Seattle to Oakland then Las Vegas in November

[aldrinleal]

Hey there,

First, I'd like to thank you for this site. The Map Wizard gave me lots of advice, and reading the forum become my newest procrastination method!

We're Brazilians which happen to live in Medellin. However, we are (finally) taking our honeymoon in November. Plan currently is:

- Fly from Medellin to Seattle, arriving by 9 pm on Nov 19. Pick the car (begging for a Volvo V60), go to the hotel
- Spend until Wed on the Hotel, while attending small meetings/events and unboxing the Prime Packages (to the Hotel or perhaps spooled in US Global Mail) and gearing up with the equipment
- On Wed onwards, drive until Medford/Oregon
- Thursday, go to Oakland or a nearby city (Mountain View and/or San Jose)
- Friday resting off
- Saturday drive from San Jose to Anaheim
- Sunday drive from Anaheim to Las Vegas, return the car
- Attend AWS re:Invent until Friday, return on Saturday to Medellin

Fixed points: the hotels from Las Vegas and Seattle are booked. In between, almost everything is flexible and I've planned for plan B (cancelling california) and C (returning the car earlier on another point and reaching by train)

My concern is about handling the weather. In yuor experience, would it require tricky driving knowledge (remember I'm actually from Amazon - The rainforest in this case)

I've got some experience in roadtrips, but never lasting more than 8/12 hours tops and spanning multiple days. In order to get ready and rehearse the equipment, I intend to do with a friend a small trip from Medellin to perhaps Cartagena / Bogota in order to test all the gear, specially the gpses, chargers and dashcams.

There's little room for sightseeing, but I'm not really a nature guy. However, I've got a penchant for Aerospace and Technology Museums, so Evergreen and/or the Computer Museum could be considered. I've already bought the Atlases and Guides (Natgeo / Michelin / Randy Macnally) so I'll looking into it, as well as looking after an AAA Membership.

Bring me your questions - I need to figure out how covered is my plan please :)

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

One thing that stands out is your plan for Wednesday and Thursday. If it were me, I would get my overnight reservations in hand. Thursday is the American Thanksgiving Day, so folks are traveling - this is especially true in Medford, which doesn't have as many hotels as the Bay Area. If you decide to do Anaheim, I would book there as well -- that's a Saturday, and a prime time for folks to drive from somewhere to Disneyland for the weekend, especially if you'd like the more reasonable cost overnights.

Oh, and do you mean Everett, WA, for aerospace stuff? This might fill your bill.



Donna

[Lifemagician]

If you are renting a car, you will not need a AAA membership. Any roadside assistance you may need, will be looked after by the rental company. If you want it just for the maps, you can buy them there, anyway, without a membership. But you sound as if you are very well equipped.

Lifey

[aldrinleal]

If you are renting a car, you will not need a AAA membership. Any roadside assistance you may need, will be looked after by the rental company. If you want it just for the maps, you can buy them there, anyway, without a membership. But you sound as if you are very well equipped.

Lifey

I thought about AAA due to discount at hotels. But actually I'd say I'm overinsured in this case, so better consider paying full on them, or perhaps considering discount coupons?

[aldrinleal]

Welcome to RTA!

One thing that stands out is your plan for Wednesday and Thursday. If it were me, I would get my overnight reservations in hand. Thursday is the American Thanksgiving Day, so folks are traveling - this is especially true in Medford, which doesn't have as many hotels as the Bay Area. If you decide to do Anaheim, I would book there as well -- that's a Saturday, and a prime time for folks to drive from somewhere to Disneyland for the weekend, especially if you'd like the more reasonable cost overnights.

Yes, I considered that. Ok, booking those as well :)

Oh, and do you mean Everett, WA, for aerospace stuff? This might fill your bill.

Yes, I forgot about Everett. Previously I've been on the Museum of Flight (Boeings' Original Factory) and it was awesome.

[DonnaR57]

AAA discount at hotels is often 10-15% of the going rate. We use it all the time. AAA can also get you "free" maps, as maps are part of the services provided by AAA. If you are a member of an auto club in your home country, it's probable that it AAA will honor it for free maps.


Donna

[Lifemagician]

AAA discount at hotels is often 10-15% of the going rate.

Before you count on the savings, calculate how much you would save, against the cost of the membership.

... it's probable that AAA will honor it for free maps.

Don't count on it. Check with your local club if they have a reciprocal arrangement with AAA.

Lifey