WE did San Diego to Napa this winter, following Highway 1

The weather was in the 70s/ 80s in January / February - wonderful.

 

The best hotel we stayed at was Hotel California in Palm Springs - absolutely brilliant.

Also the Fogcatcher inn  in Cambria was very good (for visiting Hearst Castle) and to see the elephant seals fighting in mating season 10 yards away was fantastic.

 

I could quite easily live in San Diego (La Jolla preferably !) but the health insurance costs would not allow it  

 

I actually left Yosemite off the list, am heading there as well, kinda of a once in a lifetime trip, I am wondering whats the driving like out there?

Not too dissimilar to the uk- just on a bigger scale! In and around the cities you need to keep your wits about you and its worth taking a satnav with US maps on if the car your hiring doesn't have one for free as they charge quite a lot to hire one. Out in the sticks its just a case of chill and take your time and be prepared to drive for long periods. The drive out of San fran was a bit manic during rush hour as you'd expect and the interstates round LA are rather busy but with a decent satnav you should be fine (we didn't hire one but did get lost on the way to Yosomite) In general I found the roads SF-Yosomite-Death Valley - Los vegas - LA in better condition than those in the uk with the twisties in and out of death valley the most fun, no dpubt others will post their experiences too. When are you off to Yosomite? The summer is best avoided as its chokkablock and the rivers have gone down by then. Apparently spring is the best time and gives dramatic waterfalls when the snow and ice melt but I was told the weather can be a bit changable.

 I am wondering whats the driving like out there?

They drive on the wrong side of the road!

Try not to refer to San Francisco as 'san fran' or 'frisco' it doesn't go down too well.

Get a sat nav with the car.

Stick to the speed limits

different States have different rules

Generally you can turn left on a red light unless the sign says 'no left turn on a red' 

You must stop and not pass a school bus when the stop sign is shown. This applies if approaching the bus in either direction.

You can overtake on either side of a multi lane road.

Avoid driving in the big cities. In San Francisco I dropped the others off at the hotel to take the car back to the rental car park on a Friday evening. It took me over an hour to drive there and ten minutes to walk back.

Some Gas stations want you to pay before you fill.

 

The rental desk will want you to spend more money on extras

Didn't know that about San Francisco, the driving on the wrong side of the road again, I do driving holidays generally most holidays France Spain etc. 

I think the only cities we are driving to are actually San Diego and Las Vegas, as we don't get the car till the end of the First week. 

Speed Limits I have heard they are pretty hot on them, although we are having a base model Dodge Charger I believe 3.0 V6-I reckon my Skoda will have more power though!

 

Thanks for the help though, just want to make sure do everything correctly. 

You won't need a car in San Fransisco as the public transport is really good. We picked up our car when we left to go to Yosomite and had a 6hour wait at the hire garage :-( If you intend going to see the golden gate bridge its not a bad idea to go on an organised coach trip as the locals know when the fog is coming in!

Enjoy....

Jealous!

I did LA up the coast to SF then all the way across to Miami and the keys via lots of places in 2009.

I did SF to Napa to Tahoe them to yosemite and onto Vegas in 2011.

The thing I enjoyed was the vast contrast from the swamps to the everglades to the cities and the deserts. So I would advise getting one of those tour guide books from one of the RV companies and stealing all their ideas. Packing in as much contrast as possible.

When we drove from Napa to Tahoe (I think 3 hours apart) we went from 30 degree heat to snow the next morning. I loved it.

I think route 66 sounds like an amazing adventure.

Enjoy!

Holiday is coming up quickly, literally cannot wait now, have been reading about fuel out there and was slight relieved, upset at the difference in price between UK and US fuel prices, I did a rough calculation for the entire trip it is looking likely will cost us about 300 quid!

 

 

Why can't England be like that with Fuel

 

Not that I am excited but less then a month till Holiday!

Just started booking next years road trip USA.

Fly into Denver then drive to Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone national park, Salt Lake City, Arches national park, Canyonlands national park, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, finish off with a couple of days in Las Vegas and then fly home.

Just started booking next years road trip USA.

Fly into Denver then drive to Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone national park, Salt Lake City, Arches national park, Canyonlands national park, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, finish off with a couple of days in Las Vegas and then fly home.

Great itinerary, did that little lot last year. This October I'm going to the East cost for the first time and heading into the Deep South for a few weeks.

I think route 66 sounds like an amazing adventure.

Enjoy!

It is, specially the way we did it with nothing booked up accommodation wise and booked up on the fly 

(mostly using nothing more than freewifi and the wifes smartphone as we didn't have a tablet or laptop then)

We stayed in a mix of places, b and b type accommodation, guest houses, hotels, motels and even a National Park. 

If we liked a place we stayed for a couple of days, but certainly no agenda or schedule to keep. Kind of ruins it IMO

a proper road trip should be spontaneous I think.

We're doing a similar trip later this year but in the South Island of New Zealand and have just returned from a 1400

mile uk trip around the pretty bits of Scotland and the Lake district. Road trips are ace!

Only 4 days left for me till me and SWMBO fly to San Francisco, work has kind of lost all interest at the moment!

Just started booking next years road trip USA.

Fly into Denver then drive to Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone national park, Salt Lake City, Arches national park, Canyonlands national park, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, finish off with a couple of days in Las Vegas and then fly home.

We got back from this trip 3 1/2 week ago, but I've just got around to posting about the trip.

Nine states. Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

The Car was a Chrysler Town and Country Mini van

2840 miles at an average of 202 miles a day.

108 US gallons (90 UK Gallons) cost $270.73 (£175.60) The car came with a full tank and take it back empty, or as near as we could get it.

The MPG worked out at around 31 UK Gallons.

Some pictures

 

Looks epic

We are going to SF in September

Road trip up to Eureka via Fort Bragg, Mendecino to Lassen, Lake Tahoe, Yosemete, Napa

Cant wait..Been to SF before..What a great city!!

Looks epic

We are going to SF in September

Road trip up to Eureka via Fort Bragg, Mendecino to Lassen, Lake Tahoe, Yosemete, Napa

Cant wait..Been to SF before..What a great city!!

San Francisco is a really nice city, but we tend to go to places that we've not been to before. If you're going to Eureka are you doing the Avenue of the Giants?

I expect so