It’s a done deal.
DR and I have booked our flights for our next adventure: a road trip through the Southwestern States.
We will be flying to Las Vegas on the Friday night:
We will rent a cheap car ($249 US for the week, what is that now, $10 CDN?) and check-in some hotel we haven’t booked yet for the first 3 nights.
Some of the things we want to do around Vegas include the Hoover Dam and some of the Grand Canyon, as well as all the great visuals the city offers, day and night. I’d like to see O from Cirque du Soleil and I know DR wants to see The Star Trek Experience. You can laugh if you want, god knows I have.
Then on the Monday morning will will set sails through the Mojave Desert, we have a couple of routes maped out already for our next destination: Palm Springs, where we’ll spend the next 2 nights.
While there, we’ll visit the Joshua Tree National Park and we’ll also be on the lookout for such sights as this:
Then early on Wednesday, we’ll hit the road again for a place I last visited in 1988:
It will be fun to visit the birth of amusement parks once again, especially since it has changed so much in the last few years with the addition of California Adventure Park and their own Downtown Disney. How can you go wrong with a place that carved a grizzly out of rocks as a focal point:
We’ll spend 2 days there, giggles galore.
Which will leave us 2 extra days to go and explore our last stop:
We haven’t really decided what to do there yet, definitely some nice car rides to visit the different neighborhoods, maybe buy a crappy Map of the Stars’ Home…
I did find some things that I know DR would enjoy, all listed here!
We have 9 days to make our leisurely way from Las Vegas and Los Angeles, sounds like we won’t run out of things to do and see. Funny enough, we’re both more excited about driving throuhg the desert more than anything else:
That all sounds fabulous, enjoy
Here are a couple LA things you might like.
There’s a great restaurant at the end of Sunset Boulevard, at the ocean, called Gladstones. You can sit at sunset and have a delicious meal while the waves pound on giant Malibu rocks. Decent prices for the atmosphere, too.
Driving up Mulholland Drive at night is sensational. You see the lights of the city, or the Valley (left side, right side) from a winding, wicked ridge that runs for days. You can get on it from the 101 near Universal Studios / Ventura Drive, and take it west toward Laurel Canyon. It will look just like the old Tonight Show backdrop, and it’s free. The second half gets even more twisty and turns to dirt before dumping out at the ocean by Pepperdine University. The only time I ever saw a coyote was on that stretch.
If you head south into Orange County you would probably like to spend a couple hours on the Balboa Peninsula. There is a marina with tons of sailboats and a bunch of trendy little shops and cafes. It’s like a more upscale version of Melrose Avenue.
Have fun, and remember that in the States we drive on the right side of the road. And giving someone the finger is just another way to say “Excellent Driving!”
Check me on that… Mulholland doesn’t end by Pepperdine. I was thinking of another canyon road that Mulholland connects to. In any event, the part that starts off the 101 by Universal Studios is the more interesting drive.
And here’s the “Gladstones” site: http://www.gladstones.com/
You guys really know how to live.
Speaking of death, have you considered going on one of the “Dearly Departed Tours”? That would definitely be on my “to do” list.
http://www.findadeath.com
Split
If you have the time…Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, just north of the city near the Grapevine is the best amusement park in the USA. Ride per ride, it equals Cedar Point. Watch out for the drunken Mel Gibson on Mullholland drive. Also in LALA land…stop signs are just suggestions. You roll through them…and red lights mean go faster and flip off the person you cut off that has the right of way, hey…that is similar to Toronto driving.
Also, on your way out of Nevada, stop in PRIMM at Buffalo Bills Resort and ride the DESPERADO roller coaster. Its worth the stop and the outlet shopping there is tremendous!
This is one of my dream trips!
Yeah, make sure to get a cheeseburger inthat traincar next to the Hyatt on sunset. I haven’t been to LA in a few years, but they had wicked cheeseburgers there.
That burger place is called Carney’s and you can’t miss the giant crossing gate sign out front. They also have great dogs. It’s coincidentally, in West Hollywood, which is gay friendly for what that’s worth (not to say that the rest of Southern Cal is hostile by any means).