September Roadtrip: SF to Las Vegas and Beyond

:lol:

I do love a Corvette, and like the Dodge Charger too but I don't think £300-£400 a day fits our budget. I've got about £800 to spend on car hire (and all relevant insurance) for the 3 weeks...

Well plans have moved on.

We've got our flights booked. LHR to SFO on the 9th Sept '09 flying back from LAS on the 30th.

and I've just booked car hire...

We ended up going with a Mid-size SUV (Chevy Equinox or similar) from Alamo. £585 for the 3 weeks and seemingly everything included which is good me thinks.

I'll put up our initial itinerary soon.

The rental companies generally stretch their definitions a bit - to me, an Equinox is a small SUV, not a midsize. A midsize to me would be a Trailblazer and a full size would be a Tahoe or a Suburban.

Possibly, but it'll be more than enough for the two of us and our gear for three weeks.

David, I don't know what Alamo's policy is, but you may find you don't like the SUV, you could well be able to switch it out during the trip. I've used Hertz for four road trips, and have found them fine about swapping cars (four cars in three weeks last year). I've even done this a couple of times for the simple excuse, "I don't like it!" (anyone who's driven a Chevrolet HHR may realise why!). It's a lot easier to do this in-state, but I've had no problems or extra charges out of state, either. A couple of years ago, I got really lucky and switched a horrible Volvo for the only rental a Hertz Local had ready and so happily did the next 2500 miles in a convertible Mustang for the same price. :)

Space is also a consideration, and if you're travelling, you and your gear do expand to fit the given space. A Mustang, for instance, will only take one suitcase in the boot.

Cheers Wizzkitt, from what I've seen of the Equinox it looks like it'll be alright.

Last time I hired a car in the states they just sent us out to the lot and told us to pick. :-)

You shouldn't have too much problem with an Equinox. I did the same trip - San Francisco to Vegas, then Arizona, through Monument Valley, to Colorado, through the Rockies (which was why the HHR was so useless - it was like looking through the slit in a tank!), back through Utah and to SF - last year, and at about the same time of year. Have a brilliant time, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Oregon for me, this year, I think... ;)

How long did your trip take you?

So far we're flying into SF on the 9th, sleeping in Death Valley on the 16th, arriving in vegas on the 17th and staying in Vegas till monday. We then have to be back in Vegas on the 29th for our flight home. and I'd like to do Grand Canyon, Horshoe bend, and as much as the four corners as possible... including the Durango to silverton railway, I'm not sure if this is even going to be viable.....

You are probably being a little optimistic in trying to see all that in the time. I took almost three weeks to do a round trip and ended up chasing my tail and not seeing everything I wanted to. If anything give, forget about the 4 Corners. Other than the novelty of taking a photo of yourself with each hand and foot in a different state, there is absolutely nothing there other than souvenir stands. You might stretch the excitement out to five minutes before you think, "Okay, done this".

Do you intend to do the North or South rim of the Grand Canyon?

Hi David,

There is so much to see and do in the areas you are visiting which offers some of the best and most diverse scenery to be found anywhere.
Between S/F and Death valley Yosemite is a magnificent park that you shouldn't miss.
After Grand canyon and M/V and a "pit stop" at the Four corners you have Mesa Verde and a little further south Canyon De Chelley. As you head up the million dollar highway you will come across the Black canyon of the Gunnison and you could start heading back to Vegas via Moab, Arches N.P. and Bryce canyon and Zion creating a nice loop.

If you want to put up an itinerary we should be able to help you "fine tune" it