OP Updated once again to add a bit of detail of some of the main things we wanted to do at a few of the main locations...
And to make this post worthwhile, a couple of logistical questions:
Trying to work out what to do about phones and music while we are there... From my research it seems like a bit of a minefield - whatever route you try to look up in terms of taking a UK SIM over there you eventually find people complaining about speeds, throttling, borderline un-usable service... but I'm unsure how current some of those comments are and whether things have improved since. I know it's possible to buy a US SIM but I don't really want the hassle of having to go and do that once we get there. So it seems like the two most obvious options would be:
- Just use the phones we have (both have SIM only O2 contracts), for £4.99 a day we can get 120 texts + minutes plus unlimited data - a bit pricey at ~£100 each for the trip but the most straightforward thing to do
- Order a couple of PAYG Three SIMs, unlock our phones if needed, and then pay for a month's worth that will cover us there. It's cheaper with various different data caps up to unlimited at £35. This is what I'm leaning towards tbh
As for music, it depends a bit what connections the car will have (
if we do get a Nissan Maxima it looks like the recent ones have just about every connection you could hope for) but I'm thinking if we have unlimited data on at least one phone then we can hopefully use Spotify and either Bluetooth to the car, with an AUX jack as a backup. I've also got an iPod classic but it's on its last legs so wouldn't want to rely on it. Possible the car will also accept a USB drive with music on it, so I could try to do that as a backup. It seems a bit of a silly thing to fret over but with so many long drives and good scenery I think having our choice of good music will really enhance the trip - I know we can listen to the radio but I bet it's just like the UK radio (too much repetition, too many annoying adverts, etc)
Edit: Just realised I didn't acknowledge many of the helpful posts above:
I appreciate all the tips - sadly anything to do with changing the route is off the table at this point (the hotels etc. are already booked) even though I agree Bryce Canyon etc. look absolutely fantastic and I'd love to see them someday (I think Mrs.Rufus is also really keen to go to Houston to see the space museum and stuff so perhaps that would be a plan in the future)
Equally the immigration time-saver in Ireland sounds really neat, but we're already booked on the flights and can't change them. We're flying into McCarran though not LAX so fingers crossed it won't be quite as terrible
)
I can update once we've actually been on the trip to say how the various bits of advice and planning worked out in the end
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