California, Arizona, Utah -- May Roadtrip

[AZBuck]

First off... With the number of National Parks on your agenda, you should know that there are several annual/lifetime pass options available from the NPS. Getting one before you depart would be ideal, but you should be able to purchase one at the first National Park you visit. The website also discusses reservations and has links to the parks that require them and the NPS website where you'd purchase one.

If you're not actually planning on staying in Grand Canyon NP itself, then just return to Flag on Day 4 (much cheaper!) and again, do the loop through GCNP in a counter-clockwise direction. A possible addition to your itinerary between Flag/GC and Page is Canyon de Chelly National Monument. However, Sequoia National Park seems to call for a fairly significant detour between Yosemite and San Francisco and would be the first itinerary item I'd drop if things are still tight. In compensation, you might consider Joshua Tree NP. Note that the park's website warns against using GPS to navigate to the park, but instead recommends using I-10 or CA-52 to one of the three main entrances.

According to the Federal Reserve's website: "Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal Tender," states: "United States coins and currency [including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve Banks and national banks] are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." This statute means that all U.S. money as identified above is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor." While the Fed also states that "Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise", I believe that the definition of 'private' is limited. If it's a chain you've heard of it's almost certainly a publicly traded company (stocks) and thus not private. Also, there was legislation introduced in Congress to require the acceptance of US currency for in-person purchases of less than $500. It was attached to a Defense appropriation bill, so my guess is that it passed. Remember that 55 million Americans have neither a checking account nor a credit card. Frankly, this is not something I'd worry about.

AZBuck