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Old October 14th, 2011, 03:11 PM posted to rec.travel.usa-canada
Graham Harrison[_3_]
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Default Road trip USA Nat'l parks


"Panawe" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:07:15 +0100, Graham Harrison wrote:

"Panawe" wrote in message
m...
On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:34:52 +0000, Lauri Nurmi wrote:

On 2011-10-12, Panawe wrote:
On 10/10/2011 6:33 AM, Panawe wrote:

I would like to go whale-watching and see Yosemite and Yellowstone
Nat'l parks (and others if feasible).

As regards my itinerary - what would you suggest given that I want to
get the most out of my holiday? Should I leave Yellowstone for
another time? Even if I extend the holiday to three weeks?

You could drive less and still visit three national parks if you
choose Yosemite, Death Valley and Grand Canyon (Arizona side). Hoover
Dam and Las Vegas are along the assumed route, and might also be worth
seeing.

-LN

Thanks to everyone for advice.

I'm listening and I'm wondering now about 14 days fly-drive out of San
Francisco followed by a week's package tour (a holiday within a
holiday!) to Yellowstone flying to and from SFO. I could have a rest
from driving on the Y'stone tour.

What do you think?

Or I could do the grand tour from Seattle to SF via.... stop it!

--
Panawe


Well, last year I participated in a Gray Line Alaska tour (Yukon and
Alaska). It's the first time I ever went on something like it. I'm
in 2 minds. It was nice not to have to keep driving. It was
incredibly frustrating to go past things I wanted to look at and I
didn't have enough time (even if I could have found transport) to
explore the outskirts of Whitehorse or Fairbanks. The big benefit was
when we got to Dawson and the road across to Tok was washed out. They
simply hired a plane and away we went!

On balance I would only do it again if I couldn't find a way of doing
the journey under my own steam.

I had wondered about a tour for you from San Francisco to Yosemite and
Monterrey. Gray Line only do each as a one day tour (forget it). You
might be able to stitch one or more Tauck Tours together with flights
(or maybe even Amtrak) between e.g.

http://www.tauck.com/tours/usa-tours...yoming-travel-

yys-2012.aspx
http://www.tauck.com/tours/usa-tours...lifornia-tour-

ca-2012.aspx

Or maybe Globus http://monograms.com/us-vacations/ but I'm not sure how
you'd book some of the tours on that page. Globus are part of the same
company as Cosmos and they seem to want me work work through Cosmos
because I live in the UK and that is the page for people who live in the
US. I've no doubt it's doable but it might be a slight struggle.

It is pretty easy to organise a trip using car hire and motels. The
trick is not to do too much driving and to allow the occasional "rest
day" if only because you need to find a launderette (many motels have a
machine). If you want help try someone like
http://www.nahighways.co.uk/. Anything you see on their website can be
changed/extended/shortened/sent places they don't normally list - the
tours they list are examples; they can be booked but they don't have to
look like that. I've never used them, I had a professional connection
with them some years ago and they seemed competent but there are other
similar specialists around.

By the way, what part of the UK are you in? I keep assuming you're
flying from London and that doesn't have to be the case.


Hi Graham,

I'm in the Midlands so would prefer to fly from Brum. It's a changing
situation, now I'm thinking of leaving Yellowstone to another year and
looking at fly-drive to San Francisco (2 nts) then Monterey (2 nts) to
get the whale trip in, then Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe,
Crater Lakes, Redwoods NP and back to SF over 14 days. Except I've missed
Death valley which I'd have to do after Monterey and before Sequoia (bit
tired at the moment). Far more sensible, haven't done the fine detail yet
and any advice on routes welcome.

I can't make my mind up whether to book a tour through a company or do it
myself via the 'Net. You'd think doing the donkey work myself would work
out cheaper but I'm not so sure.

Thanks for the input.

--
Panawe


This is going to be a mixed up message with unconnected elements.

I'm not clear if you've been to the USA before.

