West Coast Road Trip

Thanks Lifey,

The first two local firms i checked where way more expensive, but nowi think i found an OK one :). Will find out in a few months :)

I might have asked this before, but about our 4 night stay in LA:

I am getting serious doubts about the hotel i booked (Hollywood City Inn). It has been getting some awfull reviews the last weeks, and luckily we have a free annulation.
I have been checking for another one, but i find it difficult to deceide what might be the best "area" to get a hotel. Of course we will have a car to get around, but we'd like to enjoy our evenings on foot close to the hotel. Alot of hotels have comments beeing "unsafe" at night.

Any suggestions about a good base location to find a hotel?

ty!!

Dimi

Dimi, if you are already getting the willies about the comments, I would search for somewhere else to stay. There are other places around. There's a Days Inn nearby to Universal Studios, around $120/night, just as one thought.


Donna

For a lot less than $120 per night you could both stay at the USA hostel. Right below the Hollywood sign. I highly recommend it.

They have co-ed dorms and private rooms as well. They are right in the middle of all the Hollywood attractions. They organise tours and have a fantastic knowledge base of the local area. Their security is second to none. For all of these reasons you need to book ahead. They seem to be always booked out.

Every night there are outings to somewhere, be it local bars or limosine tours or whatever.

The one thing they do not have is parking. However, there is a parking lot across the street. In 2009 it was $10 for overnight parking. Probably a little more now, but they have a good relationship with the hostel.

It is on Schrader, between Hollywood and Sunset Blvds. Some folk have told me that this is not a safe area, but I have been out walking the streets often, after dark, and not felt intimidated at all. One time another guest and I went to get something to eat around 2.30 am, and felt quite comfortable walking the local streets.

Why not check it out.

Lifey

3 more weeks! Counting down like there is no tomorrow :)

Two small questions:

1) Any chance we could see a NBA game? I didnt know the season doesn't start before end of October... Do they play pre-season friendlies or something similar that we could attend?

2) What would u suggest for some outlet-shopping in LA?

thanks!

Dimi

If you're still planning to fly back to Brussels on 4 October, you'll just miss the start of the NBA pre-season which is scheduled to begin on.... 5 October! In Istanbul! And the college schedule starts significantly later than that.

You'll have better luck finding outlet shopping in the Los Angeles area. Some of the better locations include: Camarillo Premium Outlets in Camarillo; Citadel Outlets in Commerce; Ontario Mills in Ontario; Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon; Nordstrom Rack at the Howard Hughes Center in Los Angeles.

AZBuck

You're going to be just a little too early to see any NBA games. In fact, it looks like you're going to miss the chance by one day! The Lakers first preseason game is Oct. 5, and other teams in the area all start a couple days after that.

If you are interested in other sports, you'd have your choice of pretty much any of the other big American sports. The NFL and College Football will be in full swing. The Baseball season will be in its final couple of weeks. Hockey will be in Preseason. And if you'd like to see how Americans play what the rest of the world calls football, even the MLS season will be going on.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AZBuck

You'll have better luck finding outlet shopping in the Los Angeles area. Some of the better locations include: Camarillo Premium Outlets in Camarillo; Citadel Outlets in Commerce; Ontario Mills in Ontario; Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon; Nordstrom Rack at the Howard Hughes Center in Los Angeles.

---

The Citadel Outlet center is HUGE. It is very popular as a result!

Thanks guys. The gf will be happy with the Citadel suggestion :). We remember from our previous trip it is smart to take very little lugage, as the shopping is rather cheap!

This might be a bit of a stupid question, but is it likely will have any issues due to the huge forest-fire in Yosemite? I assume i shouldn't worry to much as it is still 3 more weeks before we actually arrive in Yosemite, but it made me wondering. I have a hard time to locate the current "problem" area, is it anywhere close to the Tioga pass or the main tourist region of the parc? Somehow i think the parc is that big i might not even notice there was a fire, even tho it was heartbreaking to read the impact it did...

13 more days :D

Right now, Tioga Pass is open, but you can't get between there and the rest of the park because the Tioga Road is closed from Yosemite Creek to Crane Flat. The NPS site has up to date info and maps of the affected area.

