Trip Report: California/Nevada/Arizona

My family (mum, dad %26amp; boys aged 11 %26amp; 8)went on an adventure from Melbourne, Australia to California, Nevada %26amp; Arizona for 33 days in September/October 2007. We had a fantastic time and did a LOT of different things. I will try to summarise our trip as briefly as possible and post this in the California forum as well:

9/7/07 Arrive San Francisco. Stayed at the Argonaut-comfy beds %26amp; friendly staff. Great location.

9/8/08 Tour with Comprehensive Shuttle Tours.

9/9/07 Cable Car Museum/Chinatown/Lombard St. Clam Chowder @ Boudin%26#39;s for dinner-yum!

9/10/07 Alcatraz tour/Pier 39/49ers vs Cardinals

9/11/07 Coit Tower/shopping/Pampanito/Giants vs Diamondbacks

9/12/07 Stocked up on Ghiradelli. Picked up car rental from Alamo after a 2 hour wait (booked via Travel Jigsaw which was great value-not their fault that the Alamo office was SO busy). Travelled to Yosemite after a detour to the Jelly Belly factory-worth the detour). Stayed at Yosemite Lodge-room was disappointing initially but was actually quite clean %26amp; comfortable and in the most amazing setting.

9/13/07 Breakfast at Ahwahnee-fantastic. Mule Ride-fantastic. Valley Floor Tour-fantastic. We were all in love with Yosemite by this time!

9/14/07 Mariposa Grove Tram Tour. Lunch at Wawona. Glacier Point. Hiked Sentinel Dome. Another incredible day!

9/15/07 Left Yosemite via Tioga Pass, heading to Lone Pine. Olmsted Point %26amp; Tenaya Lake were fantastic. Stopped at Whoa Nellie Deli for lunch and checked out Mono Lake. Stopped at Schat%26#39;s Bakkery in Bishop as well. Stayed at Dow Villa Motel-nice room.

9/16/07 Travelled to Las Vegas via Death Valley. DV was incredible-a different view around every conrner. A very memorable day. Stayed at Paris-perfect mid strip hotel with comfy beds %26amp; pillows.

9/17/07 Explored Las Vegas Strip. Saw Mystere in the evening-great show.

9/18/07 Outlet shopping %26amp; more exploring. Saw Lance Burton in the evening-great show. Kids got called up on stage so made it even more special.

9/19/07 More exploring. All enjoyed Madame Tussaud%26#39;s. Saw Mac King-we all loved his show. We collected $1 chips from all the casinos we visited %26amp; bought a display frame from Gamblers General Store-great souvenir that didn%26#39;t cost a lot.

9/20/07 Travelled to Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam %26amp; Bedrock City (kids love the Flintstones-great photos from this place)

9/21/07 Had the best breakfast of the whole trip at Cafe Tusayan-the oatmeal is to die for. Took the Grand Discovery Air Tour. Hiked down the Canyon a bit on Bright Angel Trail. Took the Hermits Rest shuttle and stopped at Hopi Pt for sunset.

9/22/07 Got up for sunrise then headed off for Page via Desert View Drive. Stopped at Lipan Pt %26amp; the Watchtower. Took the awesome Colorado River Float in the afternoon where it poured rain on and off all day. We were told that Arizona is the driest state-it wasn%26#39;t that day. We still had a great time though-not everyone gets to float down the Colorado River in the rain! Stayed at Days Inn %26amp; Suites-loved this place. The most comfortable beds %26amp; pillows of our whole trip.

9/23/07 Headed to Antelope Canyon. There was going to be a long wait at the Upper Canyon so we went to the Lower Canyon. Glad we did as we really enjoyed climbing down into the Canyon and exploring this incredible place. Went to Horseshoe Bend to check out the area we had floated by the day before-amazing. Headed to Sedona via Cameron Trading Post (had the incredible Navajo Taco) %26amp; Oak Creek Canyon. Stayed at Arroyo Roble-wonderful.

