West USA trip tips/questions

[snessiram]

Hi,

I'm going on a trip to West USA with some friends in june-july. We're going to start (and end) in San Francisco and we'll pass Las Vegas and LA. We'll do some National Parks (need reservation? is there something like a card-for-all-parks?...) on the way etc... We're still figuring everything out. Any tips of things we sure need to see?

We are on a budget so trying to look out what gives us the most advantage. The length of our trip will also be influenced by the costs and would go from 20 to 30 days (exclusive flight) depending...

We are with 4 people but we have someone who's willing to go too in which case we would be with 5.

With 4 the car (minivan) we're going to rent will be more expensive unless we take a smaller ("normal") one but we're unsure if there's enough room for all our stuff then. Offcourse there's also a difference in gas usage between the different sorts of cars. We will take the car from the day we arrive untill a few days before we leave as we've heard San Francisco to be good for public transportation an thus we save some money having the car a few days less.

Where we spend the night will influence costs too and that's another point where we don't exactly know how it is. For example, we have no problem sleeping on the floor (with a camping mattrass of our own) but we don't really know if and where we'll need to pay a room or per person or... If it's more per person and there are rooms for 4 people that might be an advantage over being with 5 depending on the price difference,...
As we'll have a tent with us we also can stay on campings but we haven't found a lot of info on that yet (mostly info for people using an RV), but as we suspect that to be the cheapest it would be handy if we could do that often.

Any other ways for cutting some costs?

Thanks in advance

[mattbiernat]

if you are going to S.F. and L.A. I would highly recommend that you take PCH south from S.F. to L.A. It's a 9 hour drive but one of the most beautiful coastal beaches in California.

[RealBlackStuff]

With 4 of you, rent a Ford Escape (SUV). It's quite good on the gas (about 24 mpg), and has quite a large area for luggage.
We (3 people) rented one a few months ago, 7 suitcases, 3 carry-alls, coats, couple of plastic bags with duty-free etc.
It all fitted in the boot, with lots of space to spare.

[RRHODY]

I've lived in California 77 years and have both tent camped and done the RV routine. I second the suggestions of PCH (US Hwy 1) from Monterey (with an excellent aquarium) down to Santa Barbara and eventually into the greater Los Angeles area. Hwy 1 is mostly two lane right along the coast. It is NOT a super highway and can be slow going, the the scenery is worth it. If you intend to visit Las Vegas after LA, on the way north you might consider a slight diversion across Hoover (Boulder) Dam. After 9/11 it was closed to traffic across the actual dam, but I understand it is now open to transit across the top again. Of course, IMHO the premier tourist location in California is a National Park - YOSEMITE. It is about half way up the state and on the east side in the Sierra Mountains - SPECTACULAR. If you want any more specific suggestions, contact me off list - rringis@hotmail.com

[dsigma6]

After 9/11 it was closed to traffic across the actual dam, but I understand it is now open to transit across the top again.

Funny (not "haha" funny) that you mention that, since I happened to cross that in late August of 2001.

The PCH is a great ride, although I only did a small stretch of it in Malibu. Don't speed!

[snessiram]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll definitely try taking the PCH.

I've looked up some prices for motels etc... they seem to range from $70 to $150, I think an average of about $100 would be correct? (4 person room)

I've also looked at prices of national parks and they seem to be really cheap: about $20 income for everyone ("1 car") + around $12 a night for camping ground (1 camping ground is enough for 2 little 2-person tents?).
Should we make reservations and if so how long in advance?

I'll also see if we can get past the Hoover dam as RRHODY mentioned, seems quite impressive.

We're about to order our tickets and probably will go 24th of june (around 21h) till 19th of july (plane leaves at 22h) and have the car for about 21 days (so end up with a few days car-less in San Francisco).

We're going to try to have enough with $750 (about €500) for food, stay (campings/motels/...) and costs of things to see etc..
So that's exclusive plane, car, fuel, insurance and pasport which is something like $1500 (€1000).

[RealBlackStuff]

You should have a look at some of Frommer's tips
http://www.frommers.com/tips/
They used to write the series: [name the country] on $10.- a day

Another good travel guide is 'USA' from Lonely Planet Publications
ISBN: 1740597370 / 9781740597371
www.lonelyplanet.com
Includes good info on eats and sleeps for every budget

[underclocker]

If you manage to get to Utah or Arizona, there is great mountain biking. Actually, it's pretty good just outside of Las Vegas, too.

I've seen a lot of RV's pass through Moab, Utah, famous for their Slickrock Trail. It's like biking on Mars --> http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/slickrck.htm

Just be careful, the West gets VERY hot in the summer. Have fun!

