Ideas for Southwest US roadtrip

[jphealy]

I'm from Ireland and I'm going for a 2 week driving vacation to America at the end of May. Myself and my girlfriend are flying to LA and renting a car from there. Our route will be something like this:

LA - Palm Springs - Phoenix - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas - Death Valley - Yosemite - San Francisco - Monterey - Santa Barbara - LA

I was wondering if any of you (being mostly American) have any ideas of particular places to see, things to do, places to stay etc, along this general route, that maybe I haven't thought of?

I can't wait for my trip and want to make sure that I make the most of it.

Thanks!!

[jknudson]

Not sure if you're interested in aquatic life at all, but if so I've heard great things about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and since you'll be in Monterey California why not?

Here's a link:
http://www.mbayaq.org/aa/

[Vomitore]

I'm from Ireland and I'm going for a 2 week driving vacation to America at the end of May. Myself and my girlfriend are flying to LA and renting a car from there. Our route will be something like this:

LA - Palm Springs - Phoenix - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas - Death Valley - Yosemite - San Francisco - Monterey - Santa Barbara - LA

I was wondering if any of you (being mostly American) have any ideas of particular places to see, things to do, places to stay etc, along this general route, that maybe I haven't thought of?

I can't wait for my trip and want to make sure that I make the most of it.

Thanks!!

San Fransisco has a tour of the San Quentin prison. Very famous prison that's a tourist attraction. In L.A. you can check out some of the museums like the Gene Autry museum or go to some of the theme parks like Magic Mountain or Disneyland. Vegas, theres everything to do there. as for Death Valley, uh ... bring water, and drive at night. Even though that wont much of a difference since it's so dang hot!

[rabernet]

If my memory serves me correctly, Judy and Sheree are from Phoenix - they should be able to suggest some good tourist attractions there!

[lurch]

If your going up by the grand canyon you can always stop along the way at the meteor crater.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/ari...ter/index.html

[Jeanne]

I grew up in Az. The Grand Canyon is nice, but Sedona is really awesome, here is a link for ya: http://www.arizona-bed-breakfast.com...lanner-11.html . Also, going that way up north, there is this great town in the mountains, called Jerome, http://www.azjerome.com/ . They have sweet little bed and breakfast joints, antique stores, and all kinds of nifty things there. Although dont be frightened, Jerome is a place where all the bikers in the area tend to hang, so you would get to see some awesome Harley Davidsons and such sitting outside of the bars and stores. There are also the Indian Ruins called Whitehouse Ruin in Canyon De Chelly that I spent all kinds of time at as a kid/young adult at, great photo ops there : http://www.arizona-bed-breakfast.com...lanner-14.html . On your way up North, you could stop in Verde Valley also http://www.go-arizona.com/Verde-Vall..._campaign=city , nice place. I will have to think about more places I frequented as a kid/young adult in Arizona. I was all over that state. Heck, I lived in a small place way down south, toward Judy, called Bisbee, Arizona (Bisbee is home of several very important mines).. which coincidently, was about a 20 minutes drive to Tombstone, Arizona...one of my favorite places. Ohhhh, I could give you a HUGE list of things to see and places to go, but I would have you alllll over that dang state. I miss Az so much, it was my childhood home.

[Jeanne]

San Fransisco has a tour of the San Quentin prison. Very famous prison that's a tourist attraction. In L.A. you can check out some of the museums like the Gene Autry museum or go to some of the theme parks like Magic Mountain or Disneyland. Vegas, theres everything to do there. as for Death Valley, uh ... bring water, and drive at night. Even though that wont much of a difference since it's so dang hot!

Yeah..what about those tar pits? They still open? Use to be you could actually see dinosaur bones if you stood there long enough, heck, I cant even remember exactly where they are...Labraia (sp) Tar Pits??? At one time they even had a thing you could walk down into and look into the tar pits under the ground.... now that was yrs ago, so I am not even sure what the deal is with those. Whats the story on Redondo Pier? Use to be one of my fav~ places there, loved the egg rolls you could get out toward the end... mind you, this was before it was wrecked. Weren't they suppose to rebuild it?

Not only did I grow up in Az, but I spent ALOT of time in CA also. My Mom would get a bug and load us up to take us to Grandma's.

[JLC]

I'm down in Tucson, which is about 100 miles south of Phoenix. So that might be a little bit out of your way. But if you wanted to jog down this way, I'll tell you my absolute favorite place is the Sonoran Desert Museum. There is simply no place like it in the whole world! And to get to it from I-10, you drive over the Tucson Mountains through Gate's Pass...which takes you right through a vast saguaro forest that is breathtaking.


Well worth the side trip, in my opinion!

[xdeus]

Sounds like a great trip! A few suggestions starting with Las Vegas... Valley of Fire National Park and the Hoover Dam tour are both great stops. If you're into hiking, you can hike in to the Arizona Hot Springs which is along the Colorado river about 4.5 miles from the Hoover Dam. I'm sure you're going up the main route in Death Valley, so try and stop at most of the stops on the map such as the Painted desert and Badwater. On your way across the valley and out of the park, stop at the Dunes and hike in. Great views and great herping!

Going up Owens Valley from Death Valley, you might want to stop at Convict lake. It's not too far off the road by Mono lake, and it's a gorgeous alpine lake. That side of the Sierras is pretty nice being that the elevation changes so drastically. Keep an eye out for Mt. Whitney. Oh, and if you are there around sunset, the Owens Valley has some of the BEST sunsets you could find.

If you have the time, take Hwy 1 from San Francisco to Monterey. The scenery is nice, especially around Half Moon Bay. The trip on Hwy 1 from Monterey to Santa Barbara is much better, so if you're running low on time, go with the second option. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is nice (my wife and son just went yesterday). They have a lot of great exhibits, although most if it is geared towards local fish life so you won't see a lot of exotic tropical fish. The Jelly exhibit is incredible as is the Outer Bay. I was fortunate enough to see the Great White when it was here. Incredible! Anyway, if you are going to the aquarium, try to go on a weekday as weekends tend to be pretty packed. While in Monterey, you can also do 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach. Very nice jaunt, and you might be able to see the sea lions nursing their pups.

If you go down Hwy 1, stop at Big Sur. They have great hikes, a waterfall by the ocean, but watch out for the poison oak.

Have a great time and take lots of pictures!!

[jphealy]

Such great replies! Thanks so much everyone for all your ideas - and keep them coming!

I'm definitely going to see Sedona. It looks amazing there. Monterey Bay aquarium is high on my list too. I'm really looking forward to that drive along Hwy 1 south from San Francisco. It would be awesome to find some cool herps among the dunes in Death Valley. Are these the sand dunes at Stovepipe Wells?