2 brits need help!!

[Tiggs444]

My husband and I (we live in Scotland) are doing a road trip in August, we'll be driving from Denver to Vegas and will have 9 days to make the trip. Anyone have any suggestions as regards the best route to take? We like to take our time doing the trip, stopping off at various places along the way, but it seems to us that some routes offer little in the way of accomodation. Please help:)

Carole

[Mark Sedenquist]

My husband and I (we live in Scotland) are doing a road trip in August, we'll be driving from Denver to Vegas and will have 9 days to make the trip. Anyone have any suggestions as regards the best route to take? We like to take our time doing the trip, stopping off at various places along the way,

Good choice on the locale and time. So often, people try and limit this distance to 1-2 days. There is so much to see and do along the way. Nine days is just about perfect.

First, Rocky Mtn National Park -- so easy to spend a couple of days here. From there I would zig-zag back down to Idaho Springs (if you don't mind a slightly faded resort) and check out the steamy sunterranean grotto where Jesse James hung out in the 1800's.

Loveland Pass at nearly 12,000 feet is always a thrill.

With an over-night in the Breckenridge area you could pick up another view from crossing the Hoosier Pass and make your way down to US-24 to US-50 for travel along US-50. I have stayed (be back in a moment)

[Tiggs444]

Hey, thanks for your help so far, having never done this trip before we need all the help we can get. Another question ..... once we get into 'desert country' when we're nearing vegas would it be advisable to book some accomodation in advance? ..... maybe someplace a couple of hours from Vegas. This is maybe a stupid question but I have no idea what the accomodation situation is in this neck of the woods.

Carole

[Robert Schaller]

There is lodging in almost every town, small and large, so it won't be any trouble finding them -- but in the summer season when everyone is on vacation, my advice is to plan ahead and stop each day before it gets too late -- places do tend to fill up early, especially around the tourist hot spots (like Zion, Bryce, etc).

Reservations can be helpful, but they limit your flexibility fairly dramatically. Another possibility is to make reservations at the last minute -- take a look at your day and see where you might be at the end of it -- and see if you can make reservations at THAT point if you cannot be comfortable otherwise. It's a messy way to do it, but it's possible, and might increase your peace-of-mind.

Notwithstanding Mark's good advice, almost any route you choose between these two points is going to be great -- the country between Denver and Las Vegas is a smorgasbord of natural delights. You can't go wrong. Bob