Scratching the Surface- SoCal Summer 2019

[KayLouise]

Oh gosh, what a horrible travel day. Hope you're having a fab time now. I'm looking forward to reading more! 😊

[theCMG]

sorry to hear about your messed up travel day. We're going to do a trip to California next July albeit with fewer stops and looking forward to reading about your trip

[Mrs Toolman]

Originally Posted by speedmum

Thanks for all your lovely comments - in terms of hotel rooms - we have a mix of all in one room or 2 separate rooms depending on price. But when we’re all together the girls will have to share!

See more...

Thank you. Will be interested to read which hotels you stay in.

[redredshopper]

Oh my what a start - let’s hope that is the last of your lows!

[speedmum]

Friday 26 July - Travel Day Revisited

Actually slept well last night. The Sheraton bed was comfy and as a bonus we had been given 2 rooms so weren’t sharing with the girls. Typically though with nowhere to rush to we were awake early so I started writing my pre-trip report. Hubbie checked BA helpline and confirmed our flight was rescheduled to depart at 3.15 today so 23 hours later... We also noticed that today’s 2.15 flight to San Francisco was cancelled so counted ourselves lucky we were still going!

He then had to rebook our car hire as Hertz who we had previously booked with would only allow us to delay our collection time to later the same day. If we wanted to delay until the next day they charged the current rate which was twice what we owed. So we cancelled and booked with Avis instead. A slightly different car for a lower rate so win-win!

Enjoyed our full English breakfast in the hotel and decided it did feel like we were on holiday! At 11 we got the bus back to the airport and queued to check in. There was some initial confusion with today’s flight being cancelled because they both have the same flight number! We also had to show our baggage tags to ensure our cases were put onto the new flight. Fingers crossed we see them in San Fran (though the girls were quite keen on the idea if buying a whole new wardrobe! )
Passport control had to be done manually because of the flight number but soon we were through security and back in the lounge which was heaving today. Lots of flights on the board were showing cancelled but we were hopeful we’d get away today!

Eventually our gate was called and off we trotted. We queued and then they announced that we couldn’t board because 2 key crew members hadn’t turned up! You couldn’t make it up! We did eventually leave at about 4pm and finally we were on our way!

The flight passed uneventfully, I watched a couple of films and got some sleep as we had a long drive at the other end.

Initially we were going to stay about an hour from the airport the first night and then drive to Yosemite on the Friday morning for 2 nights. Since the Yosemite hotel was pre-paid and non-cancellable we decided to drive straight there after landing on the Friday. Obviously not ideal but it would mean we still had a full day to explore Yosemite before heading to Vegas.

We landed at 7, sailed through immigration and collected our bags and big white Chevy and were on our way by 8!

Traffic out of San Fran area was horrible and we were bumper to bumper for first hour. Not surprisingly the further out and later we got the quieter the roads became! Driving into Yosemite in the pitch black was very eerie with no idea of what was on the other either of the road!

Eventually at 12.30 we arrived at the Ahwahnee Hotel and fell into our beds. 43 hours after leaving home we’d finally arrived at our first destination !

[speedmum]

Sat 27 July - Day 1: Yosemite

Word of the day was definitely Wow!

So after our very late night I still woke at 4am but managed to snooze until 6am when others started stirring.

First impressions of the Ahwahnee hotel are that it’s quite old fashioned but quirky. It’s definitely not cheap and is our most expensive holiday of the trip but we knew we weren’t in a Yosemite for long and didn’t want to drive in every day. We were all in one room with the girls sharing a fairly small creaky sofabed. The shower was great, plenty of hot water & really powerful!
At 7.00 we headed to breakfast which is in the amazing dining room- daughters thought it looked like something from Harry Potter! The breakfast buffet was great with loads of choice and unlimited coffee and juice. At $29 dollars its not cheap but the service was great.

After this it was time to actually get out into the park.

My original plan had been to do the valley tour on the Friday and then spend Saturday doing more exploring but obviously our delay scuppered that and when I checked there was no availability for a Saturday tour. (Word to the wise - book ahead!) So instead we walked from the hotel down a trail towards the Yosemite falls. Now I have to confess that earlier in the week I had twisted my ankle walking the dogs so we didn’t walk as much as I had pictured when we planned the trip but what we saw was still amazing and it took forever to get anywhere as we kept stopping to take photos! The beginning of the trail was really quiet but as we got to the falls it got really busy! There were people everywhere- on the rocks, climbing up the edges and even in the water. However they were still amazing. I think we were lucky that the snow had been late this year so they hadn’t dried up so early. The rest of them climbed up the sides to get a closer look and I sat at the bottom soaking in the atmosphere!

After this we headed down to the visitor centre and museum and looked around snd watched an interesting film about the history of the park.

