The 260 Mile West Coast Wander - August 2019 **COMPLETE**
 

Hi and welcome to our trip report :wavey:

Thanks to the help of the Dibb I was able to plan an amazing trip to West Coast this summer. We visited so many wonderful places on this trip including the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco and a couple more other places in between.
We finished our holiday by visiting Disneyland which was the perfect ending to our trip.


INDEX
Day 1 - Adventure is out there!
Travel day from Manchester to Las Vegas

Day 2 - One Historic Road & One Unforgettable Sunset!
Driving along Route 66, Grand Canyon South Rim staying at Maswik & watching the sunset

Day 3 - Early morning walks and rambles
Watching the sunrise at the Grand Canyon, walks along the South Rim, Hoover Dam & drive to Las Vegas

Day 4 - Las Vegas, Strolling down the Strip
Walking around the resorts, Bellagio & Caesar's Palace

Day 5 - From New York to Venice!
Exploring the Venetian, pool time at NYNY & tea at Shake Shack

Day 6 - A day in Death Valley
Travelling through Death Valley, visiting Dante's Point, Badwater Basin, Furnace Creek, Devil's Golfcourse & Artist's Palette

Day 7 - Picnic by a lake & that Yosemite View!
Driving Tioga Pass to Yosemite, Lembert Dome, Tenaya Lake, Olmsted Point, Tunnel View, Bridaveil Falls & Curry Village Cabin

Day 8 - Waterfall's, bear's & another lake - Yosemite
Walking the Mist Trial, Mirror Lake/Meadow and Lower Yosemite Falls

Day 9 - Heading for the Clouds, Walks with Giants! - Glacier Point
View from Glacier Point, walk to Sentinel Dome & spending the afternoon in Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

Day 10 - Meadow walks to starry nights - Yosemite
Visiting Cooks Meadow, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Swinging Bridge & the evening at Glacier Point

Day 11 - Goodbye Yosemite & Hello San Francisco!
Leaving Yosemite, travelling to San Francisco & afternoon Alcatraz Tour

Day 12 - Anniversary tour of San Francisco
Riding the cable cars, E-Tuk tour of San Francisco, Ghirardelli's & Boudin's Bistro

Day 13 - Redwoods and a Beach Picnic - San Francisco
Visiting Muir's Wood, Sausalito, Baker Beach & Musee Mecanique

Day 14 - Back on the Road - Santa Monica
Drive to Santa Monica, Mystery Spot & Monterey Bay

Day 15 - A whale of a time!
Whale watching with Sanctuary Cruises, Lovers Point & Bubba Gump Monterey Bay.

Day 16 - California Dreaming - PCH
Driving the Coastal Rd, Bixby Bridge, Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls, Elephant Seals & Pismo Beach.

Day 17 - Highway to L.A.
Visiting Solvang, Santa Monica and Burbank hotel

Day 18 - Universal Studios L.A Style!
Full day at Universal Studios

Day 19 - Hollywood Hikes to a Starlit night
Walking to the Hollywood sign, Walk of Fame and Griffith Observatory

Day 20 - Reaching new heights!
Travel to Palms Springs, Riding the Aerial Tramway and checking into our Anaheim hotel

Day 21 - Disneyland 1st timers
Our first day in the Disneyland Park

Day 22 - Next stop California Adventure!
A full day in the park, Lamplight Lounge & World of Color

Day 23 - Here we go again - Disneyland Park
Another day at Disneyland, Downtown Disney, Black Tap Milkshake's & Fantasmic

Day 24 - Pool's to Parade's
Back to California Adventure, afternoon at the pool, Evening watching Electrical Light Parade

Day 25 - Deja vu day?
Back to both Disney parks for the last time

Day 26 - End of the Road
Travel back to Las Vegas then BA flight home


Brief introduction



My name is Julia and I’m the oldest one in our family being 52 years young! I’m the chief planner and organiser of this holiday.
Most excited about visiting Yosemite and Disneyland!

Scott my hubby aged 49 year who's the main driver on this trip and is most excited about visiting Las Vegas and San Francisco!

Next up is Hayden our eldest son who is 17 yrs old. Hayden loves Star Wars and is most excited about visiting the new Star Wars Land and going to Death Valley and Yosemite.

Jamie is our middle child who is 14 years old. Typical teenager who can’t function properly without his phone! Jamie is excited to visit Las Vegas and Universal Studios in Los Angeles.

Lastly our lovely daughter Poppy just turned 12 years old. Poppy loves everything Disney and is also excited to visit Las Vegas and Harry Potter!

The 260 miles refers to the miles we walked on this holiday, we couldn't believe the amount of steps we clocked up!

I booked an extremely cheap BA flydrive from Manchester to Las Vegas so the trip was planned from this.

The holiday was the trip of a lifetime, we knew this would be the only time we’d visit the West Coast so we had to make the most of our time there.

I hope you enjoy :)

Julia :wave:

Ooh I’ve been waiting for this Julia - even though I have so many trippiest to finish reading and even some saved to start reading!

Diane

Can’t wait to read this one - must also finish reading your last one too!

Very much looking forward to reading. I’m currently planning our summer to California and so am interested in picking up any tips. We are also a family of 5 taking our 2 adult children for what will probably be our last family holiday all together.

Can’t wait to read especially as we are doing a similar trip this August x

Ahh thanks Diane, can't wait to write it out so i can re-live the holiday again :wavey:

Thank you, travel day will be up shortly. I've finally finished my other one! :spin:

I hope you can get some helpful tips from our trippy.

Have a lovely family holiday California is amazing :)

You're going to have an amazing time! X

Just found this, looking forward to the next instalment x