I've been waiting to do this all my life

Hi Everyone

I have already posted on this subject once but one of the contributors suggested that I repost now that I am starting to get my ideas organised and hopefully I may bring in some more contributors. Having said that the contributions I have had so far have been wonderful and I have leant heavily on one or two in particular when putting together the itinerary.

Watching the sun set over the Grand Canyon has always been a lifelong ambition of mine, and my wife (bless her little heart) is going to make that dream come true in 2008. We are both really excited about the prospect. Although we are advancing in years (middle to late 50s) we have only recently been married and we are trying to catch up at pace.

This trip will take us so close to so many stunning sights and it seems such a shame to go so far and be so close and not visit. Still it is a holiday at the end of the day and we want to enjoy the experience and we mustn鈥檛 fall into the trap of trying to pack in too much. When we visited the Canadian Rockies on our honeymoon the year before last our one regret was that we didn鈥檛 leave ourselves enough time to relax and enjoy our accommodation, which in some cases was amazing. We seemed to arrive after a long day of driving and sightseeing, flop into bed 鈥?get up early for breakfast the next morning and off we were again. This time we want to have time to arrive at our accommodation and have some down time to find somewhere to eat, say stroll back from a nice restaurant and sit outside our little log cabin overlooking a calm and serene lake watching the sun go down with a chilled glass of white wine 鈥?goodness I was nearly there then!

The itinerary is coming together(thanks Mini) but there are still a few wrinkles to iron out. I see the trip in 3 parts 鈥?we are planning to go for three weeks and so I suppose each part could be a week (but it doesn鈥檛 have to be):-

Part 1 鈥?

Arrive Los Angeles 鈥?I think we will only stay in LA for one night 鈥?just to recover from the flight.

Now do we fly to Los Vegas or even Flagstaff to save driving time 鈥?will we miss anything if we do?

We would like to visit in this area Las Vegas; Hoover Dam, Lake Meade; GRAND CANYON, Bruce Canyon, Zion NP where to stay 鈥?any log cabins on the lake side? Do we base in one place and travel each day to these places or move from day to day? Plus is this too much to try and see and even more important are we missing out some fantastic sight that we should be seeing

Part 2 鈥?Same questions 鈥?here we would like to visit Death Valley, Mammoth Lake/Mountain; Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP; YOSEMITE NP.

Part 3 鈥?Same questions 鈥?here we would like to visit San Francisco and either Monterey or Solvang or Morro Bay.

Sorry again for the long post.

I've been waiting to do this all my life

SomersetBoy ~ congratulations to you %26amp; your bride on your somewhat recent marriage, and on your commitment to taking your dream trip.

I have vacationed in lots of your chosen destinations, but we are a camping family so I can%26#39;t really give feedback on cabins or other lodging. I can say that you have excellent taste in selecting destinations.

To best enjoy the many National Parks you have selected, I would recommend that you %26amp; your lady spend time getting in great physical condition. Walking or hiking will get you so much closer to the natural beauty of these locations. At higher elevations, it%26#39;s more difficult to be active. (You may have noticed that in the Canadian Rockies.)

One last thought ~ if you enjoy a good glass of wine, you might want to add a visit to the Napa Valley when you do your San Francisco Bay Area visit.

Have a great trip!

I've been waiting to do this all my life

Glad you%26#39;re getting to make your trip. It looks like you%26#39;ve done some serious planning already. If you don%26#39;t already have one, I recommend you get a good guyidebook for California and one for the Southwest. My personal bible is Rough Guide to Southwest USA. It covers everything (not CA) and is compact.

Not sure how LA fits into your trip other than arrival/departure. Why not fly into SF, do northern California, then move on to the Southwest and return to SF for departure? I agree about Napa Valley if you%26#39;re into wine. I would choose Monterey/Carmel to visit as well, taking the scenic coast route from SF.

I haven%26#39;t made the drive, but it seems logical to go from Yosemite and Mammoth to the other California parks you%26#39;ve listed on the way to Vegas. From there, you can do the circle of the Southwest as you want.

Plan on moving along in the SW. Other than Hoover Dam and Lake Mead near Vegas, the sights are far apart. If you have a tentative itinerary, you should begin to make reservations asap. The popular parks%26#39; lodging fills up quickly, though I%26#39;ve had success with last minute reservations due to cancellations.

Finally, one area you didn%26#39;t list was Page, AZ. Nearby sights include Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell.

Have fun planning and good luck on your trip.

Hi SomersetBoy!

Congratulations on your wedding, so I hope you have an amazing trip.

