Chicago-LA Summer 24

Just realised where Laguna Seca is… happy with that little detour now!!

We were really disappointed to miss out on the coast road last year as I'd done it years ago and really wanted the kids to enjoy the drive now they were with us. We planned to try again this year and added three days to our upcoming trip and flew to San Francisco rather than Las Vegas in order to be able to do it this year. No such luck and we had to re-plan a little. Instead we will take the coast road from San Francisco through Half Moon Bay area down to Monterey and then cut inland to Kings Canyon and Sequoia before picking up as planned at Death Valley. It is indeed a shame to miss out on that section but not the end of the world given the amount of other spectacle we will see along the way... just would have liked to have had a little more time with the coastal air in our lungs. If you've not driven the route before you can drive south for a little way from Monterey and, likewise, north from San Simeon a fair way. You just can't drive all the way through and, in many ways, the reduced traffic along the route is quite a bonus and the opportunity to see the route from both directions could be considered a positive.

Monterey is a great place to visit and the perfect place for whale watching if you'd like to do that. Not been to the aquarium there (far too expensive to justify) but people rave about it so worth consideration. As you say Laguna Seca is just inland from there too and worth a visit if your trip coincides with a raceday. I went there some years ago for the historic and that was a really enjoyable trip. Last summer we were in Monterey in the week leading up to the same event and, whilst this made the hotels crazy expensive, there was a lot going on in town. I get the impression that there often is a lot of events going on there.

What dates are you in Grand Canyon NP by the way?

South Rim - PM on 8 Aug, and we have a plane ride/hummer trip booked. Staying at the GC Plaza. Then we are headed to Page the next day, but hit North Rim Lodge on 10 Aug.

Ah, we'll miss you by a day! We're staying at Maswik Lodge on 6th and 7th and then heading north (sadly not to Page but straight to Monument Valley) on the 8th. Have a great trip!

Just looked that up - looks a decent place. We have bagged a cabin at The View MV on 6 Aug.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned previously, but just outside the East entrance of the Grand canyon (Desert view drive) on US89 between GC and MV is the Cameron Trading post. If you have a little spare time, the shops are quite interesting, or if you're wanting a place to eat. Who knows, you might bump into each other!

Thanks for the heads up - these little nuggets are awesome. Already starting to think of the next trip and have not even got on the plane for this one yet. Looking at that TP on Google maps - another RV on the road. That is definitely on the agenda next time!!

Only a couple days to go and hopefully the airports will be back to normal by Tuesday!
Blog here if you wish to follow!

Hope that everything goes smoothly for you.
Enjoy your trip!