Vancouver, BC - Las Vegas (West Coast down, ID back up)

[benjis_monikuss]

Those are a great couple of thoughts for sure. I know we having a booking in Bakersfield but it was at my partner in crime's request so I could look into our availability.

If we were to take an alternate here, is there still plenty of DV to see via this route?

Weed - Bishop via 395 like suggested. Then stay in Bishop.
Bishop 395 to the 136/ 190 through DV to Pahrump. I know it shaves about 100 miles off the trip though on slower roads. It's definitely a tough choice this close to D Day hahah!

[Southwest Dave]

If we were to take an alternate here, is there still plenty of DV to see via this route? -

Oh yeah ! The only difference is from where you approach the park. You would in fact have more time to spend in DV. It's worth considering imo if you can cancel the Bakersfield reservation without penalty.

What ever you decide I'm sure you will have a great trip !

[benjis_monikuss]

So my friend says our plans are interchangeable. Now I'm definitely swaying hahaha. Google didn't help, everything that popped up was beautiful! We could get a place in Bishop for about the same price we were going to pay in Bakersfield and then we get a waaaaay nicer 3rd day. Damnit, I'm such a pushover with this stuff =P And now I get to have Pie In The Sky!

[Southwest Dave]

And now I get to have Pie In The Sky!

Win, win ! lol And you may have time for stop at Mono Lake. ;-)

[benjis_monikuss]

That is my intended stop if we do this (which it looks like we will), what a hauntingly stunning place!

What would be the easiest point to get onto the 395 from Weed? the 36 at Red Bluff? I wonder if we would have time for a drive-by of Lake Tahoe? If we timed it right maybe we could hit Mono at dusk. It's a long day of slower driving but it's incredibly tempting.

[Midwest Michael]

\Red Bluff for gas
Modesto for gas... and I'm a George Lucas nerd

I will say that there really is no reason at all to preplan your gas stops. In fact, I would pretty strongly advise against it - because it is simply too planned and too rigid.

It's one thing to do a little preplanning for cheap fuel, i.e. topping off your tank in Washington before crossing back into Canada, or topping off on cheap OR fuel before heading into CA, and it is always good to understand your surroundings - like knowing you do have to take advantage of the relatively small number of gas stations on US-93 in Nevada - but planning every city to stop for fuel otherwise is just over the top.

[glc]

What would be the easiest point to get onto the 395 from Weed?

Off I-5, take CA-89 to CA-44 to Susanville. You are looking at 425 miles from Weed to Bishop, so you don't have time to waste around Tahoe. You may want to make a reservation in Lee Vining so you won't miss the view on 395 between there and Bishop after dark.

[benjis_monikuss]

I will say that there really is no reason at all to preplan your gas stops. In fact, I would pretty strongly advise against it - because it is simply too planned and too rigid.

It's one thing to do a little preplanning for cheap fuel, i.e. topping off your tank in Washington before crossing back into Canada, or topping off on cheap OR fuel before heading into CA, and it is always good to understand your surroundings - like knowing you do have to take advantage of the relatively small number of gas stations on US-93 in Nevada - but planning every city to stop for fuel otherwise is just over the top.

Over the top is kind of my thing. Just about everything about our days are estimates except for overnight bookings. The gas stops are estimates based off my tank to keep my nerves in check. If we see something cool before we need to gas up, I'm sure that place will have a gas station I can use instead. I'm simply the kind of person who likes an outline.

[benjis_monikuss]

Perfect, thank you! The cheapest Lee Vining booking left is triple what we paid for our Bakersfield one, which means we will either see Mono Lake earlier or sacrifice the daytime view from there to Bishop.

[DonnaR57]

I never plan our fuel stops exactly, but knowing where the fuel might be super-expensive and avoiding those, is important if you have a vehicle like ours that can swallow 35 gallons quickly. If we're at a hotel with internet (and that's what we always want), I use the evening's relaxation to look ahead on gasbuddy.com to see where fuel is cheaper than other places. As a *general* rule of thumb, fuel is usually cheaper on the outskirts of larger cities than in the middle of the boonies. Some states, like California, have obnoxiously high fuel taxes that cause the gasoline to cost 40c/gal more than in the neighboring state. (We will wait until Arizona to fill our fuel tank, for that reason, or fill up just before we enter the state.) So I can understand your need to "preplan" your fuel stops. You just might want to wait until the night before each travel day, because gasbuddy can help you get better prices.


Donna