Need some info please.........new to this

Hi will be travelling from Australia to L A....L A to Seattle, Seattle to L A and then road trip from L A to Las Vegas. I need some info on tourist attractions between LA and Las Vegas, we have 7 days to kill before getting to Las Vegas. My husband would love to do the airplane graveyard along the way and then of course Grand Canyon Hover Dam what else is there to see and how long will it take us to do the drive? Are the roads safe in good condition and what sort of car do you think one would need to travel this route. Very excited

Bubsie

Hi Bubsie,

You will find that in North America, as a rule, the roads will be of a standard to which you are used, if not better. Rarely do you chance upon an unmade or gravel road. An ordinary sedan will do you fine. Choose the size which will make you comfortable. You will find that they are all automatic and all have cruise control.

You don't say what time of the year this trip will take place. None-the-less, I would suggest that you get a map of the area, and check out what there is which interests you. (Computer maps just aren't the same.) One of the other members will no doubt give more specific instructions about the aeroplane graveyard. I have only seen it from a distance. But I would urge you to consider Death Valley as a destination. It is an incredible place, and like nothing you will ever see at home.

Lifey in Melbourne

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'm a little confused by your plans. Instead of doubling back from Seattle to LA and then heading north once again to Vegas, why don't you just drive directly from LA to Seattle to Vegas?

The Grand Canyon could be included on a trip between LA and Vegas, but the Canyon actually about 250 miles east of Vegas. Basically, its a full 8+ hour day drive from LA to the Canyon, and then another 5-6 hour drive back to Vegas. For comparison, the drive direct from LA to Vegas on I-15 is about 5 hours.

But really, we're kind of left guessing what might work best for your. What have you already got planned? Where are you visiting on your trip to/from Seattle? How much time do you have for your total trip?

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

There are many options available to you and some of them can be seen here plus you will find plenty more ideas throughout the forums.

It reads as though you are flying to Seattle and back to LA and if this is the case you wouldn't have been along the PCH coastal route between LA and SF which is a very scenic coastal drive. Although heading North, from SF it is popular to head to Yosemite NP [a real gem] and across the Sierra mountains on Tioga pass [CA120] to the 395 through Death valley on 190. To do this and get to Grand canyon might be a bit much with 7 days to spare but it will give you some ideas to work with.

The time of year could make a difference as the Tioga pass is closed due to snow from Oct/Nov to May/June depending on conditios.

There are several aircraft boneyards in the California and Arizona deserts. The only one that has public access to storage/scrap areas is Davis-Monthan, and it's only by weekly tour. If you are thinking of the one at Mojave, you can drive around the place and get a pretty decent view.

Thanks No Worries,

Trip will be around the July August, Will look Death Valley up

[oops called you no worries, that is funny Lifey]

Hi there, yes I am a little confused myself :) because we have only 16days, 4 of which will be for conference in Las Vegas, and we have a school friend that we have not seen in years in Seattle that we want to see. So will be flying LA to Seattle Seattle to LA LA to Tuscon and then drive to Las Vegas ??????????

Hi Bubsie,

I think you need to settle on what your destination will be for your road trip to begin. I think it's logical to start your road trip from LA rather than fly to Tuscon from LA. [unless there is a particular reason for doing so.] The other option that makes sense to me is to fly direct from Seattle to Vegas and do a loop trip from there before your conference or if your dates are not fixed around the conference yet, why not fly Seattle to Vegas and attend your conference and then take your 7 day road trip finishing in LA from where you fly out.

[ Mmm, I have just noticed you might be flying out from Vegas, if that is the case I would fly Seattle to Vegas and do a 7 day trip starting and finishing there.

Have a look around the forums with a good map to hand and see what appeals to you and where you would like to go and when you have a clearer picture we can help put those pieces together.

[Note, I cleaned the thread up a to make it easier to follow.]

Hi Southwest Dave,

It looks like the go is 10 days to travel around before we hit Las Vegas, 4 days there then fly out to Seattle, 4 days there and fly back to Australia. We will be flying to LA so 10 day trip starts from there. Now we would love to see the Grand canyon, hoover dam the airplane boneyard, wherever that is. We have some friends in Mesa, so thought we could combine that into the travel...What do you think?

Bubsie

Sounds great !

Now you just have to decide how to spend those 10 days. On the way to Mesa you could visit Palm Springs and Joshua tree NP as a couple of options or San Diego might appeal. From Mesa you could head to the Grand canyon South rim via Sedona. Now depending on how much time you want to spend in each place that might appeal before GC, you could either head to Vegas on I 40 [a possible detour onto part of route 66 through Seligman] to Kingman and head up 93 to the Hoover dam, or you could leave GC by the East entrance on 64 [Desert view drive that has lots of great views] and head towards Page on 89 and then take 9 on the Mt Carmel Highway to the wonderful NP of Zion before heading to Vegas on I 15.

These are just a couple of many options you could enjoy so I would get that map out do a little research through the RTA pages and search function and see what you come up with. After doing so if you need some help to refine your trip I am sure we can help.

There are two boneyards worth visiting - a civilian one at Mojave and a military one at Davis-Monthan. The Mojave boneyard is at the junction of CA-14 and CA-58 north of LA - a logical stop between LA and LV. The only public access is to the flight nine, the only way to see the storage areas is to drive around the complex on the perimeter roads and look through the fence. Davis-Monthan is outside of Tucson off I-10. The views are quite limited - from outside you have to climb and walk berms to see anything. There is a museum onsite that's open to the public, and they offer bus tours that drive through the storage areas. You are not allowed to leave the bus. Being an active military facility, security is tight.