West Coast Road Trip

[Midwest Michael]

Stubhub usually keeps tickets available up until about 2 hours before gametime, then the listing closes. If you decide on gameday, I would buy them and then print them at the hotel. You can probably let them scan the barcode right off your phone/tablet, but I like having paper in my hand.

I'd imagine you'll find scalpers outside the arena, but make sure you're up for doing a little bit of haggling if you want a good price. Also make sure the tickets are actually together and in the section of the arena that you think you'll be getting. Of course, this route you're also taking a bit of a gamble that the tickets could be fake, although I'd think that's a pretty low risk for a preseason game.

[glc]

Stubhub has 2,201 tickets left for that game, starting at $4.95. Stubhub also has a Last Minute Service Center 1.6 miles from the Staples Center.

[DasDimi]

Hey Guys,

It has been 3 months now since we finnished our road trip, and i would like to thank every single one of you for the help to make it an amazing and unforgetable experience.

The trip exceeded our expectations and wishes, and we had some amazing moments and views.

The parcs where breath-taking, the hockey-game was really fun, the people were so kind, i cannot wait to go back :-).

So, once again - THANK YOU.

Greetz

Dimi

[Southwest Dave]

Hi Dimi.

Thanks for dropping by and giving us an update on your trip. Pleased to hear you had a great time and if you would like to share more details about your trip we are always pleased to know more.

Dave.

[DasDimi]

Hello Dave,

A small summary of our trips sounds like a great idea! It is also a good moment to reflect on the choices we made and to evalulate them :-).

To begin with, i was very pleased with our choice to fly back from another city. I had the feeling this saved us at least a day without missing anything we wanted to see. We rented our car from the following website (i assume i can post links): www.autoeurope.be. I was very pleased with their service and prices. We had no surcharge for a second driver, and when i called them when i noticed a lower price a few months after my reservation, they directly proposed to adjust the price. Through that website, we got a car from Alamo, and everything went smooth. No aggresive sales talk, no cues, smooth start of the trip!

I dont really know how to start the summary, i suppose it's easiest by location :-).

LA: A small (probably the only one) dissapointment. In our eyes, the city didn't really live up to the hype. We loved Universal Studios, although we expected more rides. The beach was cool, but three days was definitly enough. Loved the hockey game tho, thanks alot for the Stubhub advice, was a great evening for little money :).

Coast: Amazing! What a view! It was hard to not stop the car after every turn :-).

Monterey: Very romantic city! I really enjoyed our evening walks through Cannery Row. We went whale watching, which was a nice experience if you forget our sea-sickness :).

SF: Great city! We had our only day of rain here, which spoiled the fun on day 1, but Alcatraz is a real must see, the audio show was amazing. Our bike tour to the bridge was one to never forget, and the America's Cup was going one, which brought a cool atmosphere. The hotel was one of our poorer choices, but at least it was not to expensive. Parking was a real b*tch tho :-/.

Yosemite: I had only one regret: Not to have more time there! That day of rain in San Francisco turned out to be a real gem, as it caused some small waterfalls to turn back to life, like Vernal Falls. The Mariposa Grove was a real cool experience, and the Tioga Road was just breathtaking. We spent 2 nights in the park (Camp Curry). I really liked the setting, but be prepared it gets very chilly at night.

Death Valley: Some very nice views, but i must say we did not regret to limit it to one night. We probably got a 'cold' day with only 84°F, which allowed us to do some walking and even spot a coyote!

Bryce: Here we took a gamble by driving in one day the full distance between Death Valley & Bryce. It was a long drive, but definitly a good choice. I really liked Bryce, even though our Death Valley outfit proved to be a bad choice in Utah :). The next day we spent exploring Bryce, and i must say it was very achievable with only 1 night there!

Zion: My favorite! What a park. I really, really enjoyed it, so we made a good guess in sleeping there 2 nights. Some of my friends find Zion to be too 'moderate' but i disagree. We took a long (barefoot!) walk through the narrows, and the views where really breathtaking. We took some of our most impressive photos during this walk!

Las Vegas: The end of our trip. We knew this city from a previous trip in 2010, and I noticed it was a good plan to finnish here. Having seen most of Las Vegas in 2010, gives you the opportunity to relax and enjoy the last days. We had a great suite in the Elara hotel that we would recommend to anyone.
For my girlfriends birthday i reserved a table in the Stratosphere, suprising her with a kneefall and old-school proposal :-). After all a great way to end an amazing trip. We are planning to wed in 2015, so who knows i'll need your help for the honeymoon in 2015 ;-).

Thanks for reading!

Regards,

Dimitri & Sandy

[Southwest Dave]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and yes, Zion is quite something !

And congratulations to you both, we will look forward to your honeymoon planning. ;-)

Dave.

[Lifemagician]

Wow! What a great trip report. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

We took some of our most impressive photos during this walk!

We would love to see some.... we love pics. You might like to post them in our Trip Report forum.

Lifey