California / Las Vegas road trip

[parakitaMol.]

okgo said:

That last picture.. Just wow..

.

It's a very special place.

[Marquis_Rex]

I just moved 'Out West' and you should try to make it down to San Diego-amazing views, weather and some history too.
It's only 2 hours south of LA. I would rate San Diego above LA-so if you can minimise your time in LA and bias it towards SD I would reccommend it. If you make it to the beeches in La Jolla and Mission Beech- give me a shout!

Lots to see in Vegas- The Venitian, the Luxor, watch the two ships fight at The Treasure Island. If night clubs are you thing-nice club at The Luxor- bit pricey though. Las vegas prices are very cheap during week days and vegas is only about 4 hours from San Diego. Vegas is also not far from Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon in AZ.

[*Fletch*]

That Cabin looks absolutely stunning.

I did the LA, Vegas and San Fran trip this summer and really enjoyed it. Packed so much into it, and spent a fortune!

Did LA then the LA to Vegas trip first in the V8 Ford F-150 hire car (Had to be a V8 I insisted!)




Was fantastic driving along the highways as the sun went down, with fantastic scenery, getting the massive America trucks to honk their horns



Enjoyed Vegas massively but glad to leave after the few days there. Hoover Dam was Hotttt!

We did the return trip after Vegas via a quick stop at Baker for the largest thermometer in the world!

Took in an LA Galaxy game then up the coast to San Fran, one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I've been too.

Some pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34517470@N00/collecti...

Hope you enjoy your trip!

[Marquis_Rex]

I felt like going to Furnace Creek, Death Valley over the Thanks Giving Weekend- pure remote unspoiled desert without any scum bag humans around. Unfortunately my furnature is arriving from Chicago so I guess I'll be staying. Still, alot worse places to be stuck than San Diego

[parakitaMol.]

Thanks for the resurrection of the thread - we're just planning our return in the spring. Slightly different route. Can't wait!

[K50 DEL]

Marquis_Rex said:

I felt like going to Furnace Creek, Death Valley over the Thanks Giving Weekend- pure remote unspoiled desert without any scum bag humans around. Unfortunately my furnature is arriving from Chicago so I guess I'll be staying. Still, alot worse places to be stuck than San Diego

If you do head in that direction, try and get to Scotty's Castle, well worth the tour.

[S7Paul]

K50 DEL said:

Marquis_Rex said:

I felt like going to Furnace Creek, Death Valley over the Thanks Giving Weekend- pure remote unspoiled desert without any scum bag humans around. Unfortunately my furnature is arriving from Chicago so I guess I'll be staying. Still, alot worse places to be stuck than San Diego

If you do head in that direction, try and get to Scotty's Castle, well worth the tour.

+1

And if you get that far, you may as well take a slight detour to Ubehebe Crater too.

[K50 DEL]

S7Paul said:

K50 DEL said:

Marquis_Rex said:

I felt like going to Furnace Creek, Death Valley over the Thanks Giving Weekend- pure remote unspoiled desert without any scum bag humans around. Unfortunately my furnature is arriving from Chicago so I guess I'll be staying. Still, alot worse places to be stuck than San Diego

If you do head in that direction, try and get to Scotty's Castle, well worth the tour.

+1

And if you get that far, you may as well take a slight detour to Ubehebe Crater too.

Just to give you a little taster... (any excuse Lol)

Scotty's Castle



Ubehebe Crater



If you have a decent vehicle then artists drive is a must, it's about 13 miles long and has a serious number of corners - it's also one way which is nice!

[Marquis_Rex]

K50 DEL said:

S7Paul said:

K50 DEL said:

Marquis_Rex said:

I felt like going to Furnace Creek, Death Valley over the Thanks Giving Weekend- pure remote unspoiled desert without any scum bag humans around. Unfortunately my furnature is arriving from Chicago so I guess I'll be staying. Still, alot worse places to be stuck than San Diego

If you do head in that direction, try and get to Scotty's Castle, well worth the tour.

+1

And if you get that far, you may as well take a slight detour to Ubehebe Crater too.

Just to give you a little taster... (any excuse Lol)

Scotty's Castle



Ubehebe Crater



If you have a decent vehicle then artists drive is a must, it's about 13 miles long and has a serious number of corners - it's also one way which is nice!

