Andys 40th birthday road trip

Hi Guys

I am looking for some assistance in planning a holiday of a life time for my wife, 10 year old son and myself. As the title suggests its for my 40th birthday and as a family we have booked an RV from El Monte in Log Angeles and are planning a circular trip taking in the following places and sights.
Los Angeles - Santa Barbara
Big Sur, Carmel, Monterey
Santa Cruz and beaches
San Francisco for 2 days
Yosemite or Lake Tahoe or both 2 days
Death Valley
Las Vegas 2 days
Palm Springs / Dana point
LA

We have the RV for a total of 13 nights

Now the hard work really starts and this is where I need everyone's help.

We are RV virgins and really haven't got a clue where to start when planning our road trip, already we have seen that all the Campgrounds at Yosemite are fully booked, so could do with advice regarding first come first serve campgrounds. Could also do with advice about rough mileage to cover each day.

I've no doubt that this trip has been done a million times, so if anyone can signpost me to a good road plan and maps that would be great.

The above is just a starting point - your help is needed.

Welcome!

I'd recommend you reverse the direction of your trip - that way the scenic pullouts on the coast highway will be on your side of the road (we drive on the RIGHT side).

I would order a Rand McNally road atlas for your planning, I prefer the Large Format as it's spiral bound. Supplement this with electronic devices. We have a Map Center (green toolbar at top) to help you with planning. Google Maps can help you with drive times, but add at least 20% to its calculations.

Hello and welcome to RTA !

Reversing your trip order is a good idea and even moreso in an RV where it is trickier to pull out across traffic with a limited rear view.

It's most likely that the RV company will not let you cross Death valley in the summer months and if you did so it would be at your own expense if anything went wrong. Check your terms and conditions carefully.

You might get lucky with an RV site cancellation in the NP's, but there are limited RV sites and the NP's are very popular. If you have no luck you could consider booking one [or two] outside of the park. There are a couple of options near Mono Lake to the east of the park and some to the west such as Yosemite Pines in Groveland. One night on each side could work well, for example if you come from LV stop in Mammoth Lakes or Lee Vining and then enter the park next day over Tioga Pass [CA120] and visit the valley and then stay out the other side with the possibility of re-visiting other areas of the park [Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove] the next morning before heading to SF. Yosemite is quite amazing and I would not miss it for the world !

You would have time, if you wished, to visit the Grand canyon NP [south rim] which you could head towards from LA, spend a night [or 2] and head back to Vegas, Yosemite, SF and down the coast. You can break the journey to GC up with a stop in Palm Springs, Lake Havasu or Kingman and visit Joshua Tree NP

That's great RT Guru, never even considered reversing the route, it makes great sense.
Thanks

Thanks Southwest Dave
The more I read the more I feel like a novice.
I must admit that I am starting to panic over this holiday which is wrong as it should be enjoyable.

I have bought dozens of books and feel over loaded with information.

My biggest issue is not knowing how long to plan to stay in each place.
All this aside I have already decided to reroute in the opposite direct and rethink staying in the Yosemite NP's.

Keep the information coming guys....

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I have bought dozens of books and feel over loaded with information.

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Knowledge is not a burden to carry. ;-) It's the same for most of us when planning, you will never get to see it all in a single trip, so it's a case of prioritising what's most appealing to your tastes, then you can go back another day to visit those places you can't this time around.

Yosemite is a simply amazing place and there are surrounding campgrounds, but I would recommend to start looking for available sites.

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My biggest issue is not knowing how long to plan to stay in each place.

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Again this comes down to what holds the most appeal to you personally. We love to travel with an RV and it's real 'strengths' are when out in the National parks and natural wonders which is what they really are designed for and are not so friendly around the City. City parks are also limited and you might want to book for peace of mind, I would be looking for one with good public transport links into the city in San Fran. In Vegas you have Circus Circus RV park located on the Strip which is more like a parking lot but convenient, or you have the Oasis RV resort with all the 'bells and whistles' but is south of the Strip.

Once you have worked out the basics of your itinerary we can help to 'fine tune' it and make suggestions.

Don't panic too much. I enjoy planning the trip as it allows me to look forward to it long before it arrives. I find some of our most enjoyable trips are the ones where we didn't see everything and want to return one day such as NYC, D.C., and cross country on Route 66. Your trip sounds amazing. Have you thought about what you want to do in Vegas for two days with a 10 year old? I agree with Southwest Dave and try to go see the Grand Canyon. It was an amazing place. Our twin boys (13 at the time) loved it.

You'll have a great trip. Everything will be an experience not just the "major tourist destinations." I'm sympathetic because I always hit a point in planning when I feel overloaded but know I move beyond that point. I'm sure your 10 year old will have some "wishes" too. Happy Birthday.

I'll echo the don't panic messages above.

Just remember, not every day of the trip needs to be planned to the 'N'th degree. It's rather refreshing to have some flexible time / days to enjoy those unexpected gems which may catch your attention along the road. Gems which none of us would think to mention, but which just may be the very thing to spark your, and your family's interest.

Relax.

Lifey

Hi Southwest Dave

Thanks for the reassuring words - the planning is currently full steam ahead, so your offer of 'fine tuning' will be gratefully received in the near future.

