Road Tripping in the USA!

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 20:41

Blackhawk47 said:
I like how the car doesn't seem to get dirty at all.

Sounded like a good trip.

It rained only once - for 2 hours in Las Vegas. By the time we got out of the hotel it had all gone

NickXX · 8 Jan 2011 at 20:46

Great write up.

I actually followed Fox' route in November last year. Booked a Mustang and drove up PCH too:

The Mustang is such a woolly drive, but I couldn't have done it in anything else

Janesy B · 8 Jan 2011 at 20:48

Did a very similar trip... in a Camry. Didn't totally ruin it but it did take something away from the experience. Planning to right that wrong with either a Corvette or a Mustang when I hit 24 later this year.

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 20:49

You need to be 25 for something like a Corvette or a Mustang.

viper_2003 · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:06

I am getting Married in May and as part of the trip we are driving from San Francisco to Vegas via Death Valley and Yosemite so its really interesting to hear about your trip.

We booked the car as part of the package and opted for a convertable but werent able to specify the car. Any ideas of how likely it is that we would get a Mustang and can you generally ask for a specific car when you turn up?

I just ran our route through Bing Maps and its a fair bit of driving to do in 3 days, looks to be about 640 miles in total.

w1lliam · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:13

[TW]Fox;18178364 said:
£3k for two, inc everything

Thats not bad for 15 days. Looking at doing a month from feb and still hav not began to plan :rolleyes:

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:14

viper_2003 said:
I am getting Married in May and as part of the trip we are driving from San Francisco to Vegas via Death Valley and Yosemite so its really interesting to hear about your trip.

If you have any questions then feel free to ask!

We booked the car as part of the package and opted for a convertable but werent able to specify the car. Any ideas of how likely it is that we would get a Mustang and can you generally ask for a specific car when you turn up?

Do you know which rental company its with?

nutcase · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:17

Nice write up

When did you go? My honeymoon was similar in late october/early nov last year. We hired a small SUV though (the missis insisted and then picked a jeep compass

).

We flew into San Fran, couple of days there including Muir Woods, then Yosemite to Bishop using the Tioga Pass, then Bishop through Death Valley to Vegas (it was cold and it rained in Death Valley!!!!!).

We stayed in the excalibur for a few nights and did road trips to Hoover Dam (one day after the new bridge opened so we managed to drive over the dam and over the bridge) and also drove to the grand canyon (foggy!). We thought about a helicopter trip but Em wanted to go to the place that "inspired" Disney's Cars and there was a few other little bits on the way.

Vegas to San Diego (very nice as you said) and then onto LA where we stayed near disney as Em's a disney freak and did hollywood etc. As you say, LA is a hole! Best thing of the whole trip for me was Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Night. Awesome as the Americans might say

chrism · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:21

great post fox something i've always fancied doing myself

viper_2003 · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:32

[TW]Fox;18178802 said:
If you have any questions then feel free to ask!

Do you know which rental company its with?

Thanks Mike,

Not 100% sure about the rental company, the trip is booked through Virgin who appear to use Alamo. A quick look at their website suggests it would be a Chrysler Sebring so I wont hold out too much hope!

Are their any must visit places when driving that part of the route? We also have the car during our 3 days in Vegas, are there any places within a reasonable distance that we should visit?

Oh and we are staying at Planet Hollywood in Vegas so im glad you thought it was good. I wish our trip was costing £3k but we are having a week in Hawaii before 10 days in CA

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:35

nutcase_1uk said:
Nice write up When did you go? My honeymoon was similar in late october/early nov last year

September last year

We flew into San Fran, couple of days there including Muir Woods, then Yosemite to Bishop using the Tioga Pass, then Bishop through Death Valley to Vegas (it was cold and it rained in Death Valley!!!!!).

It rained?!?! Crikey!

road trips to Hoover Dam (one day after the new bridge opened so we managed to drive over the dam and over the bridge) and also drove to the grand canyon (foggy!).

You are SO lucky because they are closing the dam to all traffic, infact they may have done it now. I thought I was one of the last to ever drive over it.

