California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada (late Apr to May 2015 Actual Trip)

LA Blog (Photos PENDING Upload)

• 20 Apr Mon
• Arrived LA. Airport transfer to Travelodge in Anaheim was $60. Walked down the road. Luke got a haircut. Purchased burritos.
• 21 Apr Tues
• Walked to Disneyland and spent the day there (walking distance from hotel). We bought the one park per day deal)
• We enjoyed a yummy crepe at a chain restaurant called IHOP (similar to Pancakes on the Rocks in Sydney) for dinner. 
• Baseball game to watch the LA Angels vs Oakland Athletics (A's) was walking distance away
• 22 Apr Wed
• Walked to Disney Adventure Park (also walking distance from hotel)
• Collected hire car from down the road at Hertz as they offered unlimited miles. Booked to return it to same location in Anaheim (South East LA) on the 28th Apr (it only cost ~$160 to hire a car for 6 days when returning it to the same location, whereas if we were to return it to a different hire car location it cost significantly more at ~$900)
• Drove to the Staples Stadium to watch the LA Clippers vs San Antonio Spurs at 7:30pm (McDonald's extra fries and coke at stadium was an extra $6). We got home at midnight as Anaheim is about 1 hr drive from the city. Highways have about 6-7 lanes in many parts, and they are made from slabs of concrete, so for most of the trip every 1-2 seconds you feel a little hump, which feels cool as the suspension is quite soft, and we're in a standard sized sedan (Nissan Altima). 
• Drove on the right hand side, and the fuel is measured in gallons instead of litres. Food is very tasty and they give generous servings that are mostly cheaper than back home. Lunch was a tasty chicken pasta, and we found a chocolate fudge shop in Disney Adventure Park and pigged out on a chocolate fudge icecream. 
• Booked a Train (with bus transfer included) for us to catch at about 10am on 29th Apr (costing ~$120 for both of us), which would take us to San Francisco and have us arrive there in the evening at about 11pm so we could check into a cheap backpackers accommodation at Fisherman's Wharf costing ~$90 in shared dorms before heading off on our tour around San Francisco and the drive out to Yosemite National Park
• 23 Apr Thu
• Checked out of hotel late at about 11am.
• Drove from Anaheim to Newport Beach and saw boats moored on the inlet, continued down to Laguna Beach and saw whales off the coast. 
• Ate BJ's take-away Deep Pizza for lunch (delicious) 
• Drove up to Long Beach via Seal Beach. Got lost around Vincent Thomas Bridge (incredibly high and surrounded by large port with many cranes). 
• Drove to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach with free beach volleyball setup, noticed larger seagulls and drill rigs off the coast. 
• Drove past Marina Del Ray and drove past Venice Beach but it was dark at 7:30pm with only a couple of streets with coloured lights and activity, but it was difficult to park the car. Nearby Main St had glittery lights. 
• Continued along the Pacific Coast Drive to Santa Monica and after finding free Wifi at a service station we found accommodation at Palm Motel costing $85 + $13 tax and checked in at about 9:30pm.
• 24 Apr Fri
• Drove to Los Vegas
• Stopped at Route 66 Museum. Drove via old Route 66 from there to Ghost Town where there were small dust storms but it was closed
• Arrived in Los Vegas at Hostel Cat and joined their tour of Old Los Vegas at 10:30pm. Did not realise each drink was a double shot after the first
• 25 Apr Sat
• Hung over slept in until 4pm
• Walked around Los Vegas strip from 4pm until 5:30am the next morning
• Met an Austrian backpacker (Georg) and offered for him to join us on our drive out to the Grand Canyon area
• 26 Apr Sun
• Drove from LA to Flagstaff
• Visited the Hoover Dam and did the tour
• Visited the West Rim of Grand Canyon and paid entry fee of $40 each. Parked car and boarded bus that took us to the two lookouts. Watched sunset at second lookout.
• Arrived at Flagstaff at approx midnight. Stayed at Americas Best Value Inn & Suite. Saw a small bus stuck hanging slightly off the road and checked it was not an accident when arriving in Flagstaff.
