Los Angeles to the East and North hoping to see some Fall color's.

[keithg]

Thanks Dave.
Your right. So much to see. So little time. Like we have done on previous trips, we will change directions if we have to. We were going to head north to Zion and Bryce from Vegas but now that friends who live south of Cedar City wont be there until after the 10th has us thinking we may be better to head another direction from Vegas. Thought we could come back down that way on the way back. Those places you mentioned Dave sound great. I'm thinking we may not get far across at all seeing all these places but that's ok. Just have to live a bit longer and come back again. :)


Keith

[AZBuck]

Yeah, as you are well aware, getting the overall outline of any trip in order is the main thing necessary to making that trip a success. The details tend to work themselves out after that and in particular it becomes clear which details just plain have to be dropped. The other thing I'm sure you're aware of is that in the lower 48 the two major mountain ranges, where it will be cooler and you'll have at least a chance of seeing some color, look sort of like this: \ /. So staying to the south decreases the number of miles you'll have to drive between the Rockies and Appalachians. Another basic planning rule is to try to do even an out-and-back RoadTrip using two different routes whenever possible. And finally, since your friends won't be in Cedar City until well into your time in the States, it makes more sense to visit them on the return leg to Los Angeles so you have more time available for the major mileage portion of your trip. So with those criteria in mind and noting all the suggestions Dave has made, what would I suggest?

First, as noted, I'd hold off on Cedar City until the return trip. I'd also do a more southerly route east-bound and a more northerly route west-bound so as to increase your chances of seeing some fall color (or colour if you prefer). That generally would mean taking US-93 south from Las Vegas to I-40 (and parallel roads) for your main east-bound leg. Along the way there's the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, Petroglyph NM, Black Kettle National Grassland, and the Red River Valley between Oklahoma and Texas as you head for the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. Branson MO is worth consideration for a taste of Americana. It's sort of a Country and Western Las Vegas with tons of music venues. From there visits to two other major music venues, Memphis and Nashville (ugh, I know, cities!) for their music scenes might interest you. Your basic goal though is to continue east to Great Smoky Mountain NP, Asheville, and the Blue Ridge Parkway north along the spine of the Appalachians into Virginia and then to West Virginia.

The return trip would then roughly follow rivers for a while: the Ohio River into southern Illinois, then cutting up towards St. Louis to pick up the Missouri River to the Platte River through Nebraska and into Colorado. At that point I think the ideas Dave has given you and your own knowledge of the area will suffice to take you across the Rockies, past the many Red Rock national parks in southern Utah, perhaps the Great Salt Lake and certainly Cedar City before making the final effort to get back to L.A. for the flight home. Personally, I would probably visit Death Valley at this point on the trip. It will be slightly (and I emphasize slightly) cooler and might allow you to take a short hike or two if you visit early in the morning, plus if you're not including another stay in Las Vegas on your return drive, it might fit a little better into your itinerary later in the trip.

AZBuck

[keithg]

Thank you. You folks are amazing. I will get back to you shortly. Need to study what you are saying so I get it right. Getting old and info escapes pretty fast hehe. We booked at Barstow as we did last trip as its a nice place to get to after getting off plane. Visit Peggy Sue as well. Might have a look also at the bottle (glass) tree's on a side road just before Barstow.

We booked Vegas for the nights we did for the prices and we catch up with the Boss who I am sure will have some more advice for us. We have one night free between Barstow and Vegas so that's why we thought we would get a small glimpse of Death Valley. We don't have to see our friends who we met in 2010 on first trip but we would like to. As we have done before, we can change directions and miss out on some destinations. With the exception of the first night and Las Vegas, we don't book anywhere. Just wing it. Just have to come back again next spring if our dollar stops dropping so much.


For anyone planning to travel to USA, don't forget to do your ESTA. Used to be easy but this time was a nightmare. Last trip I forgot about it until a few hours before. lucky it was done in 20 minutes. This time it took 7 hours and a ph call to the US embassy in Canberra who couldn't help. So don't leave it to late.


Keith

[keithg]

We have been driving ourselves crazy trying to figure out what to leave out and what to include. Unfortunately we couldn't make the trip longer. Love to see the parts that I mentioned at the beginning but it will be to rushed. So we will drag the distance right back and concentrate on the West again. Colorado and South Dakota being as far across that we will go.