Sounds ideal for my Dodge Ram then

Seriously- if it isnt far from my home in SD, I could make day trip and over night stay out of it

[standfree93]

I did this two years ago.
Flights from Aberdeen - Heathrow, Heathrow - L.A.
Hired a car, stayed in L.A. for 2 nights, drove to Las Vegas, the motorways are spectacular once in the deserts.
We then stayed in Las Vegas for 4 nights, Bally's hotel.
After Las Vegas we drove through Death Valley, and stayed in a small town at the other side, it was called Baker. Just an overnight stay, then it was on to Yosemite national park where we stayed for 2 nights. Tioga pass was fantastic, great scenery and still like to look at the live webcams throughout the seasons.
We then went to Sacramento, just stayed there overnight before heading on to San Francisco where we stayed for 4 nights, this was great, cycled the golden gate bridge, saw Alcatraz, and all the other amazing sights.
Then flew home from San Francisco.
This was the best holiday of my life...so far

If you want any more information, just say.

[K50 DEL]

Marquis_Rex said:

Sounds ideal for my Dodge Ram then

Seriously- if it isnt far from my home in SD, I could make day trip and over night stay out of it

SD was my first port of call on the 6,000 mile road trip I did around the s/w USA earlier this year.... Balboa Park then watching the sunset over Point Loma was a great way to start!

The full trip report is

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

For anyone interested.

[Goochie]

*Fletch* said:

That Cabin looks absolutely stunning.

I did the LA, Vegas and San Fran trip this summer and really enjoyed it. Packed so much into it, and spent a fortune!

Did LA then the LA to Vegas trip first in the V8 Ford F-150 hire car (Had to be a V8 I insisted!)




Was fantastic driving along the highways as the sun went down, with fantastic scenery, getting the massive America trucks to honk their horns



Enjoyed Vegas massively but glad to leave after the few days there. Hoover Dam was Hotttt!

We did the return trip after Vegas via a quick stop at Baker for the largest thermometer in the world!

Took in an LA Galaxy game then up the coast to San Fran, one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I've been too.

Some pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34517470@N00/collecti...

Hope you enjoy your trip!

Who did you rent the truck from? I'm looking for something simialr for our trip next year.

[HereBeMonsters]

Search!! I did almost this exact trip in September this year...

Recommend staying away from Yosemite (it was st) and more time in Vegas than we had...

[standfree93]

*Fletch* said:

We did the return trip after Vegas via a quick stop at Baker for the largest thermometer in the world!

Took in an LA Galaxy game then up the coast to San Fran, one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I've been too.

We also did the largest thermometer in the world, was really excited, then saw it, I was like..."WOW!...not"

Also went to LA Galaxy game, I really enjoyed it, were playing Toronto. There were like prizes every 5 minutes.

[HereBeMonsters]

standfree93 said:

*Fletch* said:

We did the return trip after Vegas via a quick stop at Baker for the largest thermometer in the world!

Took in an LA Galaxy game then up the coast to San Fran, one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I've been too.

We also did the largest thermometer in the world, was really excited, then saw it, I was like..."WOW!...not"

We accidentally saw it, as we came off the Freeway looking for petrol. Completely un-impressive.

[standfree93]

HereBeMonsters said:

standfree93 said:

*Fletch* said:

We did the return trip after Vegas via a quick stop at Baker for the largest thermometer in the world!

Took in an LA Galaxy game then up the coast to San Fran, one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I've been too.

We also did the largest thermometer in the world, was really excited, then saw it, I was like..."WOW!...not"

We accidentally saw it, as we came off the Freeway looking for petrol. Completely un-impressive.

Well we couldn't find it
We were staying in Anaheim across from Disneyland, and we went to try find it, took us ages, we were going round and round until we just bumped into it. Beautiful stadium, great atmosphere. I would love to go back.

[DJFish]

Next april me & the missus are renting "a fast car with no roof" and Starting from Las Vegas are doing the following:
Vegas-Palm Springs-LA-Santa Barbara-Monterey-San Francisco.

Can't wait!

[K50 DEL]

DJFish said:

Next april me & the missus are renting "a fast car with no roof" and Starting from Las Vegas are doing the following:
Vegas-Palm Springs-LA-Santa Barbara-Monterey-San Francisco.

Can't wait!

Don't forget Hearst Castle (book in advance) and Laguna Seca raceway!!

[HereBeMonsters]

K50 DEL said:

DJFish said:

Next april me & the missus are renting "a fast car with no roof" and Starting from Las Vegas are doing the following:
Vegas-Palm Springs-LA-Santa Barbara-Monterey-San Francisco.

Can't wait!

Don't forget Hearst Castle (book in advance) and Laguna Seca raceway!!

Laguna Seca was a bit weird tbh. We were there on a race day, but we were the ONLY spectators. There were a couple of photographers up at the Corkscrew, and the rest of the people were WAGS of the drivers, or off-duty crew.

It's another excuse to post this picture though:



(Note the entirely empty grandstands...)

[DJFish]

I have Laguna Seca pencilled in, presumably the track will be closed to the general public, apart from watching whatever's running on the day is there anything to do whilst you're there?