• 27 Apr Mon
• Drove South to Sedona via main highway and returned via tourist route of Red Rock National Park. Stopped at lookouts including a bridge lookout. Did the Grasshopper hike but Luke got directions wrong and we crossed the river early and struggled through thick vegetation until reaching the correct crossing. Returned back to car. Saw large yellow butterflies.
• Drove through Kaibab National Park before entering South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Payed only $25 for private vehicle (with 3x passengers). Drove to each of the lookouts. We walked partly down a hike at sunset.
• 28 Apr Tues
• Drove initially from Knights Inn in Page to the North. Only 5 mins out of town was Grand Canyon Dam and a turn-off to the right with a great 360 degree view of Lake Powell with canyon scenery, then soon after we turned off to Visitor Center at Evan ___, where we were informed that Vermillion Cliffs was along 89A to the South via the Colorado river.
• Drove back to Page. Continued to Navajo bridge that crossed Colorado River.
• Drove along the edge below Vermillion Cliffs and Marble Canyon
• Stopped for photos with large boulders in Marble Canyon
• Diverted off highway to the left to Coral Pink Sand Dunes and returned to highway again
• Entered Dixie National Forest
• Arrived at Bryce Canyon, viewed all photo points. Saw chipmonk and ravens flying together. Did the hike from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point just before sunset. Continued driving to Fairyland Point to find motorcycle slid off road just before turn-off but just made it before dark
• Drove back to main highway by 8pm.
• 29 Apr Wed
• Drove back to Anaheim, got lost initially at wrong Motel 6, and stayed at Motel 6 (in Stanton). Stopped on the way at St George for dinner at IHOP (Luke had omlette and pancakes, Claudia had blue cheese steak with salad/veges)
• Farewelled Georg
• Arrived at Motel 6 at 5:30am, fortunately before going to bed we checked Amtrack website for status of Train 14 to San Francisco and found it did not exist. After calling Amtrack we found we had to get to Union Station in LA (in the city instead of out of town at Anaheim Station). We returned car early at 7:50am after clocking up ~2100 miles and ran to Anaheim Station (Luke thought it was 10 min walk according to Google Maps, but later discovered it was actually 10,000 feet (2.5km) upon later reflection) and boarded (clothes sweating profusely and red faced and out of breathe) train that left at 9:15am and arrived Union Station at 10:00am. Ran down ramp to tunnel, asked for Amtrack ticket finalisation counter, we were informed Amtrack was at other end of tunnel so ran there past golf cart courtesy buggies, whistled Claudia's attention when found it and were informed that electronic receipt ticket was sufficient (on iPhone), ran back to other end and along platform at 10:10am, guard yelled to stop running and that they would wait for us. 
• Changed clothes on train. Luke had vege burger and half bottle red wine for lunch, and Black Angus/mash/beans with half bottle white wine for dinner. Claudia had chicken schnitzel/mash for lunch and salmon/mash/veg for dinner
• 29 Apr Wed
• Arrived at accommodation at 10:30pm. Met a man who was on business for a water business in San Francisco who was staying at same accommodation. Booked accommodation at Yosemite and car hire (Hertz). 
• Slept from 2:30am
• 30 Apr Thur
• Woke up at 7am. Went to Pier 33 via Pier 39 by foot for the Alcatraz Island Tour ($30 each) from 10am and returned to shore at 2:15pm.
• Picked up hire car from Hertz (Chevy Cruz with GPS). Collected luggage from accommodation
• Drove toward East bridge but too much traffic. Took exit and headed North to Golden Gate bridge. Stopped for the view point at North end of Golden Gate
• Drove further North and followed signs to Muir Woods. Met someone who worked for National Park in Alaska for 15 years who was taking photos and selling them during Denali Adventures. Chatted with him until 8:30pm. 
• Drove toward accommodation. Ate full baby back ribs at Applebees in Livermore.
• Arrived accommodation 2:30am.
• 1 May Fri
• Woke up at 9am
• Drove to Old Railway but they only had fixed ride times and we missed the morning rides. Continued to Muir Woods and hiked up to the top Point and down again by sunset. 
• Drove to Glacier Point and saw a wolf or coyote on the way
• Ate noodles for dinner
• 2 May Sat
• Drove to Yosemite National Park Village. 