I live in England, but went across a couple years ago to visit my parents in California. We planned our trip quite methodically, so I appreciate where you%26#39;re coming from with your queries! The one tip I would give is to not underestimate the amount of driving/travelling you have to do in the U.S. Although worth it, it%26#39;s tiring and takes alot longer to get places!

We stayed in Vegas for a few days and took a drive out to Bryce Canyon, which was amazing. It%26#39;s much smaller the the Grand Canyon, but great for short walks and scenery. There are places to stay just outside the park. We ended up doing Hoover Dam in a day from Vegas, but stayed overnight when going to Bryce. On the way back we went through Zion. It depends whether you really want to explore where you%26#39;re going, or whether you just want to see it.

My fiancee and I are actually getting married in Vegas this coming June, so we%26#39;re also exploring Yosemite for a couple days. It%26#39;s getting booked up fast, so I would recommend having a look at where you%26#39;ll be coming from, and where you want to visit. There are some great websites for lodges etc, but they do vary on location, amenities and cost quite a bit. Let me know how you get on with that one!

San Francisco is a must, as there%26#39;s just so much to see and do there. Both Alcatraz and Pier 39 are worth a visit, along with a walk over the Golden Gate Bridge! If you%26#39;re feeling fit, go to Lombard Street...you%26#39;ll see what I mean! We drove up the coast road when we went there, and stopped over a couple of times. Morro Bay is nice, but we didn%26#39;t stay too long, as it just seemed like a typical coastal town. Monterey Bay was also great for a visit, and has some lovely shops to browse around. If you%26#39;re passing that way, Hearst Castle is worth a look.

Not sure if any of that helped?! I know we had to cut back on what we wanted to visit as there just isn%26#39;t time. The travelling really does require consideration, so don%26#39;t plan too much and rush about the whole time...have fun!

My advice is to start your trip here in San Francisco, renting a car when you%26#39;re ready to leave town, and go home from Las Vegas. Here%26#39;s what you%26#39;re facing:

The ';Don%26#39;t-miss SIGHTS in San Francisco'; page geocities.com/touringsfo/Articles/Sights.html has enough to keep you busy for nine 12.7-hour days. It includes links to your best sources of advice on WHERE TO EAT and, according to the Department of Health, WHERE TO NOT EAT here, the UseNet Group ba.food, and the quite-good sfSurvey/Tastyr and the comprehensive Yelp. It also has a WEATHER CHART with a link to current conditions.

The FLAG/MAPS page geocities.com/touringsfo/鈥lagMaps.html has links to the best on-line MAP of San Francisco, the outstanding WALKER/BICYCLIST map that shows the steepness of our streets. The new version of the formerly superb map created for the San Francisco Municipal Railway has removed many streets%26#39; names making it less useful. It%26#39;s cluttered with our many electric bus, cable car, street car, and Diesel bus routes. The map will enlarge and be centered on where you click. There%26#39;s also a link that will tell you how to get There from Where. There are also two maps of our CABLE CAR ROUTES and our 49-mile SCENIC DRIVE, and a superb map of GOLDEN GATE PARK.

Driving Directions with links to relevant maps and URLs of places passed through: San Francisco to Pacifica-Half Moon Bay-Santa Cruz-Monterey/Carmel, Big Sur, San Lu铆s Obispo, Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego geocities.com/touringsfo/鈥riveDir.html

You may read a color-coded-to-interests report on our 2007 trip to Las Vegas via Yosemite and Death Valley at geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/RoadJJ07.html If your interest is limited to point-to-point distances, times, and speeds: geocities.com/iconoc/鈥tats

And you might be interested in reading a page announced yesterday that%26#39;s more about The Coast and around Los Angeles geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Road2N07.html

A couple of years ago my wife and I flew into Vegas for one night.

The next day we drove through Death Valley to Mammoth where we spent the night. It was the last week in June and they were just about managing to ski still.We then drove on to Yosemeti through Tioga Pass which had only re-opened the previous week.This route into the park is fantastic all the snow was melting, forming lakes and in turn fuelling the waterfalls, which were probably at their best.

We stayed in Clouds Rest Cabin for 3 nights, which is within the park at Foresta.It was lovely and quiet, just a few other cabins dotted about.

After leaving yosemeti we headed up to Napa staying in The Candlelight Inn another excellent accommodation but this time a b%26amp;b. While there we had dinner on the Wine Train travlling through the vineyards and back.