Vegas to San Diego (very nice as you said) and then onto LA where we stayed near disney as Em's a disney freak and did hollywood etc. As you say, LA is a hole! Best thing of the whole trip for me was Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Night. Awesome as the Americans might say

Yea I did the Zoo and Seaworld because the GF is just obsessed with that stuff

viper_2003 · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:45

Oooo looks like Alamo are changing to Mustangs from April 2011 so things are looking up.

Maccy · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:48

Excellent write up, as always.

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 21:54

viper_2003 said:
Thanks Mike,

Not 100% sure about the rental company, the trip is booked through Virgin who appear to use Alamo. A quick look at their website suggests it would be a Chrysler Sebring so I wont hold out too much hope!

I think Alamo simply point you at a row of cars in your class and you choose one. So if they had a Mustang, you could take it

Are their any must visit places when driving that part of the route? We also have the car during our 3 days in Vegas, are there any places within a reasonable distance that we should visit?

The best route to take is basically the one I did I think.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&s...615528,-118.157959&spn=6.426618,10.513916&z=7

That should take you through the best bits.

A BIG WORD OF WARNING.

Tioga Pass does not open until April or May. It has been to open as late as half way through May. If it's closed when you get there, it's going to seriously cause you problems with your route - the detour is hundreds and hundreds of miles. Make sure you are sure it's open!

Oh and we are staying at Planet Hollywood in Vegas so im glad you thought it was good. I wish our trip was costing £3k but we are having a week in Hawaii before 10 days in CA

They will try and get you to buy an upgrade when you get to PH. Rest assured the standard rooms are fine for us normal people - I've stayed in some nice hotels (Various Hiltons (Are they really that nice? I guess not), Marriots etc) and the standard 'Hollywood Hip' room was really nice.

Fr0dders · 8 Jan 2011 at 22:08

the Hertz in Orlando is off site from the airport.

When you say you got dropped back did you take the shuttle bus or is there another alternative ?

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 22:09

MrLOL said:
the Hertz in Orlando is off site from the airport.

When you say you got dropped back did you take the shuttle bus or is there another alternative ?

Dropped the car off at Hertz and they bus you to the airport. It's only about 5 minutes away.

viper_2003 · 8 Jan 2011 at 22:10

Thanks for your route. Its late May when we will be doing it so hopefully we wont have a problem, sounds like a mamouth detour if closed.

The pictures of the "Hollywood Hip" rooms certainly look nice, its the slightly random places we are staying on route which look more interesting but they are only for a night each.

Out of interest how much roughly did you spend on food etc each day? Its our wedding/honeymoon so I dont want to count the pennies but they dont grow on trees unfortunately!

Janesy B · 8 Jan 2011 at 22:10

Tioga pass was closed until early June last year. This caused a detour to Bakersfield CA for an overnight stop. It was like going back into the 90's.

[TW]Fox;18178589 said:
You need to be 25 for something like a Corvette or a Mustang.

Really? I was under the impression that 24 and over is when you stop paying the young driver surcharge with Hertz and things like Mustangs and Corvettes are a lot more reasonable to hire?

[TW]Fox · 8 Jan 2011 at 22:11

viper_2003 said:
Thanks for your route. Its late May when we will be doing it so hopefully we wont have a problem, sounds like a mamouth detour if closed.

Sadly it's going to really screw your route if its shut unless you do a mammoth through the night driving mission or something.

The pictures of the "Hollywood Hip" rooms certainly look nice, its the slightly random places we are staying on route which look more interesting but they are only for a night each.

I used random motels in the random places.

Out of interest how much roughly did you spend on food etc each day? Its our wedding/honeymoon so I dont want to count the pennies but they dont grow on trees unfortunately!

Dunno, not much really, but them I'm a massive food moron and I'm happy to eat at Subway, go to McDonalds and order Dominos

viper_2003 · 8 Jan 2011 at 22:16

Hmmm, sounds like a reasonable chance of a problem then.

Im usually quite keen on epic drives but im not sure my errrr Wife :eek:

will be so keen.

Time for a bit of research I think....