West Coast ... 2,566 miles - Updated with Cambria

[AlexE]

This is a mini trippie from our road trip on the West Coast - we got back last Wednesday

5 June - Premier Inn Bath Rd
Used National Express to travel to Heathrow. Flat pillows and not a particularly comfortable bed this time but the food and wine/vodkas made up for it as usual.

6 June
Flight LHR-SFO with Virgin flying out economy and back PE - flights were excellent as always. Going out we arrived 45 minutes early but there wasn't a stand ready and immigration was very slow as only 3 officers on duty, didn't get on the road to Monterey until just on 5pm. Car Hire - Alamo as usual and picked a Mitsubishi Eclipse with only 5 miles on the clock which was fab. Managed to do 2,566 miles this trip.

6-8 June - Wave Street Inn (used to be Otter Inn) Monterey
Lovely clean hotel and very friendly. We had visited the aquarium on a previous visit so just took in the sites walking walking to Lovers Point, Cannery Row and Fishermans Wharf .

Dinner at Louis Linguinis - very good as was the view from the table over the bay. Dinner the next day at Crab Louis Bristro at Fishermans Wharf - not so good!

8-9 June - Kronborg Inn, Solvang.
First time driving down the PCH, have driven up the PCH twice so a nice change. Stopping at Lucia Lodge for lunch - yum and sitting in the sunshine overlooking the Pacific! Solvang is beautiful and after a gentle stroll we decided we didn't really want a proper dinner as such so found the Succulent Café and had Artisan Cheese platter for two and a few glasses of wine hic, sitting outside and enjoying the evening sunshine before returning to the Kronborg and a comfortable nights sleep.

9-11 June - The Carriage House, Las Vegas
Long journey today through mainly desert stopping at Eddies World for an ice cream to cool down in rising temperatures. Good job the new car had really good air con.
After checking in we made the short walk around a few hotels and a Panda Express for dinner. A first night tradition we have when in Vegas!
The next day we drove to Red Rock Canyon which was amazing. It is an easy one-way route to follow with many stop off points. Not seen so many different colours of red.
Another walk round the hotels when we got back to the Carriage House in the late afternoon/early evening, before dinner at The Oyster Bay Seafood at the Miracle Mall - nice.

11-13 June - Grand Railway Hotel, Williams, Arizona.
Not such a long drive today, but again a lot of desert with spectacular views and rather hot. Hotel is at 7,000 feet above sea level which TractorBoy struggled with. We had a two-night package with this hotel which included food and a trip to the Grand Canyon by train.
Very relaxing way to get to the Canyon and a break for the driver! There was still snow on the mountains close to Flagstaff and the conductor in our carriage told us that they had snow a few weeks before we got there. Conductor was very knowledgeable and there was entertainment on the train. The canyon as always is amazing and we did a lot of walking in rising temperatures.

13-15 June - Best Western Las Brisas, Palm Springs.
Lots of different changes in terrain today on our long drive to Palm Springs with heat rising from high 80s to 119f when we detoured to view the London Bridge at Lake Havasu. Lake Havasu was worth the detour, London Bridge was a bit of a disappointment.
On arrival in Palm Springs we visited the VillageFest. Fantastic market that is held every Thursday night with lots of different stalls and eating options. We ate at the Kaiser Grill, food OK but rather expensive!
Next day was an incredible visit to Joshua Tree which has some wonderful views, particularly over the Coachella Valley with a vast variety of all types of cactus. Had a bit of an issue with wasps that take a liking to the air conditioning water (they get thirsty too) that drips from a standing car. So many!
On leaving Joshua Tree we found an Applebees on the way back to our hotel.