I live in South Somerset. Exeter and Bristol are both about an hour away
and Heathrow 2 hours (unless I try it on a summer weekend!). I simply
ignore the alternatives and head for Heathrow. I enjoy flying. When I
worked I was known for being quite ready to travel. That said, over the
years I've decided non stop is best. On the N Atlantic that might a little
more expensive but I'll pay that. Why? One is very basic - take off and
landing are the most risky parts of flying, why increase the risk by adding
extra take-offs/landings when I don't have to? The other is journey time.
10 hours to the west coast is bad enough. Why spend 7 hours going to the
east coast and then 2/3 hours worrying about whether you'll make the
connection and then another 5 hours on a different plane? It's no better
going back to Europe on say Air France/KLM/Lufthansa it's the same hassle.
And if you go via the USA you will have to clear customs at your point of
entry, recheck your bags, find your way from international to domestic and
go back through security.

If you do go to Heathrow you'll find that both BA and Virgin offer a premium
economy as well as basic economy. Ordinary economy is 10 across with 31
inches between seats. Premium economy is 8 abreast and 38 inches and extra
baggage allowance. United have something they call Economy Plus which is
normal 10 across seating but spaced out (can't remember how many inches).
I'm a fan of what BA call World Traveller Plus.

I was once warned about speeding by an American I was working with. I was
on my way to rural Texas and he claimed the police in towns in rural places
make their living by catching speeding out of towners. It's interesting
watching traffic in the US. Get on a freeway within about 20 miles of a
city and through that city and it's manic (assuming it's not a traffic jam).
Speeding, switching lanes without signaling, undertaking, tailgating is
rife. Once you're out in the sticks there's much less speeding and it must
be in part because of the number of times I've come over a slight rise to
find a police car in the median and speeding in small towns just doesn't
really seem to happen (oh, and be really careful with school speed limits).

I think you're discovering you're spoiled for choice. The west is full of
opportunities. I'm going back to the idea of one way trips. You need to
check because it keeps changing but in the past I've hired cars in Los
Angeles and dropped them in San Francisco without having to pay a one way
fee. I think it may also be possible to do if Las Vegas or San Diego is an
endpoint. It may depend on the car hire company.

A word about car hire - make sure you understand what is included and what
isn't. The clerks at rental desks will try and sell you bigger cars,
insurance you don't need and all sorts. The number of times I've had them
try and sell me a bigger car than the one I hired and, when I turn it down,
given me a bigger car because they don't have what I booked. This year I
booked a Chevrolet Cruse (Mondeo sized) and got put in a Dodge Nitro 4x4.
Doesn't always happen but book what you need and stick to your guns (but
don't book something that is JUST big enough - go one size bigger).

OK, where to go. What do you want to see? Mountains, big trees, Buffalo,
Wolves, dark blue lakes, a mirror lake? Do you want to go for short
strolls, day hikes, go horse riding? Even in a national park do you mind
being surrounded by people (Yosemite valley)? What about other things? I
like trains and planes so I'm always on the lookout for heritage railways
and transport museums. I've taken trips to the USA where part of the
reason has been to attend an air show for instance. Small towns sometimes
have local museums with all sorts of stuff; one had a dentists surgery,
another a pharmacy in a log cabin and yet another a collection of barbed
wire! Some things bought in the USA are cheaper than in the UK. Some
attract duty but come into your free allowance, others (books) are duty free
anyway. Forget naming actual parks or cities for a moment and think about
features instead. You've named whale watching, what else?

As for planning the advantage of a specialist agent is they will have been
to many of the places or dealt with their suppliers for some years. Do it
yourself is sometimes a leap of faith but if you stick with middle of the
road chain motels you're usually OK. The worst mistake I made was booking
a (non chain) motel in Canada. The motel was very nice and I was initially
happy to find the Canadian Pacific main line 10 feet from the door but when
the trains ran all night I wasn't so happy! Easier to avoid these days
with Google maps and Streetview.

PS I'm away for the weekend.