Go West! ...and I don't mean t'uddersfield tha knows!

[Sweeney_Todd]

After a few years of trips to Florida with the kids we have cut the apron strings and are off away on our own, well with our two very good friends Hayley and Rob (hereinafter referred to as H&B). Anyway, that's why you have kids don't you? So they can grow up and you can go on holiday without them!

This trip came out of initially thinking of planning a big trip in 2014 when DW and H&B reach the big five-0. I won't get there for another four years after that, so there's another trip to plan.
Anyway, with DW's health not going to improve any we brought it forward a couple of years.
H&B were already planning a road trip along the west coast, which would certainly involve Vegas (they are big fans) and asked if we wanted to join them. Originally they were only going for two weeks but we stretched it out to three in order to get the most from it. We knew it would be around April time and they wanted to try Oregon. They love Seattle and that is always somewhere we wanted to go; so, the seeds were sown - we would start off somewhere a bit chilly (Seattle) and end up somewhere warmer (Vegas).

Rob and I are in the type of jobs where you have to get in early with annual leave and with this being Olympic year there would be restrictions on when we could take it. So, the leave was sorted and as soon as the flights were released we booked them. The only airline that flew direct to Seattle was BA so that was one decision made for us; we couldn't be bothered with the hassle of indirect flights and BA were of a similar price anyway.

H&B are the type of folk who will drive from one place to another and get a hotel or motel on spec; if they don't like the place they'll move on. We would have to be a bit more rigid than that because DW would need accessible rooms, or at least rooms with a shower. We decided not to spend the full three weeks in each other's company; that would send us crazier than we already are. We would fly in together, meet up and stay at certain locations and fly home together.


So, here is the itinerary (still to be tweaked a little) for DW and I:


Day 1 (27th March) - set off late afternoon and drive a good way down the M1 to stop in a luxury Travelodge.


Day 2 - drive to Heathrow for an afternoon flight to Seattle. On arrival at Sea-Tac we’ll pick up our SUV from those nice folks at Alamo and drive to the hotel. H&B haven't booked their motor yet, so they may end up with a moped!


Day 3 - Seattle; sightseeing and the like. I reckon we will need our cagoules as it tends to be a bit wet. Every time we watched The Killing on TV I would phone Hayley and say, "It's b*****d well raining again!"


Day 4 - depending on how much we get done we will drive down to Portland either in the morning or early afternoon. Overnight stay.


Day 5 - have a look-see about Portland. The street food scene in Portland is something that peaks our interest, so we cannot leave without sampling some of the treats on offer. We will then go our separate ways for a little while; H&B will be travelling south along the coast and then inland before entering California whereas we will follow the Columbia River to the top left corner of the state and follow the coast road from there. Our first night's lodging will be in Seaside.


Day 6 - drive down the coast as far as Yachats, lodging in a family run motel we have found. There is a nice place to eat there (a few of our stop-offs are food driven!)


Day 7 - drive down to Gold Beach; again, main reason for lodging there is a place we want to try for breakfast!


Day 8 - long drive along the coast road and into California, staying at Fort Bragg.


Day 9 - after breakfasting at another nice place we have picked out we will drive to San Francisco. I’ll leave DW at the hotel, dump the first motor and pick up the one for the next two weeks; more cost effective that way!


Day 10 - San Francisco. Oh, what to do?


Day 11 - SF to Reno; meet up with H&B. Probably stay the one night in Reno – we fancy the Peppermill Hotel but still undecided.


Days 12 to 14 - not tied on yet but will likely be staying in the Lake Tahoe area.


Days 15 & 16 - part from H&B again and drive down to Vegas through Death Valley, mostly on the California side. We will probably stop half way down at Lone Pine. When we arrive at Vegas we are booked in at New York New York for two nights. Originally we were all going to stay there together then spend two days away in Arizona for the west rim of the Grand Canyon before returning to Vegas for the last three nights. However, as the trip planning evolved we binned the Grand Canyon trip and H&B decided to stay longer in the Lake Tahoe area so Rob could maybe do a bit of skiing.


Day 17 - Las Vegas. We may travel to the Hoover Dam while we are on our own; H&B aren’t bothered about that as they have been a few times before. DW did want to also visit the Liberace Museum but I have just read that it has closed; she’ll have to nick some bling from somewhere else!


Day 18 - drive up the US95 as far as Tonopah; lodge there in the recently renovated and re-opened Mizpah Hotel.


Day 19 - drive back to the Vegas area by way of the “ghost towns” along the US95. We haven’t booked anywhere for that night yet; H&B are at Treasure Island and I’ve threatened them that we may crash on their bedroom floor!


Day 20 - Vegas; booked into TI for three nights and back with H&B. They are seasoned Vegas visitors so we will allow them to show us the sights – which will no doubt include a number of buffets!


Day 21 - Vegas. Love (Hayley’s favourite show) booked for the evening.


Day 22 - Vegas; our last night at TI.


Day 23 - our last day in Vegas before heading to the airport for an evening flight.



Not all of the above is cast in stone and there will be a bit more tweaking required. Any comments or suggestions on what else we could do would be gratefully received.


Regards,

[Guest]

Awesome...can't wait to read these. I don't know where you'll find the time