Hi,

Thanks for such a great forum with wealth of information on various road trips. I read couple of threads and was really amazed on the depth of knowledge you guys possess and the experience you have gathered so far. I have visited several places in the last 2 years i have been here, but they were mostly conducted sight-seeing,hotels,cities. I have been very interested on a roadtrip ever since, but did not have the courage or strength to. Please note, i will be doing the trip alone as it has been very difficult to find likeminded persons (bachelors) in my community.

I am taking off days on 22nd and 23rd and intend to utilize the long weekend. I am ok with leaving early on May 21st. Fact that i own a age-old 93 Civic; i want to take the cheapest rental car available [like a Kia Rio or Hyundai Accent, dont mind even if its manual too].

I live at San Jose, and I initially planned from San Jose to Fresno, take H-180, Kings Canyon, Generals Highway, Sequoia National Park, 395, 190/Death Valley, Mojave. I think this will be insane for a first time roadtripper and I will end up not enjoying anything.

I am intending to cut short, but am clueless as to what will be best suitable for me. Wanted to do some small hikes/treks [2-5 miles] at Kings Canyon and/or Sequoia.

My key motive is to get hang of a a road trip, understand the difficulties, enjoy nature, enjoy driving, to the most important, some hilly roads and desert stretches.

Please advise.

And, thanks a lot for all the information available on this forum.

- Abhijit