In August 2012 I left with two friends to visit he famous tour of the West Coast. It was quite easy to find hotels, campgrounds, gas stations or places to shop and eat and there are so many things to see and so much distance to cover that you have to know how to balance the route/activities/duration of visits.
San Francisco
We took a direct flight from Paris to San Francisco with XL Airways, both ways it was about 800 EUR, you can probably find it cheaper. Landing, customs clearance getting the car. A nice SUV Dodge, comfortable and with air conditioning.
We got on the road and went to our first stop, the fisherman’s wharf hostel. Not very convenient to park there, but the hostel was clean, not too expensive and well placed, no regrets on the choice of accommodation.
The next day we woke up early and went to visit Alcatraz, we had booked a few weeks in advance to have an early morning visit to avoid the masses, the visit lasted 2 hours, and we took the ferry back to the mainland. It was nice to visit the legendary rock.
Small tour then on Pier 25 where we tasted the local speciality, a kind of clam soup in a bowl of bread, pretty nice and we said hello to the seals and then walked some more in the city. Sleep again at the inn, this time in a private room for the 3 of us. We pack the car and take a ride on Lombard Street, the most famous curvy street. We have lunch and leave San Francisco by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, shivers as we drive over it… Short break in Sausalito on the other side of the bridge, without much interest to be honest. We take the road, direction the Country Inn motel in Sonora, a few steps away from Yosemite…. Medium hotel, okay for a one-night stop i guess.
Yosemite
We enter the park in the morning and make a stop at Merced Grove to admire large Sequoias. We drive down the valley and marvel at the nice views. We went to glacier point for a nice view over the valley and the half domne. When we go to the camp-site (the HODGDON MEADOW) it is already night and the guard left. Luckily our names are written on a sheet of paper with our pitch number. Our neighbours lend us a lamp (as a good city-dweller we didn’t really have camping equipment…).
Death Valley
We hit the road quite early after packing up the tent and leave the park by the west exit to Mono lake. The road is beautiful, it is hot, it is great. Small stop at midday at the exit of the park to eat a quick lunch and we depart south, objective: to join the death valley at the end of the day. The road is clear, there are not many people, we end up entering the death valley by the road 190 and we stop at the first campsite that we cross. We buy some beers in a restaurant nearby and we pic nic quietly under the stars. The next day we take the road again after trying to see the darwin falls, we searched a bit but could not find time… During the day we pass by the mosaic canyon, the dunes, badwater, zabriskie point and the artist palette… Great day, it’s a big change from the greenery of Yosemite. Take a lot of water with you so you don’t end up completely dried out in badwater like us..
Las Vegas
We leave the Death Valley at the end of the afternoon to reach Las Vegas, 1h30-2h of car later we enter the flashy city. Our hotel is the hard rock, we have a beautiful suite with 2 double beds, the hotel presented the best compromise price/comfort and the atmosphere is rather young and festive, exactly what we were looking for in Las Vegas. We drink some booze in the room and we decide to go on the strip to hang out a bit. In the end we spend the whole night at the Cosmopolitan, I can’t really recall what we did but it was a nice time, somehow we end up in our room and collapse in our beds. Our next day in Vegas consists of : sleeping in, laundry, swimming pool and a little tour on the Strip, this time sober, to take some pictures and visit a bit. One of us lost her passport the day before so we also looked for the little shit. In the evening I play a bit of poker at one of the casino tables, I lose a bit, win a bit and leave the table. I liked the city for a short stay, but would not stay there more than a couple of days… We go to sleep early, we haven’t really recovered from the night before. The next day we settle the last details at the hotel, we eat at the famous Mandala Bay buffet and hit the road.
Bryce Canyon
We take the road to the north to see the Bryce Canyon, we took some time to get out of town and as a consequence we did not manage to visit the Zion national park, a bitter regret. We arrive late at the Camp-site (RUBY’S INN CAMPGROUND). We sleep in a Tipie, it’s really cold, the girls end up in the car. The next day we go down in the canyon, beautiful colors, beautiful pictures and a scary moment at the bottom when a storm breaks out and all the paths to the exit turn into torrents of mud. Rocks fall everywhere around us… We wait it out in a cave. We leave in the afternoon for the Grand Canyon. We had not booked a camping on the north side of the canyon, we try to eat and sleep in the car but we are quickly thrown out by a ranger, we will end up sleeping in the car, 20km from the national park. Book the camping guys.
Grand Canyon
The next day we explore the north side of the grand canyon and then pass by the horseshoe bend to take some pictures and at the end of the day we watch the sunset on the south side. No time for Lake powell… In the evening we rush on the roads to reach Flagstaff where we have a night in a motel. The Travelodge Flagstaff… a basic road motel.
Road day
We leave Flagstaff and head west, the goal of the day: to reach Barstow, a 5 hours drive. We drive a bit on the famous route 66, we pass in some picturesque villages, I get my beard trimmed in a funky barber shop… We drive along the Mojave Desert without stopping and we arrive at the end of the afternoon in Barstow, we sleep in the California Inn Barstow, another basic road motel but this time with a swimming pool and a German group celebrating a birthday….
San Diego
We leave early in the morning to reach San Diego, at the very south of the country, as soon as we arrive in the city we feel the “chill” “holiday” vibe. People are skateboarding in the streets, riding bmx, a lot of people in bathing shorts, caps, low riding, you know.. California! We sleep at the hostel banana bungalow, good location, nice facilities but with a staff on suicide watch, don’t expect any smiles! We spend the evening on the terrace of the hostel. The next day we take a trip to the giant marine park Sea World and we watch the Orcas show.
Los Angeles
We hit the road in the morning for Los Angeles. We settle in Santa Monica in the Hostel International. We have separatre dormitories this time tho. We are starving so we take the car and go to an “in-n-out”, a journey of 10km turns into 1 hour of traffic jam in the heat..The burgers were nic tho.
We walk then between santa monica and Venice Beach, we real feel in California at that moment. We check the Hollywood boulevard in the evening, big disappointment, the boulevard is invaded by hobos, motorcyclists, drug addicts and tourists. What did we expect ?The next day we visit the art museum, high up in the city and then back to the beach with the Santa Monic Pier with its fairground. In the evening we drink some beers outside and then go to sleep as we leave the next day.
Return to San Francisco
We leave the hostel a little bit stressed, I’m on the phone with the insurance company because I made a small dent in the rear bumper of the car while parking, we struggle to be ready on time for the checkout, we finally leave Los Angeles, and we head north, we stop for a while in Malibu to enjoy one last time the beach and then we go back up north. We did not have a hotel reserved for the night, we spend it in the car on a highway area, pristine organisation! For our last day, we pass again in a factory mall to make some last purchases and we head to the San Francisco airport for our return flight. We get kicked out by the cops from a dead end where we were reorganizing our luggage, I smash a pole with the car without doing any damage. Well… car returned, luggage checked, marathon vacation, but unforgettable memories.
