America - coast to coast road trip - anyone done one?

[arfur]

Chris4410 said:

A C2C trip would be great providing you have the time to see everything along the way which is impossible.

I would much rather reduce the size of the trip and have the time to see everything in a smaller route.

Personally I would recommend California, specifically the PCH, Yosemite and Death Valley. If you would like like to fit in a few Cities/Towns, San Fran and Santa Monica are among my favs.

We did part of Route 66 out in Arizona on our way to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and I found it pretty un-interesting. I'm glad we did it but I wouldn't be rushing back in that direction.

Edited by Chris4410 on Monday 16th January 10:55

Last summer we did

LDN - SF
SF - LA
LA - LV
LV - Williams
Train to South Rim
Williams - Furnace Creek
Furnace Creek - Yosemite
Yosemite - Carmel
Carmel - SF
SF - LDN

We did a few days hotel at each end, but the rest was in a RV from Cruise America

Utterly brilliant time, would do something similar to include Yellowstone and Dakota next time.

If you do Route 66, take in Williams and use the Train to the South Rim ... worth every penny in Parlour Class

Arf

[David Beer]

arfur said:

Last summer we did

LDN - SF
SF - LA
LA - LV
LV - Williams
Train to South Rim
Williams - Furnace Creek
Furnace Creek - Yosemite
Yosemite - Carmel
Carmel - SF
SF - LDN

We did a few days hotel at each end, but the rest was in a RV from Cruise America

Utterly brilliant time, would do something similar to include Yellowstone and Dakota next time.

If you do Route 66, take in Williams and use the Train to the South Rim ... worth every penny in Parlour Class

Arf

Done exactly those bits and used cruise America many many times, last summer in fact. This summer taking my posh tent and hiring a convertable. A few hotels in hot places but camping where possible. The posh train to Grand Canyon is planned this summer.

[arfur]

David Beer said:

Done exactly those bits and used cruise America many many times, last summer in fact. This summer taking my posh tent and hiring a convertable. A few hotels in hot places but camping where possible. The posh train to Grand Canyon is planned this summer.

Great to hear ... make sure you go Parlour Class on the train, you will not regret it !

When we were in Furnace Creek I have to admit we booked into the hotel and left the RV in the parking lot ... It really was too hot for the A/C in the RV

[David Beer]

arfur said:

Great to hear ... make sure you go Parlour Class on the train, you will not regret it !

When we were in Furnace Creek I have to admit we booked into the hotel and left the RV in the parking lot ... It really was too hot for the A/C in the RV

I have already done the train, posh is great. Similar to you pull up at the mandarin oriental in Vegas they park the motorhome, then two nights there.
Agree with furnace creek, done the same.

[Matt..]

I have done many road trips in the US. Mostly to go between national parks (i've been to 21!).

I did a coast to coast trip a few years ago, this was my route that i took over approx 1 month from the end of May:
- Washington DC
- Pittsburgh, PA (NHL game)
- Indianapolis, IN (Indy 500, NBA game)
- Chicago, IL (MLB game)
- Sioux Falls, SD (stop to break the drive)
- Badlands NP, SD (also Mount Rushmore and Custer SP)
- Rocky Mountain NP, CO
- Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak)
- Great Sand Dunes NP, CO
- Ouray, CO (Black Canyon NP on the way)
- Moab, UT (Mesa Verde NP on the way, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Dead Horse Point SP)
- Monument Valley (Gooseneck Bend SP on the way, also Moki Dugway)
- Page, AZ (Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend)
- Grand Canyon NP, AZ
- Laguna Beach, CA (day trip to Joshua Park NP)
- Fly out from LA


An absolutely amazing trip with hugely varying scenery. A few cities in the beginning, some sports, and loads of the great outdoors! I had a Charger for all except Carmel at the end, i had a Corvette there.

I even made a video! https://vimeo.com/68943841

[Chris4410]

arfur said:

Last summer we did

LDN - SF
SF - LA
LA - LV
LV - Williams
Train to South Rim
Williams - Furnace Creek
Furnace Creek - Yosemite
Yosemite - Carmel
Carmel - SF
SF - LDN

We did a few days hotel at each end, but the rest was in a RV from Cruise America

Utterly brilliant time, would do something similar to include Yellowstone and Dakota next time.

If you do Route 66, take in Williams and use the Train to the South Rim ... worth every penny in Parlour Class

Arf

We stayed in Williams in November, we didn't use the train we drove up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

[David Beer]

Chris4410 said:

We stayed in Williams in November, we didn't use the train we drove up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Done both but the train gives a completely different experience. Lunch at the lodge and cocktails in the parlour carriage on the way back. Then stand on the rear open deck, fab. As I stated earlier, looking forward to it again this summer as part of my road trip,doing both north and south Grand Canyon and many other favourite stays.