By now it was 1.30 and people were getting hungry (as usual eldest daughter!) so we stopped at Degnan’s Kitchen for some food. The girls and I shared a couple of pizzas & hubbie had a sub. These were all freshly made to order and about $9 each...

By now it was about 38’ and we were flagging so we wandered slowly back to the hotel for a rest. Our intention after this was to walk the 45mins the opposite direction from the hotel to Mirror Lake but in honesty jetlag was catching up with us snd we just wandered the grounds of the hotel and had a cold drink.

One thing I have been impressed with so far is the opportunity for filling water bottles. We all brought water bottles from home and the airport, hotel, restaurant and other public places have all had water points for refilling. The taste of the water does vary but it’s obviously better (& cheaper) than keep buying plastic bottles...

We had dinner booked at 7 in the hotel. Hubbie & eldest had calamari, I had onion soup & youngest had lentil soup. This was followed by swordfish with some kind of garlicky broad beans - very yummy! Hubbie & I both had this, eldest had pasta & youngest had chicken. We then shared a lemon meringue pie between us. By now it was 9pm and we were all shattered so off to bed before our long drive to Vegas tomorrow...

We concluded Yosemite had been an amazing start to the trip and though we were disappointed we hadn’t had longer we were grateful we’d made it and seen some fantastic sights!

[olaf38]

Originally Posted by speedmum

Sat 27 July - Day 1: Yosemite

Word of the day was definitely Wow!

So after our very late night I still woke at 4am but managed to snooze until 6am when others started stirring.

First impressions of the Ahwahnee hotel are that it’s quite old fashioned but quirky. It’s definitely not cheap and is our most expensive holiday of the trip but we knew we weren’t in a Yosemite for long and didn’t want to drive in every day. We were all in one room with the girls sharing a fairly small creaky sofabed. The shower was great, plenty of hot water & really powerful!
At 7.00 we headed to breakfast which is in the amazing dining room- daughters thought it looked like something from Harry Potter! The breakfast buffet was great with loads of choice and unlimited coffee and juice. At $29 dollars its not cheap but the service was great.

After this it was time to actually get out into the park.

My original plan had been to do the valley tour on the Friday and then spend Saturday doing more exploring but obviously our delay scuppered that and when I checked there was no availability for a Saturday tour. (Word to the wise - book ahead!) So instead we walked from the hotel down a trail towards the Yosemite falls. Now I have to confess that earlier in the week I had twisted my ankle walking the dogs so we didn’t walk as much as I had pictured when we planned the trip but what we saw was still amazing and it took forever to get anywhere as we kept stopping to take photos! The beginning of the trail was really quiet but as we got to the falls it got really busy! There were people everywhere- on the rocks, climbing up the edges and even in the water. However they were still amazing. I think we were lucky that the snow had been late this year so they hadn’t dried up so early. The rest of them climbed up the sides to get a closer look and I sat at the bottom soaking in the atmosphere!

After this we headed down to the visitor centre and museum and looked around snd watched an interesting film about the history of the park.

By now it was 1.30 and people were getting hungry (as usual eldest daughter!) so we stopped at Degnan’s Kitchen for some food. The girls and I shared a couple of pizzas & hubbie had a sub. These were all freshly made to order and about $9 each...

By now it was about 38’ and we were flagging so we wandered slowly back to the hotel for a rest. Our intention after this was to walk the 45mins the opposite direction from the hotel to Mirror Lake but in honesty jetlag was catching up with us snd we just wandered the grounds of the hotel and had a cold drink.

One thing I have been impressed with so far is the opportunity for filling water bottles. We all brought water bottles from home and the airport, hotel, restaurant and other public places have all had water points for refilling. The taste of the water does vary but it’s obviously better (& cheaper) than keep buying plastic bottles...

We had dinner booked at 7 in the hotel. Hubbie & eldest had calamari, I had onion soup & youngest had lentil soup. This was followed by swordfish with some kind of garlicky broad beans - very yummy! Hubbie & I both had this, eldest had pasta & youngest had chicken. We then shared a lemon meringue pie between us. By now it was 9pm and we were all shattered so off to bed before our long drive to Vegas tomorrow...

We concluded Yosemite had been an amazing start to the trip and though we were disappointed we hadn’t had longer we were grateful we’d made it and seen some fantastic sights!

See more...

Sounds like a hideous start for you all!
So glad you have managed to get some time in Yosemite.
Thank you for the trip report it's great to read. We leave for our trip on Friday (can't lie I'm hoping for a better start!) And it's lovely to hear the falls are still flowing.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.

[speedmum]

Sun 28 July - Day 2: Tioga Pass & Death Valley

So today was our big drive from Yosemite to Las Vegas via Tioga Pass and Death Valley. Scheduled to take us about 8 hours. I’d been watching the internet at home as Tioga didn’t open fully until the end of June which is later than usual.

