**Our West Coast Road Trip October 2009**

[Guest]

West Coast Trip Report Index

Although we’ve got a few months before we go I thought I’d write my pre trippie now. Having never ever done this before it is probably going to take me a while. Apologies if I ramble on a bit or it gets boring. I hope you like it!

Cast

Me - 23 - Planner, organiser and very excited! I'm a bit of a control freak, hence why I am the planner. No one else gets a look in lol. I love travelling, food and generally having fun!




DF - 24 - Driver and also very excited! Likes his playstation 3 and formula 1 (booorrring!) Also loves travelling, food and generally having fun!




Haha you can see how well matched we are! We really are quite similar and we are both REALLY looking forward to this well deserved holiday!

I apologise about how rough we look on the photos. It was the morning after our stay in an Ice Room (-5 degrees) in the Icehotel! We were pretty tired! But they were the most recent photos I could find.

Background

We’ve been together for 6 years and engaged for nearly 3 years. We have only had 2 decent holidays in the time we’ve been together due to me being a student and DF being on a low wage. Well, that has all changed now! And we are making the most of us both suddenly being in full-time, pretty well-paid work by having some amazing holidays!

Our two decent holidays have been a 5 day trip to New York in April 2006 when DF came into a bit of money unexpectedly and then in March 2009 we went to the Icehotel in Sweden for 4 days! Both of which were fantastic, but short, holidays. It will be so great to have a 2 week holiday together!

When we first started planning this trip we knew we would be going to the States, but we weren’t quite sure where exactly. Florida was the obvious choice as we have both been before (separately) and loved it, but we wanted to get married there and we knew we needed to wait until 2010 to get married so we could save enough money. So we decided on a west coast road trip for this year! We started properly planning it and booking all the different bits last Christmas and it has all come together nicely over the last few months.

To be continued...

[Guest]

When and How

Sunday 4th October to Tuesday 20th October 2009

When we starting planning the holiday last Christmas we had to work out how much it was likely to cost us, how much we could save per month and then how long that would take us after our Icehotel trip in March. We came up with October. I’m not a fan of mega high temperatures so the weather will suit us fine and it won’t be during any school holidays either which is good. It also means there’s a nice gap between our two holidays this year.

Sunday 4th October - Travel to Heathrow via National Express coach from Wolverhampton



Monday 5th October - Virgin flight VS0019 Heathrow to San Francisco 11:30 to 14:20

Monday 19th October - Virgin flight VS008 Los Angles to Heathrow 17:35 to 12:05 (next day)



Tuesday 20th October - Return home via National Express coach

Just before we leave San Francisco on the 10th October, we will pick up our hire car, which we will drop off at LAX before we fly home. We were originally going to hire a car for the whole 2 weeks, until we realised it would be pretty pointless in San Francisco! We're hiring a 4 door compact from Dollar which should be a Dodge Caliber or similar.



The National Express tickets cost £48.50 for both of us, return (got £15 cash back with this which is why it was so cheap). We did consider driving but neither of us fancied the stress of it, we’d have had to pay to park the car at Heathrow and then drive home after a long flight and with jet lag. National Express makes it so much easier!

Virgin flights cost £350 each for economy. Hoping to upgrade to premium economy either during OLCI or at the airport!



The car hire has cost £190 for the 10 days we are hiring it for. We will also have to pay £172 locally as a young driver's surcharge because DF is under 25. If we were both over 25 we would both be driving but it is just too expensive to pay for two young driver surcharges as well as the car hire cost!

To be continued...

[Guest]

Where

When deciding where to stay, cost and trip advisor reviews were the biggest factors to consider. I think I have managed to choose some great places for some great prices. They aren't the poshest or fanciest of places, but then we will only be using our accommodation as somewhere to sleep. So as long as the bed and bathroom are clean and comfortable, I don’t really mind how big the pool is or how fancy the lobby is. It is just a place to rest our heads and weary bodies each night.


Sunday 4th October
The Yotel, terminal 4, Heathrow
Premium Room
yotel/



I booked this directly, online for £80.50. It wasn’t the cheapest place to stay but nor the most expensive. I like the fact that it is actually in the airport, which means you don’t have to stress about getting to the airport the morning of your flight. I also love that it is a bit different and will be an interesting experience!


Monday 5th October to Saturday 10th October
Hotel Stratford, San Francisco
Standard Room
hotelstratford/



I booked this via cityandshow.com for £77 a night. It is quite central, being very close to Union Square and with a cable car stop just outside. I am a little worried about it being noisy though, so I will request a room that isn’t facing the main road.


Saturday 10th October to Sunday 11th October
Yosemite Pines RV Resort and Family Lodgings, Groveland
Deluxe Cabin
yosemitepinesrv/




This cost us £105 for one night (booked direct online) but it does sleep 5 people! Although it is too big for just 2 of us, I booked it as they are much more modern and comfortable than the smaller ones. I booked this so that we could be as close to Yosemite as possible for the night before we enter. That means we can spend a whole day driving through Yosemite rather than having to spend part of the day travelling to get there.


Sunday 11th October to Monday 12th October
Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites, Bishop
King Suite with Jet Tub
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This cost us £98 for one night and was booked through hotels.com. It is just outside of Yosemite but on the east side. This means we can spend the whole day driving through Yosemite, as we won’t have to drive far to get to the hotel in the evening.

To be continued...

[JudyC]

I'm looking forward to following this report as we plan to fly to San Fran next year, and then visit Yosemite and LA

I like the look of the Yotel at the airport and the Yosemite Pines looks good

[Guest]

Where (continued)

Monday 12th October to Friday 16th October
Stratosphere Hotel, Las Vegas
Premium Room
stratospherehotel/





This was an absolute bargain! It was booked through hotels.com and cost us a grand total of £25 per night! We are aware it is a bit out of the way but that means it’ll be a little quieter to come back to in the evening hopefully. And we have a hire car so getting around won’t be much of a problem.


Friday 16th October to Monday 19th October
Comfort Inn Universal, Los Angeles
King with Jaccuzi
comfortinn/hotel-los_...ci.WzjnNgVX4.3





This cost us £58 per night, booked through hotels.com. We got a great room for that price! It seems quite central for all the things we want to do in LA and had good reviews.

To be continued...

[Sarah84]

Sounds like a fantastic trip you two have planned, enjoying the PTR. Look forward to reading more about your holiday plans

[mrsdtob]

Hello Love your plans, it all sounds great so far! Looking forward to reading more!

[elliemay]

sounds like a fantastic trip, gosh you are going to do a few miles, have a fab time

[Guest]

What a fantastic trip... looking forward to reading more.

[Guest]

Your trip sounds great!