey. You are a life saver. And thanks again to you for keeping at me to get the report done. :) Ill add some more to it shortly. Have to do something first.
Promise. :)
Keithg

Definitely better late than never Keith ! Already enjoying the report and looking forward to more !

Dave.

Thanks Dave. Im getting coached as i go here. Lifey is being a huge help.

Ok, day 3. We headed out from Williams for Grand Canyon. Oh, one point here. We paid a tip to the waitress the night before at dinner and then they still added 15% on to the credit card. The tip we gave was 20%. I had that fixed but its something to watch out for.

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Just leaving Williams, Arizona.
Off we go and into Grand canyon. We were really looking forward to it after our previous visit. We bought our National pass which this forum advises when visiting a number of national parks. Great idea. Saves a lot of money. We parked our car and hopped on the shuttle bus and off we went. Unfortunately the Canyon had a lot of smoke haze in it from fires near Los Angeles we were told and weather was quite overcast. Still a fantastic place though.

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We caught the bus back from Angels Point and went to Mather Point. Was more interesting but still not good for photo's. I remember last trip when we waited untill after the sun went down. Magnificent. We should have also gone to Yaki Point, something we did last time. Loved it out there. But we didnt. We decided to move on to Desert View in the eastern end of canyon. love it there as well.
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These 5 pics are at Desert View. Last 2 are inside the tower. One is looking from the bottom up through centre. Just wish the weather was better. We decided to move on to Tuba City for the night. We left Desert View and headed out through Cameron and on to Tuba City. Filled up with gas and enjoyed some dinner. Stayed at another Quality Inn and had breakfast at Navajo Restaurant at motel. Had some Navajo fried bread. Was delicious. Blueberry pie was sold out. Just as well maybe lol.

As im a learner here, ill go and do some more later. Have to see if this all goes up ok.

Keithg

We left Tuba City and headed for Monument valley. Weather not good again. Never mind. Still exciting. Hoping to run into the Duke. If the weather had been good, we would have gone for a ride in one of the Navajo trucks. Not sure how much it is but im sure you get to see a lot. No way were we going to take the rental car down the track. People were but i could see lots of damage coming up. We didnt get to meet the Duke. :)

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Monument Valley. Camera gear at the ready.
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Will have to go back one day in better weather for sunrises and sunsets. After taking lots of pics and having another snack, we headed off towards Mexican Hat and Moab. Not far out of Monument Valley we went down what i believe is Forest Gump straight. Correct me if im wrong. We pulled up and looked back towards Monument valley direction. Here is a pic of straight.
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Just be careful if taking a pic from this position as its near a rise in the road. Could end up being road kill. Remember the movie Forest Gump. Think this is the straight where he set off down on foot.

Mexican Hat was next. Here it is. Spectacular scenery out here.
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After a quick stop there, we headed into the pretty town of Moab where we stayed for two nights at a Super 8.
Next installment shortly where we visit Arches National Park.

Keithg

Yep, that's Forrest Gump's straight. On the north (right in that pic) side of the road at the top of the rise there's a gravel turnout that gives you essentially the same view.

That straight was given a title by my mom and dad back in 1967: "Road, road, where does it go?"


Donna

Thanks glc. I thought it was. We were in a turnout on our side but i wanted to stand right in the middle for pic. Not sure now why i didnt go to top of rise and in the middle. Was to excited i think. :)
Keithg

Good title Donna. Looking from this way, you would wonder. :)
Keithg