first time traveller

[rtaroadtripper998]

My husband and I are traveling to the US on 24th April to 20th May 2009. We are landing LA thought we would head down to San Diego, Vegas, find our way up to San Fransisco - Vancouver then back down the Coast to LA. Please tell me if this is a realistic goal. We would like to see some car shows along the way as well as many attractions and sights all suggestions greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Mass Tim]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

With almost a month's worth of time, I'd say that this is a realistic goal.

[PNW Judy]

If you're into cars, you might enjoy the LeMay Museum.

You might want to start by reading this post and following the links therein. You should get a lot of good ideas from that.

Besides cars, what types of things do you want to see and do? It's easier to make recommendations when we know what people are seeking.

[rtaroadtripper998]

Thanks will be following the links for sure. Well coming from Australia the usual things like Disney, Univeral, Grand Canyon. I would like to make an effort to see things that are easily missed but wonderful to see. Lots of scenery, shopping, classic cars and hot rods, Shows.

[rtaroadtripper998]

Thanks for the friendly welcome. Wish the holiday was closer. Can't wait to start the traveling

[rtaroadtripper998]

We are thinking about doing the trip in a RV do you think it would be better staying in hotels and driving or doing the RV grounds?

[W. Larrison]

Car shows? Are you into exotics or classics or??

I'm trying to remember if any of the big car shows are in April -- like the Monterey ones, or even the big LA car show, that's got a lot of the new iron from Detroit and Japan. But even so, when it gets closer to the time, you might check for some of the fun local shows. For example, there are a couple of regularly scheduled "informal" shows around here - there's one which meets every Sunday morning in a local very high end mall parking lot, and is known as the "$100 K show" since its basically enthusiasts bringing their personal vehicles, but none of them list for less than $100 K each.. Porsches, Lambos, Ferraris, Vipers, etc.. Then there's another called the "Doughnut Derelicts" which meets early at about 7 am every Saturday morning in a local town, in the parking lot at a doughnut shop. They're basically professional and amateur hot rodders and modders who show up with their current project cars, stand around and drink coffee and scarf down doughnuts and talk cars for a few hours on Saturday mornings. Then there's a local drive-in burger joint that has a classic 50's and 60's car show with car hops on roller skates every Wednesday night -- usually a dozen or so guys comparing cars and having burgers. There also used to be a 'cruisers' get together on a regular basis up in the East LA area, but I haven't seen anything on that in a while.

There are also some wonderful car museums -- in the LA area alone there are about 6 or 8, with the Peterson Musuem and Nethercutt Collections being the most well known. But there's also the Wally Park Musuem (NHRA and world record speed cars), the Toyota 50th Anniversary Musuem (Toyota USA headquarters, tours by appointment), Marconi, Astor Classic Collection. "Joe's Garage" and a few others.

Then there are some great musuems/ collections at a couple of the casinos in Vegas and Reno. Harrah's had a huge one last time I was there.

If you're got a month, you can do a bit of visiting places. For a rough rule of thumb its 2 full, long, davy's drive from LA or San Diego to Seattle,via the fastest route (I-5), each way. So what you've laid out for what you want to do looks very doable from a first glance. You do need to lay out a bit more planning on specifics to visit, and a more detailed route, and then we can all chime with more detailed suggestions.

[PNW Judy]

We are thinking about doing the trip in a RV do you think it would be better staying in hotels and driving or doing the RV grounds?

Both methods of travel have their advantages and disadvantages. And both have their proponents and detractors. You will have to weigh all this and make your own decision.

How to Rent an RV has some good information to help you make that decision.

If you decide to do the RV, this article will help you know how to get campsites.

For me, the slower driving and more limited maneuverability of an RV doesn't appeal to me for a vacation. However, someday I would love to be a full-timer and, under those circumstances, I think an RV is a wonderful idea for traveling. Of course, thousands of people vacation in an RV every year so, obviously, they disagree with me. And many travelers here at RTA, totally enjoy their RV vacations.

There are many helpful links on our RV page if you want to investigate this option a bit more.

[rtaroadtripper998]

Larrison,
Thanks, My husband and i are into anything that pretty much has 4 wheels, however we do love the classics and Hot Rods. We have discussed jumping on a plane and taking time to see a really big car show like Detroit Car Show - The Riddler Award (I believe this one is on in March....Unfortunatly). I would also like to visit places like chip Foose workshop (if you can). I would love to meet that man....

[W. Larrison]

There are a lot of modders in Huntington Beach/ Costa Mesa where Chip Foose has his shop. He does have 'visiting hours" at his shop, which is hidden back in an industrial area in Huntington Beach. From his website, those are from 12-1 Monday through Friday, excepting hollidays. He's the best known, but there are probably a dozen or more other guys doing some amazing work.

Depending upon your interests, there are also a lot of "design shops" in the area too -- that do the conceptual designs for folks like Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, etc. I'm not that familiar with them, as the couple of friends I have who are real motorheads are into restoration of classics. However, an internet search might give you a list of folks and if you drop them a line they usually are willing to talk.

I've been tempted to go over and see the 50 year retrospective history at Toyota USA. Since Toyota is now the biggest car maker, I'm curious to see what they say about their history and expectations for the future.