• Walked part of the Four Mile Walk (were told incorrectly that there were no shuttle buses but there were some!)
• Walked around beach area and had lunch with ravens and ducks
• Horse ride to Mirror Lake for 2 hrs 
• Walked to Vernon Falls and to the base of Nevada Fall and got back to road by dark
• Saw people climbing up the Half Dome at night since it was a full moon
• Drove back to accommodation via the West route by mistake and had Taco Bell for dinner since everything else closed at 11pm
• 3 May Sun
• Drove back to Yosemite Valley. Walked to Yosemite Lower Falls. Drove toward Hecky Hecky. Walked the Carlon Falls trail to its waterfall and back again. Drove further to the Hecky Hecky dam. 
• Stayed at hostel for cheap just outside Yosemite on Western side and had dinner at a roadhouse down the road
• 4 May Mon
• Drove the Tioga Road and stopped off along the way
• Stayed at Bridgeport Inn. They had advertised online for $69 with free breakfast. We arrived by car and they agreed to $69 to Claudia, but they only gave her a voucher for $3.50 from a meal. I came in and showed them the online deal that advertised free breakfast and they said they had no problem providing free breakfast and the manager would be available in the morning. When entering the motel entrance with our luggage a lady with blonde hair who was from the bar was intending to exit at the same time. I opened the door and said "after you", and she proceeded through. I entered with my backpack and Claudia followed with hers. She made no attempt to offer to help. She must have heard me complaining about their false advertising and we noticed (in the corner of our eye) her use her two fingers pointing from her two eyes toward me as she gestured to the lady who checked us into the motel.
• We walked down Bridgeport road and spoke about local trout fishing at the fishing shop. He recommended Bodie and Twin Lakes.
• We had dinner at the Sports bar. Luke had mexican special and two Mammoth IPA beers. Claudia had parmigiana and spaghetti. 
• Walked back to Bridgeport Inn, Claudia tried the key and it did not work. We walked around the back and it was dark and the door there didn't work either. We returned to the front door and Claudia suggested that I whistle, so I wolf whistled. Coincidently (sarcasm) the young lady who checked us in was just across the road (in dark of a full moon). She came over and we chatted whilst she called someone else for the "right key". About 5 to 10 mins later another lady (perhaps the wife of the owner) arrived with the key and opened the motel. The young lady said she just lived across the road and that the motel was haunted. She said she didn't know the lady with the blonde hair and that apparently the lady with the blonde hair was from out of town and had come with her partner to go to Brodie because the partner wanted to go there. We went to our room. The shower tap lever was missing in the women's toilet. There was no sight of a men's shower at all. The room was upstairs and well presented but there was no power point (only a red plate with no socket). The next morning we discovered that the restrooms were at the other end of the building. The partially opened restroom door had obstructed the signage and caused our confusion.
• 5 May Tues
• Breakfast at Bridgeport Inn. Luke only had a coffee, whereas Claudia opted for the free breakfast. 
• Drove to Bodie via a 16 mile dirt road, saw vultures along the way. Walked around Bodie for a few hours
• Drove back to Bridgeport and drove to Twin Lakes (turn off was at the North end of Bridgeport and then we continued further for 13 miles). Twin Lakes reminded me of Queenstown, NZ. We had lunch, Luke had a Chili Size burger, Claudia had chips. We saw ducks with ducklings. We walked along part of a hike via a swampy area.
• Drove to Lake Tahoe via Route 206/207 mountain range and drove around ski resorts at the top. Stopped at Edgewood Golf course for view of sunset
• Accommodation at Economy Inn for only $45 for queen bed and breakfast included was very good
• Walked across the road there was a lively young crowd partying with a live band and had Pizza and red wine for dinner.
• 6 May Wed
• Drove back to San Francisco. Stopped briefly at Placerville, Coloma, and Auburn on the way.
• Checked into Europa Hotel (the one in the better part of town) for $70 for queen bed. Dropped off car and Hertz worker gave us a lift back to hotel. Luke went to a Docker Meetup with Joyent at New Relic offices in San Francisco
• 7 May Thu
• Driver took us to airport for $30 through hotel and Alaskan airlines put us on earlier fly for leg to Seattle. Had coffee at Beechams at airport.