Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012: Planning – Road Trip

We will arrive into LA very early in the morning (about 1am).  We’ve got a hotel booked for that night, and only need to head to Palm Springs on day 1, so we have some flexibility to ensure we can get a Mustang.  I did wonder whether we really needed a hotel that night since we will still be on UK time and therefore we will be waking up around 3am!  (Might as well save the cash?  Mrs B may have other ideas about that!)

Anyway from LA we head down the road to Palm Springs for 2 nights.  We should hit some real warmth, and we are both looking forward to that – it will be a nice change from the wet and cold weather in the UK in April/May!

From Palm Springs we will be driving down to San Diego.  We spent a few nights there last time we were in California with J and we did enjoy the place.  We have a couple of nights planned in this time too.

We then start heading north through Oxnard/Santa Barbara (1 night), San Luis Obispo (1 night) and up to Monterey where we spend another couple of nights.

From this point we head inland to Yosemite for 3 nights.  We tried in vain to get a room at Yosemite Falls Lodge which is the closest hotel – we may ring up as we get closer to see whether they have any cancellations.  Wherever we stay I am sure it will be great.  This is a high point for Mrs B as she’s been there before but I haven’t so it’ll be good to share the experience.

Then we head on to San Francisco for 2 nights – last time we were there we got caught up in admin to complete the US mortage we need to start our US house construction in Florida – it wasn’t a pleasurable few days so we hope this time to have no worries on our minds!

Then on to somewhere new for us – the Napa Valley where we will soak up the (wine) sun for 2 nights!

Next comes Garberville (1 night) in the middle of the Redwoods, Grants Pass (2 nights) and then to Crater Lake National Park for 2 nights.  One of my friends said that Crater Lake was her favourite place in the US, and it’s our first time here so we’re really looking forward to it.

Yachats is next for 2 nights.  We only stayed here for 1 night last time, and it was one of the most beautiful places to stay.  We both remember waking up to the crashing waves – all the rooms overlook the sea and it’s just stunning. The Oregon coastline is so under-rated.

Last part of this section takes us to new places for us: on to Astoria (1 night) and then 2 nights in the Olympic National Park (Lake Quinault) which is in Washington State but is actually a rainforest.

So, plenty of hiking in National Parks, plenty of mooching in cute little places and no doubt plenty of coffee!

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012