Final family holiday?

[Newby Traveller]

Hello again. Right, I went out and got some info and spent two days pouring over a map of the West and reckon I have a plan.
day 1 & 2, Hollywood, Downtown LA & Disney and I'm going to treat us to Mustang
Day 3 I thought about S Diego or maybe just head out to LV thru' Joshua Tree park. [I]Would I be missing anything by not going to SD, not wishing to offend anybody but a city is a city? Right or wrong?
Day 6 Flagstaff via Boulder, Hoover & Jerome for some cowboy stuff.
Day 7/8 Short drive to G Canyon
Day 9/10 Zion & Bryce
11/12 Yosemiti, is it too far to drive that in one day in an RV, should I plan a stop over?
13 Is the southern tip of Lake Tahoe worth a visit?
14/15 S Francisco
16 head down the coast road stopping at either S Maria or S Barbara for a day on the beach before returning the vehicle on day 17
This makes sense on paper but what about in reality?

[UK]

Hi Mark,

My advice to you would be to very carefully weigh up the balance between driving time and time spent out of the RV to see where you are driving to. Especially when you are travelling with kids out west where the distances cannot really be comprehended by somebody from the UK until you've driven them. It is a difficult balance to make because there are so many wonders to see, but to take on too big an intinerary can result in you visiting lots of places but not really seeing any of them.

We had a holiday partly in an RV in the area you are considering which is recounted here.

It surpised me how much slower it was to travel in an RV once you are off the interstate and some of the drives we did took several hours longer than I had planned.

Sorry to be a little negative with my comments compared to others, but I can imagine you ending up on a relentless itinerary driving a bus for hours and hours every day with a frustrated family in the back if you take on too much.

Hope this helps.

UK

[Newby Traveller]

Hi,

Completely agree with you. That's why I thought I'd send the agenda out because it's one thing to plan it out on a map where it all looks easy enough but then its a different ball game behind the wheel of a 30 foot vehicle.

I must admit, I do a lot of driving but I am often outside of the law. Having driven to the south of France a number of times I figured this wouldn't be difficult, just takes longer in such a vehicle. My plan is to spend maybe 3 - 4 hours driving, is my agenda too busy?

[Midwest Michael]

A couple of quick thoughts.

First, with 5 people, a Mustang is not going to be a treat. Even if all of your kids are small, its just a tiny backseat, and its just not enough room for 3 people. I'm guessing that since this is likely your last trip will all of your kids, then at least one or two of them are teens, and that's going to be very uncomfortable. I also don't know that you'd have enough room for 5 people's luggage, even if you pack very light. Even if its just for cruising around LA, I wouldn't recommend it for a family.

With your routing, the one problem would be the possible stop at Lake Tahoe, which would be a place you'd want to stop before Yosemite, if you choose to visit it. Tahoe is east of the Sierras, while the Yosemite Valley is on the west side.

Much of the rest of your plan is ok, although it doesn't really fit your goal of only driving 3-4 hours a day. Nearly all of your drives are quite a bit more than that.

LA to Vegas by itself is about 5 hours, and detouring to Joshua Tree would add several more hours to it.

Bryce to the East Gate of Yosemite (before Tioga Pass) is a 9-10 hour drive. If you are up for a long day on the road, you could travel to Lee Vining, and then actually enter the park the next day. But if you only want to drive 4-5 hours a day, you'd need to spend at least one more night on the road.

SF to LA via the coast is a pretty full 2 day drive. If you only want to drive 4-5 hours a day, or want to spend a lot of time on the beach during this section, then you'd need to spend at least 2 nights/3 days for this drive.

[Newby Traveller]

OK, thanks, obviously I need to rethink the route or add a couple more days. Perhaps skip Lake Tahoe and put an extra night in between Bryce and Yosemite as a starter and stopping off somewhere in between LA & LV.

You are right, eldest lad will be almost 18 on this trip. Loose plan was to get a shuttle bus to the hotel and then the car from a downtown branch, having been to Virginia & N Carolina several times the flights don't get into the US until late am which would be a wasted rental day. Back to the maps again tonight then.........