Thanks, i will keep a close eye on that.

Is Silicon Valley worth some our precious time when we drive from Monterey to SF? Or is our limited time better spent in SF?

I personally don't think so - I would take CA-1 up the coast all the way. Silicon Valley isn't particularly scenic or culturally interesting.

OK thanks :)

Hey Guys,

Another small Question.

Planned everything roughly to San Fran (things we really wanna see/do), and now i am up to the NP's. This looks to be a bit harder :P.

My first plan was to drive from San Fran to our campsite (Camp Curry) in Yosemite before starting to explore the park.
Looking a bit more into detail, i was considering taking the San Fran -> Mariposa Grove -> Camp Curry Road. Considering we only have 1 full day (+ 1/2 day arriving & 2/3 day leaving) and we would realy like to see the impressive Sequoia's at least once.

Any Suggestions?
For our full day we are considering to take the Panorama Trail. The day we leave i would try to find something in the direction of Tioga where we can spend the morning/early afternoon before heading to Bishop.

Thanks in advance!

Dimi

This is some "'rough" planning for our time in Yosemite. All feedback is welcome as i find it hard to see of it's managable and if it's the most efficient way. Please note that we plan to maximize our trip, but that we do not see it as a strict scheduale, more as a guideline.

Attachment 3641

Edit:

Blue = Driving
Grey = Attractions/Hikes
Green = Hotel
I noticed we will pass Tunnel View aswel if we take this road, so this might be an extra pus to do it?

I see on your planning sheet that you'll be spending the night in Bishop. The Vagabond is OK, but if you would like a REALLY great lodging choice -- Here is where I stay whenever I travel to Bishop: The Joseph House Inn

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog/...fe_Mud_Pie.jpg

There's lots to see and do in the Bishop area. If the Pie-in-the-Sky Cafe is still open -- I recommend the side trip. The views are outstanding and the freshly-made pie is hard to pass up.

Great post!

The Pie Cafe is a sure visit :). I think we will stick to the Vagabond as we will do not much more then sleep there and it helps our budget :)
Thanks for the advice tho!

Hello Guys,

It won't be a suprise, but i need some advice again :P.

I am trying to figure out how to maximize the Death Valley experience. To give you an idea, we have the night before at Bishop, and obviously plan to leave in the morning for Death Valley. There we will spend the night in the Furnace Creek Ranch. The next day we will head to Bryce Canyon, so we should assume the day before to be the "Death Valley Day".

I assume we should drive to Lone Pine to take the 136/190 to Furnace Creek. However, we are not able to check in to our hotel before 4pm, so should we just drive through and take the scenic route to Badwater, including the Devil's Golf Course and Artist's Drive? Then we could head back to check in the Hotel, and take the other route to Dantes View.

What place would u suggest to experience the fabulous Death Valley Sunsets?

An alternative might be to drive to Furnace Creek through Scotty's Junction? This would make us drive alot more through the NP, so this might be more scenic?

Thanks!

There is heaps to do in Death Valley. The first time I went there I did not know anything about it. I followed each and every signpost I came to and saw some amazing sights. Don't forget the Visitor Centre.

I came in from Beatty, visiting the ghost town of Rhyolite on the way. Along that road I had a Road Runner cross the road in front of me. It is an amazing place. You probably won't make it to your hotel till much later than 4pm.

Lifey

Cool

My gf really wanted to visit a Ghost town, but both Bodie & Virginia City where a big detour. I think i will suprise her by changing the route between Death Valley & Bryce so we pass Rhyolite :). Thanks for the tip!

Virginia City is not a ghost town in any way -- it has some cool historical stuff -- but it is a very live town with thousands of residents.