15-20 June - Best Western Island Palms at Shelter Island, San Diego.
On route to San Diego today with the temperatures now becoming more manageable. Room was not available on arrival so decided to walk along the promenade that overlooks the Coronado Naval Base. Lunch was at the Fathom Bistro(more a shack/bait hut) which is on the pier nearly opposite the hotel. Great hot dogs, (they make there own dogs) and a good selection of craft beers. A really popular eatery and we could see why! Plenty of pelicans about as well.
It was now time to chill and relax (haha don't you believe it). During our five days in San Diego we visited the zoo which is amazing, Coronado, Balboa Park where there is an interesting cactus garden, as well as a nice relaxing stroll along the embarcadero which takes in Seaport shops, some nice eateries and a great view of the USS Midway as well as views across to the naval base where the aircraft carrier Thomas Roosevelt was moored. We also had a day ticket for the HOHO trolley bus. We ate at the hotel bar every night. Which meant TractorBoy could have a drink and a break from the car. Really good food and good service. I took a real liking for Poki bowl.

20-21 June - Best Western at West Covina.
This was a last minute change to our itinerary as we visited TractorBoy's cousin who he had not seen for over 30 years. Had a fabulous day meeting his wife and two of his grown up children. Visiting a care home that he is the administer of. Very humbling! Also took some flowers to the grave of an aunt of TractorBoy. The aunt who was responsible for our love of the USA and first introduced us to that great country in 1979!
The visit was so comfortable after so long and we all just wished we had longer to catch up.

21-25 June - Castle Inn, Cambria
Another long drive, stopping off at various locations, skirting round LA. As expected traffic was rather interesting. Actually crazy!
On arrival it was a quick check in before pizza and a couple of beers at JBJ Roundup Pizza and Grub in Cambria. Then a lovely walk along the boardwalk that was opposite the hotel. Fabulous views over the Pacific.
While staying here we visited the elephant seals, San Simeon state beach for a paddle (the water looked wonderful but was absolutely freezing! Hearst Castle was visited on our last full day and is a visit we would thoroughly recommend.
The last meal of our trip was at the Moonstone Bar and Grill which was located just along from the hotel.
While walking along the boardwalk we saw the splashing of a whale in the distance and also quite a few dolphins that were swimming quite close to the shoreline.
Views along the boardwalk were stunning and different each night.

25 June - Journey to SFO
Left the Castle Inn in good time for the five hour drive to SFO for our journey home. Made good time even though we got held up for 30minutes by construction (saw a dumper truck go virtually vertical up the mountain) so did the 17-mile drive in Carmel. Parked up at the Pebble Beach Golf Club visitors centre. TractorBoy had to have his picture taken with the US Open trophy!
Over the road to the golf club where we walked down to the edge of the 18th hole for a few pictures. I really wanted to buy some coasters but not a whopping $60 for 4. Traffic to the airport was rather heavy but we dropped the car off 10 minutes before our time slot.
Journey home was fine. Well looked after by the Virgin crew, food was good. They do seem to have improved the food on the journey home. Flight time was a record 9hrs 40mins.
Arrived at Heathrow early, immigration was a breeze. Same could not be said about the case. Took over 30 minutes for the bags to arrive!
National Express bus back to Ipswich, taxi home and bed!

You will not find any lows as such in this mini report because there wasn't any. Yes the driving for TractorBoy was tiring and at times I'm sure he cursed me, but the views on some of the journeys made up for any tiredness.

Lesson learned - Don't believe the time estimates for journeys on Google Maps - their estimates don't allow for any other traffic on the road and the fact that you will need restroom and food stops. We should have cottoned on to this a few trips ago

National Express coach and flights - I am always freezing cold but was pleasantly surprised and the temperature was very comfortable!.

Surprise! - this was a big surprise for me. As the Fathom Bistro doesn't have restrooms I decided to use the public ones on the walkway at the end of the pier. This was a mistake - no doors - yup you haven't misread - no doors on the cubicles and two were occupied So had to hotfoot it down to the end of the island and used the ones near the harbour police office. Phew just time.

Now in our conservatory making plans for the next adventure at a slower pace

[KarenG]

What a fabulous trip. I’m shocked about the no door on restroom though! I’d expect it in some places but not there!