9/24/07 Spent most of the day wandering around. Absolutely loved all the jewellery. Took the Pink Jeek Broken Arrow tour at 4pm.

9/25/07 Drove out to Airport Rd and took a walk. Chapel of the Holy Cross. Took a drive up Oak Creek Canyon and found a fantastic market where I bought even more amazing local jewellery.

9/26/07 Headed out on our big drive to Anaheim via the Grand Canyon Deer Farm (our 8 year loved this), Seligman %26amp; Oatman. All these stops were well worth it even though it made the day a very long one. Oatman is a wonderful experience (thanks fatbald). Stayed at Candy Cane Inn-lovely place in a great location. Was a bit noisy in the mornings with people walking past the rooms but we didn%26#39;t sleep in anyway. Room was fine but not my favourite of the trip.

9/27/07 Disneyland-almost no waiting, great Halloween decorations. Followed RideMax but didn%26#39;t really need it at this time of year. It helped us get our bearings and made great use of Fast Passes which we continued on for the rest of our visits. Kids really enjoyed the pin trading during our stay. Dinner at Goofy%26#39;s Kitchen-fun experience but don%26#39;t go for the food.

9/28/08 California Adventure-love Tower of Terror, got soaked on Grizzly River Run. Back to Disneyland for fireworks.

9/29/07 Shopping. Disneyland in the evening for Fantasmic. Paid for the Riverside seating-probably not worth the very expensive price but nice to be treated like you are special for a little while.

9/30/07 Citadel Outlets %26amp; more shopping

10/1/07 Day trip to San Diego Sea World. Dine with Shamu at 1.30pm.

10/2/07 Early entry at Disneyland. Lunch at Blue Bayou-fun next to the Pirates ride.

10/3/07 Knott%26#39;s Berry Farm-awesome rides. Our photo from the Ghost Rider is the funniest thing I have ever seen. A lot of laughing and pain on that ride! Loved Mrs Knott%26#39;s chicken. Medieval Times for dinner-fun evening.

10/4/07 California Adventure. Mickey%26#39;s Halloween Treat in the evening-the kids still have some of the candy left now! This was a great event for us as we don%26#39;t celebrate Halloween in Australia. Wonderful atmosphere.

10/5/07 Shopping %26amp; Disneyland. Saw the parade at 6.30pm

10/6/07 Universal Studios. LA Kings vs St Louis Blues at Staples Center in the evening.

10/7/07 Drop off car. Packed for 4 hours-we had a lot of stuff! Went to Disneyland for a last visit %26amp; a few rides but it was packed because of the Gay Days %26amp; Columbus Day weekend so didn%26#39;t get to do much. We were so glad that it wasn%26#39;t busy for the rest of our visit as it would be a nightmare. All the other Disney days were very civilised. Went to the airport in the evening to catch our flight home.

10/8/07 Travelling home

10/9/07 Arrived home

I haven%26#39;t put in a lot of detail as this trip report is already very long but I am happy to answer any questions.

I would like to thank the amazing people who take the time to post on Trip Advisor! I spent a lot of time researching on TA and although I didn%26#39;t post much myself, I got incredible advise from reading all the other posts asking similar questions to the ones I had.

Because of TA, all our accommodation was perfect for our needs and we had some awesome experiences which we would not have known about otherwise. We used traveller%26#39;s cheques everywhere and had no trouble cashing them at shops. I booked everything direct, before we left.

Our trip was supposed to be a once in a lifetime experience, but we had such a wonderful time that I have started on the planning of our next %26#39;once in a lifetime%26#39; trip. It will be a 6 week trip including Zion, Bryce, Torrey, Moab, Monument Valley, Sedona, Phoenix, Orlando, Tampa %26amp; Hawaii on the way home for some R%26amp;R!

Now to start saving!!!

Trip Report: California/Nevada/Arizona

What a great trip you had! Great to hear about your experiences.

My favorite places to visit over and over again are Disneyland and Grand Canyon.

Thanks and enjoy planning your next trip!