Mark

oh OK. My guide seems to have it cathegorized under ghost towns :)

Dillema's are popping up every 5 minutes:

Driving from Death Valley to Bryce (1 night stay): Always drive through Zion? We will have a 2 night Zion visit after Bryce, so maybe it is better to take an alternative route to Bryce? Google Maps suggest to drive all the way beyond Dixie National Park, and then through Panguitch to Bryce, but i doubt this is the most scenic.
Is this worth considering? Or the alternative through Dixie? Or take the Zion route anyway?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DasDimi

Driving from Death Valley to Bryce (1 night stay): Always drive through Zion?

---

Zion National Park would be a detour for any route from Death Valley to Bryce. But especially now that you are planning to stop at Rhyolite! By the way, the best time to visit Rhyolite is at sunset or slightly before!

I would just take I-15 through Las Vegas -- take the side trip to Snow Canyon -- and then UT-14 to Panquitch (Red Canyon is great) and then into Bryce. Then you can go south to Zion. Here's a field report to give you an idea of that area. Be sure to stop at Coral Pink Sand Dunes on the way!

Mark

May I suggest that you take UT-148 off UT-14 through Cedar Breaks, than UT-173 on to Panguitch?

Nice, so that would take us through Dixie National Forest. More scenery? If so, it is probably worth the extra 30 mins :)

The scenery through Cedar Breaks is spectacular, and UT-143 (I made a mistake in my last post) is regarded as one of the more scenic roads in Utah.

Hey Guys,

I have been sobbing about the fact i am missing the opportunity to watch an NBA game (i play bball myself), i will miss the game by 5 days :-(.
Anyway, i was considering to watch the Kings instead, then at least i have been in the stadion :-). I noticed (probably cus its pre-season) there are some tickets for $4 (www.ticketcity.com). Those are probably nosebleed seats, but i would go mostly to experience the staples center and the way Americans live the games.

Therefor i wonder:
1. Will the tickets be same price at the center? That way i dont have to feel guilty if we deceide not to go after all
2. Will it be crowded? It's a pre-season, but it would be sad to sit in a empty stadion :-).

ty!

Cool thanks. Yeah i figured it would be the 143. I ajusted my route :-). Thanks for the tip!

What is the game date and in which arena is it?

I'm guessing you're looking at the game against Phoenix on Sept 15th, based on your previous schedule.

You'll almost certainly pay less for a game like this on the secondary market, like the $4 tickets you are looking at. The actual box office price for the cheapest seat is over $30, but there should be no reason to spend anywhere close to that, as I'm sure there will be plenty of season ticket holders looking to get rid of their tickets. If you aren't sure yet if you're going to go, just wait until a day or two before the game, and you'll likely still find plenty of deals. I've never used Ticketcity, but you might also want to check out Stubhub, which is probably the biggest resale site. Stubhub also includes all their fees in the list price, and you can download the tickets instantly, unlike a lot of other sites run by brokers where there can be a lot of extra fees and shipping charges not included in the list price.

Looking at the box score from the Kings preseason opener in 2012 (last year was the lockout), the attendance is listed at 10,500 so it's not going to be a sold out crowd at all, but you shouldn't be looking at an empty arena either.

Hello Michael, glc,

Thank you for your response. 10,500 definitly looks acceptable :-), we should experience some of the atmosphere in the arena.
I think we will only be able to deceide it on the 15th (the matchday), so i hope the Stubhub site will work on the tablet or i can buy secondary tickets at the center (unlikely?)

Anyway, we are leaving on friday, so to everyone who put his precious time into helping me maximizing my trip: A big thank you!

Regards,

Dimi

Stubhub usually keeps tickets available up until about 2 hours before gametime, then the listing closes. If you decide on gameday, I would buy them and then print them at the hotel. You can probably let them scan the barcode right off your phone/tablet, but I like having paper in my hand.

I'd imagine you'll find scalpers outside the arena, but make sure you're up for doing a little bit of haggling if you want a good price. Also make sure the tickets are actually together and in the section of the arena that you think you'll be getting. Of course, this route you're also taking a bit of a gamble that the tickets could be fake, although I'd think that's a pretty low risk for a preseason game.

Stubhub has 2,201 tickets left for that game, starting at $4.95. Stubhub also has a Last Minute Service Center 1.6 miles from the Staples Center.

