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Old October 19th, 2011, 09:20 PM posted to rec.travel.usa-canada
Panawe
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Posts: 13
Default Road trip USA Nat'l parks

On Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:03:15 -0400, MLD wrote:

Just would like to add the following piece of information just in case
it might help. Every State has (or should have) a Welcome Center near
the state line. There should be a rack of Discount Booklets containing
Coupons for Hotels/Motels etc. throughout the State Most of these are
worth using as they offer rates much cheaper than the daily Rack rate.
I use them all the time when traveling. The only negative is that they
are "walk in" only--can't use them if you want to make a
reservation--but that's never been a problem as there are usually lots
of choices around where you want to stop.
MLD



"Graham Harrison" wrote in
message ...

"Panawe" wrote in message
m...
On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:11:54 +0100, Graham Harrison wrote:

"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...ravel/wyoming-
travel-
yys-2012.aspx
http://www.tauck.com/tours/usa-tours...el/california-
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.

I'll have to think on your point about direct flights as I was hoping
to go from Birmingham. I've had another shot at an itinerary, here
goes...

From -To -Miles -Sights
BHX -SFO
San Francisco -San Francisco -0 -Alcatraz San Francisco -Monterey -121
-Coast road Monterey -Monterey -0 -Whale cruise
Monterey -Morro Bay -123 -Coast road
Morro Bay -Sequoia, CA 93286 -148 -Scenic Sequoia, CA 93286 -El
Portal -151 -Scenic El Portal -El Portal -Scenic
El Portal -El Portal -Scenic
El Portal -Lake Tahoe -206 -Travel
Lake Tahoe -Shasta Lake -236 -Travel
Shasta Lake -Crescent City via Klamath Falls -320 -Travel Crescent
City -Fort Bragg -216 -Scenic Fort Bragg -San Francisco -170 -Scenic
San Francisco -San Francisco -Shopping SFO -BHX

Looks a mess. No Yellowstone, Grand Canyon or even Death valley!

--
Panawe


My own view is that you'll enjoy yourself more if you don't try and
overdo it and this looks much more reasonable. I am however intrigued
by the Shasta/Crescent City day. Why go via Klamath Falls? It's the
long way round!

I also have a suggestion for your last day(s). My wife had an aunt
who emigrated to the USA and for many years lived on the San Francisco
peninsular; initially in San Mateo (town, it's a county as well) and
later in Foster City (which is in San Mateo county). If you cross the
Golden Gate and don't stop in San Francisco and keep going past the
airport about 5/10 miles further on you'll come first to San Mateo and
then Foster City. You say you want to spend the last day(s) shopping.
Well, http://www.hillsdale.com/ and Metro Center Shopping Center (in
Foster City) offer a pretty good selection of US retail if that's what
you want. There's a Holiday Inn and a Residence Inn in Foster City and
a Howard Johnson on the El Camino between Hillsdale and San Mateo and a
Best Western at the junction of 101 and Hillsdale Blvd. We used to
stay in the Residence Inn but that was because it was near Aunt in
Foster City and it had/has apartment type rooms which we could all stay
in. As an alternative there are lots of motels/hotels in the
immediate area around the airport and
http://www.theshopsattanforan.com/ in the same area (it was being
redeveloped last time we were there - 3 years ago, looks like they've
finished). The two areas aren't far apart so it's easy to stay in one
and shop in the other. In either case you can keep the car without
having to worry about parking. If you like fish to eat I like
http://www.thefishmarket.com/locations.aspx?id=4.

A couple of other thoughts. Half Moon Bay, on US1 as you head out on
day 1 is worth a quick stop as is Carmel. South of Monterrey US1
isn't quick. It took us all day to get from Monterrey down to San
Simeon only partly because of all the stops we made. And San Simeon
is where you'll find Hearst Castle. It's difficult to explain how I
feel about Hearst Castle. I'm glad we took the tour but my memory is of
a building that was in the worst taste in almost every possible way.
He plundered the world to acquire whole rooms (walls and all!). San
Luis Obispo might be a better stop than Morro Bay (I know, it's further
despite what I just said!). They have
http://www.downtownslo.com/index.php?

option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=13
which has all sorts (including music and food on the streets) if you
turn up on the correct days.

If you're feeling frustrated at omitting Yellowstone you can get some
of the thermal experience in Lassen Park and there's a geyser in
Calistoga.


Thanks, all grist to the mill.
I'm using the Trip Advisor forum as well as this place seems a tad quiet.

Someone in there has suggested this...

1 BHX SFO
2 San Francisco San Francisco Alcatraz
3 San Francisco Monterey (121) PCH
4 Monterey Monterey Whale cruise
5 Monterey Cambria (103) PCH
6 Cambria Furnace Creek (382) Travel
7 Furnace Creek Lone Pine (106) Death Valley
8 Lone Pine Lee Vining (122) Mono Lake & Bodie State
Park
9 Lee Vining El Portal (76) Yosemite
10 El Portal El Portal Yosemite
11 El Portal Lake Tahoe (206) Travel via Hwy 49 & 88
12 Lake Tahoe Lassen (150) Travel
13 Lassen Crescent City (330) Travel
14 Crescent City Fort Bragg (216) PCH via Hwy 101
to Hwy 1
15 Fort Bragg San Francisco (170) PCH via Hwy 101
to Hwy 1
16 San Francisco San Francisco Shopping
17 SFO BHX

Not happy about the two long travelling days but I reckon to have a day
in hand. Is there a worthwhile 2-day journey from Cambria to Furnace
Creek?

Cheers,