Who's in California? I need vacation planning help!

W

WillCAD

Member
I'm in the planning stages for my vacation this year, which will not take me to WDW as it has for the last 22 years, but will instead take me to the Golden State, and the State Next To The Golden State (NV) for a magnificent two-week road trip. I haven't finalized the details yet, but I have a rough itinerary worked out, and I'd appreciate any input from Californians or those who visit CA but wouldn't want to live there.

The total mileage is around 1400, but I've broken it down into chunks of roughly six hours, with rests in between, so I won't exhaust myself with the drive and not be able to enjoy the destinations. Here is the rough cut of the itinerary:

1. Fly to LAX, rent an SUV, check into an inexpensive hotel or motel.

2. Spend 2-3 days in L.A. seeing sights. I'm particularly interested in famous movie and TV locations like the Griffith Observatory, La Brea Tar Pits, Venice Beach, Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Capital Records tower, the Fox Tower, and the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant (better known as the Bio-Dome). I'd also like to attend the taping of a talk show or sitcom; I'm partial to seeing a taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

3. Drive to Vegas, check into a cheap motel. Spend 2 nights, one whole day in Vegas to see Penn & Teller, have dinner at Mandalay Bay, do some hiking at Lake Meade, and walk across the Hoover Dam Bypass.

4. Drive to Tonopah, NV. Tonopah has the darkest night skies in North America and is an excellent place for some stargazing and astrophotography. Maybe I'll actually get some good shots there! I don't know where I'll stay in Tonopah; I was considering camping instead of a hotel, to save some money.

5. Drive across the mountain passes to Yosemite. Here is where my plan is sketchy; I know I want to hike some of the easy trails in Yosemite for at least 2 days, but I have no idea where to stay. It seems like my options are either stay in the expensive lodges in-park, camp, or stay at an affordable place 30 miles from the park gates and drive 30-45 minutes each morning and evening (not a great option if one wants sunrise or sunset pics). If I camp, I can rent camping gear. But I'm just not familiar enough with Yosemite to plan a 2-3 day stay there, and there is so MUCH info on the net, it's really difficult to filter through it and decide what to do, what to see, and where to go. I need help with Yosemite, big time!

6. Drive from Yosemite to San Fransisco, check into an inexpensive hotel. Spent a couple of days seeing sights there - Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge (there's a specific spot in the Golden Gate Nat'l Rec area I want to shoot from, it was in Dirty Harry and a few other movies and has the BEST view of the bridge). I might meet up with some friends from another photography site while there for a photo walk.

7. Drive from S.F. to L.A. along the Pacific Coast Highway, with an overnight stop, probably around Moro Bay. But I'm flexible on this; I just want to stay somewhere with nice views, a few places to eat, and peace and quiet. I could camp here, too.

8. Arrive in L.A. in the afternoon or evening, stay overnight in a motel, fly home to Baltimore the next morning.

9. Sleep for about 3 days to recover from the jetlag.

So, that's the outline. Anyone care to help me fill in some gaps?
 
I've been to a lot of those places, but it was back in the 70s and 80s. ; If you think old information will help, I'll be glad to share. :)
 
having done many a road trip, both at a snail pace and others at warp drive, i have a couple suggestions


make a rough outline for each day, have all destinations classified into A,B,C list items, work out what is an absolute , if i don't see this why did i come here type of thing, those are obviously the A list, no more than 2 a day unless they are literally within no more than 1 hour of transit time, by whatever transit you are using,
B list items, i want these, i'd go an hour to 2 out of my way for this, i'd feel regret if i had to skip one.
C list, if i get i get it, but not at the expense of missing one of the must haves or a real quirky b lister


NOW COMES THE HARDEST PART, DECIDE WHAT KIND OF TRIP YOU WANT, full throttle ahead or wow i can really smell the fresh air, or depending in physical locations maybe a mixed trip can work. remember this is a vacation, not a forced march, and if 2 weeks is the longest continous time off you get, then maybe you want to slow it down a little, for the health and rejuvenation benefits.


figure how much time each area of interest calls for, NOW, half increase the time again, there's always some place you get too, usually some b item, but once in awhile a c list surprise, that just sucks you in and you just don't want to leave


utilize mass transit whenever possible, parking almost always sucks in any downtown area, and is always overpriced, and navigating the traffic can be a real time killer


los angeles, has a decent mass transit, use it when possible, if not, be prepared to accept the fact that at any TIME OF DAY OR NIGHT , for no apparent reason, a 30 mile journey can turn into 2 hours on the road, remember la is one of the most sprawled out cities in the world, and a lot of these sites are seperated by valleys, with some pretty hefty hills to get over.
same mass transit recommendation for san fran, except they have a much larger system


it's a great trip on paper, but i feel it's pretty ambitious, maybe a little too ambitious, my personal feeling is that's it's better to see a few things you really are attracted to in depth, than to come home with a real regret that you only half covered something, and a trip of this magnitude, even with good priorities, something will grab you time more than you anticipated and you will have a choice to make about dropping something, besides, imho, the best road trips always leave me wanting a return someday


forgot the most important part, THE TMIP ROAD THREAD, preferably done daily, or as soon as possible
 
oh you didn't tell us the time of year this is, if it's summer, it gets mighty hot in nevada, so hot that daytime driving is unpleasant, the car ac may or may not be up to the task and yosemite in the prime summer is a total crowd scene, with many things just impossible without advance res


not trying to be a debbie downer, i just have a lot of road experience under me, and i can't even remember how young i was when i started camping with my grandparents, but i know for a fact i have over 50 years in parks and campgrounds
i have needed to see what's just over the hill, out there on that open road since i can remember, and the urge is still just as strong. i'm jealous, i'd make a similar trip in a heartbeat, and yes with the exception of lost wages i have been to almost all your listed places, might even go to sin city some day just to see the cirque shows and do some desert photography
 
"gary" said:
not trying to be a debbie downer...
Click to expand...

I thought Debbie was sick, so the union sent you? ; ;D

I haven't formalized my lists, but I do have some rough ideas of what are A, B, and C activities in LA, Vegas, and SF. I like the idea of listing them in the categories, though.

The trip will be two full weeks so I can take it slow and easy and enjoy each place. Since I'm doing all of the driving myself, I've separated it into chunks of no more than 6 hours each, and separated them all with a couple of days at each destination.

The trip will be in mid-October. Should be cooler by then in the desert, but I'm more worried about the western passes into Yosemite being closed by early snows. That would necessitate a lengthy detour that would eat up my Yosemite time.
 
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