Cheers
Andy

Thanks Wec67

I was planning on booking a flight from Vegas to one of the quieter, more remote areas of Grand Canyon for a day sight seeing and watching the sun set as a family. Any recommendations grateful taken on board.

Thanks CAnative

Yes I Should allow Ethan to build some wishes into the trip. If he gets his way he'll have us climbing El Capitain

Flying to the grand canyon and looking for a remote part of the canyon is a contradiction. If you want remote, then id look to the north rim, but there is not air service there. The south rim is the only part of the national park serviced by an airport just outside the park. Most helicopter tour from vegas go to the west rim, which isn't part of the national park and doesn't have the same famous views as the national park.

There are many locations to view sunset along the south rim and different travel guides list different favorites. I don't recall as many viewing locations along north rim (from a long-ago trip) but there are fewer people.

I would certainly consider driving to the South rim and spend a night there to make it an unforgetable experience. I would plan on visiting it by road in between LA and Vegas rather than going to Vegas to GC and back to Vegas.

Thanks again Dave

Just looked at your photo album with your pics from South Rim, ticks all our boxes. Any recommendation for a campsite??

Just sent the evening with a friend who has taught me the fine art of Google Maps and plotting routes.

Believe it or not I am starting to look forward to work finishing each day so I can get back to planning our trip.

Cheers mate.

At the south rim and near to the village you have the choice of Mather Campground where we stayed or the Trailer village. Mather has no hook ups, but you don't really need them for a night or 2 as the RV will have an onboard generator and it's own water supply. Again, both options are extremely popular and booking is essential if not too late already. You do have other options nearby but it's good to be there and be able to walk from your RV to the rim and shuttle bus services.

Our RV trip from SF a few years ago did not include the coast and LA, but this is what we achieved in a similar time frame and might give you a couple of ideas for your trip.

Thanks Guys the planning has now become more a pleasure than a task.

The first stage of my RV holiday now looks like this

Day 1 - flight from UK to Lax
Overnight stay at Sheraton Gateway Hotel
Day 2 - Pickup motor home from El Monte rental approx 12pm, find a supermarket to
stock up and then hit the road to Grand Canyon South Rim.
Overnight and South rim
Day 3 - explore South Rim
Head out to Vegas late afternoon

This is were I need everyone's help again. The drive from LA to GC is showing on google maps to take 7hrs, would you recommend doing the drive in one or spend the night somewhere en route??? If you recommend a night over, any suggestions of where to stay the night with the RV.

Many thanks everyone Andy

Hi Andy.

Sometimes if you speak to the local rental office direct they may let you collect earlier. Even so it could take up to 10 hours from the RV rental place [depending on location] untill the time you get to the GC. It can take an hour to do the paperwork and get shown how to operate the RV and then you have to familiarise yourself with the size of it and cope with LA traffic, get shopping and book into the campground. You might be better off planning to stop on route to take that kind of pressure off and trying to arrange to collect at 10am. You could comfortably get to Kingman, or a little further if you got out of LA at a reasonable time.

Although if you did collect at 10am you could make it to GC, I wouldn't recommend it on your first day with the RV.

Have you got any campgrounds booked yet ? When are you travelling ?

Hi Dave

We are still working out the route as yet, so I haven't booked any campgrounds yet. I looked at both I looked at Mather and it was fully booked.

Any suggestions gratefully received

Cheers
Andy

Its really going to take you at least 8-9 hours to get from LA to the Grand Canyon. That's perfectly possible in one full day on the road, but I think it would be a bit much once you factor the time you're going to need to pick up the RV, get used to driving it, and stock up on supplies.

BTW, I'd recommend focusing on getting out of LA before worrying about groceries, just to reduce your chance of getting caught in traffic. I'd wait until you get someplace like Victorville or Barstow, when you'll probably want a break from the road anyway.

I suspect a good place to stop for the night would be around Kingman, or perhaps you might like to find a good spot along the Colorado River, I don't have any specific recommendations, but you should have plenty of options around Needles, Lake Havasu, or Laughlin.

You might want to buy groceries on the fringes or LA area or even further out to make sure you don't have to deal with late afternoon traffic.

Thanks Michael
For the advice, I will have a look a Needles,lake Havasu or Laughlin for an overnight stop.

Andy

Thanks CAnative
All these nuggets of advice are really starting to help.

Cheers Andy

When you are in Barstow, get off on Exit 183 (CA-247). Turn right. Then take a left on Armory. There's a Stater Bros Market right in that area. Stater Bros is a very reasonable Southern California-based grocery store chain.


Donna

Trader Joe's is not a full-sized grocery store and is not a discount store. It does carry fresh, dried, and frozen food. The chain started in LA area (Pasadena), so you'll see stores in LA region and a few in Las Vegas. There's a store in Westchester on Sepulveda Blvd just north of LAX which is popular with flight crews. On a plane last summer, I was talking to a flight attendant who lived in Vancouver, made 3 trips to LA a week, and shopped at Trader Joe's every trip!

Thanks Donna, i'll pass those details to my wife who can organise the shopping.

Trader Joe's has gone in the little note book as well CAnative, if the flight crew use it, it must be good.

Keep the suggestions rolling in Guys, they are all very much appreciated