[skitty4gzus]

southern California is beautiful and worth checking out. If you go further south, say across Arizona and New Mexico, go through the Grand Canyon. Watch your fuel gauge as well because exits get very scarce when you get away from major cities. Either way, Western US is very nice you will enjoy it

[mattbiernat]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll definitely try taking the PCH.

just don't plan spending a night in Monterey. It's extremely expansive.

[GomJabbar]

IRT California, Yosemite is great. Less crowded alternatives to Yosemite would be Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. You can see the Giant Sequoia's in all three parks - impressive! Yosemite is more scenic overall, but more crowded too.

The PCH (Pacific Coast Highway - aka highway 1) is scenic throughout it's length, but the very best IMO is between Morro Bay and Monterey. I have not travel it north of San Francisco, but I do believe that should be a nice trip.

The Mt. Palomar area has nice camping (although I have not been there in some years). The pines there have pinecones as big as an american football. The Mt. Palomar Observatory museum is worth a look. Mt. Palomar is located north of San Diego and east of Temecula.

For swimming in the ocean, south of Point Conception the water is somewhat warmer - but still cool.

For camping, the state and national parks generally have great camping, but you might need reservations in some areas - if you can get them. KOA campgrounds are another alternative. The state and national parks generally have their own websites, so check them out if you want to camp there.

Leaving California, Utah is my favorite western state. Not too far NW of Las Vegas, Nevada is Zion National Park, then Byrce Canyon National Park (which is really quite something). From there the trip up Highway 12 through the Grand Escalante National Monument is quite scenic. You can take Highway 12 to Highway 24 east to Highway 95 south and continue to Lake Powell which is nice for swimming and boating. Northeast of Lake Powell, Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park have some more quite impressive scenery, although they tend to be a bit out of the way.

On the border between Utah and Arizona is the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ). I have not personally explored this area, only driven around it, but I have seen photos that really make me want to go. Search for photos on the Pariah Plateau to see what I mean. I believe some of this area has restricted access, so I am not sure what you can really hike into.

In Arizona of course is the Grand Canyon National Park. If you travel far enough south, east of Tucson is Saguaro National Park with the Giant Saguaro Cactus and Bisbee Arizona which is a scenic mining town (haven't been there).

In Nevada is Las Vegas; famous for it's shows - among other things. Just west of Reno, Nevada is Lake Tahoe - a very scenic forested volcanic lake.

If you like the heat, there is plenty of it at Death Valley National Park, northwest of Las Vegas. Be careful hiking too far away from your car as the heat and lack of humidity will dehydrate you in no time flat. This is true anywhere in the deserts of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Always carry water with you when you drive through the desert.

Watch your car's temperature gauge when climbing the mountains whenever it's hot outside. You may even want to turn off the Air Conditioner to help keep the engine from overheating. Most modern autos do not cause a problem, but it does depend upon how loaded down the auto is, how big the engine is, and how efficient is it's cooling system. Vapor lock can also occur. This is when the gasoline boils in the gas line. When this happens, open the hood and wait (perhaps about an hour). Once the gas line cools off enough you will be able to restart your car. Vapor lock is most apt to happen when you stop the vehicle for a short time and only seems to occur in certain vehicles. I don't want to scare you off from driving through the desert. I've done it many times. I just want you to be prudent and know what can happen.

[snessiram]

Thanks again. Really nice list GomJabbar!

We're now starting to question if we would be better off going east vs west. Mainly because of reasons of cost.
However, there's some discussion about which of the two sides would be cheapest. The ticket to east (NY) is $200 cheaper. However, I suspect that there might be extra costs from (m/h)otels as it's more urban (so we would use these kinds of staying more often) and there isn't a lot to see besides the cities... or am I wrong? Then there's also the fact of having a car in the city... (payed parking?)

What do you guys (and girls) think?

[GomJabbar]

East for History, West for Scenery - although there are a few exceptions on both counts.

I would expect lodging to be more expensive in the east, but I could be wrong. I would expect petrol to be more expensive in the west (in particular, California), but I could be wrong. Parking is probably more difficult in the east. When you get off the main highways, roads are narrower in the east. The east is full of toll roads and toll bridges which take their toll.

[underclocker]

The good thing about the mid-atlantic to northeast is that you can visit a lot of urban places in relativly few miles compared to the west coast. You can explore from Washington, D.C. to Montreal, Quebec fairly easily. Baltimore, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, New York City, Newport, Boston, Cape Cod, plus many more locations all in between.

However, the U.S. is big and beautiful. There is a lot to see between the coasts, too. You may need to make a couple of trips!