You%26#39;re getting good advice so far. I just took a trip in July to Death Valley, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. My trip was 12 days long and driving took up too much of it. I recommend at least three days of your trip should be in Yosemite, five if you are in shape for hiking. Stay in the park if you can otherwise you will spend an hour driving in the morning and an hour driving out every evening as I did.

I was surprised at how much I liked Death Valley so I recommend staying there even though the places to stay are somewhat rustic. I thought the Furnace Creek area had the most to offer with a restaurant saloon, and general store to go with the INN there.

I did all of the main Grand Canyon areas, West Rim including Skywalk, helicopter ride into Canyon and boat ride on the river, South Rim and North Rim. To me Skywalk was not very impressive, helicopter was awesome but extremly short about 10 minutes total, South Rim had the most overlooks with some having views of the river, North Rim is a little higher (and not as hot in summer). For North Rim, have dinner in the lodge restaurant with the huge windows on the edge of the canyon. I do not recommend tours out of Vegas to the Grand Canyon as these end up being 3/4 travel, waiting in line, etc. and 1/4 sightseeing.

With three weeks you should be able to see these places and some attractions in San Francisco as well.

Have Fun.

Somerset Boy,

Wow! Sounds like a fabulous trip. You have picked some really great destinations, all of which I have been to but don%26#39;t know well except the N. Rim of the Grand Canyon.

As stated above, don%26#39;t underestimate the driving times here. Everything is far apart! I think flying into San Francisco is a good suggestion and starting your trip there. Napa is fabulous if you both enjoy wine. The winery tours and tastings are so interesting and fun. My husband and I have done two very nice trips recently to the area and highly recommend it.

I would love to make specific lodging recommendations for the Grand Canyon portion of your trip, but I%26#39;d like to know how important budget is. Do you want to stay in a decent but not really expensive place, or are you loaded??? Not terribly far from the Grand Canyon is another really beautiful place you didn%26#39;t mention, Sedona. Have you considered going here?

So glad to hear you want to build in time to relax and smell the flowers (so to speak). Many travelers come here and go on whirl wind vacation itineraries that make my head spin. I would rather see fewer places well planned but relaxed than run a marathon through beautiful country.

Will give more details after your next response.

-Janna

Hi Somersetboy,

While near Grand Canyon, consider the Colorado River float raft trip which departs below the dam of Lake Powell at Page, AZ. It is a half day trip, and returns you to Page by bus. It is an easy trip, no special gear, no rapids, and very very scenic. Google brought up this website: lakepowellvacations.com/Pages/floats.shtml

It is upstream of Grand Canyon, but unless you take the mule ride down the canyon wall, or raft the white water, I think this is as close as you get to being down in the Grand Canyon.

Relaxing and pretty. I think you%26#39;ll like it.

Happy traveling.

About Part 2 of your trip - be aware that those places are separated by a big mountain range. You could arrange them in a circle, approach from the east after Part 1. Go to Death Valley, then up the back side to Mammoth, through Yosemite over Tioga pass, then down to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.

Even so, that%26#39;s an ambitious itinerary for just one week. I%26#39;d leave off the eastern side of the Sierras and consider a brief visit to Death Valley (still on my %26#39;to do%26#39; list even after 50 years in the state), maybe pop in at either Sequoia OR King%26#39;s Canyon, and spend the rest of the time exploring Yosemite. Yosemite has some amazingly diverse terrain - from the drama and crowds of the valley to the serene high granite strewn meadows of Tuolumne (the locals pronounce it Too-ALL-ah-mee).

From Yosemite, you could head straight west towards Monterey. Morro Bay wouldn%26#39;t add that much to the trip except for the spectacular drive from there up Highway 1 with the sheer drop to the pounding surf on one side and steep mountains up on the other.

My suggestion is to look at a map program like MS-Streets and Trips or google.maps.com and look at the actual drive time between these places. I don%26#39;t think you will really miss any great sites by flying from LAX to Vegas but I don%26#39;t think you will save as much time as you expect. The drive time is under four hours.

I was at the Grand Canyon in 2006 (for a second time). My suggestions for nearby not to miss places are: Sedona, AZ - WOW (stay two nights) The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff on ST-89 is also fun. Some hairpin turns with some great overlooks. Stop at Sunset Crater Volcano and you can hike down into an old volcano. Staying on ST-89 is a bit out of the way but worth it. Also be sure to stop at Marble Canyon. It actually marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon park. The Navjao Indians have tables set up setting their wares.

P.S. My favorite vacation of all time was Colorado Springs to Yellowstone and back - two weeks and it was perfect.