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Planning a Holiday/Road Trip to the USA(West Coast)

Re: Re: Planning a Holiday/Road Trip to the USA(West Coast)

"Horseplay" said:
Johnny, you can most likely rent a GPS unit from Hertz along with your car. Pretty much all the rental agencies offer them. That would be a whole lot easier than trying to connect with someone to borrow one during your short visit to the area.
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Hertz does offer there neverlost gps, its 12.99 a day. It does let you plan you entire route and load it in. For the amount of time you have the car it could get pretty pricey. Looking at close to $200.
 
Re: Re: Planning a Holiday/Road Trip to the USA(West Coast)

"RapidRabbit" said:
Hertz does offer there neverlost gps, its 12.99 a day. It does let you plan you entire route and load it in. For the amount of time you have the car it could get pretty pricey. Looking at close to $200.
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Yea, 21 days at $12.99 would be $275. I was going to just buy one but then i got the kind offer to borrow one.

"RapidRabbit" said:
I'm about 3 hours north of Chicago. If you had more time there I was thinking maybe I would run down and see my brother and we could meet up.


Pm me the address you gf is at and I can send it out quick.
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Its a shame i dont have more time but i am finding it tough to squeeze anymore out of a 26 day holiday. My brothers will start to think i am never coming back.

I will send over a PM shortly.
 
Here is the update i have been promising since i got back...Sorry about the delay.

The trip was simply amazing. Even after a month we really cant get over how much we enjoyed ourselves.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the people that helped us out. We would have loved to visit more of you guys but the schedule was pretty tight.


Thanks to Mike, Craig, Frank, Jeff, Justin and Bill for taking us on that the cruise and for buying us Lunch.
Thanks to Pat for the lend of the GPS and the hook up.
And Thank you to everyone else that helped and gave us advise. It all helped.


We arrived in SF and rented bicycles for a day. We cycled from down town all the way through Golden Gate Park until we reached the coast then headed north until we got to the Golden Gate Bridge. We crossed the bridge and headed into Sausalito and continued all the way around Ridhardson Bay until we got to Tiburon where we got the ferry back to Downtown past Alcatraz. On our way back to the hotel we took a wrong trun and ended up in the Getto which was a little scary. Needless to say we made rapid exit.

We then met up with the guys on the Sunday morning and went for an amazing cruise around the south SF area. It really was one of the highlights of the trip for us. Something that you couldnt buy if you tried. We went for lunch afterwards and both of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The next day we got up early and head off to Lake Tahoe which we both loved. It was the first of the really EPIC views we experienced on our roadtrip. We spent the afternoon in Meeks bay and we really did not want to leave. We then had our most spectacular drive towards Mammoth Lakes down the 395. The sun was setting as we came around by Mono Lake and it was breath taking and prob my favourite memory of the whole trip.

We then spent 4 days in Mammoth Lakes, were we did some hiking and spent one day on the edge of TJ lake. Just chilling out, swimming in the crystal clear water and generally being happy!!!

After the few days there we headed towards Yosemite, again amazing drive. We went down into Yosemite Valley but it was very hot that day and most of the water falls were dry at that time of the year. Still nice to visit but will try to get back in the Spring next time. We left Yosemite and traveled west on the 120 back towards south SF and this was a surprisingly pleasant drive. Once we got down lower it was really nice and warm and driving through the mountains with the roof down was something very special.

We got as far as Half Moon bay that night and checked into our hotel, I was tired but happy.

The next day we got up and had a nice stroll around half moon bay and found an old style American diner for breakfast with and old chef who liked to sing while cooking your breakfast. More great memories. We packed up and hit the road towards Monterey. We stopped off at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park to see some of the big trees. I met a park ranger while we were walking through the forest and ended up chatting to him for nearly an hour about the trees. I was fascinated by them.

So we got back on the road towards Monterey. When we arrived we found a really good seafood restaurant there and we had one of the best meals Ive ever had(and we shared 3 bottles of nice wine)

The next day we hit the road towards Santa Barbara. We read in a tourist book to do the 17 mile drive but soon realized that we paid $10 to look at rich folks houses so we ignored the 20mph limit and got out of there fast. We stopped off in Carmel and had lunch which was nice. We got back on Hwy 1 and headed south again. We stopped off at Hearst Castle and did the whole tour thing. We really enjoyed this and the story behind it. We got back on the road and made it to Santa Barbara late that night. We spent the next 4 days chilling out and relaxing by the beach. SB has a really chilled out vibe about it and I could park up for a few days.

So we left SB and headed toward LA. A buddy hooked me up with a very good rate in a super posh hotel in Bevelry Hills. It was the SLS and the rich and famous hang out there. It was not really our scene but we got to see what the other half live like. Endless Rolls Royces, Ferraris, Bentleys pulling up outside the hotel. They had valet parking Only at $35 per day which didn't make me smile when I got the bill as they do not tell you about it when you check in. Anyways, we did the usual Hollywood stuff and hiking up to the sign.

Next we got back behind the wheel and tried to drive to San Diego. We left at 11am on a Friday thinking we would avoid the traffic. It was 2pm by the time we got to Oceanside. We stopped for lunch and decided to just park up and hit the beach and wait until the evening when the traffic had died down a bit. We lost some time in San Diego but better than sitting in traffic.

We arrived in San Diego and we were staying out in Ocean Beach which was surfer central. We were staying in very cheap motel which was a big contrast to LA especially with the unusually high temps and lack of A/C

We spent 2 days in SD and we both really liked the city. It had a small town feel and we regret not being able to spend more time there.

So we got packed up and headed towards Vegas. It was 112F in Death Valley. We stopped at services just to experience these temps. Crazy, crazy heat for an Irish man! Here is a question for you guys. About an hour before LV they are building massive tower like structures to the left hand side of the road and I could not figure out what they were. They were not windmills, or signal towers. Anyone know? We arrived in LV and it is a very unique place. Again we enjoyed the experience but I would go back with the lads next time. Unless you are there to party there is little to do. We paid a visit to the Shelby factory which was interesting.

So that was the end of the road trip and we headed to airport and dropped the car back to Hertz. I was actually a bit sad leaving her back. She has been very good to us for 3 weeks. I defo had grown a little attached to it. :shee

So we arrived in NY late on the Thursday and got checked in. We spent the next 4 days doing the usual NY stuff which you will see in the pics.


The Highlights
Driving from Lake Tahoe to Mammoth Lakes past Mono lake at sunset.
Meeting you guys and the cruise in the Stangs.
The Redwoods.
The Lakes at Mammoth
Renting the 5.0 Mustang in Chicago
The drive from Mammoth through Yosemite park and back to half moon bay.

Here is an album with some pics. It would take me forever to add them all to this post. They are in reverse order the way i uploaded them so scroll to the bottom and work your way up.
http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg37/irisheleanor/USA%202012/

All in all, we both call it the holiday of a lifetime and it only makes me sad when I think about it as I want to be back there.

You guys have a fantastic country and you really are very friendly and helpful people.

Now, if you would only drive on the correct side of the road it would be perfect
 
"Johnny M" said:
Now, if you would only drive on the correct side of the road it would be perfect
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You know you wanted to type RIGHT side of the road...and you are correct. You even drove on that side when you got home, the RIGHT side. :yah :yah :yah

I also see that you took pity on that poor homeless girl sleeping on the park bench and bought her a beer. :beer
 
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