Despite setting our alarms for 7am, once again we were all awake early (well except youngest who loves her sleep!) and so by 6am we were packed, checked out and ready to leave.

The first couple of hours out of the park was so peaceful and we saw loads of deer but no bears! Watching the sunrise over the hills was beautiful and we kept pulling off the road for photos! Up in the hills at 10,000ft it was chilly - 52’ so we needed our jumpers! There were lots of cars heading into the park but not many leaving.
At around 8am we reached the Tioga Gas Mart which sold the most expensive petrol we’d ever seen at $5 a gallon! But we topped up to ensure we had enough for the day. This was also our breakfast stop at the Whoa Nellie Deli inside the garage building. We nearly missed it as its not signposted outside. 3 breakfast burritos and a pancakes were all around $9 each and very tasty and filling.

We then headed on our way to our next stop at Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

It was fascinating watching the landscape change as we headed down towards Death Valley and the temperature started rising. It was also really interesting driving through the little towns that looked like they hadn’t changed in 100 years!

We did stop quite a few times for more photo opportunities- including an obligatory one with a cactus!

We did play a game of guess how high the temperature will get in the car but we all underestimated it and it hit 120’! We did have to turn the aircon off sometimes to get up some of the hills as the car was clearly struggling..

When we reached Furnace Creek Visitor Center the temperature on their big thermometer showed 125’f which is almost 52’c!
We had a look around the displays, filled our water bottles and checked whether we were dehydrated based on the notices in the restrooms! (Fortunately we were not! )

Finally it was time for the last couple of hours trek towards Vegas!

Now hubbie & I have been to Vegas before but Ive always flown in so it was odd to see it appearing through the mountains and to see the real Vegas where people live rather than just the strip.

We were staying at Bellagio and it was very busy at check in at 4pm on Sunday afternoon. Eventually we were given our room keys to our fountain view room and we headed up to collapse! After watching the fountain show from our window we decided we were all starving as we’d eaten nothing since our breakfast burritos.

We headed next door to the food court at Caesars and all agreed we wanted Smash Burger. The burgers are freshly made to order and the milkshakes are to die for with scoops of hagen das ice cream in them! 2 bacon cheeseburgers, chicken & avocado burger, chicken tenders, 2 fries and 4 milkshakes came to $84 inc tax...

We then wandered into the forum to watch the Atlantis show and see the curved escalators! By now we were flagging & eldest was feeling unwell so wandered to walgreens for cold & flu tablets, pots of cereal and milk and then headed back to the room to collapse!

Following advice from other dibbers we’d brought a travel kettle so we could make tea in the room. But we then discovered there were no mugs so hubbie was dispatched to purchase a couple from the shop! Proper cup of tea drunk & we all fell asleep by 8.30. A long day & jetlag catching up with us!

Apologies for a long rambling post - well done for sticking with me!

[speedmum]

Mon 29 July - Day 3: las Vegas

We slept well but still woke at 5am... checked emails & wrote some more of the trip report until a more respectable getting up time!

We then hit the Caesars buffet for breakfast. This is seriously the biggest buffet I have ever seen, so much choice and everything I tried tasted fantastic! Sadly eldest was suffering with her cold & couldn’t do it justice. She also wasnt sure she had the energy for much activity until shopping was mentioned! Then she perked right up!

First we headed to the factory outlets at the north. It felt just like being in Orlando but even hotter and a different layout! The girls made purchases in Pacsun and American Eagle. We then all got ourselves a bargain in Michael Kors! Everything was 70% off (not sure who would ever pay full price!) After a couple of hours in the heat we were flagging so headed back towards the strip. We persuaded hubbie to stop at the Fashion Show mall for a bit more retail therapy in an air conditioned environment! After another couple of hours of trying stuff on the girls made some purchases in Abercrombie (helped by a 30% discount code!)

We then had a Starbucks to recover! We love their Strawberry Acai drink that they do in America but you cant get at home...

The girls had a rest in the room (& watched Love Island) while hubbie & I wandered round the casino and had a little gamble!

We then scrubbed up for dinner at The Palm restaurant in Caesars forum. This is one if hubbies favourite restaurants and so was a splash out compared to the food courts!
He & I had lobster bisque to start which was gorgeous and eldest ordered calamari which was HUGE and would have fed us all for a main... we then shared a steak, mash & green beans...

Afterwards we were all stuffed and our intentions of seeing the lights gave way to another early night. We are all definitely struggling with the jetlag here - its so much harder to deal with than when we go to Florida...

Early start tomorrow for the Grand Canyon.

Thanks for sticking with me!

[liz-paul]

Sounds like your trip is improving since your nightmare start! Enjoy 😁