Hey Guys,

It has been 3 months now since we finnished our road trip, and i would like to thank every single one of you for the help to make it an amazing and unforgetable experience.

The trip exceeded our expectations and wishes, and we had some amazing moments and views.

The parcs where breath-taking, the hockey-game was really fun, the people were so kind, i cannot wait to go back :-).

So, once again - THANK YOU.

Greetz

Dimi

Hi Dimi.

Thanks for dropping by and giving us an update on your trip. Pleased to hear you had a great time and if you would like to share more details about your trip we are always pleased to know more.

Dave.

Hello Dave,

A small summary of our trips sounds like a great idea! It is also a good moment to reflect on the choices we made and to evalulate them :-).

To begin with, i was very pleased with our choice to fly back from another city. I had the feeling this saved us at least a day without missing anything we wanted to see. We rented our car from the following website (i assume i can post links): www.autoeurope.be. I was very pleased with their service and prices. We had no surcharge for a second driver, and when i called them when i noticed a lower price a few months after my reservation, they directly proposed to adjust the price. Through that website, we got a car from Alamo, and everything went smooth. No aggresive sales talk, no cues, smooth start of the trip!

I dont really know how to start the summary, i suppose it's easiest by location :-).

LA: A small (probably the only one) dissapointment. In our eyes, the city didn't really live up to the hype. We loved Universal Studios, although we expected more rides. The beach was cool, but three days was definitly enough. Loved the hockey game tho, thanks alot for the Stubhub advice, was a great evening for little money :).

Coast: Amazing! What a view! It was hard to not stop the car after every turn :-).

Monterey: Very romantic city! I really enjoyed our evening walks through Cannery Row. We went whale watching, which was a nice experience if you forget our sea-sickness :).

SF: Great city! We had our only day of rain here, which spoiled the fun on day 1, but Alcatraz is a real must see, the audio show was amazing. Our bike tour to the bridge was one to never forget, and the America's Cup was going one, which brought a cool atmosphere. The hotel was one of our poorer choices, but at least it was not to expensive. Parking was a real b*tch tho :-/.

Yosemite: I had only one regret: Not to have more time there! That day of rain in San Francisco turned out to be a real gem, as it caused some small waterfalls to turn back to life, like Vernal Falls. The Mariposa Grove was a real cool experience, and the Tioga Road was just breathtaking. We spent 2 nights in the park (Camp Curry). I really liked the setting, but be prepared it gets very chilly at night.

Death Valley: Some very nice views, but i must say we did not regret to limit it to one night. We probably got a 'cold' day with only 84°F, which allowed us to do some walking and even spot a coyote!

Bryce: Here we took a gamble by driving in one day the full distance between Death Valley & Bryce. It was a long drive, but definitly a good choice. I really liked Bryce, even though our Death Valley outfit proved to be a bad choice in Utah :). The next day we spent exploring Bryce, and i must say it was very achievable with only 1 night there!

Zion: My favorite! What a park. I really, really enjoyed it, so we made a good guess in sleeping there 2 nights. Some of my friends find Zion to be too 'moderate' but i disagree. We took a long (barefoot!) walk through the narrows, and the views where really breathtaking. We took some of our most impressive photos during this walk!

Las Vegas: The end of our trip. We knew this city from a previous trip in 2010, and I noticed it was a good plan to finnish here. Having seen most of Las Vegas in 2010, gives you the opportunity to relax and enjoy the last days. We had a great suite in the Elara hotel that we would recommend to anyone.
For my girlfriends birthday i reserved a table in the Stratosphere, suprising her with a kneefall and old-school proposal :-). After all a great way to end an amazing trip. We are planning to wed in 2015, so who knows i'll need your help for the honeymoon in 2015 ;-).

Thanks for reading!

Regards,

Dimitri & Sandy

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and yes, Zion is quite something !

And congratulations to you both, we will look forward to your honeymoon planning. ;-)

Dave.

Wow! What a great trip report. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DasDimi

We took some of our most impressive photos during this walk!

---

We would love to see some.... we love pics. You might like to post them in our Trip Report forum.

Lifey