That way, we can still visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton's. Never get sick of them. Maybe on another trip, we could fly to the East for a look.


As usual we will be winging it, so liable to end up anywhere. haha. Going crazy looking at u tube clips of the different places suggested so far and others. Hope to do a report on the run this time.


Keithg

[keithg]

Well we have a rough outline of where we will go. Still have about 10 days at the end to fill in. But as I have said, we can change on the run and go else where or spend more time somewhere and miss out on seeing other places. May even miss out on catching up with friends if we have to. Hopefully all the fires will be over by the time we get there and the smoke isn't hanging around like it did last time in grand Canyon.

24 th of August. Barstow.
25 th of august. Pahrump or similar.
26 th of August. Las Vegas
27 th of August. Las Vegas.
28 th of August. Las Vegas.
29 th of August. Grand Canyon.
30 th of August. Page or Kanab. (Depending on what time we leave GC and how long we
spend at Horseshoe Bend.
31 st of August. Zion NP.
1 st of September. Bryce Canyon NP
2 nd of September. Torrey. (Capitol Reef NP)
3 rd of September. Moab (Arches and Canyonlands.)
4 th of September. Moab.
5 th of September. Grand Junction.
6 th of September. Boulder or Cheyenne. ( Havnt been to Colorado so winging it.}
7 th of September. Nth Platte or where ever someone suggests.
8 th of September. Rapid City if nothing much to see.
9 th of September. Rapid City. Both Badlands and Mt Rushmore.
10 th of September. Cody.
11 th of September. Jackson Hole via Yellowstone.
12 th of September. Jackson Hole. Tetons.
13 th of September. Idaho Falls.
14 th of September. Salt Lake City.
15 th of September. Cedar City. ( Friends)
16 th of September. Cedar City.
17 th of September. Tonapah or Coaldale.
18 th of September. Lee Vining.
We hope to drive through Tioga Pass from Lee Vining.

We fly out on the morning of the 29th. If time permits, we could head up to Lassen County NP or spend 2 or 3 nights in San Francisco. Yeah, city, I know but they have great Seafood Chowder. Maybe head down coast, hopefully Big Sur will be open. Spend a couple of nights in LA. Yuck, but Margaret would like to have a walk down Rodeo Drive. :(


Keithg

[Southwest Dave]

6 th of September. Boulder or Cheyenne. ( Havnt been to Colorado so winging it.}

Estes park ? Nice little town for visiting the Bear Lake area of Rocky mountain NP. If the weather permits you could drive across the Trail Ridge road from Grand lake into Estes.

[Lifemagician]

7 th of September. Nth Platte or where ever someone suggests.

Keith, check ouit Kearney, with the covered bridge over I-80 nearby. A neat little town, and the bridge was interesting, giving a history of the area. I only had time to go through the ground floor part. You pay to actually go up over the bridge, and I believe there is much more up there.

8 th of September. Rapid City if nothing much to see.
9 th of September. Rapid City. Both Badlands and Mt Rushmore.

While you are in this area, call in at Wall Drug. A bit of a tourist trap when you first enter, but if you go right through to the back yard (where they feed the dinosaur), there is a lot of history back there, walls covered with newspaper clippings of major events in the area. In a way, like LV - ye gotta see it at least once. Be sure to get your free ice cold water, and your 5c cup of coffee. It is also a good place to have lunch - at least, I found it so. It is some years since I was there, but I doubt it would have changed much.

10 th of September. Cody.

There are three scenic routes across the Big Horn mountains - US-16; US-14; and US-Alt14. I would highly recommend that if you have the time to take the Alt14 from Daytona to Cody. There are a few stops at the top such as the short walk to the medicine wheel, and further on the Big Horn Canyon.

Looks like you have a great, and busy, trip coming up.

Lifey

[keithg]

Thanks Lifey.

I have just been looking at google maps finding the place's you spoke of. Will certainly keep them in mind when we get in the area. Not long to go now. Getting scary. Hopefully everything will be ok while we are gone. Have to start charging batteries and deciding what len's to take.

Keithg