Finally returning to the West coast!

[Wismgari]

We went to the West coast for the first time in 2017 and absolutely loved it! It was our first American roadtrip and we did San Francisco, Yosemite, Pacific coast highway, LA, Joshua Tree and Disneyland. This then got us hooked on roadtrips and since then we have done roadtrips around Ontario, Illinois and Wisconsin, and New England (as well as a couple around Scotland!). We also had our Florida Keys roadtrip cancelled in 2020. I have many more roadtrips planned out for future trips (there are a lot of spreadsheets...) but for this trip we are returning to the West coast, but travelling even further! So, this trip is myself and my partner (late 30s/ early 40s) and we will be there for 19 days

April 25: Flight from Heathrow to LAX. Land at LAX at 13.45 and pick up the car and drive to Ontario Mills to our hotel for the first two nights. Depending on the time we arrive we will probably find some food and maybe wander around the shops if we are able to stay awake

April 26: Main plans for today are to see some of Route 66 sites nearby. Hopefully we are not too tired as there is a fair bit of driving involved. Hopefully we will visit Elmer's bottle tree ranch, Calico ghost town, the first ever McDonalds (now a museum) and the WigWam motel. I am also hoping for a bit of shopping time today.

April 27: Leave our hotel and head North. Planning to visit Red Rocks state park, fossil falls, and the arches near Lone Pine. Overnight is a motel in Lone Pine

April 28: Heading into Death Valley first thing this morning to spend the whole day there. Overnight is in Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley

April 29: 1/2 - 2/3 of a day in Death Valley and then drive to Las Vegas. We have never been to Las Vegas but it is not somewhere that overly interests us so we are not staying on the strip - we have a hotel for two nights in the north-east of Las Vegas and we plan to pop to the strip in the evenings just to get a taste of it.

April 30: 1/2 - 2/3 of a day in Valley of Fire before returning to our Vegas hotel. Again, hopefully a bit of time to explore the strip in the evening.

May 1: Early start to get to Hoover Dam first thing. Then we are going to drive some of route 66 visiting numerous places including Seligman and Williams. Then we will drive up to the Grand Canyon as we have two nights in the Yavapai Lodge

May 2: Very early start to get out and see sunrise at the Grand Canyon - bucket list item for me! Full day of exploring various viewpoints at the Grand Canyon.

May 3: Drive to Sedona today and then a full day of hiking and exploring. Overnight in Sedona

May 4: 2/3 of the day in Sedona today before driving to Tuscan to our airbnb we have booked for two nights. There appears to be a cactus in the garden of the Airbnb which I am very excited about!

May 5: Drive to Chiricahua National monument for a day of hiking before returning to Tuscan.

May 6: Most of today will be spent in Saguaro National Park (the West side) before driving to Ajo for our motel for the night

May 7: Day in Organ Pipe national monument before driving towards Anza Borrego state park in California - we are staying in a motel about 2/3 of the way there to break up the drive a bit

May 8: Day exploring Anza Borrego state park and the sculpture garden at Borrego springs. Then drive to San Diego for 3 nights. We have a hotel in Little Italy area.

May 9: Full day in San Diego - potential things to do in San Diego include the main sights around the marina and gas lamp area, Coronado, La Jolla, Old Town and Balboa Park (but not the zoo on this trip).

May 10: Full day in San Diego

May 11: Half day in San Diego and then drive up the coast with potential stops including Mission San Juan Capistrano, Crystal Cove state park and Newport beach (this is still to be decided). We are then driving to Anaheim for 3 nights at the Kings Inn (subject to change if I find a bargain at a nicer hotel!).

May 12: Disneyland (we have a 3 day park hopper so will probably start in Disneyland and hop to California Adventure later in the day).


May 13: California adventure (with a hop to Disneyland to see fireworks)

May 14: Disneyland. Leaving late afternoon as we have a 10.30pm flight from LAX.

We then land back in Heathrow late afternoon the next day and I plan to sleep in the car whilst the other half drives the long drive home to South Wales! We then may need a week to recover from such a busy roadtrip! I cannot wait...

[Melbatb]

Sounds like a fab trip.

I recently stayed at Yavapai Lodge and was really impressed- much better than I anticipated. We had two nights at the GC and enjoyed every minute of it! We had a night in Sedona too! I did a trip report (index of my indexes is in my signature)

I also loved Joshua Tree and SD - really enjoyed every minute there.

[Wismgari]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Sounds like a fab trip.

I recently stayed at Yavapai Lodge and was really impressed- much better than I anticipated. We had two nights at the GC and enjoyed every minute of it! We had a night in Sedona too! I did a trip report (index of my indexes is in my signature)

I also loved Joshua Tree and SD - really enjoyed every minute there.

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Oh that's great to know about Yavapai lodge, I did not have high expectations at all! I want to see a sunrise so we needed to stay close by and this was the only affordable option! I hope you enjoyed Sedona as well it looks amazing. We loved Joshua Tree on our previous trip and definitely want to go back some day.

Off to read your trip report now! 🙂

[Wismgari]

I booked my Disneyland tickets today... It's starting to seem more and more real now! 🙂🙂

[singerella]

Not long to go for you at all! Hope you have a fab time, it sounds amazing, as do your previous road trips!

[Wismgari]

Originally Posted by singerella

Not long to go for you at all! Hope you have a fab time, it sounds amazing, as do your previous road trips!

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I was so confused for a minute... This was last year 😂😂 It was an amazing trip, but feels so long ago now!