As for UK's comments, no problem. I need to know how it really is otherwise a holiday of a life time could turn out rather disasterous. Thanks to all who have contributed.

[Southwest Dave]

From the Grand canyon you need to go to Bryce canyon and then to Zion not the other way around. From Zion you could take the ET Highway part of the way towards Tonopah and Lee Vining. I wouldn't go any further than Lee Vining on that day and in actual fact I would recommend Millers Rest just west of Tonopah for somewhere to bunk down for the night.

[Newby Traveller]

Been reviewing the maps again and trying to figure out a place to stay en route between LA & LV, given the comments above I thought I'd be a little less optimistic with distance. I had thought of travelling on the outskirts of Joshua Tree on the 62 but there doesn't appear to be a great deal except 29 Palms which is a town predominently set up for the Marine base I guess? I'm thinking maybe Lake Havasu is a little too far, and in any case I wanted to take the 95 north to Vegas from Vidal Jnctn. Just liked the look of that road!

Anybody got any good spots somewhere in the middle?

Are Clarks & Granite Pass particularly high and windy stretchs of asphalt?

[glc]

29 Palms has a good selection of lodging. There's a lot more to it than just the base.

Not to try to change your routing, but I'd be inclined to go through Joshua Tree and spend the night in 29 Palms, then take Amboy Rd to Amboy, then Kelbaker Rd up into the Mojave Preserve - exiting via Cima or Nipton, then on to LV.

If you just want to sightsee out the windshield, you can actually go from LA through Joshua Tree and the Preserve and make it to LV in one day.

The only really viable lodging options between LA and LV are in Barstow, 29 Palms, Lake Havasu, Needles, and Laughlin/Bullhead City.

[Newby Traveller]

Thanks for the tip. Don't mind people trying to changing my routing, at the moment I'm very fluid and it's precisely the reason why I joined this forum. I thought that road, whilst having delightful scenery, would also eat into the day but it is certainly worth considering.

Has anybody been to Jerome, is it worth a detour? I had thought of going to Flagstaff but given my replanning of time wondered whether from Vegas we should just head toward G Canyon. I think UK Road Warrior got it right about seeing lots of places without seeing them and that's not what I want so I am going to have to be quite disciplined about where we go. But I did quite like the idea of walking up Humprey's Peak (highest point in AZ apparently)

[Southwest Dave]

Hi Mark. I got your PM, but it's much simpler and more beneficial to keep all questions about your trip in the forum.

Hi Dave,

Just re reading your trip report and I have found Benton and Tonopah but not Millers Rest. I assume that's not a town but a watering hole and camp site? Couldn't find it thru' Google either. Which is the nearest town on the "6"?

Millers rest area is about 13 miles west of Tonopah on US6. With stops along the way [Warm Springs/ LittleAle'Inn] it was quite a full, but relaxing day on the road to Zion NP. It's location was ideal for us between Yosemite and Zion and especially as we were 'rollin' in' quite late in the evening. It's popular with bird watchers, but careful when walking across the lawn in the morning, you might get an unexpected shower from the timed sprinklers !

Having driven to the south of France a number of times I figured this wouldn't be difficult, just takes longer in such a vehicle.

The loop you are planning in this 'small corner' of the US you are visiting will be like driving from Lancashire to the south of France and back again [plus some] while trying to see several attractions along the way. Your trip is perfectly doable, you just have to remember how big it is ! Although nowhere near as many road miles, Yosemite NP would cover a ground area almost 70% the size of Lancashire !

I would probably skip SD and head straight to the GC from Vegas, perhaps with a stop at Hoover dam and a possible detour onto route 66 through Seligman on the way. Take an overnight stop on the way to Yosemite to allow yourself plenty of time to stop and admire the views over Tioga Pass and skip Lake Tahoe. If you had another night to spare between GC and Bryce/Zion you could fit in a detour to Monument valley.